Prince Edward Island Ancestors: Looking for Ancestors in Probate Records on Family Search

 Thanks to the pandemic, travelling to Archives has been severely restricted. This makes finding online sources to search all the more important. Some provinces already had a good online presence pre pandemic, while others did not. If the pandemic has been good for one thing, it's been making Archives and Museums rethink their strategies.

FamilySearch has always been ahead of the curve in bringing genealogy into people's homes digitally. But what a lot of people don't realize is that only a fraction of what they have on line is indexed. It's always good to check their catalogs for digitized materially that hasn't been indexed. Those searching in Prince Edward Island should bookmark the collection Probate records, 1807-1958; indexes, 1786-2000. This collection of 213 microfilm reels covers almost 200 years of wills and estate records in the province. Most but not all the reels are available to be viewed from the comfort of your own home. There are a few that can only be viewed at a Family History center, or one of its affiliate libraries. 

The fact that there are over 200 films can be daunting for an unindexed collection. However, they can be divided into sets. You can narrow your search down just to a comparable few. Just pick a microfilm, then click on the camera to the right. If the camera has a key above it, then it is one of the reels that can only be viewed at a Family History Center.

Indexes

There are 4 reels of indexes. Two have access restricted to the Family History Centers, but two do not. They are:

• Index no. 1 (original index) to wills and administrations, 1786-1900 (also includes index to wills not recorded, and some "exemplifications, partitions and sundry, other documents filed prior to first January A.D. 1901") - restricted

• Indexes no. 1-4 to wills and administrations, 1786-1983 (index no. 1 is a reorganized and partially-typed copy of the original index)

• Index no. 5 to wills and administrations, 1984-May 2000

• Index, letters of administration 1897-1901; index, letters of probate 1897-1901 - restricted

Depending on the time period, the pages are set up in different ways. The indexes can give any of the following information

• name
• residence
• whether will or administration
• will number
• inventory number
• Liber
• Folio
• Date of Grant
• Remarks

Some are typed and some are handwritten. Here's a page from the l860s and 1870s

Will Books

This set also has some restricted reels. Some of the wills are on the same reels as the indexes, but further along in the images. They are:

• Will books, v. 1-2, 1807-1833 - restricted

• Will books, v. 3-5, 1833-1858 - restricted

• Will books, v. 6-7, 1858-1868 - restricted

• Will books, v. 8, 1868-1875 - restricted

• Will books, v. 9, 1875-1880 - restricted

• Will books, v. 10-11, 1880-1887 - restricted

• Will books, v. 12, 1888-1891 - restricted

• Will books, v. 13, 1891-1894 - restricted

• Will books, v. 14-15, 1894-1900 - restricted

• Will books, v. 16-17 (to p. 582), 1902-1909

• Will books, v. 17 (from p. 581)-20 (to p. 360), 1909-1917

• Will books, v. 20 (from p. 359)-23 (to p. 140), 1917-1923

• Will books, v. 23 (from p. 140)-25 (to p. 420), 1923-1929

• Will books, v. 25 (from p. 419)-28 (to p. 134), 1929-1934

• Will books, v. 28 (from p. 133)-30, 1934-1939

• Will books, v. 31-33, 1939-1944

• Will books, v. 34-37 (to p. 881), 1944-1950

• Will books, v. 37 (from p. 880)-41, 1950-1958

These are copies of the wills. There is not always 1 will to a page. As one ends, the next will continue underneath. Here is an example from 1904

Estate Files

This is by far the biggest section. The reels are listed in the following way, so that it is actually fairly easy to find the ones you want to look at:

• First letter of surname
• Year Range
• File number range

Estate files are the pot of gold for a genealogist/family historian. You can find a huge amount of information in these. Some details are purely for insight into your ancestor. While knowing that your ancestor owned 2 lame cows (yes I did find that in a listing) is amusing, it doesn't add a lot to your research. However, other details can help you further your research. Estate files can contain

• copy of the will/ letter of administration
• birth details
• death details
• coordinates of land owned
• family members
• inventories of possessions and cash

Here's a great example of grandchildren inheriting in the will of Thurza Ford in 1894. It even shows their ages and residences!

Here's an example from 1921. One of the executors for Frederick Anderson has made an affidavit to the court to be sole executor. The other named executor could not perform their duties because they are currently an inmate of the Provincial Asylum

And here is newspaper clipping of a notice paid for by the executor of the estate of James Waite. The notice askes for anyone who has a claim against the estate to appear before the Court on February 23 1911.

Some things to keep in mind with the collection:

1. You should look at the indexes first. If your ancestor is listed, it will give you the will/estate file number. This can help narrow your search even further.
2. The Estate Files microfilms have "testate" or "intestate" labelled on them. However, I found intestate files in among the testate rolls, and vice versa.
3. The handwriting on some of the documents can be rather cumbersome. Give your self a quick refresher on the "boiler plate language" in wills. Look for phrases such as "by the Grace of God', "being of sound mind", and "I give and bequeath". This can give you an insight into how the writer formed letters, which in turn can help you decipher the rest of the handwriting.
4. Keep the main list in one window, and then right click and open individual rolls in new tabs. It's much more efficient.

FamilySearch's image viewer allows you to zoom in and out, print and download specific images. I find it's much easier on the eyes to download the image and crop it before printing. A printed page that you need a magnifying glass to read doesn't help your paper files much. Whether your system is digital or paper, make sure you include not only the reel information but the image number in your source citation. Imagine how frustrated you'll be a year from now when you have to wade through hundreds of images on a reel if for some reason you need to find that image again.

Quebec Ancestors: Notarial Records on Family Search

Sometimes as a genealogist you're forced to pick and choose what sites and societies you subscribe to.  If you're someone like myself, whose ancestry stretches across several regions and cultural groups, then it can be really difficult to stretch those genealogy dollars to get what you need. My personal ancestry covers PEI, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. Recent DNA discoveries have me now looking into New York State as well. I have Acadian and French Canadian ancestry. I also have French Protestant, German, British, Scottish and Irish immigrants from the early 1700's right up to the early 20th Century. For me, subscribing to every pay site I need to further my lines amounts to more than my genealogy dollars can afford. Any time I come across a free database to further my research, I jump on it. One such database is Family Search's browse only database Quebec Notarial Records, 1800-1920.

Quebec is unique in several respects to the other provinces of Canada. It is an intriguing combination of  French and English law. When it comes to civil matters, they follow the laws of France. As such, the Quebec notary had a much bigger role and presence in the everyday life of the average person than other provinces. Because of their unique role in Quebec society, the records of notaries contain the type of information genealogists get giddy for. Among their responsibilities were:

• Marriage contracts
• Wills
• Deeds
• Inventories
• Agreements and settlements
• Transfers of property
• Donations (pre-wills)
• Legal documents
• Guardian records
• Indenture records

The records are for the most part in French. Those familiar with French Canadian records know that neat handwriting was NOT a prerequisite for becoming a scribe. It can be a real challenge sometimes, especially if your grasp of French is not the best. But Family Search provides some great guides in helping those not proficient

• French Genealogical Word List
• French Handwriting
• Reading French Handwritten Records (Video Turtorials) 

There are almost 5 MILLION images in the collection. But don't worry, you can narrow things down fairly quickly for browsing.  You are going to need a location and year range for your ancestor. First, you need to narrow by judicial district

https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/index?owc=https://www.familysearch.org/service/cds/recapi/collections/1471015/waypoints

Once you pick your district, then you pick by Notary Name/Record Type/Year Range/File Number Range. Then just start browsing. As always with Family Search, the images are nice and clean. The image viewer lets you zoom in and out. You can adjust the image by clicking on the tools icon. This will let you rotate the image, and adjust brightness and contrast. You can even invert the image so that the background is dark and writing is white. This can be a handy tool sometimes when dealing with faded handwriting. You can download and/or print as well.

So, what are the kinds of images you can see? Well, here's a sale contract from 1923 in Chicoutimi

Here's part of a will from Montreal in 1878. This one is in English.

Here's a Labour Contract, involving the Hudson's Bay Company, from 1837 in Terrebone

And here's a Marriage Contract from 1903 in Hull

 

Here are a couple of links that can also help in your research

• Ancestry made a blog post about Quebec notarial records. It includes a handy list of French terms for the types of records they have.
• If you're going to be doing a lot of research with notarial records, you'll want to bookmark the open access book The notaries of French-Canada, 1626-1900 : alphabetical, chronologically, by area served through Family Search.

British Columbia Ancestors: Naturalization Records on Family Search

Naturalization records can be a valuable brick wall buster. These records often tell country of origin and immigration details that may not be found in other records. The naturalization process applied to immigrants that did not come from the UK. Our UK ancestors were automatically considered Canadian citizens. Some of the details found in naturalization records can be:

• Residence
• Place of origin
• Date of arrival in Canada
• Residence
• Years residing in Canada
• Occupation
• Residence
• Date of birth
• Place of birth
• Date of immigration
• Name of ship

If your ancestor applied for Naturalization in British Columbia between 1859 and 1926, then you'll want to check out Family Search's browse only collection British Columbia Naturalization Records, 1859-1926. This collection of over 23,000 images focuses on naturalization records from Victoria and Cranbrook. The records contain any or all of the following forms:

• Application
• Oath of Allegiance
• Oath of Residence
• Naturalization Certificate

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2001101

To narrow your browsing, first you'll want to pick either Victoria or Cranbrook. 

Cranbrook

The records in this collection consists of 9 boxes covering from 1905 to 1923. This section also includes a handy index. You'll want to first go to the index to find your ancestor. These are not listed alphabetically. They are arranged by box and file number. The boxes are arranged by immigration year. Also take note of the Folio number to the right of the applicant's name. This will come in handy when you're looking for the file.

Once you find your ancestor, just go to the box and file number to get the file. I decided to take a look at Fetsuya Yamaguchi, who applied for Naturalization in 1907. His records are in Box 1 File 9, and he is Folio 39/1907. I then went to the subset Naturalization records Box 1 to Box 6, 1905-1919 and bounced forward through the images. At the bottom of each image is a tag showing the Folio number. I found the start of Fetsuya's documents in image 120

Subsequent documents let me know that there was a transcription error on the index. Looking at the handwritten word February alerted me to the fact that his name was actually Tetsuya Yamaguchi. He came to Canada from Yokamaha Japan about 3 years earlier. He was a merchant in Japan, and a labourer in Cranbrook. The documents relating to him included his application, his oaths of allegiance, and his Naturalization Certificate.

Victoria

Unfortunately there is no index for this section. Covering 1859 to 1917, and then also 1926. It is divided into 6 subsections

• Naturalization records Box 1, file 1, no 1 to Box 10, file 9, no 843, 1859-1896
• Naturalization records Box 10, file 9, no 844 to Box 18, file 9, no 1585, 1896-1899
• Naturalization records Box 18, file 9, no 1586 to Box 26, file 6, no 2288, 1899-1902
• Naturalization records Box 26, file 6, no 2289 to Box 32, file none, no 2938, 1902-1906
• Naturalization records Box 33, file 1, no 2939 to Box 38, file 10, no 3523, 1906-1909
• Naturalization records Box 39, file 1, no 3524 to Box 44, file 11, 4119, 1909-1917, 1926

Since BC did not join Confederation until 1871, the records pre 1871 look different. Before joining Confederation, the Naturalization process was handled by the Colonial Governors. As such, you are going to see more handwritten entries, as opposed to the forms in later years. The earliest years are oaths of allegiance only. Here's one from 1859 for William Henry MacNeil 

In the years after joining Confederation, you will see the paperwork getting more standardized. First it was still all handwritten, as with Peter Bordot in 1871

Later as the years go on, the forms become very standardized.

As with anything with Family Search, you have the option to zoom in and out on the digital images. As well, you can print or download to your computer. If you want to find out a little more about the collection, you can read Family Search's wiki page on the collection.

Brick Wall Ancestor Got You Down? Try Some Transcribing and Indexing

A lot of people have more time for genealogy these days. Us genealogists are handling the new measures better than most, because we have no problem staying in and losing hours in pursuit of our ancestors. My job is considered essential, so I still get up and go to work every day. However, I'm still getting in more research time than normal due to physical distancing.

The downside to everything is that the Archives and Libraries are closed. But thanks to the digital age we live in, there is a TON of online resources for us to further our research. But what to do when that Brick Wall Ancestor starts making you tear your hair out? Why not take a frustration break and do some transcribing, indexing and/or tagging of photos. Several projects have started up over the last few weeks. These projects are gifts that keep on giving.

1. It helps the genealogy community as a whole. Someone years from now is going to be finding that record or photo and do a happy dance. 
2. By stepping away from your own research and focusing elsewhere, you'll have a clearer head when you go back to it. 
3. You get to hone your skills at deciphering handwriting.
4. You might stumble onto a record or photo that is applicable to your own research

So, this week, I'm going to provide links to projects. Now, I usually try and focus on Canadian research in my blog. But in the interest of genealogy as a whole, I'm going to include projects outside of Canada as well. 

https://www.familysearch.org/indexing/

Family Search

These guys have always got some projects going on. Just go to their Indexing page to get started. They have projects from all over the world in many different languages. A couple relating to Canadian research are:

• Canada, Nova Scotia—Church Records, 1864–1877 [Part B]
• US—Aliens Pre-Examined in Canada and Mexico, 1906–1954

Ancestry

The World Indexing Project by Ancestry is another global initiative. You will have to download the keying tool in order to participate. Each record set shows the language and difficulty level. No Canadian projects right now, but they have:

• United Kingdom-4
• Germany- 2
• Australia- 2
• Ukraine- 1
• Italy - 1

https://co-lab.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng

Library and Archives Canada

Co-Lab is the LAC's central hub for their projects. They have divided their "challenges" into different categories: transcription, translation, tagging, and description. There are 13 challenges on the go right now, including:

• Winnipeg General Strike of 1919
• Correspondence regarding First Nations veterans returning after the First World War
• Women lightkeepers, heroes by the sea

Here are some other projects I've found out about

Canada

• The Community Archives of Belleville and Hastings needs helps transcribing the 1871 assessment roles for the area townships.
• The Nova Scotia Archives has one project on the go right now on their Transcribe page.  Commissioner of Public Records - Refugee Negroes details Black immigration and settlement from 1783 to 1838.

United States

• The Newberry Library in Chicago has letters and diaries needing transcribing that deal with 19th and early 20th century life in the Midwest
• The New York Public Library has a few projects on the go. A really fascinating one is the NYPL Community Oral History Project. Volunteers are needed to help with the transcribing of oral histories about life in New York City.
• The Smithsonian always has projects on the go.Check out their Digital Volunteers page regularly to see what they have. Right now, they have 18 projects in progress. 
• The U.S. National Archives is another site with multiple projects on the go. I counted at least 20 projects on their Citizen Achivist page. They have everything from the beginner level to expert level
• The Library of Congress has 16 "campaigns" going on right now. Each campaign is made up of smaller projects.

And Elsewhere...

• University College London has huge project going on transcribing the writings of philosopher Jeremy Bentham
• Free UK Genealogy is a huge crowd sourcing project for UK BMDs and Census records
• Gould Genealogy made a post in February of 2019 of transcription projects in Australia. It's a year old but will give yo a good starting point in finding records to transcribe there.
• The UK National Archives have several projects that don't require on site access
• French site Geneanet has lots of indexing projects
• The NIOD in the Netherlands are looking for people to help transcribe WWII diaries

Look Locally

If you want a project that coincides with your own research interests, try contacting the local Institution or Society of your area of research. They are always looking for volunteers. I checked on Genealogical Society web pages across Canada, and almost all had a notice looking for transcribing/indexing volunteers. In the current COVID world, some of these projects could be on hiatus. However, if the material can be done from your home, then I'm sure they would be glad to have you on board. Some require you to be a member. Now is as good a time as any to try out a membership and see what they're about.

If you know of any transcription/indexing projects let us know in the comments. 

Saskatchewan Ancestors: Browsing Court Records on Family Search

If you have Saskatchewan ancestors, then you know that finding good sources on line can be difficult. In my own limited experience with Saskatchewan resources, I have unfortunately found that this province is far behind others in availability. Now to be fair, a lot of it has to do with privacy laws. Saskatchewan is a much younger province than say, Quebec. There isn't a whole lot that's available outside the privacy laws. With the current global pandemic, I don't see a lot of digitizing going on in the near future of those records that can be open access.

In our new "normal", a lot of genealogists are celebrating more time to research. Those browse only on line collections are getting more attention, as there is now more time for genealogy. Those of you with Saskatchewan ancestors should take a look at Family Search's collection Saskatchewan, Judicial District Court Records, 1891-1954. This collection comprises of records for the Saskatchewan Supreme Court and the King's Court Bench. If you're unfamiliar with the Canadian Court system, you might want to brush up on what the Supreme Court covers. Family Search has a wiki that gives a nice overview. You might also want to check out a blog post I wrote just over a year ago. The post, 52 Ancestors: Week 9 - The Canadian Court System and where to find records, serves as a quick reference on where to find court records for each province and territory.

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1392587

The collection has over 200,000 images. The title says it covers from 1891-1954. However, I only saw up to 1935 in the subsection titles. You want to first select your Judicial District. The only one shown is Regina. Because of this and the year range in the title, I'm assuming that they plan to add to this collection in future.

Next you have an overwhelming amount of subsections. But if you break it down, then it's not as bad. I'll divide them into sections for you.

Docket Books and Indexes
These cover the years from 1916 to 1935. Full files are not available for these cases, with the exception of some for 1918, but you can still get some good information. The individual links are:

• Docket books and indexes, 1916-1918, vol 9
• Docket books and indexes, 1918-1920, vol 10
• Docket books and indexes, 1920-1921, vol 11
• Docket books and indexes, 1921-1922, vol 12
• Docket books and indexes, 1922-1923, vol 14
• Docket books and indexes, 1922, vol 13
• Docket books and indexes, 1923-1925, vol 15
• Docket books and indexes, 1925-1926, vol 16
• Docket books and indexes, 1926-1928, vol 17
• Docket books and indexes, 1928-1931, vol 18
• Docket books and indexes, 1931-1935, vol 19

These books and indexes are centrally held in Regina. So just because your ancestor didn't live in Regina doesn't mean they won't be here. The first part of each book is arranged alphabetically by surname of Plaintiff. I looked to see if there was cross referencing involved, and there doesn't appear to be in the few examples I checked. The second part of the books gives a little more detail on individual cases. For instance, in Docket books and indexes, 1921-1922, vol 12, the top entry is this on image 15:

The Holland Canada Mortgage Company Ltd is the Plaintiff. Wilford J Burnette is the Defendant. Next to the entry is No 335 Folio 3. This means case 335 on page 3 of the second half of the book, after the alphabetically index. I found the entry on image 44. Because this case is not at the top of the page, I'll show what the columns mean as a separate image.

This images gives some more detail on the case. It lists the separate court dates and the reasons for each one. It appears that Wilfred, or Wilford in the index, defaulted on his mortgage. Sadly, the final result was a foreclosure. If Wilfred/Wilford was your ancestor, this would give you insight as to why he moved.

Kings Bench Files

These files cover the first 175 cases of 1918. They are broken up into these subsections:

• King's Bench files, 1918, files 1-36
• King's Bench files, 1918, files 37-57
• King's Bench files, 1918, files 58-95
• King's Bench files, 1918, files 96-112
• King's Bench files, 1918, files 113-148
• King's Bench files, 1918, files 149-175

So, in Docket books and indexes, 1916-1918, vol 9, I find a case. Case no 7 is William A Black of Darby, Delaware PA versus Mary Cowan of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Rather intriguing, as neither one was currently residing in Saskatchewan.

So, then I went to the corresponding section, and I jumped back and forth through the images until I found a file folder image. This signifies the start of each case

There are almost 50 images in this case. Long story short, William Black owned land in Saskatchewan. In the land registry office there is a record of William giving Mary Cowan a mortgage on the land. William states that he never gave a mortgage to Mary, and has no idea who Mary is. Because of the mortgage entry, there is "a cloud" over the validity of his ownership. The mortgage was apparently given to Mary by L. Black, acting as attorney for William. The only L. Black he knows is his deceased mother. To muddy the waters further, he found correspondence between his mother and a Mary Cowan. Hmmmm. Despite attempts to locate her in a few provinces, no one was able to find Mary, and no one turned up at the proceedings. The Court ruled to remove the mortgage from the Land records.

For the ones that don't have an index book to refer to in this collection, you're going to need a time frame of when you think the court case occurred, and just start browsing to find what you need. Since time is something a lot of people have right now, at least it will make that physical distancing go faster.

Supreme Court Files

This last and biggest section deals with cases from 1893 to 1907. 

• Supreme Court files, 1893-1894, files 271-330; files 1-5 (Archives file no 2755-2848)
• Supreme Court files, 1894-1895, files 265-349; files 1-3 (Archives file no 3108-3192)
• Supreme Court files, 1894, files 6-107 (Archives file no 2849-2949)
• Supreme Court files, 1894, files 108-180 (Archives file no 2950-3023)
• Supreme Court files, 1894, files 181-264 (Archives file no 3024-3107)
• Supreme Court files, 1895-1896, files 302-348; files 1-68 (Archives file no 3481-3596)
• Supreme Court files, 1895, files 4-97 (Archives file no 3193-3286)
• Supreme Court files, 1895, files 98-186 (Archives file no 3287-3365)
• Supreme Court files, 1895, files 187-301 (Archives file no 3366-3480)
• Supreme Court files, 1896-1897, files 423-473; files 1-73 (Archives file no 3954-4080)
• Supreme Court files, 1896, files 69-190 (Archives file no 3597-3719)
• Supreme Court files, 1896, files 191-307 (Archives file no 3720-3836)
• Supreme Court files, 1896, files 308-422 (Archives file no 3837-3953)
• Supreme Court files, 1897-1898, files 249-329, 31-32; files 1-51 (Archives file no 4256-4392)
• Supreme Court files, 1897, files 74-166 (Archives file no 4081-4173)
• Supreme Court files, 1897, files 167-248 (Archives file no 4174-4255)
• Supreme Court files, 1898-1899, files 1-54 (Archives file no 4585a-4640)
• Supreme Court files, 1898, files 52-143 (Archives file no 4393-4484)
• Supreme Court files, 1898, files 144-237, 37 (Archives file no 4485-4584)
• Supreme Court files, 1899-1900, files 226-243; files 1-50 (Archives file no 4811-4882)
• Supreme Court files, 1899, files 55-145 (Archives file no 4641-4730)
• Supreme Court files, 1899, files 146-225 (Archives file no 4731-4810)
• Supreme Court files, 1900-1901, files 237-325; files 1-19 (Archives file no 5069-5180)
• Supreme Court files, 1900, files 51-128 (Archives file no 4883-4960)
• Supreme Court files, 1900, files 129-236 (Archives file no 4961-5068) (file 129 after file 130)
• Supreme Court files, 1901-1902, files 286-328, 286-287; files 1-31 (Archives file no 5447-5523)
• Supreme Court files, 1901, files 20-109 (Archives file no 5181-5270)
• Supreme Court files, 1901, files 110-187 (Archives file no 5271-5348)
• Supreme Court files, 1901, files 188-285 (Archives file no 5349-5446)
• Supreme Court files, 1902-1903, files 324-402; files 1-18 (Archives file no 5815-5919)
• Supreme Court files, 1902, files 32-134 (Archives file no 5524-5625)
• Supreme Court files, 1902, files 135-231 (Archives file no 5626-5722)
• Supreme Court files, 1902, files 232-323 (Archives file no 5723-5814)
• Supreme Court files, 1903-1904, files 513-514; files 1-104 (Archives file no 6355-6435)
• Supreme Court files, 1903, files 19-101 (Archives file no 5920-6002)
• Supreme Court files, 1903, files 102-185 (Archives file no 6003-6085)
• Supreme Court files, 1903, files 186-246 (Archives file no 6086-6146)
• Supreme Court files, 1903, files 247-308 (Archives file no 6147-6208
• Supreme Court files, 1903, files 309-375 (Archives file no 6209-6275)
• Supreme Court files, 1903, files 376-512 (Archives file no 6276-6354)
• Supreme Court files, 1904-1905, files 1089-1201; files 1-6 (Archives file no 7416-7533)
• Supreme Court files, 1904, files 105-183 (Archives file no 6436-6514)
• Supreme Court files, 1904, files 184-272 (Archives file no, 6515-6601)
• Supreme Court files, 1904, files 273-373 (Archives file no 6602-6702)
• Supreme Court files, 1904, files 374-479 (Archives file no 6703-6808)
• Supreme Court files, 1904, files 480-557 (Archives file no 6809-6885)
• Supreme Court files, 1904, files 558-641 (Archives file no 6886-6969)
• Supreme Court files, 1904, files 642-728 (Archives file no 6970-7056A)
• Supreme Court files, 1904, files 728A-804 (Archives file no 7056B-7132)
• Supreme Court files, 1904, files 805-896 (Archives file no 7133-7224)
• Supreme Court files, 1904, files 897-985 (Archives file no 7225-7313)
• Supreme Court files, 1905-1906, files 1595-1678; files 1-13 (Archives file no 9120-9216)
• Supreme Court files, 1905, files 7-109 (Archives file no 7534-7636)
• Supreme Court files, 1905, files 110-219 (Archives file no 7631-7745)
• Supreme Court files, 1905, files 220-297 (Archives file no 7746-7823)
• Supreme Court files, 1905, files 298-400 (Archives file no 7824-7928)
• Supreme Court files, 1905, files 401-501 (Archives file no 7929-8028)
• Supreme Court files, 1905, files 502-604 (Archives file no 8029-8131)
• Supreme Court files, 1905, files 605-698 (Archives file no 8132-8225)
• Supreme Court files, 1905, files 699-797 (Archives file no 8226-8323)
• Supreme Court files, 1905, files 798-904 (Archives file no 8324-8429)
• Supreme Court files, 1905, files 905-978 (Archives file no 8430-8503)
• Supreme Court files, 1905, files 979-1068 (Archives file no 8504-8593)
• Supreme Court files, 1905, files 1069-1158 (Archives file no 8594-8683)
• Supreme Court files, 1905, files 1159-1263 (Archives file no 8684-8788)
• Supreme Court files, 1905, files 1264-1357 (Archives file no 8789-8882)
• Supreme Court files, 1905, files 1358-1472 (Archives file no 8883-8997)
• Supreme Court files, 1905, files 1473-1594 (Archives file no 8998-9119)
• Supreme Court files, 1906-1907, files 2214-2251, 1486, 152; files 1-44 (Archives file no 11409-11494)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 14-115 (Archives file no 9217-9318)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 116-220 (Archives file no 9319-9422) (file 152 found after file 2251)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 221-295 (Archives file no 9423-9497)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 295-379 (Archives file no 9497d-9581)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 380-468 (Archives file no 9582-9670)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 469-561 (Archives file no 9671-9762)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 562-648 (Archives file no 9763-9849)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 649-753 (Archives file no 9850-9954)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 754-864 (Archives file no 9955-10065)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 865-948 (Archives file no 10066-10149)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 949-1056 (Archives file no 10151-10256)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 1057-1148 (Archives file no 10257a-10348)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 1149-1236 (Archives file no 10348-10436)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 1237-1338 (Archives file no 10437-10538)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 1339-1454 (Archives file no 10539-10651)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 1455-1567 (Archives file no 10652-10763) (file 1486 found after file 2251)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 1568-1683 (Archives file no 10764-10879)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 1684-1780 (Archives file no 10880-10975)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 1781-1880 (Archives file no 10976a-11075)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 1881-1993 (Archives file no 11076-11188)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 1994-2101 (Archives file no 11189-11296)
• Supreme Court files, 1906, files 2102-2213 (Archives file no 11297-11408)
• Supreme Court files, 1907, files 45-149 (Archives file no 11495-11599)
• Supreme Court files, 1907, files 150-266 (Archives file no 11600-11717)
• Supreme Court files, 1907, files 267-367 (Archives file no 11718-11821)
• Supreme Court files, 1907, files 368-471 (Archives file no 11822-11925)
• Supreme Court files, 1907, files 472-559 (Archives file no 11926-12013)
• Supreme Court files, 1907, files 560-643 (Archives file no 12014-12094)
• Supreme Court files, 1907, files 644-752 (Archives file no 12095-12203)
• Supreme Court files, 1907, files 753-866 (Archives file no 12204-12317)
• Supreme Court files, 1907, files 867-974 (Archives file no 12318-12424)
• Supreme Court files, 1907, files 975-1064 (Archives file no 12425-12514)
• Supreme Court files, 1907, files 1065-1147 (Archives file no 12515-12597)
• Supreme Court files, 1907, files 1148-1245 (Archives file no 12598-12695)
• Supreme Court files, 1907, files 1246-1345 (Archives file no 12696-12794)
• Supreme Court files, 1907, files 1346-1451 (Archives file no 12795-12900)
• Supreme Court files, 1907, files 1452-1538 (Archives file no 12901-12986) (for file 1527 see Archive file no 13329)
• Supreme Court files, 1907, files 1539-1639 (Archives file no 12987-13088)
• Supreme Court files, 1907, files 1640-1735 (Archives file no 13089-13184)
• Supreme Court files, 1907, files 1736-1844 (Archives file no 13185-13293)
• Supreme Court files, 1907, files 1845-1877, 599, 600, 1527 (Archives file no 13294-13329)

These ones are set up exactly like the King's Bench files. Each file starts with an image of a file folder, and then the subsequent images are of the folder contents.

I don't know if index and docket books exist somewhere else for the years pre 1916. If there are, and you know of an online resource for them, please feel free to let me know in the comments below.

Prince Edward Island Ancestors: PEI Church Records on Family Search

Unlike other provinces, Prince Edward Island resources are not plentiful online. If you have PEI ancestors, you might want to check out Family Search's browse only collection Prince Edward Island Church Records, 1777-1985. According to the Family Search wiki, there are several denominations in the collection:

• Anglican Church of Canada
• Catholic
• Church of Christ
• Church of England in Canada
• Church of Scotland
• Free Church
• Methodist
• Presbyterian
• United Church of Canada

If you're searching for ancestors' life events pre 1906, church records might be the only record of these. Now, the Public Archives and Record Office in PEI has a great online resource called the PARO Collections Database. This resource is a collection of birth, marriage and death records from 1777 to 1968. It is searchable by keyword and fairly easy to use. A lot of the results are transcriptions though. The Family Search collection includes some records up to 1985, and there are digitized images attached.

As with most browse only collections through Family Search, they have made searching easier by narrowing first by County:

https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/index?owc=https://www.familysearch.org/service/cds/recapi/collections/1937794/waypoints

Next you pick your City/Town. Next, you can narrow by Denomination/Parish. Lastly, you narrow one more time by Record Type and Year Range. I chose Prince for County, Summerside for City/Town, and lastly Church of Christ for the Parish. I got some interesting subheadings here:

https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/index?owc=M6PC-WZS%3A238490601%2C238585401%2C238510502%3Fcc%3D1937794

As you can see, this collection has more than just BMDs. The Accounts section gives the expenditures for the Parish. Though it is for the most part just accounting, there are a few occasions where names are mentioned.

What's interesting is the Members sections. These are comprehensive lists of members of the Parish. The members are listed alphabetically by surname. They tell how the person became part of the parish, but also how they left. The most common reasons for leaving are death, but I found a few that left for other reasons. For instance, Ida Arnold entered into the Parish in 1913, but in 1924 returned to her Roman Catholic church.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-G1SX-LML?i=1&wc=M6PC-W6D%3A238490601%2C238585401%2C238510502%2C238588301&cc=1937794

Herbert Best moved to Calgary

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-81SX-LNB?i=4&wc=M6PC-W6D%3A238490601%2C238585401%2C238510502%2C238588301&cc=1937794

As well, I found several who moved to the USA. If you have someone in your tree who seems to have disappeared off the face of the Earth, these registers can give you the answer to what happened to them.

If you have an ancestor that was active in the church, you'll also want to check out the church minutes. These handwritten entries contain information about church committees, and the daily activities of the church. I saw several names mentioned.

Images can be downloaded right to your computer as a jpeg, or printed off. Because the download is the whole page image, I would suggest downloading first. Then you can crop as needed before printing if you don't want the whole page.

This is a great collection that makes me wish I had PEI ancestors to research.

Newfoundland Ancestors: Church records on Family Search

Church records in Canada can be hard to find on line, with the exception of Quebec and New Brunswick. If you have Newfoundland ancestors, then you'll want to check out Family Search's browse only collection Newfoundland Church Records, 1793-1945. The collection is a combination of both Catholic and Church of England records. It is not a complete collection, but there are over 6000 images in the record set. The are entries of baptisms, marriages, and burials. The entries can have the following information:

Baptisms

• Name of child
• Names of parents
• Date of birth
• Place of birth
• Date of baptism
• Place where baptized

Marriages

• Date of marriage
• Names of the bride and groom
• Notes if the bride or groom were single or widowed
• Names of witnesses.
• The bride’s and groom’s ages, residences, occupations, names of parents, and birthplaces
• Names of previous marriage partners
• A note whether a parent or other party gave permission for the marriage

Burials

• Name of the deceased
• Date and place of death and burial
• Age, place of residence, and cause of death.
• Names of survivors
• Date and place of birth of deceased

https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/index?owc=https://www.familysearch.org/service/cds/recapi/collections/1939435/waypoints

As you can see above, you can narrow down the browsing by selecting one of 10 locations:

• Bay Bulls
• Ferryland
• Flatrock
• Freshwater
• Placentia
• Portugal Cove
• Salmonier
• St. Bernard's
• St. John's
• Torbay

Next you pick the parish. Once you pick your parish, you can then select by type of entry and year range. Then it will take you to the digitized microfilm. The nice thing about Family Search's image viewer is that you can zoom in out out, download, or print right in the application. By clicking on the tools tab, you can rotate the image, adjust the brightness and contrast, or invert the image if the quality isn't the best. From what I can see, the scans are good quality. The handwriting in some cases is quite easy to read. Here's an example from Portugal Cove

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-G1SL-T4Y?i=5&wc=M8JY-KPX%3A241087001%2C241087002%2C241090001&cc=1939435

Unfortunately, they aren't all this nice. Here's one from Torbay

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-L1SL-TXF?i=5&wc=M8JY-K66%3A241086701%2C241086402%2C241089001&cc=1939435

One thing you will have to take note of is the use of Latin among the records. You should have no trouble converting them to English though, as the English versions are generally derived from the Latin. Family Search does have a very informative wiki called Latin Genealogical Word List. Along with giving examples of common words and phrases, they also provide links for further study.

Now, the description by Family Search says that Church of England entries are in the database. I did not do an in depth search for any non Catholic records, but all parishes listed are Catholic ones. In the early years of other areas of Canada, you will find that many non Catholics used the services of a priest to perform BMDs. There simply wasn't another nearby alternative. I imagine non Catholics in Newfoundland would have had the same problems. I have looked on other sites related to Newfoundland genealogy, and they do say that some of the early Church of England records in the province just haven't survived. Some though, have fallen into the safekeeping of some of the Catholic parishes. So if you have Church of England ancestors, it is still worth a look into these Catholic parishes.

Celebrating 100 years of the RCMP Part 3 - Family Search and Other Sources

http://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_03500_49/1?r=0&s=1

In Part 1, I gave a brief history of the RCMP and a quick overview of their website. In Part 2, we looked at the LAC's RCMP records. For Part 3, we'll now take a look at Family Search's browse only collection, Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police obituary card index and notices, 1876-2007. To finish off the series, I'll supply link to other websites for RCMP research.

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1425003

Taken from various sources, this collection are digitized images of obituaries and index cards of both active and retired members of the force. In their wiki page, they caution that this is not a complete collection. However, it's still worth a look. The collection of over 9,000 images was compiled by retired officer Norman G. Wilson. The information was taken from RCMP books, periodicals, and newsletters. If the publications and newsletter hadn't been notified of your ancestor's death, then chances are they won't be in this collection.

The collection is sorted into these sections:

RCMP obituary card index, 1876-2007, Abbott - Jacobs
RCMP obituary card index, 1876-2007, Jacobsen - Striker
RCMP obituary card index, 1876-2007, Stringer - Zubick

Even though these aren't listed first. they are the first sections you should look at. These 3 collections are indexed cards are arranged alphabetically by surname. The cards give the name, rank, and regimental number. They then list the date and volume number of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Quarterly that the obituary appears in. If they appear in Horrall's book, the Pony Express, and/or the Scarlet and Gold, then it will be noted as well. Some have death dates and place, but not all. You can use the information from these to narrow your search time down significantly. Here's one from 1886 for Cst. T. D. Sturge

Honour roll from S. W. Horrall's book, 1876-1971, p. 250-253

This section has the Honour Roll section from a book by S.W. Horrall, The Pictoral History of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Toronto, Ontario: McGraw–Hill Ryerson, 1973). The names are arranged alphabetically by surname. It gives their regimental number, rank, date of death and cause of death. 

Pony express : Staff Relations Branch newsletter obituaries, 1976-1994, v. 1-19

This collection of newsletters contains not only obituaries. Not every page is scanned, but among the 299 digitized pages I also saw notices of promotions and unit transfers. There are pictures galore as well. Most give brief histories of the officers mentioned, complete with postings. You can literally find out where and when these men served. The obituaries are printed both in English and French. 

Scarlet and gold magazine obituaries, 1919-1997, v. 1-78

This section, the same as the Pony Express, has many stories of interest besides obituaries. It's good reading all on its own. It has several articles in it discussing unusual cases. Among the pages is an honor roll of those who died in service. The pages I flipped through had a list for those with officer ranks, and one for those with non commissioned officer ranks. Here's one of officers who died in service between 1886 and 1922. It gives name, rank, headquarters number, date of death, and place of death.

The quarterly magazine obituaries, 1933-1979, v. 1-44
The quarterly magazine obituaries, 1980-2005, v. 45-70
The quarterly magazine obituaries, 2006-2007, v. 71-72

These last three sections are the obituaries from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Quarterly. The obituaries are of varying length. Here's a long one for Inspector J. L. Sampson:

It's interesting to note that wives of officers can be mentioned as well. On the very next page from the obituary above is for Mary Isabella MacLeod, the widow of Colonel James Farquharson Macleod:

Other Sources for Research

• RCMP Graves- this site has an amazing amount of information on RCMP graves and memorials around the world. As an added bonus, there is also a fun section called Highly Mounted RCMP Mysteries. It gives backgrounds on graves with wrong information, found n unusual spots, or just plan missing in some cases. It invites visitors to the website to provide any information they might know to solve the puzzles.

• Saskatchewan Genealogical Society RCMP Index- The Society has compiled an index of all obituaries that appeared in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Quarterly. Alphabetized by surname, the index provides the volume and issue number the obituary appears in.

• Canadiana- As always, make sure you're looking into Canadiana when researching. A search using "RCMP" gave 215 hits. Using "NWMP" gave 374 hits, and "RNWMP"  gave 640 hits. Using "Dominion Police", including the quotation marks, gave 1364 hits.

• Dictionary of Canadian Biography- This underused resource gives biographies of Canadians from all walks of life. 11 Biographies have mention of "RCMP". Using "NWMP" gave 64 biographies. I got no hits using "RNWMP", but I did using "Dominion Police". If using the last one, make sure you use the quotation marks in the search box.

Quebec Ancestors: Church Indexes on Family Search

Those with Quebec ancestors are lucky in the fact there are a tremendous amount of church records digitized online. This is especially true for Catholic ancestors. But if you're having trouble finding a record, you might want to look at Family Search's browse only collection Quebec Index to Civil Copy of Church Records, 1642-1902.

One of the unique things about the province is that churches supplied the entries for government civil registration. This continued until well past when other Provincial governments had their own forms. This collection contains the indexes to the civil copies of the baptisms, marriages and burials in the province from 1642 to 1902. there are over 1.3 million images in the collection. They are in French, but the Family Search wiki provides some guides:

• French Genealogical Word List
• Quebec Languages
• Handwriting Help Sheet

To navigate the collection, you'll first narrow down by denomination:

• Catholic
• Catholic and Non Catholic
• Non Catholic

You then further your search by:

• County and City or Town
• Record Type - Baptism, Marriage, or Burial
• Name Range, Year Range, Archival Number

https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/index?owc=waypoints

In all three sections, you can find some or all of the following information:

• Date of baptism, marriage, or burial
• Place of baptism, marriage, or burial
• Residence
• Baby's name
• Bride/ Groom names
• Deceased's name
• Parents' names
• Names of witnesses
• Cause of death
• Date of birth or death
• Occupation

Catholic

This section only has one section by location: Ile-de-Montréal, Lapraire, Chambly, Vaudreuil-Soulanges counties. It has the following record types:

• Baptisms Index
• Baptisms Index (Alphabetical)
• Baptisms Index (Chronological)
• Burials Index (Alphabetical)
• Marriages Index (Alphabetical)
• Marriages Index (Females)
• Marriages Index (Males)

Each section is further divided into the name range, year range and reference number. Most of the index cards appear to be hand written, but there are a few typed ones as well. Here's one for a marriage:

They were married at Ste. Brigide on 6 June 1874. This card unfortunately does not have parents' names, but some do.  The Fo. 104 refers to the entry number from the church's registers. 

Keep in mind that the first subsection, Baptisms Index, only gives first names of the child. If your ancestor was born illegitimate, you'll definitely want to look at this one. I found several in there.

Catholic and Non Catholic
This section covers only the Judicial District of Saint-Francois. It is further divided into 3 sections:

• Births Index (Alphabetical)
• Deaths Index (Alphabetical)
• Marriages Index (Alphabetical)

The cards in this section look more like standard forms, where the writer can just fill in the required information. The digitizing for this section isn't the best, but it's still fairly readable. Here's a birth record:

Non Catholic

This section covers three locations:

Ile-de-Montréal, Lapraire, Chambly, Vaudreuil-Soulanges counties

• Baptisms Index (Alphabetical)
• Burials Index (Alphabetical)
• Marriages Index (Females)
• Marriages Index (Males)

Judicial District of Beauharnois

• Baptisms Index (Alphabetical)
• Burials Index (Alphabetical)
• Marriages Index (Alphabetical)

Judicial District of Bedford

• Baptisms Index (Divided alphabetically and by year)

These are either index cards, or alphabetical lists. Here's a list of deaths with A surnames from 1881/1882/ part of 1883 in Bedford.

Next Step

The obvious next step is to find the original record. There will be information not included in these indexes. You can take the information from the indexes and then go to BAnQ's website to find the original.