LAND RECORDS
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. Many early settlers, both military and civilian, submitted land petitions to the Governor in order to obtain Crown land.Basically the following steps were involved in a settler acquiring land in Upper Canada (aka Canada West aka Ontario):
See Land Records in Ontario for full details of what is available and how to access the various records.
There are many kinds of land records for Ontario:
* The Computerized Land Record Index (aka Ontario Land Record Index) summarizes land grants of Crown Land, sales of land from Canada Company sales or leases and from Peter Robinson settlers' grants.
* Heir & Devisee Commission Microfilm Listings
* Upper Canada Land Petitions and Land Books 1793-1826
* Loyalist Claims and Conversion List
* Return of all Patents for Land 1836 1478 names of patentees with some surnames missing (not found are surnames beginning with H, K, L, M, P, Q, S, T)
- To apply for a land grant from the Crown, he (or she) may have submitted a petition to the Crown (further explanation below under Crown Land Grants)
- If the petition was successful, the Crown issued a land grant to the petitioner. It was a complex process to receive a land grant.
- If the settler took up residence on the land and fulfilled certain settlement duties, he or she ended up owning the land. In that case the settler was issued a patent, shwoing ating that the ownership of the land had passed from the Crown to a private individual.
- If there were any later transactions relating to that property (e.g., sale to another individual, taking out a mortgage on the property, etc.), they were documented in the records of the county Land Registry Offices .
See Land Records in Ontario for full details of what is available and how to access the various records.
There are many kinds of land records for Ontario:
* The Computerized Land Record Index (aka Ontario Land Record Index) summarizes land grants of Crown Land, sales of land from Canada Company sales or leases and from Peter Robinson settlers' grants.
* Heir & Devisee Commission Microfilm Listings
* Upper Canada Land Petitions and Land Books 1793-1826
* Loyalist Claims and Conversion List
* Return of all Patents for Land 1836 1478 names of patentees with some surnames missing (not found are surnames beginning with H, K, L, M, P, Q, S, T)
Second Heir and Devisee Commission Case Files
The second Heir and Devisee Commission was responsible hearing and determining claims to land brought forward by the heirs, devisees, or assignees of original nominees.Following is a list of names of those from Camden Township who appear in the Second Heir and Devisee Commission Case Files. If you spot a name of interest, you can
- consult the reel or reels of microfilm at the Archives of Ontario in Toronto
- borrow the reel or reels of film through your local library using Interlibrary Loan
- borrow the reel or reels of film from a Family History Centre of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Days Saints
Kent County Names in Second Heir & Devisee Commission Case Files
Chatham TownshipCheyney, John Wesley Town of Chatham 1851Coulter, John Town of Chatham 1854
Crow, John Town of Chatham 1851 Dorland, Gilbert Town of Chatham 1837 Duggan, George Town of Chatham 1842 Eberts, William D. Town of Chatham 1846 Fulford, William Town of Chatham 1835 Hall, Angelique Town of Chatham 1833 Ironside, George Town of Chatham 1852 McDonald, James Town of Chatham 1852 McGregor, Duncan Town of Chatham 1846McKee, Alexander Town of Chatham 1834 McKee, Alexander Town of Chatham 1835 Meldrum, John T. and Jane Town of Chatham 1850 Newkirk, Mary Town of Chatham 1841 Payne, Robert Town of Chatham 1852 Sharp, George Hamilton Township, Town of Chatham, Town of Sandwich 1804 Smith, William H. Town of Chatham 1856 Steers, Thomas Town of Chatham 1842 Tessiman, Edith Town of Chatham 1852 Thomas, James L. Town of Chatham 1850 Dover Township1 Beavis, William Dover Twp 18352 Clark, Jane Dover Township 1857
3 Delisle, Alexis R. East Dover Township 1850 4 Foot, George Wade Dover Township 1837 5 Foreman, John Jr. Dover Township 1837 6 Fraser, Isaac Dover Township 1836 7 Iredell, Abraham and Hester Dover Township 1809 8 Ireland, Joseph Dover Township 1840 9 Ireland, James Dover Township 1842 10 Larmill, Edwin East Dover Township 1849 11 McPherson, Peter Dover Township 1840 12 Pearra, Bellane Dover Township 1825 13 Peck, William, John, Nancy and Joseph East Dover Township 1841 14 Peterson, Nicholas Dover Township 1834 15 Ronalds, Elizabeth Dover Township 1825 16 Ruttan, Peter Dover Township 1837 17 Scharmahorn, William Dover Township 1834 18 Smith, Ann East Dover Township 1811 19 Sparks, John East Dover Township 1830 Orford Township1 Downie, Robert Orford Township 1866
2 Glover, William Orford Township 1866 3 Odell, William Henry Orford Township 1875 4 Swanton, George Orford Township 1867 Raleigh Township1 Hastings, Samuel A. Raleigh Township 1849
2 Larmill, Edwin Raleigh Township 1849 3 Sanford, Ephraim Raleigh Township 1838 4 Welch, James Raleigh Township 1811 Romney Township1 Jackson, Thomas and Sarah Romney Township 18502 Truax, Martin Romney Township
Zone Township1 Farland, Henry Leslie Zone Township 1849
2 Gordon, William Zone Township 1865 3 McGregor, Abraham Zone Township 1866 4 Patrick, Abram Zone Township 1864 5 Pierce, Loram Zone Township 1865 6 Stewart, Charles Zone Township 1851 7 Vogler, Lawrence Zone Township 1865 |
Camden Township1 Askin, Madelaine Camden Township 18522 Bell, Frederick Camden East Township 1834
3 Bell, Wiliam Camden Twp 1835 4 Cartwright, Sarah H. Camden Township 1847 5 Cook, William Camden Township 1808 6 Cornwall, John H Camden Township 1832 7 Davy, Peter Camden Township 1829 8 Detlor, Samuel Camden Township 1805 9 Fingland, Thomas Camden Township 1851 10 Forsyth, John R. Camden Township 1847 11 Hannon, Andrew Camden Township 1866 12 Hinchey, Baptiste Camden Township 1851 13 Hydorn, Clarissa Camden Township 1857 14 Hynch, John Camden Township 1855 15 Mash, John Camden Township 1836 16 Peters, Eli Camden Township 1848 17 Robinson, Peter D. Camden Township 1847 18 Salsbury, Clarissa Camden East Township 1853 19 Shaw, Thomas Camden Township 1850 20 Smith, Samuel Camden Township, Sidney Township 1843 21 Smyth, Patrick Camden Township 1810 22 Whalen, Patrick Camden East Township 1857 23 Williams, John B. Camden Township 1876 Harwich Township1 Hall, Isabella Ann Harwich Township 1812
2 Halsey, Jane P. Harwich Township 1855 3 Henneker, William Harwich Township 1851 4 Hill, Isabella Harwich Township 1812 5 Laird, James Harwich Township 1854 6 Oakley, John Harwich Township 1835 7 Wallen, Eliza A. Harwich Township 1812 Howard Township1 Brown, James Howard Township 1860
2 Campbell, Mary Howard Township 1848 3 Coll, Samuel Howard Township 1841 4 Green, John Howard Township 1839 5 Harper, Thomas Howard Township 1819 6 Hartwick, John Howard Township 1859 7 Hawkes, Samuel Howard Township 1853 8 Hawks, Samuel Howard Township 1854 9 Hope, Adam Howard Township 1858 10 Johnson, Margaret Howard Township 1809 11 Julien, Pauline and Harriet Howard Township 1839 12 Kerr, Janet Howard Township 1848 13 MacAulay, John Howard Township 1838 14 Mason, Frances Howard Township 1869 15 McKinley, Robert Howard Township 1837 16 Palmer, John Howard Township 1849 17 Scane, John Howard Township 1859 18 Spence, Robert Howard Township 1850 19 Taylor, Sarah Howard Township 1855 20 Wallis, Russell Howard Township 1851 21 Wheelan, Agnes Howard Township 1847 22 Willcox, Elisha Howard Township 1818 23 Wood, Dereas Howard Township 1848 Tilbury Township1 Glenden, Edward Tilbury East Township 1857
2 Kelly, Thomas Tilbury East Township 1857 3 Marchand, John Tilbury East Township 1821 4 Marshall, James Tilbury East Township 1856 5 McKee, Thomas Tilbury East Township 1811 6 Newkirk, James Tilbury East Township, Tilbury West Township 1811 7 Sterling, Mark Tilbury East Township 1830 8 Valcour, Joseph Tilbury East Township 1812 9 Wilson, John Tilbury East Township 1853 10 Woods, James Tilbury East Township 1822 11 Woods James Tilbury East Township, Tilbury West Township 1825 |