Library and Archives Canada offers a digitized series of historical booklets on its website that should be in the genealogy research toolbox of family historians who research their Canadian ancestors.
Published by the Canadian Historical Association (CHA), from 1953 to 2015, the booklets can help you learn about aspects of Canadian history and better understand why your ancestors may have immigrated to this country. Some of the booklets provide historical details about family life, work conditions, food, housing, and medicine.
There are two series of booklets, available for free online in English and French: Historical and Immigration and Ethnicity in Canada.
The Historical booklet series includes 64 booklets on a range of topics. Here are some examples:
- The Making of the Maritime Provinces, 1713-1784
- Newfoundland, A History
- British Immigration Before Confederation
- The Seigneurial Regime
- The Role of the Church in New France
- Girls’ Schooling in Quebec, 1639-1960
- Prairie Urban Development, 1870-1930
- The North West Mounted Police, 1873-1919
The CHA began producing a series of booklets on Canada’s diverse peoples in 1979. There are currently 32 booklets in the Ethnic Groups series, and more are to be published.
Topics in the Ethnic Groups series include The Scots in Canada, The Portuguese in Canada, and others such as the Finnish, Germans, Jews, Italians, Ukrainians, Japanese, Polish, Chinese, and Acadians.
The Acadians booklet was published as recently as 2015. Here is an excerpt:
A typical (18th-century) Acadian farm consisted of one house with one or two rooms on the first floor, a barn, outdoor latrines, a cellar, and a well. Dwellings were usually built up from the ground without foundation, the walls sided with whitewashed cob walls surmounted by a thatched roof.
Visit the Canadian Historical Association Booklets on Library and Archives Canada’s website to review the complete list of titles and read the booklets online.
You can contact the CHA to purchase print versions of the Historical or Immigration and Ethnicity in Canada booklets. Prices do not seem to be available on their website.
Founded in 1922, the Canadian Historical Association/Société historique du Canada is a bilingual scholarly organization dedicated to research in all fields of history.
