Place:Lambton, Ontario, Canada

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

Lambton County is located in the southwestern corner of the Canadian province of Ontario. Although Sarnia is by far the largest urban community in the county, the county seat is in the Town of Plympton-Wyoming.

Lambton County started as a part of the District of Hesse (renamed Western District in 1792). The district of Hesse included all the British territories west of Long Point on Lake Erie, or practically all of western Ontario. The district was divided into counties (Essex, Suffolk, Kent). Lambton was originally part of Kent County. In 1849 the district system of government was abolished and the County of Lambton started life as in a union with Kent and Essex Counties. In 1852 the partnership was dissolved and Lambton become a full county. It is named in honour of the Earl of Durham who lived in Lambton Castle. (Source: London Free Press, July 15, 1939, by W.G. Trestain)

The largest city in Lambton County is Sarnia, which is located at the mouth of the St. Clair River. The two Blue Water Bridges cross the river at Sarnia, connecting it to Port Huron, Michigan. The bridges are one of the busiest border crossings between the United States and Canada. The river is also traversed by two passenger ferries further south, and a rail tunnel, also at Sarnia, runs underneath it. The CN rail tunnel accommodates double-stacked rail cars.

Lambton County was the site of North America's first drilled commercial oil well at Oil Springs, Ontario in 1858. Although oil is no longer drilled in the area, petrochemical and refining continue to be the largest manufacturing sector in the county's economy. Established during World War 2, Sarnia and the area along the St. Clair River is home to a major processing centre for oil from Alberta.

In late 2010 and early 2011 a number of companies announced plans to provide ethane from the Marcellus Shale in the USA to Lambton County industries; providing a potential new feedstock for the production of ethylene in Lambton County.

Lambton County has 2,346 farms with a total of 592,793 acres. Arable crops take up 85% of total farmland. Over the last 20 years soybeans, wheat, and grain corn have accounted for over 80% of total area crop production in Lambton. The fourth and fifth leading crops are sugar beets and hay. Among other crops oats, barley and mixed grains are also produced. Top animal production includes dairy, beef, hog, and poultry.

Subdivisions

Lambton changed from the old township structure to the new municipality structure of local government in 2001. The new municipalities are as follows:

• City of Sarnia
• Municipality (city) of Lambton Shores
• Town of Petrolia
• Town of Plympton–Wyoming
• Township of Brooke-Alvinston
• Township of Dawn-Euphemia
• Township of Enniskillen
• Township of St. Clair
• Township of Warwick
• Village of Oil Springs
• Village of Point Edward
• Chippewas of Kettle (First Nation Reserve)
• Stony Point (First Nation Reserve)
• Aamjiwnaang (First Nation Reserve)
• Walpole Island also has a First Nation community, near Wallaceburg.

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 Lambton County

• Lambton County GenWeb has a website of links to various other website.
• The Lambton Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society has a list of printed and online (pay-site) publications including an Early Settlers Database. It also leads to a couple of interesting detailed maps of the county (current-day).
• Lambton County Genealogy Links provides a link to the local 1901 and 1911 censuses provided by the Ontario GenWeb Census Project. The Lambton County censuses (1851-1911) are almost completely transcribed by the Ontario GenWeb Project (free access). Their transcriptions, used in conjunction with inspection of the actual census images from Library and Archives Canada (LAC--see above), would be very useful.
• Canadian Genealogy Lambton page has links to Ontario-wide genealogy websites and also a descriptive list of places in the county produced by Lambton County Council in 1925.

source: Family History Library Catalog