Land Records in Elgin County, Ontario

Discovering Your Roots in Elgin:

Chapter 8

Land Records

There are several sources available for finding records of ownership of property: Upper Canada Land Petitions, Crown Grant Registers, Township Land Papers, and the records of the Land Registry Office. Many of these records are on microfilm and available at the Elgin County Archives, the Archives of Ontario, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Family History Centres.

Below is a description of these records and where they can be found.

1. Upper Canada Land Petitions and Land & State Books, 1788-1867

Index: ECL MF 715 to MF 741

These records cover the entire Province of Upper Canada (Ontario), not just Elgin County. The index is for both the Upper Canada Land Petitions and the Land & State Books. Anyone whoever petitioned for land or had their petition considered by the Land Committee of the Executive Council will be listed. The index is arranged by surname of the petitioner, not by location.

Upper Canada Land Petitions, 1788 to 1867

ECL MF 742 to MF 1064

This series of microfilm contain the applications or petitions from settlers to the government for grants of land.

A more complete description of these records and how to use them has been produced by the Elgin County Library and can be consulted in the Elgin County Archives, where the Elgin County Library’s microfilm collection is also housed.

Land & State Books, 1788 to 1867

ECL MF 1065 to MF 1075

These are minute books for matters brought before the Land Committee of the Executive Council, where the government decided whether or not a petition for land would be granted. These records have been explained further by the Elgin County Library (see above).

Middlesex County Crown Grants, 1797 to 1952

ECL MF 1235

A listing by township, lot and concession of the first person to receive a patent from the Crown for each lot in Middlesex and Elgin County. (Remember that Elgin County was not a separate political entity until 1852.)

Upper Canada Land Petition: William Cascadden

“C Bundle 16 #4 1811-1816” RG1 L3 Vol. 98

Reel C-1651

3. Elgin County Crown Land Patents Register, 1795 to 1943

ECL MF 1236

A listing by township, lot and concession of the first person to receive a patent from the Crown for each lot in Elgin County.

4. Early Township Land Papers

ECL MF 1237 to MF 1255

These records consist of correspondence and other papers such as requests to have the lot patented, inquiries about the availability the property, or requests for easement of settlement duties. The type and amount of information contained will vary for each lot. These are the papers that have survived and not necessarily complete. There is no complete index of names to these records; to access them you must know the lot and concession. These microfilms deal only with Elgin County land records but are part of the series for the Province of Ontario. This microfilms is available at the Elgin County Archives and also at the London Room of the London Public Library.

Elgin OGS has published a booklet for each township with extractions and an index, also available on CD.

Aldborough MF 1237 - MF 1239

Bayham MF 1240 - MF 1242

Dunwich MF 1243 - MF 1244

Malahide MF 1245 - MF 1248

S. Dorchester MF 1249 - MF 1250 (includes N. Dorchester)

Southwold MF 1251 - MF 1253

Yarmouth MF 1254 - MF 1255

5. Computerized Land Records Index

This index was generated by the Archives of Ontario and is widely available on microfiche at most libraries. The index covers the whole province and is divided into an alphabetical index by surname of the original patentee, and also a listing by township (not county), concession and lot. This index generally contains the name of the first owner of the lot, summarizing original land grants from the Crown and sales and leases from the Canada Company. It does not include subsequent transactions on any piece of property.

6. Records at the Land Registry Office

The Land Registry Office records transactions of property from the date of the Crown grant to present day ownership. To access these records, the researcher must know the township, lot and concession; for urban areas or incorporated villages, the lot and plan number is needed.

The Abstract Index lists all transactions relating to a property and is arranged by township, concession and lot. The name of the grantor, grantee, date, quantity of property, description of land parcel (eg. SW ½ of N ½), monetary value, the type of transaction (deed, bargain & sale, quit claim, etc.), is recorded, along with the instrument number which is required to retrieve and view the actual document giving the complete details of the transaction.

Elgin OGS has purchased microfilmed copies of the Abstract Indexes available from the LDS (see listing further in this chapter) and have been placed at the Elgin County Archives. The microfilm is also available for research through the LDS Family History Centres.

The above records are available at the Elgin County Land Registry Office, 1010 Talbot Street, Unit 36, St. Thomas, ON N5P 4N2 (519) 631-3015; fax (519) 631-8182

Documents for the period 1868 to 1955 have also been microfilmed and can be viewed at the Land Registry Office. The original documents for this period were scheduled for destruction until a provincial organization called APOLROD (Association for the Preservation of Ontario Land Registry Office Documents) was formed in 1997 to save these records from destruction. Elgin County Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society formed a committee to coordinate the project for Elgin County, resulting in a completed inventory of these records for this period that are housed at the Elgin County Land Registry Office. The goal of APOLROD is to have these records transferred to the hands of a local archives or heritage societies for preservation and availability to researchers. At the time of writing, the ultimate destination of Elgin’s Land Registry Office records has not yet been determined.

A Guide to Ontario Land Registry Records was been published by the Ontario

Genealogical Society and the Archives of Ontario in 1994.

Copybooks

From 1797, the exchange of property was not only entered in the Abstract Index, but was also registered as “Memorials” in county copybooks. These are useful when original documents are missing or have not been microfilmed. The use of copybooks was discontinued in 1955. For records before 1847, the instrument number is needed to locate the “memorial”. After 1847, the copybooks were arranged by township, usually with a surname index. Elgin County’s copybooks are in the custody of the Archives of Ontario, and are also available there on microfilm. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has microfilm copies of them.

Microfilmed Land Records held by the Genealogical Society of Utah (LDS)

The Genealogical Society of Utah (LDS) has microfilmed copies of a large percentage of Elgin County’s land records held by the Land Registry Office. This microfilm collection is housed in Salt Lake City and is available on loan through any Family History Centre of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. (LDS). A limited number from this microfilm collection is available at the both the St. Thomas and the London Family History Centre as part of their permanent collections.

The land records of Elgin County were filmed in 1957 by the society. Additional records were filmed in 1990 and 1991-1992. There is some duplication.

For a more complete listing of the contents of each reel of microfilm, consult the LDS Library Catalogue under “Ontario, Elgin - Land and Property”. An abbreviated list is given below, with the corresponding LDS microfilm numbers:

Aldborough Township LDS MF #

Abstract Index ca 1802-ca1883 0160506

Memorial Index 0160507

Memorials (instruments) 1847-1901 0160508 to 1060515 1763344; 1731794; 1763527 to 1763532

1763632; 1731795 to 1731799

Town of Aylmer

Abstract Index 1872-ca 1901 0160516

Memorial Index 1060517

Memorials 1872-1954 0160518 to 1060519 1731836 to 1731842

Bayham Township

Abstract Index ca1816-ca1900 0160520

Memorial Index 1061521

Memorials 1847-1901 0160522 to 1060533 1731799 to 1731802; 1731821 1767632 to 1763635

Dunwich Township

Abstract Index ca1798-ca1886 0160534

Memorial Index 0160535

Memorials 1847-1902 0160536 to 0160542 1763635 to 1763638 1731803 to 1731805; 1722700 1722711 to 1722712

Village of Dutton

Memorials 1886-1915 1731842 to 1731843

Fingal

Abstract Index ca1857-1956 0160555

Iona, Elliotsville, & Iona Station

Abstract Index ca1852-1957 0160556

Malahide Township

Abstract Index ca1811-ca1902 0160557

Memorial Index 0160558

Memorials 1847-1903 0160559 to 0160572 1731806 to 1731813 1722713 to 1722714

Port Bruce

Abstract Index ca1855-1957 0160577

Village of Port Burwell

Abstract Index ca1856-1957 0160576

Village of Port Stanley

Abstract Index ca1861-ca1910 0160573

Memorial Index 0160574

Memorials 1875-1907 1731844

City of St. Thomas

Abstract Index ca1854-ca1881 0160578 to 0160579

Memorial Index 0160580

Memorials 1854-1901; 1954 0160581 to 0160591 1722727 to 1722728 1764020 to 1764030 1730544; 1730548 1731845 to 1731848 1763133 to 1763134

Southwold Township

Abstract Index ca1796-ca1908 0160592

Memorial Index 0160593

Memorials 1847-1904 0160594 to 0160604 1731818 to 1731825; 1730584 1722717 to 1722718

South Dorchester Township

Abstract Index ca1816-1930 0160605

Memorial Index 0160606

Memorials 1847-1907 0160607 to 0160611 1731814 to 1731817

Sparta

Abstract Index ca1855-1957 0160612

Tyrconnell

Abstract Index ca1855-1957 0160613

Village of Vienna

Abstract Index ca1854-ca1910 0160614

Memorial Index 0160615

Memorials 1854-1919 0160616 to 0160617 1731850 to 1731852

Wallacetown

Abstract Index ca1858-1957 0160618

Yarmouth Township

Abstract Index ca1804-1865 0160619 to 0160620

Memorial Index 0160621

Memorials 1847-1903 0160622 to 0160637 1731826 to 1731835; 1731850 1722718; 1722727

Various Villages in Elgin County (before 1876)

Abstract Index 0160554

Other Land Records:

Middlesex Land Records (included Elgin County before 1852) 1801-1859

0105775 to 015790

Records of Grantors & Grantees in Middlesex County 1851-1858

(including our townships in Elgin County) 0105798

Return of Lands Patented in Elgin County 1798-1957 0160553

1877 Historical Atlas of Elgin County [H. R. Page & Co.]

(An index to names found in this atlas is published by the Talbot Heritage Society)

1036249

Continue to Chapter 9 - Wills and Estate Records

September 1999

Published by Ontario Genealogical Society

Elgin County Branch

Box 20060

St. Thomas, Ontario N5P 4H4