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Church Records

Introduction | Vancouver Public Library | Cloverdale Library | Church Archives
Library and Archives Canada | Family History Library | Online

Introduction:

Church records of baptism, marriage and burial are an important source of genealogical information, particularly for years prior to the beginning of civil registration. The religious affiliation of individuals is usually indicated in census records.

Locating Canadian church records is very challenging. Over time, people living in Canada have belonged to a large number of church denominations, which have often re-organized, merged, split or disappeared.

Record-keeping practices have also varied considerably, and many records have been destroyed by fire, flood, mould, mice and other catastrophes. Surviving records may be in the custody of individual churches, church archives, or public archives.

The organization and holdings of church archives vary greatly. Hierarchical denominations, such as Roman Catholic and Anglican, recognize the Pope or Crown as the ultimate authority, and have a structured organization, in which authority carries down to archbishops, bishops, and the individual parish priest. Hierarchical denominations keep excellent and continuous records.

Congregational denominations generally take responsibility for their own activities, and join together in co-operative arrangements (e.g. conferences, synods, councils) to manage affairs that go beyond the small unit. These denominations sometimes split over theological differences. The quality of their records depends on the individual sect, minister or congregation.

While churches generate many kinds of records, those of interest to genealogists are primarily registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials.

For a general guide to researching Canadian church records, see the following book available at the Vancouver Public Library:

Researching Canadian Religious Records (2001)
Taylor, Ryan
929.371 T24r

Vancouver Public Library

The Vancouver Public Library genealogy collection includes the following published transcripts and indexes to Canadian church records.

General

  • Transcriptions of records from two surviving registers of baptisms, marriages and burials kept by the first Catholic priests in the Oregon Country. The priests were based at Fort Vancouver in the U.S. but some of records are from Hudson's Bay Company forts located in modern Canada. The records span a period from 1838-1860.

  • A record of Wesleyan Methodist baptisms in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, and Quebec. Most of the baptisms occurred in Quebec. The register also includes single entries for Yukon and Chicago, U.S.A. For more information, see Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Registers.


Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Register: Out of Ontario, 1826-1909: A Transcription (2004)
United Church of Canada/Victoria University Archives
Ref. 929.371 W51o
 

British Columbia

  • Records of baptisms, marriages and burials in three churches: St. Peter's (Nanaimo), St. John's (Wellington), and St. Mary's (Ladysmith).

  • An alphabetical listing of all marriages, births, and burials in the parish from April 1958 to August 1985.

  • A list of marriages in the B.C. francophone community, northeast of New Westminster.

  • A record of marriages in an Anglican church situated in Revelstoke, B.C.
 

Ontario

For an informative overview of Ontario church records see:

  • Anglican church records of Aboriginal baptisms, marriages and burials at Her Majesty's Royal Chapel of the Mohawk in London, Ontario, the oldest church in Ontario.
  • Index to a register of records kept by a Catholic missionary in York (Toronto). The register contains records of his missionary work in the area including the present day regions of York, Peel, Halton, Durham, and Simcoe.
  • These records cover the period from 1858-1920. The register does not indicate the type of Methodist church. For more information see Denominational Archives - United Church of Canada.
  • An index derived from a single unpaged register containing about 8000 entries. The first volume provides a list of districts and townships included in the Niagara Conference. This group was separate from the Wesleyan Methodists (see Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Registers and Denominational Archives - United Church of Canada.
  • An index of marriages from the records of New Sarum Baptist Church in Elgin County, covering the period from 1858-1975.
  • This series of 8 volumes, published 1968-1990, contains a miscellany of Ontario genealogical information derived from a variety of sources, including some church registers:
    • Marriages, 1844-1870
    • Baptisms, 1844-1848
    • 1824-1843
    • Baptisms, 1849-1852
    • Burials, 1844-1850
    • Baptisms, 1816-1837
    • 1800-1843
    • 1841-1854
    • 1831-1857
    • 1804-1840
    • 1859
    • 1865
    • 1831-1857
    • 1885-1902
    • 1840-1849
    • 1858
    • 1848-1861
    • 1862-1866
    • 1830-1833
    • Baptisms, 1837-1840
 
 
 
 
New Sarum Baptist Church Marriages (1989)
Doan, Maxwell F.
929.3713 E41A11d
 
The Ontario Register (1968-)
Wilson, Thomas B.
929.3713 A11O59w
Volume 1

St. Paul's Anglican Church, Fort Erie

Baptisms of the Rideau Circuit [Methodist]

Volume 2-3

St. Paul's Anglican Church, Fort Erie

Picton Methodist Church, Prince Edward County

Volume 4

Marriages of the Pelham Monthly Meeting of Friends [Quaker]

Marriages by the Rev. John Jennings of Toronto [Presbyterian] 

Picton Methodist Church Marriages

Marriages of the Yonge Street Friends Meeting [Quaker]

Some Wesleyan Methodist Baptisms in the Eastern District

Methodist Episcopal Baptisms at Winchester, Dundas County

Marriage Register of George Joseph Ryserse, Woodhouse, Norfolk Co. [Baptist]

Marriage Licences from All Saints Church, Niagara Falls [Anglican]

Marriage Records of Duff's Presbyterian Church, Mirriston, Wellington County

Some Baptisms in Malahide [Anglican]

Marriage Records of the First Presbyterian Church, Chatham

Volume 5

No church registers noted.

Volume 6

Marriage Records of Duff's Presbyterian Church, Chatham

Volume 7

Gordon, Rev. Fr. Edward [Catholic]

Niagara. St. Mark's Anglican Church

  • Vol. 1. Talbot District, 1837-1857
  • Vol. 2. Brock District, 1839-1857
  • Vol. 3. Huron District, 1841-1870
  • Vol. 4. London District
    •   Pt. 1. 1795-1841
    •   Pt. 2. 1841-1852
  • Vol. 5. Bathurst District, 1831-1852
  • Vol. 6. Ottawa District, 1816-1853
  • Vol. 7. Newcastle District
    • Pt. 1 1810-1848
    • Pt. 2 1848-1855
  • Vol. 8. Johnstown District
    • Pt. 1. 1799-1851
    • Pt. 2. 1847-1863
  • Vol.9. Wellington District
    • Pt. 1. 1840-1852
    • Pt. 2. 1852-1857
  • Vol. 10. Colborne District, 1841-1857
  • Vol. 11. Home District
    • Pt.1. 1808-1836
    • Pt 2. 1835-1843
    • Pt.3. 1843-1849
  • Vol. 12. Eastern District, 1801-1865
  • Vol. 13. Gore District, 1842-1856
  • Vol. 14. Western District, 1786-1856
  • Vol. 15. Victoria District, 1839-1858
  • Vol. 16. Simcoe District, 1842-1857
  • Vol. 17. Prince Edward District, 1833-1849
 
The Marriage Registers of Upper Canada/Canada West, 23 vol. in 17 vol. (2000)
Walker, Dan
929.3713 A11W17m
  • This series of 6 books complements the Upper Canada district marriage registers. While the latter transcribe and index marriage records created by clergymen who were neither Anglican nor Roman Catholic, the Vital records of Upper Canada/Canada West series transcribes and indexes birth, marriage and death information from a variety of sources, including many church registers. The series covers only two districts:
    •  Niagara - 1795 -1869
    •  Gore - 1795 -1869 
Vital Records of Upper Canada/Canada West, 3 vol. in 7 parts (2000-)
Walker, Dan
929.3713 A11W17v
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Protestant Births & Baptisms, Shefford County, Quebec, 1880-1899 (2002)
Brock, Kathleen E.
929.3714 S54b
An index of 3500 entries from the records of 24 congregations of 7 Protestant denominations.
 
 
Protestant Marriage Index, Shefford County, Quebec, 1880-1899 (2004)
Brock, Kathleen E.
929.3714 S54bm
An index of 1900 marriage entries from the records of 24 congregations of 7 Protestant denominations.
 
 
 
 
 
St-Basile-le-Grand, Madawaska County, New Brunswick: Marriages, 1791-1977 (1995)
Cyr, Louis
929.37155 M17C9s
  • 6026 entries of information extracted from records on microfilm at the Public Archives of Nova Scotia. 
  • An index derived from microfilm copies of the original registers of 6 churches, held by the Public Archives of Nova Scotia.Other
 
 
Religious Marriages in Halifax, 1768-1841, From Primary Sources (1991)
Punch, Terrence M.
929.3716 H17P98r
 
 
 
Canadian Genealogical Resources: A Guide to the Materials Held at Cloverdale Library, 15th ed. (2003)
Argent, Judith
929.371X G98c7
  • See: Section 5. Parish and Vital Records
  • A detailed guide to the archival holdings of 6 B.C. dioceses. 
  • Detailed descriptions of the holdings of 7 Ontario dioceses, and a large amount of supplementary information. 
  • The diocese includes the whole of Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and parts of the central coast.
 
Guide to the Holdings of the Archives of the Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia and Yukon (1993)
Anglican Church of Canada. Province of British Columbia and Yukon
929.3711X G94a
 
Guide to the Holdings of the Archives of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario (1990)
Archivists of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario
929.3713 G94a
 
 
Guide to Family History Research in the Archival Repositories of the United Church of Canada (1996)
United Church of Canada. Committee on Archives and History
929.371 G94c
 
 
Record of Service: A Guide to Holdings of the Central Archives of the United Church of Canada [microform] (1991)
United Church of Canada/Victoria University Archives
287.92X U58r
  • This lists only the parish registers owned by the Archives and that have been microfilmed. The parish registers can be ordered through inter-library loan.
  • This publication lists a wider range of parish registers, including registers that have not been microfilmed and published indexes.
Checklist of Parish Registers, 1986 = Repertoire de Registres Paroissiaux, 1986, 4th ed. (1986)
National Archives of Canada. Manuscript Division
929.371 P97c1
 
 
Genealogy in Ontario: Searching the Records, 4th ed. (2008)
Merriman, Brenda Dougall
929.3713 M571g2
Look under: Chapter 3: Pre-1869 Vital Statistics
 

Upper Canada District Marriage Registers

Beginning in 1831, clergy who performed marriages in churches that were neither Anglican nor Roman Catholic (also known as "non-conformist") were required to send copies of the records to the Clerks of the Peace in district towns. In some cases, clergy submitted earlier records, with the result that marriage records survive from as early as 1799. The records were transcribed into registers, microfilm copies of which are available from the Archives of Ontario through inter-library loan.
The district marriage records have been transcribed into the following series of published transcriptions:
 

Canada West County Marriage Registers

In 1849, Ontario's districts were replaced by counties, and in 1857, new legislation required that copies of all records of marriages performed by clergy in Canada West (Anglican, Roman Catholic and non-conformist) were to be sent to county authorities.
Transcriptions derived from original county registers are available in a series of 32 volumes. For a full listing of transcribed county marriage registers in the Vancouver Public Library collection, see county marriage registers Ontario. Microfilm copies of original county marriage records are available from the Archives of Ontario through inter-library loan.
 

Vital Records of Upper Canada / Canada West

Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Registers

Methodism was a very large Protestant denomination in 19th- century Ontario. There were several types of Methodism, including Wesleyan, Episcopal, Primitive, New Connexion and Bible Christian.
 
In 1843, Wesleyan Methodists decided to keep a centralized General Registry of Births and Baptisms. Ministers kept an annual register of births, which was submitted yearly to the General Registrar, who copied the records into a General Registry Book. These have been microfilmed and are available from the United Church Archives. Transcriptions of many of the registers have been transcribed and published. The list below shows all such publications in the Vancouver Public Library collection. Some counties are represented by more than one title. These are different editions or, in some cases, may only cover part of the county.
 
Brant 1831 - 1897 Leeds 1836 - 1901
Bruce 1843 - 1898 Lennox and Addington 1834 - 1898
Carleton 1830 - 1899 Lennox and Addington 1834 -1898 (strays, errors and omissions)
Elgin 1840 - 1894 Lincoln 1837 - 1887
Frontenac 1830 - 1898 Lincoln 1843 - 1890
Frontenac 1835 - 1897 Muskoka 1952 - 1890
Frontenac 1835 - 1902 Norfolk 1837 - 1889
Frontenac 1844 - 1876 Northumberland 1834 - 1902
Grenville 1836 - 1901 Northumberland 1835 - 1902
Grenville 1843 - 1900 Ontario 1841 - 1905
Grey 1846 - 1910 Oxford 1837 - 1906
Haldimand 1843 - 1896 Prescott 1840 - 1877
Haliburton 1861 - 1877 Prince Edward 1841 - 1888
Halton 1829 - 1897 Renfrew 1830 - 1895
Hastings 1840 - 1902 Russell 1840 - 1886
Huron 1842 - 1901 Waterloo No date range indicated
Kent 1842 - 1896 Welland 1840 - 1890
Lambton 1840 - 1894 Welland 1843 - 1890
Lanark 1843 - 1902 Wentworth 1825 - 1898
Lanark 1844 - 1875 York 1835 - 1910
Leeds 1843 - 1900 York (North) 1842 - 1896
 

Quebec

Church records are particularly important for those tracing Quebec ancestors, because civil registration was established very late in the province. Prior to civil registration, church records were used as civil records as well. Two useful books for researching Quebec parish records are:

VPL holdings of Quebec church records include the following:

Brome County Quebec Catholic Church Marriage from 1840 (2003)
CD-ROM 929.3714 B86a

 

Compton County, Quebec: Catholic Church Marriages, 1853-1950 (2000)
CD-ROM 929.3714 C73a

 

Guide to Quebec Catholic Parishes and Published Parish Marriage Records (1993)
White, Jeanne Sauve
929.3714 W58g

 

Inventaire des Registres Paroissiaux Catholiques du Québec, 1621-1876 (1990)
Bélanger, Pauline
FRE 929.3714 A11B42i

 

Mariages Du Comté D'Argenteuil (du Début Des Paroisses À 1960 Inclusivement) (2003)
>Rivest, Lucien
CD-ROM 929.3714 A68r

 

Pontiac County Protestant Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1864 to 1911: St. George's, St. Stephen's & St. Matthew's Anglican Churches (1999)
Murphy, Dawn
929.3714 P81m

 

The Presbyterian Record (1975-present)
285.105 P92

 

Protestant Births & Baptisms, Shefford County, Quebec, 1880-1899 (2002)
Brock, Kathleen E.
929.3714 S54b

 

Protestant Marriage Index, Shefford County, Quebec, 1880-1899 (2004)
Brock, Kathleen E.
929.3714 S54bm

 
Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Register: Out of Ontario, 1826-1909 : A Transcription (2004)
929.371 W51o

 

 

New Brunswick

 

Anglican Church Baptism Registers (1822-1838 and 1838-1885): Chatham Parish, Northumberland County, New Brunswick (2001)
929.37152 N87N53ba

 

Anglican Church Marriage Register (1833-1932): Chatham Parish, Northumberland County, New Brunswick (2006)
929.37152 N87N53ma

 

Barachois / Saint Anselme Parish Registers: Births, Marriages, Deaths Covering the Years 1812-1870 (1999)
Graham, Lois T. LeBlanc
929.37152 G73b

 

Cocagne Parish Registers: Births, Marriages, Deaths Covering the Years 1800-1870 (2000)
Graham, Lois T. LeBlanc
929.37152 G73c

 

Grand Digue / Scoudouc Parish Registers: Births, Marriages, Deaths Covering the Years 1800-1875 (1999)
Graham, Lois T. LeBlanc
929.37152 G73g

 

Shemogue (Cap-Pele) Parish Registers: Births, Marriages, Deaths Covering the Years 1812-1899 (1999)
Graham, Lois T. LeBlanc
929.37152 G73s

 

Nova Scotia

 

Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1749-1768: St. Paul's Church, Halifax, Nova Scotia (1983)
929.3716 B22h

 

Cloverdale Library

The Cloverdale Branch of the Surrey Public Library has an extensive collection of Canadian genealogical resources in print and on microfilm, including significant holdings of church records. Full details are in their book:

Church Archives

Church archives vary greatly in the services offered to genealogists. Most have some information about their holdings on their websites, but although a few online finding aids are available, denominational archival websites do not provide online databases of nominal information. In most cases, it is necessary to visit the archives or hire a researcher. Some archives provide a fee-based genealogical research service. Others do not provide service to genealogists.

Anglican

Anglican records are held by diocesan archives. The Anglican Church of Canada website provides links to diocesan websites. Contact information for diocesan archives is provided in the Anglican Archives Directory.

The following published guides to Anglican Church of Canada records are available at the Vancouver Public Library:

Baptists

There have been several Baptist denominations in Canada, including the Regular Baptists and Particular Dependent Closed Communion Baptists.

Records of interest to genealogists relate mainly to marriages, because Baptists do not practise infant baptism. The Canadian Baptist Archives are at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton.

Atlantic Canada Baptist records are in the Esther Clark Wright Archives of the Vaughan Memorial Library at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.

Lutherans

There are two Lutheran churches in Canada - the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Lutheran Church-Canada. The main archives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada are a Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.

Records of the Lutheran Church-Canada are in several repositories. More information is available on the LCC Archives Network page.

Mennonites

There are three major Mennonite archival repositories in Canada:

Methodists

See United Church of Canada

Presbyterians

See also United Church of Canada

Local and regional Presbyterian churches joined together to form the Presbyterian Church in Canada in 1867. In 1925, about half of the Presbyterian churches amalgamated with the Methodist Church of Canada to create the United Church.

Archival holdings of Presbyterian churches which did not enter the United Church union in 1925 are held by the Archives and Records Office of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. An online Guide to Genealogical Resources at the Presbyterian Archives is available. Records in which an individual's religion is labeled C. of S. or Kirk refer to the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

Quakers

Archival records are held by the Quaker Archives and Library of Canada.

Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic archives operate at the diocesan level. Services for genealogists vary considerably. Contact information and web addresses for Canadian Catholic dioceses is available on the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops website.

United Church of Canada

Several Methodist denominations - the Wesleyan Methodists, Methodist Episcopal Churches (Canada and America), Primitive Methodists, Bible Christians and New Connexion Methodists - had merged into the Methodist Church of Canada by 1884.

In 1925, the Methodist Church of Canada joined with the Congregationalists and about half of the Presbyterian churches in Canada to form the United Church. Later, the Evangelical United Brethren joined as well.

A centralized United Church Archives holds records created after the union, as well as those of the earlier churches which amalgamated into the union. Detailed information about holdings is available on the website. Microfilm copies of records in the United Church Archives are available through interlibrary loan.

Some United Church archival materials are held by regional repositories. See the United Church Archives Network for more information.

The Vancouver Public Library collection includes the following published guides to United Church archival holdings:

Library and Archives Canada

Library and Archives Canada (formerly National Archives of Canada and National Library of Canada) in Ottawa owns a small number of parish registers. These are listed in two publications, available at the Vancouver Public Library:

Guide to Birth, Marriage and Death Records at the National Archives of Canada (1987)
Ref. 929.371 P97L2

List of Parish Registers Held at the Public Archives of Canada (1979)
Ref. 929.371 P97L

Access to some of the nominal indexes held by Library and Archives Canada is available through the Canadian Families database. This database contains the information found in the baptismal, marriage and burial records available at Library and Archives Canada and is expected to expand over the next few years.

More information is available on the Canadian Genealogy Centre's Church Indexes and Parish Registers pages.

Some church records are available in provincial and territorial archives.

Family History Library

The LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah has many Canadian church records in its collection. Records on microfilm may be borrowed from through local Family History Centres.
To identify films that might be of interest, go the Family History Library Catalogue page, and search by Place. In the resulting list of subject headings, look for Church records, e.g. Ontario, Perth - Church records. Follow the link for a corresponding list of Family History Library holdings.

Online

An online database of Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal records is available. For more information, see Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Registers.

A Baptisms Index on the B.C. Archives website contains information derived from microfilm copies of baptismal registers submitted to the B.C. Vital Statistics agency, covering the years from 1836-1885.

Canadian Genealogical Projects Registry includes information on Canadian church records in a variety of formats.

The Canadian Genealogy Centre's AVITUS - Directory of Resources provides annotated links to a range of online information from Canadian church records.

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