Manitoba Ancestors: Browsing Early Manitoba through Census records

One of the problems with ancestors in Canada's West is finding early records. Thanks to the Hudson's Bay Company, those with Manitoba ancestors can find them pre 1870. Family Search has a browse only collection online called Manitoba Census Indexes, 1831-1870. This collection has index cards of the Red River Settlement covering from 1831 to 1869. It also includes cards for the 1870 Manitoba provincial census taken by the Department of Agriculture. Arranged alphabetically, the collection is divided into 2 sections. There are over 30,000 images in total

1831 to 1870
This collection contains cards indexed from nominal censuses in 1832, 1833, 1838, 1840, 1843. 1846/1847, 1849, 1856 and 1870. The censuses cover the Lower Settlement, Grant Land, and Indian Villages. 1856 and 1870 are not complete. On these cards you'll find any or all of the following information:

• Head of household
• Age
• Residence
• Religion
• Country of Birth
• Property
• Livestock
• Land Cultivated

The set is further divided in to 5 sections:

• A to Emlyn, Narcisse
• Emlyn, Solomon to Lavallee, Francois
• Lavallee, Francois Xavier to Pilon, Antoine
• Pilon, Antoine to Z

The first few frames of the the first section gives some statistical information. It can help to give you a sense of the Settlement as a whole. Here's a card listing Place of Birth for 1832/1833:

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9SG-GT3J?i=13&wc=MQRB-1TG%3A341584201%2C341584202&cc=2023280

By 1849, the Place of Birth for residents looked like this:

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9SG-GTY4?i=18&wc=MQRB-1TG%3A341584201%2C341584202&cc=2023280

Depending on how long your ancestor lived in the settlement, you'll be able to follow then by looking at a series of cards. Here's a series of cards for a Neil McDonald:

If you're looking for a female ancestor, you might get an important bonus for them. Some of the cards for 1870 can also include maiden name and father's name. Here's one for Mrs. Nancy McDonald

As you can see with Nancy, she is noted as a "half breed". One could probably assume that her father was European and her mother was Indigenous. Please keep in mind that you'll see terms that are no longer socially acceptable today.

1870

This section contains only cards for the 1870 census from the Department of Agriculture. It is further divided into 6 sections:

• A to Delorier, Elise
• Delorier, Genevieve (Lacourse) to Henderson, Anna A.
• Henderson, Catherine (McBeath) to McIntosh, Isabella M.
• McIntosh, Joanna A. to Prudhom, Mrs. William
• Prudhom, William to Stevens, Harriet
• Stevens, Henri to Z

Some of the information you can find:

• Head of household
• Age 
• Residence
• Birthplace
• Race
• Marital Status
• Spouse' Name
• Spouse's Age
• Children's Names
• Children's Ages
• Religion

As well, the cards also list household number and census page. Here's one for Robert Hoorie:

Now, each person gets their own card. So using this card, you can find cards for each of the other family members. Wives were cross referenced. Robert's wife Christine Henderson shows like this under her maiden name

And here she is under Hoorie, Christine

If you didn't know Christine's name, this is how she is cross referenced as Mrs. Robert Hoorie

The cards for both sections were created by the Archives of Manitoba. If you want to see the originals, they are onsite. Microfilms of them are available for inter library loan. Some have been digitized on the Archives of Manitoba website, but not all of them that I could see. 

52 Ancestors: Week 30 - Using the Drouin Collection

The prompt for week 30 of 52 Ancestors is "Easy". Contrary to how it looks on genealogy shows, researching your ancestors is not easy. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of these shows. I just wish they would let people know how much research time went into making these hour long shows. Because of this, I was having a hard time coming up with a record set that made for easy research. The closest thing I could find to easy in my own research experience is the Drouin Collection.

Those of us with Catholic ancestry, especially French Catholic, know what a treasure this collection is. Covering the years 1621-1967, this collection holds millions of baptismal, marriage and burial records. You can find records from Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, and parts of the United States. They also cover Acadia, of which present day Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island were a part of. They don't just contain records of French Canadians. They are also records for those with British, Italian, Irish, and Polish roots. Don't have Catholic ancestors? You should still look at the collection. There are non Catholic records mixed in among the collection as well. While the majority of records are in French, there are English language registers as well. This amazing record set is named after Joseph Drouin, the founder of the Drouin Genealogical Institute. Through the work of him and later his son, it now contains over 3.6 million microfilmed images of the registers kept by the clergy. They also have collections of notarial records, obituaries, and genealogies.

So where can you find this amazing collection online?

Ancestry
Of course Ancestry has some of the goodies in their databases. If you're an Ancestry subscriber, you'll want to check out what they have:

Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968 - This fully indexed collection contains images of the registers sent to the government. Since in Quebec these served as civil registration records, you will find non Catholic records as well.

Quebec Notarial Records (Drouin Collection), 1647-1942 - The notary was an important figure in Quebec. They handled wills, marriage contracts, property transactions, and inventories, just to name a few. This collection contains the repertoires and indexes of the individual notaries.

Acadia, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1757-1946 - The contain the registers of the clergy in what used to be Acadia. It also covers post deportation records from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. I know from experience that while the majority is indexed, some pages are not. If you can't find what you're looking for, make sure you also use the browse feature.

Ontario, Canada, Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1802-1967 - The collection contains the registers for French Catholic parishes in Ontario. I've just recently found a French Catholic line in my tree that settled in Ontario. I've only just started using this collection, so I'm not sure how well indexed it is as of yet.

U.S., French Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1695-1954 - This collection contains French Catholic parish records from 11 US States. My new found Ontario Catholics spent a lot of time migrating between the Cornwall area of Ontario and the Fort Covington area of New York State. This is another collection I've only just started delving into, so I can't say as to how well indexed it is.

U.S. and Canada, Miscellaneous French Records (Drouin Collection), 1651-1941 This collections is a hodge podge of genealogies, jounals, letters, registers of notaries, acts, manuscripts and topographic dictionaries. I haven't delved into it as of yet, so I can't say how well indexed it is.


Genealogy Quebec
If you don't have an Ancestry subscription, you might want to look at subscribing to Genealogy Quebec. Of course, some of us have subscriptions to both. While Ancestry has a lot, this website has what Ancestry doesn't. It is the website of the Drouin Genealogical Institute, so it gives you access straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. There are 3 subscription options:

• 24 Hour Access- Unlimited searches and the ability to view 75 images. Cost is only $5.00
• Monthly subscription - Unlimited searches and access to 75 images per day. Cost is $13.00 per month
• Annual Subscription - Unlimited searches and access to 1050 images per week. Cost is $100 per year

Prices are in Canadian dollars. Taxes are extra for Canadian residents. No taxes apply if you live outside of Canada. Besides the Drouin Collection itself, here's what they also offer:

1.LAFRANCE

• All Quebec Catholic baptisms and burials 1621-1861
• All Quebec Catholic marriages 1621-1918
• All Quebec Protestant marriages 1760-1849. 1850-1861 will be available soon
• A partial collection of Catholic baptisms, marriages and burials from 1862-2008

Each indexed transcription (certificate) also includes links to the original register image.

2.Marriages and Deaths 1926-1997

This Collection has most marriage and death information from all areas of Quebec. Marriages also include the ability to see the original document. This collection is not limited to Catholics. They cover all regious denominations, and civil marriages as well.

3.Obituaries

• Internet Obituaries - 1999 to present day, covering all of Canada. Updated daily.
• Newspaper Obituaries - 1860 to present day, covering all of Quebec
• Death cards - 1860 to present day, covering all of Quebec. Indexed by Name and Date
• Tombstones - 1850;s (ish) to present day, covering all of Quebec and parts of Eastern Ontario. Indexed by name and text on stone, these have photographs

4.Drouin Institute's Great Collections

This is an indexed database of several of the publications the Institute was involved with. There are 13 publications listed. In the interest of space, I'm inserting a screen shot of what the collection offers:

https://www.genealogiequebec.com/en/tools

5.NBMDS

This collection provides birth marriage and death information compiled from genealogical Socities working in partnership with the Institute. It covers parishes in Quebec, Ontario and the United States. It covers the years from 1727-2011, and does not contan links to original records. However, you can use the information obtained from this collection to narrow your search in their other collections.

6.Connolly File

A collection of Quebec baptism, marriage and burial records. There are both Catholic and Protestant records, and cover the years 1621-2018. These are compied from original sources, and I do not think they include original images.

7.Drouin Institute's Family Genealogies

A collection of 203 Family Genealogies produced by the Institute during the 20th century. They contain information in them from 1621 to their date of publication. most of these of Quebec based. Not all the books that they have produced have been digitized, and they are always looking to hear of any out there not listed.

8.Census

• Quebec 1881
• Quebec 1901
• Ontario 1881

This is a transcription database. There are no images attached.

9.Notarized Documents

This indexed database contains images for noarized documents throughout Quebec from 1800-1980. You can search by name, by notary, by date and by document type.

10.Postcards

Over 250,000 postcards have been digitized and indexed. You can search by sender and recipient. They cover the years 1980-2002, and deal mostly with Quebec.

11.Acadia

There are over 96,000 family files of Acadian families in this collection. Covering 1621-1849, it includes BMD information. There are links to original records, and in some cases birth entries will include links to subsequent marraige and/or burial entries for the family. It can be searched by name, parish and date.

12.Druoin Institute's miscellaneous Collections

This is a mixed bag of several different sources. There are digital images. Here is a screenshot showing what sources are in the database

https://www.genealogiequebec.com/en/tools

13.BMD Cards
This is a collection of index cards showing baptism, marriage, and burials. The database shows you the image of the index card, but not the original documents. They cover 1621-2000, and were provided by the Quebec Family History Society. They cover Quebec, Ontario and United States.


14.City Directories
If your ancestors lived in Montreal or Quebec City, you'll want to delve into this collection. They are fully digitized, but not fully indexed. The Lovell directories for Montreal cover 1843-2000. The Marcotte directories for Quebec City and the surrounding area cover 1822-1904. However, it does not have all years.


Look at what you get for only $100 per year! Even if you don't want to commit to a year, the daily and monthly options are also extremely affordable. 

52 Ancestors Week 10: Records for Spinster Aunts and Bachelor Uncles

We get so caught up looking at our direct lines that we don't always look at our ancestors' siblings. There's almost certainly siblings who didn't marry, or married and didn't have children. With no direct descendants, their stories get lost, and that's a shame. We're always looking for interesting ancestors, and sometimes these forgotten ancestors led interesting lives.

Take for instance, my maternal grandmother's oldest brother Jules Mallais. He died in the influenza pandemic in 1918 after being a soldier in World War I. He died a few months shy of his 19th birthday, when my grandmother was only 5 years old. She would have barely remembered him herself, so his story could have been lost. He never got the chance to marry, or have children.

On my paternal side there's my great uncle Hector McDonald. A veteran of Korea, he was a big influence in my dad's life. He married, but never had children. Thankfully, I have my dad and aunt and uncle to tell me stories about what a character he was.

The further back you go through the generations though, you're not going to have people still alive to share their stories. So where can we find information on our "spinster aunts" and "bachelor uncles"?

Following records for unmarried women can often be easier than searching for married women. Because they are not attached to a spouse, they owned assets in their right, and you never have to figure out if that "Mrs. John Smith" is the one your looking for.

Check census records for when your grandparent couples were older. In many cases it was the unmarried daughter who cared for them the last years of their lives. And once their parents passed, many of these women moved in with a sibling. The same can also hold true for the uncles. Also for uncles check the entries on the same page as your direct ancestors to see if they are a neighbour. For that matter, check the pages before and after. Many families stayed very close to each other. A few years ago I wrote a two part blog post on Canadian census records. See here for Part 1, and here for Part 2.

Land records can be useful in tracing those unmarried aunties. They accumulated property in their own name, and not a husband's. The uncles were sometimes given a piece of the main homestead. I haven't yet written a series of posts relating to land records. Because of the complexity and differences between provinces, it's been one that I haven't been able to devote enough time to in order to give it justice. I've provided a link to each province to get you started.

• Service NL- Registry of Deeds
• Public Archives and Record Office for Prince Edward Island
• Nova Scotia Achives
• Provincial Archives of New Brunswick
• Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Quebec
• Archives of Ontario Guide to Land Records. This was updated just last month.
• Archives of Manitoba
• Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan
• Provincial Archives of Alberta
• Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia
• Yukon Land Titles Office
• Northwest Territories Government
• Government of Nunavut Legal Registries Department

Wills and Probate Records can be a good source of information. Unmarried women had an advantage over married women in this regard. For many years, in the majority of provinces married women were not allowed to legally make a will of their own. The bonus about unmarried aunts' and uncles' wills is that favourite nieces and nephews are often mentioned. One of your ancestors could be mentioned in them. I wrote a series of posts about the Wills and Probate process.

• Part 1 is a brief introduction
• Part 2 covers Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island
• Part 3 covers Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
• Part 4 covers Quebec and Ontario
• Part 5 covers Manitoba and Saskatchewan
• Part 6 covers Alberta and British Columbia
• Part 7 covers Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut

I mentioned my great uncle Jules was a soldier in the first World War. One of the unfortunate spin offs of military conflict is that many young men died before they married or had children. Library and Archives Canada is your best place to go to start searching for military service. Scroll down to the Military section on their Ancestors Search page. And don't forget about the Nursing Sisters and other women who served. They are included in these databases.

Without the constraints of children, your aunt or uncle may have been involved in churches, fraternal organizations, charities, and local groups. Don't forget to look at these to see if you can find them on membership lists and committees. Local newspapers and City Directories can help with this. I've also found some great surprises on Internet Archive.

Speaking of newspapers, those unmarried aunts and uncles were sometimes a little eccentric for their time period. Check newspapers to see if they were scandalizing the community in some way.

Women didn't often travel alone, but those unattached uncles could have. Check border crossing records between Canada and the US. A lot of times they had to list who they were visiting. You might find extended family in those records to help grow that tree.

If you have any other idea for finding those unmarried and/or childless aunts and uncles, feel free to share below. 

Who's Victorine's mother? Using Siblings to Solve a Problem

Some of us research every person in a family tree. Some of us concentrate more on our direct line. Unless you're doing a One Name or One Place study, it really just comes down to personal preference.  But even if you're concentrating on your direct line, make sure you are making note of your ancestor's siblings as well. Having those names will eventually come in handy.

The first obvious reason to record sibling names is to help find the family in census records. This is especially helpful when your ancestor has a common name, but their sibling doesn't. It's much easier to search for records for "Beulah" than "Anne". But here is a more unusual problem where siblings came in handy.

Mt 2x great grandmother is Marie Victorine FERGUSON. On 24 November 1874 she marries Jean MALLAIS. In the Drouin Collection on Ancestry for the area of Tracadie, New Brunswick it has their marriage. The entry is written in French, but it states that "...Marie Victorine Ferguson, fille majeur de David Ferguson et de defunte Charlotte Savoie...". This translates to Victorine is the daughter of David FERGUSON and the deceased Charlotte SAVOIE, and that she is at least 18 years old (the age of majority to marry). So what's the problem you ask? Seems pretty straight forward.

Well, the only marriage I can find for David is to a Julienne GAUTRAULT. This marriage takes place in the register for Caraquet in 1836. There is only one David Ferguson in the area at the time, so I know I have at least the right man. I cannot find a death for Julienne. I find a transcription for David's headstone on the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB). It says that he is the husband of Julienne GAUTREAU. I find David's burial in the Drouin. It states that he is the widower of Julienne GOTREAU. I look at a death certificate for Victorine and it states that the informant did not know who her parents were:

source: http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/VISSE/141C5.aspx?culture=en-CA&guid=8bac2d80-eb08-4886-a5f5-010e1a885bb1

Next I take a look at census records for Victorine before she marries in 1874. In the 1871 census for Suamarez, Gloucester County, New Brunswick she is living with her widowed father and her younger brother Bernard. It states that she is born about 1851:

Source: http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/1871/jpg/4396659_00547.jpg

In 1861 she is living with father David and brother Bernard, as well as older siblings Esther, William, and Christina. It also says that her birth year is about 1847:

Source: http://data2.collectionscanada.gc.ca/1861/jpg/4108514_00505.jpg

Unfortunately, the 1851 census records for Gloucester County have not survived, so that's the end of the trail by this route. But we now have the names of four siblings for Victorine. So I start to look at baptisms for the children in the Tracadie registers of the Drouin:

1. Esther: baptized 5 December 1842 "...of the lawful marriage (of) David Ferguson and Julienne Gotreau..."
2. William: "Guillaume" baptized 14 August 1843 "...de legitime marriage de David Ferguson, et de Julienne Gotreau..."
3. Christina: none found
4. Marie Victorine: none found
5. Bernard: baptized 15 December 1850 "...de legitime marriage de David Ferguson et de Julienne Gotreau..."  

In the process I also find baptisms for three more siblings that are older than Esther:

1. Anne: baptized 17 March 1838 "...fille legitime de David Ferguson et de Julienne Gaudrot..."
2. Charlotte: baptized 11 January 1840 "...ne le 24 novembre de David Fergusson et de Julienne Gautrault..."
3. Guillaume: baptized 7 March 1839 "...ne le 20 novembre de David Fergusson et de Julienne Gautrault..."

Ok. So all of Victorine's older siblings baptisms' that we could find say that Julienne is their mother. That doesn't really answer the question for us though, because Julienne we know has passed away. Charlotte Savoie could have entered the picture afterward, and very well be Victorine's mother. The one that we have to look at it is Bernard, Victorine's only younger sibling. According to his baptism, Julienne is his mother too. Add that to the information we also have about David, Victorine's father:

1. His burial in 1877 says that he is the widower of Julienne.
2. His headstone reads "husband of Julienne Gautreau".
3. David is listed as a widower in the 1861 and 1871 censuses.
4. We have found no corroborating marriage record between David and a Charlotte SAVOIE. 

So based on all these facts, I would say that the priest in Victorine's marriage put Charlotte Savoie down in error. Julienne is actually Victorine's mother. How could that happen? Any number of reasons. We don't know if the priest wrote the entry in his book the day it happened, or a month later. He could have easily mixed up the names. I do know that the priest who baptized Bernard in 1850 was not the same one who married Victorine and Jean MALLAIS in 1874. The one who performed the marriage in 1874 probably wouldn't have known Julienne at all, as we know Julienne died sometime between 1850 (Bernard's baptism) and the 1861 census. 

If I hadn't looked at the siblings of Victorine, I would not have realized what has likely happened with the mixing up of names. I would have spent countless hours trying to find a marriage between David and Charlotte that didn't exist. Now a baptism for Victorine may turn up. I hope it does, because this would either confirm or disprove my theory as it now stands. 

Laying the Groundwork- Census Records Part 2

Last week we looked at what kind of information can be found on a census return. Now we're going to look at where to find them.


1851-1921

• Library and Archives Canada

 The LAC is the first place any genealogist should go. They have all census records from 1851 to 1916 digitized, as well as the link to the free access to the 1921 census on Ancestry. A word of caution though. They don't use soundex. Make sure you enter several variations of surnames, and use wildcards. For example, when I enter MALLAIS into the 1911 census search engine I get 66 results Canada wide. When I enter MAILLET I get 3,700 results that don't include the 66 from MALLAIS.

• Ancestry

Ancestry has 1851 to 1916 for subscribers, and 1921 is free to everyone. It is better than LAC in that they will do soundex, but the downside is their indexing. Some years are better than others. Be warned especially if you are looking for French Canadian names. Sometimes you'll have to do it the old fashioned way by browsing instead of a name search. One memorable example is my great grandfather Patrice Joseph MALLAIS. In 1911 he was indexed as PAHIQUE MALLARS, of all things. Every time I tried to search for him in 1911 I got his nephew Patrice Mallais. It wasn't until I started browsing the area where I knew he lived, page by page, that I found my Patrice.

• FamilySearch

FamilySearch has indexed from 1851-1916. There are no images available. It is a good resource in that FamilySearch indexing is very good. However, you will not be able to see the wealth of information like I listed last week in the entries for Arthur WOOD. They have indexed only certain information. This is what it said for Arthur in 1911:

Arthur Wood

Canada Census, 1911

Name	Arthur Wood
Event Type	Census
Event Date	1911
Event Place	Peel Sub-Districts 32-39, Ontario, Canada
Gender	Male
Age (Estimated)	47
Marital Status	Married
Relationship to Head of Household	Head
Birth Date	Sep 1864
Birthplace	England

"Recensement du Canada de 1911," database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:276J-JF1 : 2 March 2015), Arthur Wood, 1911; citing Census, Peel Sub-Districts 32-39, Ontario, Canada, Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario; FHL microfilm 2,418,517.

It also did show the entire household, with links to each person's information.

• Automated Genealogy

This site has 1851, 1901, 1906, and 1921 transcribed. They are at various stages of completion. There are no images. By following the link above to their site, you can see what they have for each. An interesting side project of theirs is a huge linking project. One day you'll be able to type in a name, and all census records (and some other databases) for that person will be there for you to view.

• Find My Past

Though mainly for UK research, Find My Past has started building a Canadian record collection. Right now you can access transcriptions of 1901 and 1911.

Pre 1851

There are very few census records pre 1851. Most of those that have survived were locally done with a specific purpose in mind. They would most likely fall under the category of tax and poll lists.

Library and Archives Canada has census images for 1825 and 1831 for Lower Canada (Quebec). They also have 1842 for Canada East (Quebec) and Canada West (Ontario).

Ancestry has links to the Family Search images of the 1825 Lower Canada Census and the 1842 Canada East census. They also have the images for the 1770 Nova Scotia Census, indexed and copied by Bernice Richard for the Chicago Genealogical Society. The final database in their Canada census collection is the "Nova Scotia, Canada, Census, Assessment and Poll Tax Records, 1770-1795, 1827". There are links that take you to the Nova Scotia Archives' images.

Family Search has images for 1825, 1831, and 1842.

Find My Past has images and transcriptions for the 1825 Lower Canada Census.

Among the many BMD's in the Drouin Collection, are some partial census records. Ancestry has some of these. They are NOT indexed, so you will have to browse through the Acadia Drouin collection. You can also access Drouin records at Genealogy Quebec.

You can also try looking at various Provincial Archives and local Societies for early census and tax roll records. Remember that it may not be digitized online. You may have to use interlibrary loan if available, or go there in person.

A Final Note

Just a few things to keep in mind when researching census records:

1. Language: If you have French Canadian ancestry, then you know what I'm talking about. Many French names were anglicized by census takers. Always look at the top of the page to see the name of the enumerator. If they were English and doing a predominately French area, you will see this a lot. Going back to Patrice Mallais, in 1921 he was written as Patrick Malley. In 1861, my ancestor Guillaume Fournier was written down as William Fourney by the census taker.
2. Name Variations; A lot of people were illiterate, and therefore probably could not spell their own name for the census taker. So he wrote it how he thought it was spelled. Just because you spell your name the way you do, doesn't mean that the census enumerator did. So look for different variations. Don't just try SMITH, but try SMYTH too.
3. Availability: Not all census records survived. Library and Archives Canada has great explanations on what is and isn't available for each census. I was crushed to learn that none of Gloucester County, New Brunswick survived for 1851. A huge part of my tree had settled there.

Laying the Groundwork: Census Records Part 1

Experienced researchers know that the Canadian census collection is the first place to look for your ancestors. Census records pinpoint your ancestors in a time and place, but they can tell you so much more if you know how to read them.

The first official Canadian census was taken in 1851/1852, and covered what is now Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, As per the British North America Act, it was taken every ten years until 1901. Then in 1905, the Census and Statistics Act was implemented. It stated that a national census was to be conducted in 1911, and ever ten years afterward. As well, an additional agricultural and population census was to be taken in the prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) in 1906, and taken every subsequent ten years. So this means that the Prairies were enumerated every five years, and the rest of the country every ten years. This continued until 1956, when all of Canada started being enumerated every five years. The type of questions asked vary from census to census. Later years have more detail on individuals than earlier ones.

The only exception to this is of course, Newfoundland. They did not become a province until 1949, There are census returns for 1921, 1935 and 1945 at the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador, and at Library and Archives Canada. Labrador can be found in 1871 census under "Quebec, Labrador District", and in 1911 under "Northwest Territories, Labrador Sub-district".

Privacy laws dictate that census records are to be held by Statistics Canada, and not publicly available, for 92 years. Yes, that is an odd number, and to be honest, I have no idea how they came up with it. So, as of right now, you can access up to the 1921 Canadian census. According to Library and Archives Canada's website, the only way you can access post 1921 census returns is for information on yourself. Even then, it can only be accessed for pension and legal concerns. We will not see the public release of the 1931 census until at least 2023.

In genealogy we work backwards through the years, so your goal is to get your family back to 1921. Ancestry.ca has this census. You can sign up for a free account with your email to search. Let's take a look at the family of Arnold WOOD. From the census I found out the following information:

• He lived at 477 1/2 Bolliver Street in Peterborough, Ontario.
• He is 29 years old. Also in the house was his wife Christina Wood (28), his daughters Doris J Wood (7) and Evelyn M Wood (1), and his "wife's daughter" Christine Black (11).
• The house had 6 rooms, and he paid 18 dollars a month.
• Arnold was born in England, as was his parents.
• His wife Christine was born in Scotland, as were both her parents
• Daughters Doris and Evelyn were born in Ontario.
• Christine the younger was born in Scotland, as was her father.
• Arnold came to Canada in 1907, and both Christines came in 1912.
• Everyone could speak English, but not French.
• They all belonged to the Church of England.
• Doris and Evelyn could not read or write, but everyone else could.
• Arnold was employed as a painter. However, he was unemployed for 8 months in the past year. It was not due to illness.
• He earned 850 dollars in the last year.
• Next door to Arnold at 477 Boliver Street is Hamlet and Julia WOOD.

Wow, that's a lot of information. Some of it, like the house information, is more to give you a feel for the time period. The rent of 18 dollars a month seems unreal when you look at housing costs today, but when you factor in he earned 850 dollars a year, it puts it into perspective.

Let's look at the immigration years of Arnold and Christine the elder. The obvious information we can get from this is what time frame to search passenger lists. But did you notice that there's a five year gap? That, coupled with Christine has an 11 year old daughter from a previous relationship, says that chances are they married here in Canada. So there's a possibility we could find a marriage registration for them in Ontario. We can surmise that they were married between 1912 (Christine's immigration year) and 1920.

Also looking at the immigration years, we now can look for Arnold in the 1911 census, but we might not find Christine. Don't discount it though. Sometimes, people forget what year they actually came over, and give their best guess instead.

Take a look at next door to Arnold and Christine. Their neighbours are Hamlet and Julia WOOD. Among their information is the fact that they are in their 50's, born in England and came to Canada in 1907. There is a very strong possibility that they are relatives of Arnold's. 

So now, let's look at Arnold in the 1911 census. I also looked at this on Ancestry.ca, of which I am a subscriber.

• He lives at 573 Bollivar Street.
• He is 19 years old and single. Also in the house are his father Hamlet Wood (41), his mother Julianne Wood (40), brother Wildred (15), and sister Doris (12).
• Though there is a space for birth month and year, the enumerator has only listed the months. Arthur was born in August, Hamlet in March, Julianne in July, Wilfred in August, and Doris in October.
• Everyone was born in England.
• There is a space for immigration year, but it was not filled out. Only one family on the page had it filled out, even though most of the people were born outside of Canada.
• They all state their religion is Anglican. 
• Arthur is a moulder. Hamlet is a painter. Julianne has no occupation listed. Wilfred is a collar maker in a factory, and Doris is at school.
• The men all work 60 hours per week. Arthur made 140 dollars the previous year. Hamlet made 400, and Wilfred made 200.
• All of them can read and write, and their mother tongue is English.

Again a lot of information. One thing we have confirmed is that Hamlet and Julia Wood from the 1921 census are indeed relatives of Arthur's. They are his parents. From the 1921 census we know that they all came over in 1907. They probably came together. It'll be much easier to find them on a ships list as a group.

 

Another interesting fact is that in 1911 Arthur has a sister named Doris. In 1921 he has a daughter named Doris. This family is part of my mother-in-law's genealogy, and confirms the family story that Doris the younger was named for her Aunt Doris the elder.

It's a shame we don't have birth years on the census. But we do have birth months and with the ages given, we can determine a birth year. With this information, we could look at English civil registration for birth certificates.

So there you have it. In only two census records, we have found out the following things about Arthur:

1. He was born in England in August @1892
2. He was a moulder, then a painter.
3. His parents are Hamlet Wood and Julianne Wood.
4. He has a brother Wilfred and sister Doris.
5. He came to Canada in 1907.
6. He married Christina between 1912 and 1921.
7. Arthur and Christine end up living next door to Hamlet and Julianne.
8. They had two daughters, Doris and Evelyn, and we know their approximate birth years.
9. He has a step daughter named Christine Black.

Using all this information, we now know where to look for Arthur's birth, his marriage to Christine, and the births of their children. We can look for Arthur's immigration records. If we choose to, we can follow his siblings' life in Canada as well.

This is why we should always look at census records first for a person. In part 2 we will look at where to look at census records online, and where to look for people pre 1851.