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 Genealogy and Local History Collection
What you'll find on the page: Cemetery Records The cemetery records in the Special Collections, Genealogy and Maps Centre are transcriptions of headstones, not actual records of cemeteries. Genealogical societies in Canada transcribe the markers in many cemeteries. The library does its best to acquire all of these publications. Cemetery records from Great Britain, Ireland and the United States are limited.
Census Census returns give varying amounts of personal information, including age, sex, occupation and country of origin for each member of a household. Canada began taking a regular census in 1851, continuing every 10 years. Returns dating from 1666 to 1901 are available to the public. The Special Collections Centre has microfilms of these returns for all of Canada, except Ontario. It does, however, have returns for Toronto and York County. You'll also find Newfoundland census records for 1921, 1935 and 1945. To access the microfilm for all of Ontario, please visit the Archives of Ontario. The microfilm for all of Canada is available at the Canadiana Department of the North York Central Library.
In addition, the Special Collections Centre collects printed indexes to census records. The Index to the 1871 Census of Ontario series, published by the Ontario Genealogical Society, is worth noting. We also house some indexes to the United States census for 1790 and 1800. You'll find indexes are valuable time savers, as census returns are not in alphabetical order.
City Directories-Retrospective The library has a large collection of city directories with information on residence and occupation. Listing residents by name, and often by address, directories are helpful when searching other genealogical resources, such as census records. This collection includes: For Canada
Most pre-1901 Canadian directories are available on CIHM microfiche.
Immigration Records Few early immigration records exist for Canada, so our collection is limited to published passenger lists, usually from ships arriving in American ports. The Special Collections Centre collects series about specific groups immigrating to the United States, such as Irish famine immigrants. William Filby's Passenger and Immigration Lists Index is an index to these and smaller publications. The National Archives has microfilmed ships' passenger lists after 1865 for official Canadian ports. The microfilm is available in the Canadiana Department of the North York Central Library and at the Archives of Ontario.
Military Records The Special Collections Centre has substantial holdings of Canadian and British regimental histories and military lists. These include information about individuals, usually officers. Of particular interest to genealogists are the militia and defence force lists for Canada, Great Britain and (to a lesser extent) the United States, France and Prussia. Medal rolls (The Register of the Victoria Cross, for example) and regimental histories are also available. The library has guides to genealogical research in military records, such as In Search of Army Ancestry. At the Main Reference Centre, you'll find The Canadian Military Experience 1867-1967: a Bibliography, and other bibliographies of military history.
"Registers of Births, Etc." The library does not have official registers of births, deaths, or marriages. We use "Registers of Births, Etc." to describe any list of people that includes some vital records. The Special Collections Centre only keeps published records, such as transcriptions of parish registers. We make every effort to obtain all of these for Canada. Only scattered records are available for the United States, Great Britain and other countries. The International Genealogical Index (IGI), available on CD-ROM in the Special Collections Centre, includes references to many vital records.
Telephone Directories Current telephone directories for Canada, the United States, most of Great Britain and major cities around the world are located on the first floor of the Toronto Reference Library. The Special Collections Centre has older editions of phone books, including telephone directories for Bell Canada areas in Ontario and Quebec, dating from 1878. We also have selected directories from across Canada, dating mostly from post-1970. United States telephone directories on microfiche date from 1979, and some British directories from 1990 are available as well.
Voters Lists The Special Collections Centre has an extensive collection of municipal voters lists for Toronto. The earliest list dates from 1886 and the collection becomes comprehensive in the 1970s. The lists are limited to years when municipal elections took place. A few municipal voters lists are available in the CIHM microfiche collection.
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