Place:Dereham, Oxford, Ontario, Canada

Dereham is a former township of Oxford County covering the southwest corner of the county. The township was incorporated in 1850 and lists of 19th century settlers are available from various sources.

"This township, which was constituted a part of The County of Oxford, by Act of Parliament in 1798, is of large territorial extent, and is bounded on the North by the township of West Oxford, on the South by the township of Bayham (County of Norfolk,) on the East by the township of Norwich, and on the West by the township of South Dorchester, (County of Middlesex). Its settlement, which commenced in 1799, has been very rapid, and by the census taken for 1861, its population has been returned at 5477, (being 2846 males and 2631 females) and an increase over its population in 1851 of 1833. Children attending school 1127; births in 1860, 202; deaths 28. Its soil is of a good quality and very productive. It is abundantly supplied with water power for mill purposes; and is also heavily timbered, with principally a mixture of pine and hardwood. A very extensive trade in lumber is carried on in this township, in consequence of the great faculties of transportation afforded by the Otter Creek which flows through it. A large number of Saw Mills are in active operation within its limits, besides Grist, Flouring, and Fulling Mills. The township is traversed by the Ingersoll and Port Burwell Plank and Gravel Road. There are five Post Offices within its bounds, viz Brownsville, Culloden, Dereham, Tillsonburg, Mount Elgin, and Salford." (source: County of Oxford Gazetteer and General Business Directory, for 1862-63, from Bill Martin's Genealogy Pages Site Map.

This is just the introduction to the article on the township. All the householders for 1862-63 are listed with the lot and concession numbers for each property.

In 1975, as part of the municipal restructuring of the county, Dereham joined with West Oxford Township to form the new municipality or Township of South-West Oxford.

The map of Oxford County circa 1951 from Ontario Archives locates the communities and physical features of the county. (Click at the bottom of the page to see the map enlarged.)

A sketchmap from Ontario GenWeb provides a simple illustration of the location of the former townships.

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.
  
  

Some websites with more local information on Oxford County

• The Oxford Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society has a large website which includes an index to local wills and a map which is a reference to the cemeteries list below.
• An index to cemeteries throughout Oxford County provided by Oxford GenWeb. More than 100,000 headstone photographs, maps and information of all 102 cemeteries found in the County of Oxford. Each cemetery contains a list of existing surnames as well as the corresponding headstone photograph. The webpage does not include every burial, only those with a decipherable headstone engraving.
• Oxford County Library provides a website full of indexes from the 19th century.
• An prize-winning essay written by a local teenager in the 1930s about the Townships of Blandford and Blenheim
• The Ontario Visual Heritage Project presents its collection of items for Oxford County.

source: Family History Library Catalog