Local History & Genealogy

Guide to Census Records

Getting Started

Census :  an official enumeration of populations that can help you discover birth dates, the names of parents and siblings, immigration details and much more.

Search the library's website for:

• census handbooks  for background and tips on using the censuses of various countries
• Add  location and year to the word "census"
• Use library recommended websites to discover a variety of  online census records.

    Suggested Titles:

 Finding answers in British Isles Census records . 

    Additional material on Great Britain census handbooks

 Guide to the United States census 1790 - 1930. 

    Additional material on the American censuses

Manual containing "The Census Act" and the instructions to officers employed in the taking of the first census of Canada (1871)  .

    Additonal material for 1871 census of Ontario.

Online Resources

Canadian Census Records Online

Catalogue of Census Returns on Microfilm 1666- 1901
Searchable online geographic index allows for identifying microfilm reel numbers for census returns. 

Electoral Atlas of the Dominion of Canada
Provides access to a set of detailed maps showing federal electoral boundaries. Most of the electoral districts described in this 1895 atlas are identical to the 1901 census districts. Detailed ward maps for cities are also available.

All  Canadian census returns from 1851 to 1916 have been digitized and are currently available on multiple websites in addition to Ancestry Library Edition.   Ancestry Library Edition can be used in any Toronto Public Library branch and has all Canadian censuses from 1851.

Below are websites that have census information. Note: some are indexes, some have images, some are only searachable geographically.

Library and Archives Canada : Censuses 

Gives an overview of the Census collection with links to LAC census databases and finding aids.  The microfilm of the 1916 census  has also been digitized. Details on census column headings, abbreviations and enumeration dates can also be found on their site.

Canadian Censuses on FamilySearch  includes provincial censuses prior to 1842, and censuses 1851 - 1906, and 1916. 1861 census is listed by province. FamilySearch is provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Automated Genealogy has indexed the 1852 census (Ontario and Quebec and New Brunswick), 1901, 1906 and 1911 censuses

OntarioRoots.com   has a Toronto Street Finder for ward and district for the 1901 and 1911 censuses.

The Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH), has the 1851/2 and 1881 census data.

Alberta Genealogical Society, Edmonton Branch   has indexed the 1901 census for Alberta and Saskatchewan.

 Newfoundland (prior to entering Confederation in 1949)

Transcriptions for various years Newfoundland (Newfoundland's Grand Banks Genealogical and Historical  Data)   Some are incomplete.

 

British and Irish Census Records Online

1841 - 1911 Census for England,Wales and Channel Islands   (FamilySearch)
  ( note: 1871 census is ~ 80% complete)

1901 Census of England and Wales
Free to search, pay to view records

1911 census of England and Wales
Free to search, pay to view records

IRELAND

Griffith's Valuation 1847 -1864
Griffith's is considered the Irish Census substitute.

Census of Ireland 1901/1911

 SCOTLAND

Scotlands People
Census records for 1841 - 1911. Free surname searches; pay to view records.

1841 - 1891 censuses  free on Family Search.

US Census Records Online

1790 - 1940 US censuses  (FamilySearch)
 Indexed and usually linked to images. Free

Digitized microfilm of 1790 - 1930 US census on Internet Archive. For help in using the microfilm try Donslist Finding Guides. 

Note: 1890 US census largely destroyed by fire.

In Library Resources

North York Central Library's Canadiana Department has all the available Canadian census records on microfilm. It also has an extensive collection of Ontario census indexes published by various genealogical organizations. The Toronto Reference Library  has microfilm census records for provinces outside Ontario. Prior to the 1911 census, its Ontario holdings are limited to Toronto & York County only. To identify which microfilm reel to search, consult the Catalogue of Census Returns on Microfilm 1666 - 1901 also available in paper format.  

The Toronto Reference Library's Humanities and Social Sciences Department houses many CD-ROMs and materials for U.S. and British and Irish census resources as well as early Quebec censuses (1660's) and the 1681 census of New France.

Ancestry Library Edition can be used on any computer in a Toronto Public Library branch, but is not available remotely.  It allows individual name searches, often with original images to:

Canadian censuses 1851 - 1916;  UK Census Collection for 1841 - 1911;  American  Census Records 1790 - 1940 and some European census records

Quebec Records.com  (available at North York Central and Toronto Reference Library)

French Canadian genealogy resource includes census information for Quebec in 1881 and for both Quebec and Ontario in 1901.  

 Additional Library Collections

Ontario Genealogical Society Deposit Collection  at the North York Central Library has an excellent collection of materials on British, American and Canadian censuses.

 

Canadiana Department, North York Central  416-395-5623

Humanities and Social Sciences, Toronto Reference Library 416-395-5577

 

Jane's walks this weekend!

Jane’s Walks will be held on May 4 and 5 in almost every neighbourhood in Toronto, as well as in many other Canadian centres and countries around the world. 

Named to honour writer and civic activist Jane Jacobs, several Toronto walks feature Toronto Public Library branches, including:

• Layers of Leaside (Leaside Branch)
• Lawrence Park at 100+ (Locke Branch)
• A Tour of the International Market (Maria Shchuka Branch) 
• Not a boring walk (Mount Dennis Branch)
• Making Riverside: a behind the scenes of Queen Street East (Queen/Saulter Branch)
  
• Birch Cliff: Scarborough Old and New (Taylor Memorial Branch)
• Layers of Thorncliffe Park (Thorncliffe Branch)
  
• Historical Walking Tour of Yorkville (Yorkville Branch)
  

Toronto’s Jane’s Walks are promoted thematically, and there are walks to suit a variety of interests: the history buff, the nature lover, the athlete, to name just a few. With so much to choose from, it will be difficult for me to decide which walks to take. Should I get a different perspective on the neighbourhoods that I know, or explore ones that are less familiar to me?  Either way, I am bound to learn a lot, and, as a bonus, get out and enjoy what promises to be wonderful weather with a group of kindred spirits.

For those who prefer a more sedentary approach to discover the city, check out our Toronto Neighbourhoods Map to easily locate hisroric maps, pictures, and other library resources.

Toronto Public Library helps celebrate Leaside 100

 

Reception for returned troops, 1919

The Leaside neighbourhood is celebrating its 100^th anniversary this year. It was incorporated as a town by an act of the provincial legislature passed on April 23, 1913.

The centennial festivities include an archival exhibit, the Layers of Leaside, that explores the area’s cultural landscape over many years.

The exhibit will be on display at Toronto Public Library's Leaside Branch from Tuesday April 23 to Sunday April 28, 2013. (The branch will be open for regular service, 1:30 to 5, on that Sunday only.)

Jane Pitfield and Geoff Kettel will lead several historical walking tours in connection with the exhibit, including one on Sunday April 28 from 1:30 to 3:30 starting and ending at Leaside Library.

Thorncliffe Park proposed plan, 1956?

The Leaside 100 committee used some materials for its exhibit from the collections of the Toronto Public Library.  Geoff Kettel found the Toronto neighbourhoods map on the library’s website especially helpful to locate materials quickly.  “The library has the most accessible collections of all of the resources we used,” he claimed.  The neighbourood map links users to library records about Leaside and neighbouring Thorncliffe Park, which became part of the town in 1954. 

Broadway Avenue, 1949

These include digital pictures and photographs of Leaside from the Special Collections Department, Toronto Reference Library. Dating back to 1900, the majority of the images were created in the 1940s and 1950s by James Victor Salmon (1911-1958), a gifted amateur photographer who lived in Leaside for part of that time. His images of buildings, streetscapes and events are an invaluable record of the town’s mature phase of development after the Second World War.

Leaside by Jane Pitfield

Catalogue records for books about Leaside and Thorncliffe Park also are provided on the library's website.  Most titles are available for reference in the Leaside Branch Local History Collection.  Housed in the Leaside Room, the collection also includes pictures, maps and scrapbooks that library staff has gathered from a variety of sources over the years.  

Toronto's community newspapers are an important but often overlooked source of local information. Leaside Branch has several local papers. The Leaside Advertiser, published from 1941 until about 1999, claimed to be "Leaside's home newspaper - the ONLY published and printed in the town" in 1960 when our holdings begin. Current papers in the collection include Leaside-Rosedale Town Crier, which started in 1981 as the Leaside Villager, and Leaside Life News.  Microfilm copies of some titles are available at the Toronto Reference Library. There are some gaps in the library's holdings, and we would appreciate hearing from anyone who could help us fill them.  

First Leaside Library, 1946

Not surprisingly, the history of library service in Leaside is well documented at Leaside Branch. Key resources are photographs of library services and facilities, and annual reports of the Leaside Public Library Board, which operated from 1944 to 1967 when the Town of Leaside joined with the Township of East York to form the Borough of East York.

A selection of materials from the Leaside Branch Local History Collection will be added to Toronto Public Library’s Digital Archive later this year. 

 

 

 

 

Black Genealogy

Getting Started

The Canadiana Department at North York Central Library houses research material for genealogists and local historians, with a particular emphasis on Canada and includes the Deposit Collections of five genealogical societies. The Toronto Reference Library (TRL) has an extensive genealogy collection including non-Canadian genealogy.

Searching the Library Website

Suggested Keywords:

• Black Canadians genealogy

• Blacks genealogy

• Black Loyalists

• Blacks Ontario  or another province e.g. Blacks Nova Scotia

• Underground railroad Canada

Suggested Titles: Handbooks and Guides

American and Caribbean

• African American genealogy: a bibliograpny and guide to sources
• Black genesis: a resource book for African-American genealogy
• Black roots: a beginner's guide...
• Caribbeana: a re-publishing project for Caribbean genealogy
• Finding Oprah's roots: finding your own    
• Genealogist's guide to discovering your African-American ancestors: how to find and record your unique heritage
• Jamaican ancestry: how to find out more
• Lineages and linkages: solving Trinidad roots in India
• Tree without roots...tracing British, African and Asian Caribbean ancestry

Canada: Early Black history

• Black Loyalist directory: African Americans in exile after the American revolution
• Blacks in Canada: a history
• Dictionnaire des esclaves et de leurs propriétaires au Canada français
• Ontario's African-Canadian heritage: collected writings
• Spirit of Africville (2nd ed)
• Under the north star: Black communities in Upper Canada before Confederation

Publications on Black settlements in various town and townships in Ontario are also available.

Using Online Resources

Recommended Websites:

•  Blacks- Genealogy

Recommended Databases:

• Globe and Mail - Canada's heritage from 1844 (available from outside the library with a valid TPL library card)

• Toronto Star: Pages of the Past (available from outside the library with a valid TPL library card)

In Library Resources

Database

• Ancestry Library Edition (access from any Toronto Public Library computer)
e.g. their database "Slave registers of former British colonial dependencies in 1812- 1834"

Additional In Library Resources

African-Canadian newspapers on microfilm

• Voice of the Fugitive 1851 -1852 (Windsor)
• Dawn of Tomorrow 1932 - 1972 (Canadian League for Advancement of Colored People)
• West Indian News Observer 1967 -1969 (Toronto)
• Islander 1973 - 1975 (Toronto)
• Uhuru 1969 - 1970 (Montreal)

Other Resources

• Canada: a people's history, Episode 3 (DVD) on the Loyalists and Episode 5 on the Underground Railway.

• Rita Cox Black and Caribbean Heritage Collection [at the following TPL branches : Cedarbrae, Maria A. Shchuka, Parkdale and York Woods]

For further assistance contact:

Canadiana Department, North York Central Library  416-395-5623

Humanities and Social Sciences Department, Toronto Reference Library 416-395-5577

Digitized Toronto Newspapers: Globe & Mail and Toronto Star

Getting Started

The Toronto Star - Pages of the Past and the Globe & Mail – Canada’s Heritage from 1844 are two databases that allow users to search for words and phrases in complete issues of these newspapers.   These databases display images of the newspapers as they were originally published, including news stories, editorials, photographs, advertisements, classifieds, and birth, marriage, and death notices.

Coverage: (usually stops at 3 years before the current year)

Globe and Mail - Canada's Heritage: starts in 1844

Toronto Star - Pages of the Past: starts in 1894

 

Access to the databases from outside the library 

Note: Valid Toronto Public Library card required. (Many Ontario Public Libraries also subscribe to these two databases)

• Select A - Z list of all databases on the Toronto Public Library website
• Scroll down and choose either Globe & Mail: Canada's Heritage or Toronto Star: Pages of the Past
• Click the "Access Online" button.
• Sign in using your Toronto Public Library card and PIN number


Searching the newspapers

• For the Globe & Mail choose either  "Search by Word or Phrase" or "Browse by Date"

 

• For the Toronto Star use "Click here to Search".

 

 

• Select a start date and end date. You can search from one day to 5 years at a time
• Narrow your search by selecting a particular section e.g. News, Births/Deaths/Obits etc.  Caution is advised when specifying content/section in older newspapers

 

Searching for a phrase or a person's name

Do not use any punctuation in the Toronto Star database.

All Words is the default search type and will include any pages where all the words appear, even if they are on different parts of the page.

Exact Phrase retrieves pages where the words appear exactly as you have entered them (e.g. the words "John Smith" together). You may need to enter names in reverse order ( e.g. "Smith, John")  to find occurrences in obituaries, lists, etc.

 Viewing the results of a search

• A chronological list of newspaper pages matching your search appears
• Click on the date to view
• Search terms may be highlighted in yellow, but if not, use CTRL- F (Find) to locate your search terms.
• To change the size of the image use the Adobe toolbar (hover the mouse at the bottom of the image to bring up the toolbar) and use the + or - buttons.
• Use the arrow buttons at the top of the screen to move to the next or previous result. To return to the complete list of results, click on  Results List.

 

Printing or Saving

To print the whole newspaper page, reduced to letter or legal size paper, click on the printer icon in the Adobe toolbar and select  "Print All".  

To print part of a newspaper page:

• Click on the Graphics Select button    in the Adobe Acrobat toolbar.
• Select the area you want to print by clicking the mouse and dragging it to draw a box.
• Click on the print button in the Adobe toolbar and
• Select the "Print Selected Grahic" option.

Note:  The "Graphics Select" feature is only found in newer versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader. Older version of Acrobat Reader will only allow you to print the whole page.

To save a page to a flash drive/memory stick (PDF format)

• insert a memory stick into the computer
• click the diskette/save icon in the Adobe toolbar 
• in the "save in" box select the correct drive name, for instance "E", for the flash drive
• click "Save"

Not getting the results you expected?

Review any punctuation - is it allowable? The computer sometimes reads words incorrectly due to poor resolution especially in the earlier papers. Column or line breaks with unexpected hyphens can also create problems. Try alternate spellings, different search settings or Browse by Date (Globe and Mail) or enter a date to browse the Toronto Star.

 

Military Records

Getting Started

When searching for ancestors in earlier military records such as muster rolls or pay lists, you may only find lists of names.  However in later periods, personnel records which include date and place of birth, next of kin and occupation may be available. The Canadiana Department at North York Central Library has resources focusing primarily on Canadian military records.  The Toronto Reference Library has additional resources on British records.

Searching the Library Website

Suggested Subjects and Keywords

• Military pensions
• World War 1914-1918 registers or World War 1939-1945 registers
• [location] militia registers e.g. Ontario militia registers
• [name of war] officers e.g. War of 1812 officers
• Canadian Expeditionary Force (for World War I)
• Canada war medals
• [regimental name] e.g. Princess Patricia's
• regimental histories [location] e.g. regimental histories Canada

Suggested Titles

General

• Canadian military experience 1867 - 1995: a bibliography
• In search of the "forlorn hope": a comprehensive guide to locating British regiments and their records
• My ancestor was in the British army: how can I find out more about him?
• Regiments and corps of the Canadian army

War of 1812

• His majesty's gentlemen: a directory of regular British Army officers of the War of 1812
• Redcoated ploughboys....militia of Upper Canada 1813-1815. (ebook and print)
• Soldiers of the King: the Upper Canadian militia 1812 - 1815
• Taken and destroyed: War of 1812 losses claims, London and western districts.
• York's sacrifice: militia casualties of the war of 1812  (ebook and print)

1828-1913

• "The Canadians": those who served in South Africa, 1899-1902
• Men of Upper Canada: militia nominal rolls, 1828-1829
• Militia list for Canada West, 1847
• Répertoire des officiers de milice du Bas-Canada

1914 - 1918

• C.E.F. roll of honour...1914-1919
• List of officers and men serving in the First Canadian Contingent of the British Expeditionary Force 1914

1939-1945

• Canadians in the Royal Air Force
• Index to overseas deaths of Ontario servicemen and servicewomen 1939-1947
• They shall grow not old: a book of remembrance
• Official casualty lists: Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian army, Royal Canadian Air Force, 1941-

Using Online Resources

Recommended Websites

• Military Records
• Library and Archives Canada: Military (overview)
  •     Soldiers of the South African War
  •     Soldiers of the First World War CEF
  •     Second World War Service Files: Canadian Armed Forces War Dead

In Library Resources

Database

• Ancestry Library Edition (access from any Toronto Public Library computer)

Periodical 

• Canadian Military History

Microfilms  (those marked with *** have been digitized at Library and Archives Canada )

Check the finding aid available at the North York Central Library:

• 1755-1815 Registers of POWs
• 1777-1783 Loyalist regiment muster rolls (see also Online Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies)
• 1812 Claims for losses index (and documents)***
• War of 1812 nominal rolls & paylists - Lower and Upper Canada***
• 1812-1838 index to British military and naval records (and documents)***
• Records relating to the Rebellion of 1837/8
• 1866-1870 Fenian Raids bounty, general service, medal registers
• 1885 - North West Rebellion medal registers
• 1899-1902 - South Africa/Boer War medal registers
• 1902 - Coronation medallion register
• 1910-1940 - Canadian Navy lists
• 1914-1917 - Canadian Expeditionary Forces nominal rolls

Note: medal registers information has also been indexed in the Library and Archives Canada database "Medals, Honours and Awards" 

For further assistance contact:

Canadiana Department, North York Central Library 416-395-5623

Humanities and Social Sciences Department, Toronto Reference Library 416-395-5577

Jewish Genealogy

Getting Started

 The Canadiana Department at the North York Central Library specializes in Canadian genealogy and Ontario local history.  Canadiana also houses the Deposit Collection from the Jewish Genealogical Society of Canada (Toronto branch). The Toronto Reference Library has additional resources on British and international Jewish genealogy.

Searching the Library Website

Suggested Subjects and Keywords

• Jews genealogy
• Jews [place name] genealogy e.g. Jews United States genealogy
• Jews [country] directories e.g. Jews Canada directories
• Personal names Jewish
• Holocaust Jewish
• [surname] family e.g. Rubinoff family

Suggested Titles

General

• Avotaynu guide to Jewish genealogy
• Discovering your Jewish ancestors
• Getting started in Jewish genealogy
• Field guide to visiting a Jewish cemetery
• A guide to reading Hebrew inscriptions and documents
• Sephardic genealogy: discovering your Sephardic ancestors and their world
• World Jewish Directory

Canada and the U.S.

• Encyclopedia of Jewish Genealogy, volume 1: sources in the United States and Canada
• A student's guide to Jewish American genealogy
• Jews resident in Ontario according to the 1851 to 1901 censuses of Canada
→More on Jewish residents in the rest of Canada
• Roots and remembrance: explorations in Jewish genealogy
• Salt fish and shmattes: the history of the Jews in Newfoundland and Labrador from 1770
→More on Canada

Great Britain

• A beginner's guide to Jewish genealogy in Great Britain
• A guide to Jewish genealogy in the United Kingdom
• Tracing your Jewish ancestors: a guide...
• When Scotland was Jewish: ...twelfth century Semitic roots
→More on Great Britain

Europe

• Finding your Jewish roots in Galicia
• A dictionary of Jewish surnames from the Russian Empire
• A dictionary of Jewish surnames from the Kingdom of Poland
• →More on Poland
• A guide to Jewish genealogy in Germany and Austria
• A guide to Jewish genealogy in Latvia and Estonia
• Where once we walked: a guide to Jewish communities destroyed by the Holocaust

Israel

• A guide to Jewish genealogical research in Israel
• Guidebook for Sephardic and Oriental genealogical sources in Israel

Using Online Resources

Recommended websites

• Jews - Genealogy
• Library and Archives Canada: Genealogy - Jews
Check the Likacheff-Ragosine-Mathers collection (LI-RA-MA) for documents such as passports and identity papers of those who came to Canada from the Russian Empire between 1898 and 1922.

Recommended databases

• JewishGen

The databases below require a TPL library card to login

• Encyclopedia Judaica
• Globe and Mail - Canada's Heritage from 1844
• Toronto Star - Pages of the Past

In Library Resources

Database

• Ancestry Library Edition (access from any Toronto Public Library computer)

Periodicals

• Avotaynu: the international review of Jewish genealogy
• Shem Tov

Microforms

• Jewish genealogical people finder
• Jewish genealogical consolidated surname index

Additional Sources

• Jewish Genealogical Society of Canada (Toronto Branch)

Consult the JGS Toronto Branch's Resources link .  The Canadiana Department at North York Central Library houses their library collection.  Their library includes an extensive collection of periodicals from other Jewish genealogical societies, some family histories, as well as directories, dictionaries, bibliographies of memorial books and information on local and European Jewish cemeteries.

For further assistance contact:

Canadiana Department, North York Central Library 416-395-5623

Humanities and Social Sciences Department, Toronto Reference Library 416-395-5577

Genealogical Biography

Getting Started

Could your ancestors have been  prominent in their community?  Did they belong to a group or association, or were  they members of a profession or trade?  They may well appear in publications produced by these organizations. The Toronto Reference Library and the Canadiana Department at North York Central Library hold numerous examples of such resources, ranging from biographical dictionaries to membership directories.

Searching the Library website

Suggested keywords and subjects:

The terms "biography", "dictionaries" and "directories" can be useful in combination with the group/occupation/place  for instance:

• [occupation] [place] biography e.g. farmers Ontario biography

• [place] biography e.g. Muskoka biography

• [occupation] [place] directories e.g. artists Ontario directories ; lawyers Ontario directories

• [group] [place] biography e.g.  women Toronto biography; politicians Ontario biography

• [group] biography dictionaries e.g. musicians biography dictionaries

 

Suggested Titles

General Biography

• Biographical scrapbooks: Index  (1911-1967)
• Biography and Genealogy Master Index
• Canadian who's who    (1898 - )
• Canadian who's who index (1898 - 1984)
• Cyclopaedia of Canadian biography  (1886 - 1919)
• Dictionary of Canadian biography  (also available online)
• Macmillan dictionary of Canadian biography   (to 1978)
• Prominent people of the province of Ontario  (to 1925)
• Standard dictionary of Canadian biography   (1875 - 1937)
• Who's who in Canada   (1913 - 2001)

Arts & Education

• Biographical index of artists in Canada
• Schools and teachers in the province of Ontario  
• High schools yearbooks
• University yearbooks

Ethnicities

• Biographical dictionary of Canadian Jewry 1909 - 1914
• Dictionnaire biographique des ancêtres québécois 1608 - 1700
  
• Ethnic directory of Canada
• Who's who in Black Canada
  

Business, Government and Legal

• Blue book of Canadian business
• Canadian directory of parliament 1867 - 1967 
• Canadian parliamentary companion
• Canadian parliamentary guide
• Canadian law list  (1890's)  Canadian law list (1900's - present)
• Upper Canada law list
  

 Local

• Commemorative biographical record of the County of York 
• Dau's official blue book for Toronto
• Municipality of Toronto: a history  (to 1923)
• Sketches of celebrated Canadians  (to 1862)
• Society blue book of Toronto... (various years online)
• Torontonian society blue book  [1921-1946]
• Upper Canada sons and daughters of United Empire Loyalists
  

Medical

• Canadian medical directory and physician's handbook
• Canadian medical directory  (1955 - )
• Medical directory of Toronto and suburbs  (1900,1903)
• Medical register for Upper Canada 1867
• Ontario medical register  and Ontario medical register [1870 - 1898]  on microfiche

Regional

• Atlantic Canadians 1600 - 1900
• Central Canadians 1600 - 1900
• French Canadians 1600 -1900
• Western Canadians 1600 - 1900

Religious

• Ontario Catholic yearbook and directory
• Catholic almanac of Ontario for 1895 and 1898  (Online)
• United Church of Canada yearbook
• Yearbook and clergy list of the Church of England in the Dominion of Canada
• [Methodist clergy]

 

Early Immigrants - Lists

    There are numerous titles about early immigrants from various European locations.  Check our Passenger List Research Guide

 

Online Resources

    Available through the TPL website with a TPL library card:

• CBCA(Canadian Business and Current Affairs)
• Canadian Parliamentary Guide
• Canadian Periodical Index (CPI.Q)(1980 - )
• Early Canadiana Online     (for complete content, TPL library card required)
• Globe and Mail - Canada's Heritage since 1844
• Toronto Star -  Pages of the Past

Available on the Internet:

• Architectural Index for Ontario
• Canadian Encyclopedia Online/Encyclopedia of Music in Canada
• Dictionary of Canadian Biography online
• Our Roots   (Canadian local histories)
• Internet Archive  (wide selection of digitized books including directories)

In Library Resources

• Canadian Periodical Index   (1920 - )
• Canadian Newspaper and Canadian News Indexes  (1977 -1992)

• Newspapers  on microfilm  such as:
  •  Toronto Telegram (1876 - 1971)
  •  Ottawa Citizen (1850 -   )
  •  Winnipeg Free Press (1874 - 2010)
  •  Montreal Gazette (1785 -   )

 

For further assistance contact:

Canadiana Department, North York Central Library,  416-395-5623

Humanities and Social Sciences Department, Toronto Reference Library,  416-395-5577

Historical Walking Tour of North York Centre, Saturday, September 15, 2012, 10:30 to noon

You are invited to join me and other library staff, along with our partners in the North York Historical Society, the North York Community Preservation Panel and Gibson House Museum, for an historical walking tour of the North York Centre neighbourhood.

North York Central Library, 1987

Meet us at 10:30 in the first floor atrium of North York Central Library this Saturday, September 15 to start the tour.  The walk is part of the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of North York Central Library, 1987-2012, and participants will be provided with a commemorative walking tour booklet.  The booklet will also be available electronically on the Toronto Public Library website following the tour.

I have worked at North York Central Library for the past 14 years, and have come not only to rely on its extensive collections (638,893 items in 2011) and expert staff, but also to appreciate the neighbourhood where the library is located.

Here can be found a cluster of Modernist buildings designed by some of the country's most prominent architectural firms: Moriyama and Teshima (North York City Centre including the North York Central Library); Adamson Associates (North York Civic Centre); Zeidler Roberts (Toronto Centre for the Arts) and Mathers & Haldenby (Toronto District School Board).

Joseph Sheppard II (Dempsey Bros.) store, 1921

Here too, amazingly, are three Georgian Revival buildings – a store and two houses – survivors from the Willowdale and Lansing farming communities of the 1850s and 1860s. The trio all were built after their first owners, David Gibson, Joseph Shepard II and Michael Shepard, returned from exile in the United States, where they had escaped following the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837.

The neighbourhood also boasts extensive public spaces – parks, a huge cemetery and an attractive square - where I often relax and sometimes exercise during lunch breaks.  

I must admit that I am a convert to the charms of the neighbourhood. When I was sent, figuratively kicking and screaming, to North York Central Library following library (and municipal) amalgamation in 1998, as far as I was concerned the city ended at Yonge and Lawrence and the idea of a North York “downtown” was ludicrous. 

My opinion of North York Public Library was slightly more favourable.  I grudgingly acknowledged that, although it was such a newbie compared to Toronto Public Library (it began in 1883) where I had worked for many years, its achievements were impressive.  In less than half a century since 1950, North York's public library had grown from having 2,740 items in a room in a community centre to housing several hundred thousand volumes in a seven-storey Central Library (officially opened on June 4, 1987), which also provided support to five regional branches, 13 community branches and various deposit collections.

In the subsequent years, my respect for North York Central Library has grown and my feelings about the local area have changed radically. Join us on Saturday, and discover, as I did, that North York Centre is one of Toronto’s most interesting and surprising neighbourhoods. 

Asian Genealogy

Getting Started

Trace your Chinese ancestors in Canada using immigration records and head tax certificates.  The Library also has some handbooks and name guides on Japanese, Korean and East Indian genealogies. Some resources are written in the ethnic language.

Searching the Library Website

Suggested Subjects and Keywords

• [name of ethnic group]  genealogy  e.g. Chinese genealogy
• [name of ethnic group]  names   e.g. Japanese names
• [name of ethnic group] place  e.g. Koreans Ontario

Suggested Titles

• Asian American genealogical sourcebook
• Ethnic genealogy: a research guide
• Family lineage records as a resource for Korean history
• A gazetteer of Japanese place names: in characters and in Romaji script, giving latitudes and longitudes
• In search of your Asian roots: genealogical research on Chinese surnames
• Shuben xungen baijiaxing
• Tracing your Philippine ancestors
• They came in ships: guide to finding your immigrant ancestor's arrival record
• Xing shi jian jie [Chinese names]

Using Online Resources

Recommended Websites

• Genealogy - Asia

Chinese

• Library and Archives Canada Genealogy - Chinese
• Vancouver Public Library - Chinese-Canadian Genealogy

East Indians

• Library and Archives Canada Genealogy - East Indians

 Recommended Databases

• Globe and Mail - Canada's Heritage from 1844 (Toronto Public Library card login required)
• Toronto Star - Pages of the Past (Toronto Public Library card login required)

In Library Resources

Database

• Ancestry Library Edition (access from any Toronto Public Library computer)

Microforms

Check the finding aids available at the North York Central Library :

    Census

• Catalogue of census returns on microfilm: 1666-1891 and 1901 supplement (also available online free from Library Archives Canada)
• 1906 and 1916 Censuses of the Northwest Provinces

     Ships, Passenger Lists:

• Registers of Chinese Immigrants, 1887-1949 
• British Columbia Ports - Passenger Lists 1905-1935
• Newfoundland registers of arrivals and outward registrations
• The above are combined in one database available online free from Library and Archives Canada)

 For further assistance contact:

Canadiana Department, North York Central Library 416-395-5623

Humanities and Social Science, Toronto Reference Library 416-395-5577