The Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) shared the news in its latest weekly e-newsletter that will encourage many family historians with early Ontario ancestors to put aside their chores to do some research.
Thanks to support from the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society and the efforts of their volunteer “file name rectifiers,” Kim Carson, Bill Dawson, Eileen MacDonald, Janice Nickerson, Melanie Parker, Carole Sisto, Carol Ufford, and Jane MacNamara, the Ontario Land Records Index (OLRI) is available free on Internet Archive.
The OLRI is an index to the settlers who were allocated Crown land in Upper Canada/Canada West/Ontario. Its coverage ranges from the earliest grants of the 1780s, to acquisitions administered by the Canada Company and Peter Robinson, to grants for military service in the Fenian Raids and South African War in the 20th century.
It is important to recognize that when these settlers arrived, the land had been home to many Indigenous nations for thousands of years. It was not vacant. The methods used by government to acquire land for settlement varied but were unfair and had a long- term impact on the lives of Indigenous people.
The OLRI was compiled and first published by the Archives of Ontario in 1979.
The digitization of the index was funded by the OGS’ Toronto Branch.
