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)