Marriage Registers : 1801-1948 (predominant : 1831-1870).

            One of the laws passed by the first Legislature of Upper Canada in 1793 provided for the issuing of marriage certificates by the clergy for a fee of one shilling, and the registration of those certificates by the District Clerks of the Peace.  In spite of this attempt, the registration of vital statistics was largely unregulated during the first half of the nineteenth century.  Later in the nineteenth century various attempts were made by the legislature to make provision for registration and to enforce the legislation, but all attempts were only partially successful.  For this reason, vital statistics for the nineteenth century are incomplete.
The marriage records that have been acquired for the Loyalist Collection are largely those in Series 1-6-A that predate 1859 and are arranged according to the old District System which was in effect at that time.  The Registers in Series 1-6-B are arranged by County.  Marriage registers were compiled by the Registrar General from returns sent in by local officials.
            

            The marriage registers by District are arranged as follows:  Bathurst, Brock, Gore, Home, Huron, Johnstown, London, Newcastle, Ottawa, Prince Edward, Talbot, Victoria.
The marriage registers by County are arranged as follows:  York, Kingston City, Brant, Hastings, Huron, Ontario, Peel, Prince Edward, Wentworth, Bruce, and Northumberland.

            

            A finding aid is available in print and as a PDF in the electronic finding aids section.
 Indexes by personal name may be found at the beginning or at the end of each volume.  A few of the indexes are in typed form but others are handwritten. Frequently the names are not in strict alphabetical order.