RootsChat.Com
Research in Other Countries => Canada => Topic started by: Soureau on Thursday 19 November 09 09:41 GMT (UK)
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Good morning,
I would be very grateful if someone would be kind enough to indicate the best way to go about looking for Bmd records - and eventually census records - for British Columbia and Ontario.
Are they available on-line ? Can anyone please indicate a link ? Are the 1911 Canadian census details the latest ones that can be found ?
This is new to me; any help would be appreciated.
Nick
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Hi Nick:
In case you don't know of this link, you may view actual census images:
http://automatedgenealogy.com/
The latest Canadian census to be released is the 1911.
There is a 1916 census (on An.....y), but that is for the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. (I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong.) ;)
British Columbia indexes:
http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/textual/governmt/vstats/v_events.htm
Limited Ontario BMD (constantly updated):
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onvsr/
They do not have "recent" records. Canada has strict privacy regulations.
If you have an ancestor with an unusual surname, he/she might be found on the following sites (once again, I believe more recent deaths are not included):
http://www.islandnet.com/ocfa/homepage.html
http://www.islandnet.com/bccfa/homepage.html
Because the sites have limited information, it is sometimes difficult to determine if you have found the correct person.
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Hallo Lisa,
Thank you very much for all your information and of course the links, which I will be keen to explore. You've been more than helpful.
I appreciate your time and trouble !
Best wishes,
Nick
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Nick, you are quite welcome. There could be additional sites, depending upon what time period you are searching.
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http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/lac-bac/search-recherche/anc.php?Language=eng
The 1881 and 1891 census are searchable from here as well as other databases.
If you don't find what you need you can always add the details of the family you are looking for and the forum can help.
Debbie
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Good afternoon debbie,
Many thanks for that additional link, which might very well be useful, especially for 1891.
If I do get confused I'll post a request on the board !
Nick
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Hi Nick,
If you do find any matches in the BC Vital Events Index, you can post a request for a copy of the registration. There are several of us out here on the west coast who can do the look up for you. The BC registrations contain a lot of detail including immigration dates, birth date & place, parents' names, place of burial, occupation etc.
Good luck with your research,
Lynwen
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Good evening Lynwen,
At least it's evening here in France !
Thank you kindly for your offer of lookups - I really appreciate that.
Some of my ancestors emigrated to BC between 1883 and 1909. I have some details but need to fill in quite a few gaps so the links and tips everyone has given me on this thread should be of great help.
If I need help I'll send up a smoke signal !
Best wishes,
Nick
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http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/immigrants/021017-2000-e.html
This site might be useful as background information on policies of emmigration, subsidy programs, advertising in Europe, etc.
Debbie
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Thanks for the info about the 1916 Sask census ... I clicked the link; found who I wanted ... then up came the page telling me I had to subscribe to the Canada Ancestry ... bother, thought I'd be able to get to it via my UK subscription !
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Good evening everyone,
The BC Vital Events link has proved very useful - many thanks.
However, I can't find one birth - perhaps someone more familiar with the records would be kind enough to give me a hand ?
Edna B. WELCH daughter of Herbert Hatton WELCH & Mary FRENCH, born 1897 in BC, maybe in New Westminster or Victoria, not sure.
I also need a littel help with Ontario, but I'll do a separate post for that.
Any help much appreciated.
Nick
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Hi Nick,
I can't find a matching birth record but their is a marriage record for Edna Bertha Welch to William Carmichael in 1927. Also a death record for Edna Bertha Carmichael in 1972.
I will be at the library tomorrow afternoon so I'll look up the registrations as they both list the place of birth. She might have been born in one of the prairie provinces as a lot of moved in steps from east to west.
Lynwen
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Hallo Lynwen,
Very kind of you to look up records on your library visit for me. Greatly appreciated.
While trawling through census records I picked up a piece of information which should be useful. Edna was probably born on 11th November 1897, apparently in B.C.
I'm presuming the death record for 1972 is in BC too ? Like you I found the 1927 marriage with William Carmichael not long ago this afternoon.
Thank you for your time and help.
Nick
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Hi Nick,
I was able to get the details from the death record but the film containing the marriage is currently missing. I have asked the library to track it down for another look up on this board so hopefully they'll find it soon.
Here are the details from the death registration:
Died on 30 Dec 1972 at St Vincent's Hospital in Vancouver
Usual Address #2 1556 West 14th Ave, Vancouver
In city - life, in province - life, in Canada - life
Widow, spouse William McMillan Carmichael
Born Vancouver BC on 11 Nov 1897
Occupation housewife
Father Herbert Welch
Mother Mary French
Informant daughter
Buried 3 Jan 1973, Mountain View Cemetery
Cause of death cerebral hemorrhage
I will PM the daughter's name as she may still be alive. I checked the index and could not find any birth for Edna no matter what options I tried. I suppose it is possible her birth was not registered. I'll check the marriage record when the film shows up as Edna would have provided the information first hand. The informant on death certificates can only provide the information to the best of their knowledge.
One last thing, you can email Mountain View Cemetery and ask if they have a photo of Edna's headstone. They have a database of photos of all the headstones in the cemetery and luckily they were all taken in the summer time. Their contact details are here:
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/NONMARKEtOPERATIONS/MOUNTAINVIEW/contact.htm
They may be able to tell you who else is buried in the plot. Make sure you mention you are out of town as it seems to generate a faster response!
Regards,
Lynwen
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Lynwen,
A great many thanks for going to the trouble of looking up all that information for me; it ties up quite a few loose ends and I very much appreciate it.
Have also received your PM on the informant.
Thank you for your time.
Nick
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Hi Nick,
The BC Birth Registrations are now available online at the LDS Family Search pilot site so I took a chance and searched for Edna and her birth is there. You can download the image from the site. Not sure why it doesn't come up on the BC gov't site but I assume it has been horribly mis-transcribed.
Here is the link in case you don't already have it:
http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#start
Lynwen
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Good morning Lynwen,
It had never occurred to me to try the LDS Pilot Site. I have used it for other research in the north of England, but you've given me a great idea !!
Many thanks for your continuing interest and help. It's greatly appreciated !
Nick
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Edna B. WELCH daughter of Herbert Hatton WELCH & Mary FRENCH, born 1897 in BC, maybe in New Westminster or Victoria, not sure.
Wow, Nick. Edna was my grandmother, so if you’re related to her, then we must be related somehow.
Greg
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Good afternoon Greg,
Many thanks for your message about Edna. I'm going to send you a Personal Message (PM) as we are, indeed, distant cousins ! I will explain with chapter and verse in my PM.
Thanks very much for picking up this old post !
Best wishes,
Nick