Research: Ontario Ancestors

Note: This course requires compulsory materials to be ordered.

The Book, “Genealogy in Ontario: Searching the Records” by Brenda Douglas Merriman is available at GenealogyStore.com

Optional Print Course Material: Research: Ontario Ancestors

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

This eight-module course is based on a compulsory book written by Brenda Dougall Merriman, Genealogy in Ontario: Searching the Records (30th Anniversary edition, 2013 or 4th edition, 2008). Earlier editions of Genealogy in Ontario (1984, 1988, 1992 and 2004) do not apply, especially with regard to updates and page number references. 

The bulk of the course reading material is found in Genealogy in Ontario. You will be given specific chapters for each module’s required reading and assignments. Each module will also have some extra additions or explanations. Students will learn about basic genealogical sources for this province, as well as how to find and evaluate them.

NOTE: Genealogy in Ontario was written for both beginners and more advanced researchers. For this course, we are not expecting you to learn or understand more than the fundamental sources and good research habits.

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants entered the province of Ontario (formerly Upper Canada and then Canada West) from the late eighteenth century to the twenty-first century. It has been a major arrival point, or destination, for arrivals, at first from the British Isles and the United States, and then from continental Europe and beyond. Of course, numerous families stayed for generations, but others moved on after a generation or so—countless descendants are seeking their first North American roots here. A rich mass of resources awaits the family historian new to this locale. A great deal of documentation the collections at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) in Ottawa and the Archives of Ontario (AO) in Toronto, but both centres are constantly adding online descriptions, finding aids, and searchable databases. 

Course Length: 9 weeks