I would like to go and spend a day at the Ontario archives looking for information. I was wondering about a few things: 1. Is there an index which lists all the occurrences of a last name in the archives? NO... (If there was I would think I had died and gone to Heaven) (grin) 2. Do I need to know the dates and places of everyone I am looking for before I go? The more details the better your chances 3. Would a day in the archives be a `lot' of time to do research? I spend a whole day looking for one marriage. Never did find it. 4. Are there any helpful tips anyone can give me? Have fun. Having never been to an archive, I am looking to be well organised so as to not waste my time. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<end of snip>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hi Thom, The first thing you will find upon your arrival is that you must join the Archives... No charge but be prepared to provided personal information. Address etc. The next discovery is that brief cases, backpack etc are not allowed. All of that stuff is left on shelves out by the guard. Not locked so don't bring anything of value. You can take in Binders, note pads, even laptop computers.. Pens (ink) are not permitted... you must work in pencil... come with more than one.. Just inside the door on your left are brochures covering just about every aspect of the archives. They explain how the indexes works for B, D, M,. How the Land Records are indexed, Census, Newspapers, Private collections, etc. If you understood these indexes before you arrive, your time spent would be more productive. Check their website for details on the indexes. You can obtain them through inter-library loan giving you an opportunity to know exactly what you were looking for before your arrival. http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/index.html http://www.gov.on.ca/MCZCR/archives/english/interloan/l-intro.htm Ontario Birth, Marriage and Death Records for a variety of time periods. See articles contributed to the Global Gazette over the last few years which are available free on the Global Gazette website under back issues and articles by topic (http://globalgazette.net/backtop.htm) in particular: Vital Records in Ontario - Part 1 1869 - present: http://globalgazette.net/List001/list29a.htm Vital Records in Ontario - Part 2 1858-1869: http://globalgazette.net/List001/list29b.htm Vital Records in Ontario - Part 3 pre-1858: http://globalgazette.net/List001/list29c.htm Vital Records in Ontario - Part 4 - Additional sources of information: http://globalgazette.net/List001/list29d.htm Records of Birth, Marriage and Death in Canada: CIVIL REGISTRATION at: http://globalgazette.net/gazrr/gazrr29.htm which lists the availability of BMD records in various provinces. Plan your day... What marriages are you looking for.. make a list.. What death records.. make a list.. Plus, based on the date of the event identify, the source of the records you are looking in. What entries on the census, etc... They have a vast number of Newspapers on microfilm... are you planning on looking up announcements/notices... you will need dates as they are not indexed... There are hundreds of newspapers... you will need to know the name of the one for the town / city you are researching... They have an index both by the names of the papers and by location. http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/services/news/cnie.htm Are the people you are looking for Loyalists ? They have many records for this type of research.. Land Grants, Lists of Loyalist. The Order in Council for the sons and daughters, etc. For that you will need the date of the O.C. Don' be afraid to ask for help... There is an information desk with a couple of people there... That's their job... And I have always found them to be very helpful. Some indexes only cover certain periods of time... Official registration only started around the time of Confederation... (I won't go into the exact dates here as they are well documented on Bill Martins website) http://www.tbaytel.net/bmartin/index2.htm The vast majority of the data is on microfilm, but there are only a few machines (2 or 3) that make copies. So you spend your time looking for the item on the older machine and then when a copy machine is available you can make a copy. It's handy at that time to have a pocket of quarters... But they will make change for you. Go early as the place starts to fill up quickly in the summer.. when people take vacations and spend there days there.. No food or drink is allowed. There are several places outside to eat a lunch plus a few restaurants near by. You are going to get hungry as the day goes on... Books and other hard copy items are stored on other floors... you fill in a sheet indicating the book you are looking for and about an hour later it's available... so plan to do other research while your waiting.. And no matter what you do... you will come away with the feeling that you just scratched the surface... Hope this helps... David