===================================================================== "An Exploration of Canadian Immigration Records" By George G. Morgan: "Along Those Lines . . ." ===================================================================== The United States and Canada have always had an interesting relationship. Many of us have ancestors who came to the United States via Canada. Others have ancestors who came to Canada via the United States. Whatever route was taken and whatever means were used, we share many similarities. There are many Canadians or people of Canadian descent conducting their own family history research. Many are using the growing body of Canadian materials at Ancestry.com, and not a week goes by that I don't hear from readers of the "Along Those Lines . . ." column letting me know how much they enjoy it and how they'd like to see more information about Canadian research. So, in the spirit of good neighborliness, this column is for you, my Canadian friends. Read along, non-Canadians, and you'll learn some things too. THE BASICS Approaching genealogical research begins the same way in all places. It means starting with yourself and what you know and working backwards. In some places, there are many, many resources available. In others, you may have to dig fairly deep. Most of us will use the resources of census records where they exist, religious records, vital records, and any other materials available. Another source of information is immigration records--those ships' passenger lists and manifests that document the immigration of our ancestors and where they landed. It's these records that we'll discuss in this column. First, you should know that there are no comprehensive lists of immigrant arrivals in Canada prior to 1865. Until that year, shipping companies were not required to create, retain, or supply their passenger lists to the government offices. There are apparently a few of the lists that include passenger names, and the "Miscellaneous Immigration Index" in the archives' reference room is accessible with those few records. The contents relate to immigrants from the British Isles to Quebec and Ontario between the years 1800 and 1849. That information also is included in the inGeneas website at: http://www.ingeneas.com ARCHIVES ARE GOLDEN There are, fortunately, a good many collections of materials, and not just immigration documents, in the holdings of various archives in Canada. Together, let's document a brief overview of some of these archives and their websites. Later, on your own you may take a brief (or detailed) online tour of these archives to discover all that they have to offer. LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES OF CANADA http://www.archives.ca The Library and Archives of Canada provides its content in both English and French. Here you will find a wealth of information for your research, even including portraits of Immigrants and Aboriginal People of Canada, located at: http://collections.ic.gc.ca/portraits/docs/imm/enatimm.htm Descriptions of the archives' immigration records can be located on the following website: http://www.archives.ca/02/02020204_e.html. Here you also will learn something about the immigration policies of the Canadian government. Border Entry records also are available for immigrants arriving across the U.S./Canadian border between April 1908 and December 1935. However, not all immigrants were recorded. Passenger lists from 1865 to 1935 exist and have been microfilmed. Check the website for details at: http://www.archives.ca/02/020202/0202020401_e.html It is important to know that the records are arranged by name of the port of arrival and the date of arrival, with the exception of the years 1923 to 1924 and some records from 1919 to 1922 when a separate governmental reporting Form 30A (individual manifest) was used. Please note that records from 1 January 1936 are still in the custody of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Privacy of individuals is protected, and certain requirements exist. For more information, visit the following website: http://www.archives.ca/02/02020204_e.html#Post-1935%20Immigration%20Records The passenger arrival records in the custody of the National Archives of Canada have been microfilmed. They can be accessed in person by visiting them at 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa, Canada, through Interlibrary Loan among the Canadian libraries, and/or through the LDS Family History Center nearest you. More information concerning other genealogical resources at the National Archives of Canada can be found at: http://www.archives.ca/02/020202_e.html. There are a number of other resources available online for individual ports. These can be found by visiting the Canadian GenWeb Project (http://www.rootsweb.com/~canwgw/), Cyndi's List for Canada (http://www.cyndislist.com/canada.htm), or by using a search engine such as Google (http://www.google.com). There are a growing number of valuable sites with databases and helpful information on immigration, as well as other Canadian records. OTHER RECORDS Immigration records are just the tip of the iceberg. Don't forget to use other record types throughout your Canadian research. These include: --- Ecclesiastical records, including letters of membership transfer --- Marriage records --- Census records --- Naturalization papers --- Death records --- Newspaper articles --- Obituaries --- Cemetery records --- Wills and probate packet documents --- Family histories --- Published local and provincial histories --- Genealogical and historical society documents --- Maritime museums and archives --- Academic libraries and archives and their special collections Each of these is a possible source for prospecting for your immigrant ancestors' origins. AND A GREAT NEW BOOK Researchers who are seeking help in their French-Canadian research already know that there is a distinct lack of published guides in this area. What you may not have known is that there is a new book available on the subject. "French-Canadian Sources: A Guide for Genealogists," is a compilation which began as a project of the French-Canadian/Acadian Genealogical Society of Hales Corners, Wisconsin. The book contains excellent introductory materials to acquaint you with Gallic culture and its organization, but presents clearly written descriptions of all types of records, what they contain, and where to locate them, along with scores of illustrations. The book contains an exhaustive appendix of French vocabulary words and phrases. Another appendix addresses dates in French, while two others provide detailed coverage of Canadian census records and census substitutes. Resources for locating those census records as well as the LDS microfilm resources for the Loiselle Marriage Index are also included. Published in late 2002 by Ancestry, I can tell you that this is one book every genealogist working on French-Canadian ancestry should add to their personal reference book collection. A bientot! George __________________________________________________________________ Copyright 1998-2003, MyFamily.com, Inc. and its subsidiaries. Reprinted by permission from the "Ancestry Daily News" and George Morgan.