Place:North Gower (township), Carleton, Ontario, Canada

Watchers
NameNorth Gower (township)
TypeTownship
Coordinates45.2°N 75.7°W
Located inCarleton, Ontario, Canada     (1792 - 1974)
Also located inOttawa, Carleton, Ontario, Canada     (2001 - present)
See alsoRideau, Carleton, Ontario, Canadatownship into which North Gower was merged in 1974


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

North Gower Township is a former and now geographic township in eastern Ontario, Canada, now located in Ottawa. It contains the communities of Manotick and North Gower.

North Gower (pronounced "North Gor") was located in the southern part of Carleton County, bordered to the northwest by Goulbourn Township, to the north by Nepean, to the east by Osgoode and to the south by South Gower Township. It is separated from North Grenville and Osgoode by the Rideau River.

Originally known as Township C, it was established in 1792. In 1800, it became part of Carleton County and was incorporated as a township in 1850. The first settlers in the township were United Empire Loyalists. The township was first settled by Stephen Blanchard in 1820. The village of North Gower was first settled in 1846 and was originally known as Stephensville. The township merged with Marlborough Township and Long Island in 1974 to become Rideau Township. Rideau, in turn, became part of the amalgamated city of Ottawa in 2001.

North Gower Township took its name from Admiral John Leveson-Gower, Lord of the Admiralty from 1783 to 1789. At one time, there was also a South Gower Township.

According to the Canada 2016 Census, the former township had a population of 10,971 (former boundaries, including Long Island). As of the Canada 2021 Census, this had increased to 12,341.

image:250px-Newottawamap.png Map of Ottawa and Carleton County from Wikipedia Commons

A sketchmap from Ontario GenWeb gives a more visible outline of the townships.

The map of Carleton 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.)

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

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.

Researching in Eastern Ontario

The website of the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society offers a number of search engines for databases of material they maintain:

The Society covers the counties of Carleton (combined with the city of Ottawa), Lanark, Renfrew, Prescott and Russell. There is a note on the website that the URL will be changing soon (Jun 2012). It may be best to “google” the Ottawa Branch of OGS.

source: Family History Library Catalog
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at North Gower Township, Ontario. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.