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The
following explanation of Ontario Land Records
was posted on Ontario-L Mailing List by Lorine
McGinnis Schulze of Olive Tree Genealogy and is posted here with permission
Land
records are very useful. Originally all land in
Ontario belonged to the Crown. Although there
were small areas of settlement in 1763 after the
British took over, major settlement of Upper Canada
began in 1783 and utilized Crown Grants.
The
CLRI (Computerized Land Record Index) is an index
(not on computer!) which summarizes land grants
from sales of of Crown Land in Ontario from Canada
Company sales and leases, and from Peter Robinson
settlers' grants. It provides invaluable clues
for further research! Most settlers bought land
soon after arrival, although of course there were
exceptions to this - some lived with family previously
settled, others had no urgent need for land (a
blacksmith didn't need land as urgently as a farmer
for example)
The CLRI only shows the first time owner of Crown
Land so if your ancestor purchased land from someone
else his name will not show on this index but
it is still a very useful tool. Not only does
it provide you with exact location (township,
lot #, concession #) it provides you with a date
of transaction, whether or not there were special
circumstances surrounding the transaction (a free
grant, a hardship grant, a military grant, etc),
and it provides you with an Archival Reference
number.
This
Archival Reference number can provide more detail;
often it does not but it is still a stone that
should be turned. With a date of transaction you
have narrowed the field for immigration. Beyond
that the value of the CLRI is in the interpretation
of the one line index entry which can lead you
to other avenues of research. I have a more detailed
explanation of the CLRI
and other land
records in Ontario on my site under my ONTARIO
RESEARCH section.
Once
you have the exact land location for your ancestor
(lot, concession #, township and county) you can
venture into more records such as the Abstract
Indexes to Deeds and Township papers, which can
contain a wealth of genealogical treasure!
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