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

Call Number:
HIL-MICL FC LPR .O5R4M3
Category:
Ontario
Creator:
Upper Canada. Registrar General.
Material Description:
5 microfilm textual records 35 mm
Background:
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.

Contents:
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.

Originals:
The original documents are held by the Archives of Ontario.
Archival Ref. No.:
AO RG 8, Series 1-6-A and RG 8, Series 1-6-B.
Finding Aids:
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.

PDF Finding Aid:
Finding-Aid_Marriage-Registers_UC-Register-General.pdf Shelf-List_Marriage-Registers_UC-Register-General.pdf
Notes:
An extensive and detailed history of the development of vital statistics record keeping in Ontario is provided at the beginning of each reel of microfilm. A finding aid has been created by photocopying the historical background note and the title page for each volume of Registers.