Place:Clearview, Simcoe, Ontario, Canada

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Clearview is a rural incorporated township in Simcoe County in Central Ontario, Canada,^[1] west of Barrie and south of Collingwood and Wasaga Beach in Simcoe County.

The map of Simcoe County circa 1951 from Archives of Ontario identifies the individual cities, towns and villages covered by the sketchmap. There is a facility to enlarge it at the bottom for the page.

History

The text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia.

The municipality of Clearview Township was established on January 1, 1994, when the Town of Stayner, the Village of Creemore and the Township of Nottawasaga and the Township of Sunnidale were amalgamated. The Townships of Nottawasaga and Sunnidale were incorporated in 1851 and 1858, respectively.

Early settlement on the site of Stayner coincided with the construction of a railway line from Toronto, Ontario to Collingwood, Ontario between 1851 and 1855. The community of Stayner, which was originally called Nottawasaga Station, developed into a significant agricultural and lumbering centre. Stayner was incorporated as a village in 1872, and as a Town in 1888, and the Village of Creemore was incorporated in 1889.

The towns of Collingwood and Wasaga Beach, on the shore of Georgian Bay, are now independent municipalities and not part of Clearview, however, in the 19th century the administration of the town areas would have been covered by the townships.

Two sketchmaps show the whole of Simcoe County and the alterations of boundaries that came with the change from townships to municipalities in the 1990s. The web page also leads to a considerable amount of information about the municipality of Clearview Township and its history. (source:Simcoe GenWeb)

Research Tips

The primary source for basic documents (vital statistics, land records, wills) for people who lived in the Province of Ontario is the Archives of Ontario, 134 Ian Macdonald Blvd, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M7A 2C5.

Early Records

Civil registration did not begin in the province until 1869. Before then there may be church records of baptisms and burials. For the most part these are still held by the denomination who recorded them. Copies of marriage records made pre-1869 had to be sent by individual clergymen to the registrar of the county in which the marriage took place. These marriage records are available through Ontario Archives, on micorfilm through LDS libraries, and on paid and unpaid websites, but because they were copied at the registrars' offices, they cannot be considered a primary source.

Vital Records after 1869

Birth, marriage and death registrations are not open to the public until a specific number of years after the event occurred. Births to 1915 are now available [October 2014]; dates for marriages and deaths are later. Birth and death registration was not universally carried out in the early years after its adoption. Deaths were more apt to be reported than births for several years. The more rural the area, the less likely it would be that these happenings were reported to the authorities.
Images and indexes of civil registrations for the "viewable" years can be found on paid websites, and indexes only on FamilySearch. The FamilySearch Wiki on Ontario Vital Records explains how these records are organized and their availability.
In September 2014 Ancestry.ca announced that its paid website has been subjected to a "houseclean" of its Ontario BMD database, adding data that had been omitted and making many corrections. Its provision now includes

• Births, with 2,172,124 records covering 1869-1913.
• Marriages, with 3,393,369 records for 1801-1928 including Ontario county, district and Roman Catholic origins as well as province-wide civil registration.
• Deaths, with 2,190,030 records comprising Ontario civil registrations of deaths, 1869-1938 and registrations of Ontario overseas deaths for 1939-1947.

Land Records and Wills

Information on how to access land records and wills is best sought on the Archives of Ontario website. An ancestor's land holding might be found on Canadian County Atlas Digital Project if he was in occupancy circa 1878.

Association for the Preservation of Ontario Land Registry Office Documents (APOLROD). A list of Land Registry Offices for all Counties of Ontario.

Censuses

The original censuses are in the hands of Library and Archives Canada, known to Canadians as "LAC". Copies of original microfilms are online at the LAC website for all censuses up to 1921. Each census database is preceded with an explanation of the geographical area covered, the amount of material retained (some census division material has been lost), the questions on the census form, and whether there is a name index. Census divisions were redrawn as the population increased and more land was inhabited.
Other websites, some paid and some free, also provide Canadian census originals and/or indexes online. One can also view censuses on microfilm at the LAC, at the Archives of Ontario (see address above), or at large libraries throughout Canada.

Hard-to-Find Places

• National Resources Canada's Index of Geographical Names: Query by Name. This database includes even the smallest places all over Canada and provides geographical co-ordinates and maps which extend out from the "found place". Correct spelling of a place is essential.
• Archives of Ontario have a web page titled "The Changing Face of Ontario" (which is very hard to find without this link). This provides maps of Ontario and its divisions in the 19th century (pre Confederation in 1867) and also includes links to series of historical maps of the individual counties as they were between 1867 and the 1970s when a huge reorganization of municipalities began. The Districts of Northern Ontario and Maps of Southern and Central Ontario circa 1951 show the townships of each county.

E-books, Books and Newspapers

• The Internet Archive, particularly texts from Canadian universities, can contain interesting material
• Our Roots is a Canadian website similar to The Internet Archive
• Global Genealogy is an online bookshop specializing in Ontario material who will ship anywhere in the world.
• The Ancestor Hunt is a blog listing old Ontario newspapers that are available online, both free and pay websites. This is a very extensive list.
  
  

Websites with more local information on Simcoe County

• Simcoe County Museum
• Simcoe Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society. Has a Settlers' Database, amongst other things.
• The Simcoe GenWeb site. Everything you might want to know about 19th century Simcoe County and more! This is a huge site with information on each of the new municipalites and links to the earlier townships that were amalgamated into each one. Names and histories of settlers, cemetery listings, and all sorts of things.
• Barrie Public Library houses the library of the Simcoe Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society.
• Simcoe County Archives. Has an online database of its holdings. The place to visit for an "in depth" investigation.
• Simcoe County Settlers Database
• Hunter, A.F. (1909). History of Simcoe County. Reproduced online.
• Barrie Heritage provides a lot of material on the City of Barrie.