Genealogists of the world unite!
Thank you, Kirk, for sharing this outrage from Ontario. Yes, my
Campbell ancestors are from Ontario, and, although I haven't yet gotten
around to using the provincial land records, I blithly assumed that all
such records, at least in "civilized" North American countries, will
always be available when needed. You message IS helpful -- and may spur
me to tapping this resource before it's too late.
What is driving the provincial decision to destroy the records? Storage
space? Is there some way for the the government to achieve its goal
without destroying the records? Microfilm? Private depository? What
is the Ontario Genealogical Society doing about this crisis? Is there
some way the rest of us can help the OGS protest the destruction and/or
safe- guard the records?
Kirk Belanger wrote 09/25:
My wife attended a meeting of the Ontario Genealogical Society A couple of
nights ago and brought back this rather disheartening news:
The Land Record Offices in Ontario stores information from the 1790's forward.
The information is a veritable treasure trove of research material, it contains:
Marriage Settlements
Patent Records
Oath of Office Register
Indian Land Sale to non-native individuals
Canada Registers - plans of highways/phone lines to reservations
Lists of naturalization records
Wills
Purchase of house
Guardianships to estates
Oath of minister to perform marriages
Orders of protection for married women
They also have debenture books and schools, sidewalks roads etc.
The bad news: The Ontario government is in the process of destroying these
records forever and only keeping the records for the past 50 years. The City
of Toronto has already destroyed the records up to 1945.
The lady that gave the presentation stated that they have secured a
temporary stay of execution for these records because she told them how
valuable this information is to many, many people.
If you are researching your family history in this area, I can tell you how
to access these records for the time being if you send me an email, so we
don't clutter the list or, I can post it if you wish.
Finally, you can access some of the government archives at:
http://www.gov.on.ca/mczcr/archives
I hope this is helpful to someone.
Kirk
--
Regards, Edward W. Lollis, Partner, GEOVISUAL BUSINESS SERVICES
"Business Consultants Specializing in Geographic Analysis & Display"
12700 Virginia Manor Road, Beltsville, Maryland 20705-1228, USA
301-470-0100 or 410-813-2001. Fax 301-210-1020. E-mail geovis(a)erols.com