Have an account? Login
Marriage licenses are great sources of family history information. They usually show ages, parents, witnesses and in some cases where the bride, groom, and parents were born and their occupations. Death certificates are also useful. They show death dates, birth dates, parents, who reported the death, but also often contain other key information like place of residence and much more in depth family history information like causes of death
Courts and legal offices can be a rich source of family history information. Some court houses have legal documents going back many years, for example probate which includes information about estates,wills, intestate papers. Additional more detailed family history records could include marriage papers, court proceedings indenture, voting records. All of these additional sources can be useful additional family history sources to add to your armory.
For many Canadians (unless you are of First Nations descent) your family may only have lived in Canada for several generations. The Links to Other Sources of Information and Websites found in this website will help you contact different institutions or archives for documents that may assist in establishing your family's past, including immigration records, military records, census information, and naturalization or citizenship papers.
When hiring a family history expert it’s a good idea to get references from people who know the persons work or pick someone who has well know family history qualifications like the IHGS or membership of the history society. If you are paying for your family history its worth setting out to the person you are hiring what you are trying to achieve. Do you want to search back through your family line, look laterally for living family members, flesh out the history of a specific family member or explore a particular side of your family history first.
