This is a gold mine of information for genealogists with ancestors in Ontario. I have previously posted about Part I: Historical Books: First Registration Book and Part II: Historical Books: Abstract/Parcel Register Books
Part III: General Register Index
Why would wills be found in the Land Registry Office and NOT in Court records?
"If the deceased person's estate consisted ONLY of real estate (e.g., farmers), the original will may have been deposited in the local Land Registry Office to transfer the land to the heirs. Some Land Registry Offices hold over 60 per cent of all surviving wills. Because they were never probated, these wills are not indexed or registered in the court records."
Source: AO Research Guide 206
"Until the early 1900’s, a large number of wills (more than half for some counties) were registered with the Land Registry Offices instead of being probated (homologated) in the Courts. Those wills were treated as land records and are covered in Archives of Ontario Guide 231. The land registration system has now been replaced with a land title system, where title to the land is registered. Land title records are held by the Land Registry Offices" Source: AO Research Guide 231
I will demonstrate how I found information for my 4th great-grandfather Matthew Moynahan's (1770-1860) Will (which I had attained at the Essex LRO previously)
Selecting "Essex" then "General Register Index" then "Moynahan" resulted in "No results found for Moynahan".
To find results for "Moynahan" I decided to scroll page-by-page. Here are the steps that I took:
STEP 1: Select the Land Registry Office for your ancestor.
I selected the Land Registry Office "Essex"
STEP 2: Select "Browse Books"
STEP 3: Select "General Register Index"
For Essex County. I received nineteen "General Register" results:
- Book 7: WILLS 1978 TO 1984 (182 pages)
- Book 11: ALPHABETICAL INDEX
- Book 11: ALPHABETICAL INDEX
- Book 11: ALPHABETICAL INDEX
- Book 12: ALPHABETICAL INDEX
- Book 12: ALPHABETICAL INDEX
- Book 13: OLD WILLS (129 pages)
- Book 14: WILL TO 1939
- Book 15: WILLS 1939 TO 1962
- Book 16: WILLS 1963 TO 1977
- Book 18: WILLS AND LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION 1985 TO PRESENT
- Book 19: GENERAL REGISTER; A TO J TO 1939
- Book 20: GENERAL REGISTER; L TO Z TO 1939
- Book 21: GENERAL REGISTER; A TO L 1939 TO 1962
- Book 22: GENERAL REGISTER; M TO Y 1939 TO 1962
- Book 23: GENERAL REGISTER; A TO L 1962 TO 1977
- Book 24: GENERAL REGISTER; L TO Z 1962 TO 1977
- Book 25: GENERAL REGISTER; 1978 TO 1991
- Book 26: GENERAL REGISTER; 1992 TO PRESENT
The information found on the page was:
BOOK 13 (Page 70/129)
Name: Moynahan, Matthew
Book: B
Number: 635
Township: Sandwich
Remarks: Will
Previously (in the 1980s) I had visited the Archives of Ontario and obtained a copy of Matthew's will (no. 915)(G.S. 987; Sandwich Twp., Essex county; Deed Volume D; 1857-1860; #581-993) and this was what it looked like:
Matthew Moynahan's Will(1770-1860) (Source: Archives of Ontario: G.S. 987; Sandwich Twp., Essex county; Deed Volume D; 1857-1860; #581-993) |
I found reference Matthew Moynahan's1860 will again in Book 14:
BOOK 14 (Page 142/278)
Name: Moynahan, Matthew
Book: D
Number: 635
Township: Sandwich
Remarks: Will
Obtaining & Viewing Corresponding Land Records
Locating all of your ancestor's Will data from the General Register and Abstract indexes, such
as the year, township, file number, volume and page number is just the first step.
The feature to obtain documents listed on the abstract pages is not currently available through OnLand, but it will be included in a future release.
I wrote to OnLand to inquire about how to obtain copies in the meantime and received this response:
The feature to obtain documents listed on the abstract pages is not currently available through OnLand, but it will be included in a future release.
I wrote to OnLand to inquire about how to obtain copies in the meantime and received this response:
"At this time, requests for copies of pages from the historical books are not available through OnLand, please visit the Land Registry Office where the book resides."Thank you,
The OnLand Team
Related Blog Posts
- Part I: Historical Books: First Registration Book: where genealogists can find their ancestors Crown Patents etc.
- Part II: Historical Books: Abstract/Parcel Register Book: where genealogists can find all the entries of every transaction on their ancestors land from the date the Crown Patent was issued (all instruments recorded) up to January 30, 1981
- Part III: Historical Books: General Register Index: where genealogists can locate information about their ancestors wills, etc.
- Part IV: Historical Books: Canada Lands Index:where genealogists can find information about public lands under the Canada Lands Surveys Act, Navigable Waters Protection Act, Transfers of Jurisdiction and Control, Indian Reserves and National Parks
- Family Search: Digitization of Essex County Land Records 1779-1955
Additional Online General Resources
For Finding Your Ancestors Land Records
- Guide 205, How to use the Ontario Land Records Index
- The Canadian County Atlas Digital Project: The County Atlas Digital Project is a searchable database of the property owners' names which appear on the township maps in the county atlases. Township maps, portraits and properties have been scanned, with links from the property owners' names in the database.
- Library and Archives (LAC) online index: Upper Canada Land Petitions (1763-1865) 82,000 entries in this database search.
- Michael Stephenson's Upper Canada Land Petitions Index A-Z 51,000 entries. You may need to scroll to find the index's list of A-Z letters of the alphabet. Select the letter of the alphabet for your ancestor's surname. (I found my 4th and 3rd grat-grandfathers on Michael's Index "MINCHAN MATHEW .. ESSEX .. 1848" and "MINEHAN DENNIS .. ESSEX .. 1847" )
Glossary
Instruments and deeds – these are the original documents filed by the parties. They include sales, bankruptcies, liens, wills, and other documents transferring or affecting ownership.
Copybooks of instruments and deeds – transcriptions made by Land Registry Office staff of instruments and deeds registered with them.
General Registers – transcriptions of wills filed at the Land Registry Offices, beginning in 1865; wills registered prior to 1865 would be found in the copybooks of instruments and deeds.
Abstract Indexes – indexes to the instruments and deeds for a given township or town , arranged by lot and concession (or subdivision) number.
Alphabetical Indexes – indexes to the instruments and deeds for a given township or town , arranged by name of the parties .
Another fabulous post helping me understand more about where to find what, and how to search more effectively re ON lands and wills. ...now back to Ireland record searches! Thank you so much, Cindi! Your work is much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Celia! Still waiting on OnLand to let me know the plan on digitizing the full wills and will post as soon as I know!
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