Place:York, Ontario, Canada

NameYork
TypeCounty
Coordinates44.05°N 79.48°W
Located inOntario, Canada     (1849 - 1971)
Also located inUpper Canada, Canada     (1792 - 1841)
Canada West, Canada     (1841 - 1867)
See alsoHome District, Upper Canada, Canadaadministrative district 1784-1849
York Region, Ontario, Canadacounty municipality which replaced northern section of York County in 1971
Toronto, York, Ontario, Canadamunicipality which replaced the southern section of York County in 1954
Contained Places
Cemetery
Holy Cross Cemetery
City district
Davisville ( 1840 - 1890 )
Eglinton ( 1820 - 1890 )
Forest Hill ( 1923 - 1967 )
New Toronto ( 1890 - 1967 )
Swansea ( 1780 - 1967 )
West Toronto Junction ( 1817 - 1909 )
Yorkville ( 1830 - 1883 )
Former village
Agincourt ( 1858 - )
Brockton ( 1812 - 1884 )
Davisville ( 1840 - 1890 )
East Toronto ( 1850 - 1908 )
Eglinton ( 1820 - 1890 )
Forest Hill ( 1923 - 1967 )
Leaside ( 1913 - 1967 )
Mimico ( 1911 - 1967 )
New Toronto ( 1890 - 1967 )
North Toronto ( 1890 - 1912 )
Norway ( 1825 - 1909 )
Parkdale ( 1850 - 1889 )
West Toronto Junction ( 1817 - 1909 )
Yorkville ( 1830 - 1883 )
Hamlet
Greenwood ( - 1852 )
Utica ( 1821 - 1852 )
Inhabited place
Ansnorveldt
Armadale ( 1805 - )
Armitage
Atherley ( 1820 - 1852 )
Aurora ( 1804 - )
Baldwin
Ballantrae
Beaverton ( 1822 - 1852 )
Bendale
Bethesda
Bloomington
Bogarttown
Box Grove ( 1815 - )
Brooklin ( 1820 - 1852 )
Brown Hill
Buttonville ( 1808 - )
Cannington ( 1833 - 1852 )
Carrville
Cashel
Cedar Grove ( 1800 - )
Claireville ( 1850 - )
Claremont ( - 1852 )
Concord
Don Mills
Downsview
Dunbarton ( - 1852 )
East Gwillimbury
Edgeley ( 1800 - )
Elder Mills
Elgin Mills
Elm Pine Trail
Epsom ( - 1852 )
Eversley
Fisherville
Glenville
Green River ( - 1852 )
Greenbank ( - 1852 )
Hagermans Corners ( 1803 - )
Hammertown
Happy Valley
Headford
Highland Creek ( - 1970 )
Holland Landing
Holly Park
Holt
Hope
Humber Summit ( 1840 - )
Islington
Jackson's Point
Jefferson
Keswick
Kettleby ( 1825 - )
King City
King Creek
Kinghorn
Kleinburg
Langstaff
Lansing ( 1820 - )
Laskay
Lemonville
Linton
Lloydtown
Long Branch ( 1797 - 1967 )
Malvern ( 1856 - )
Maple
Markham
Miami Beach
Milliken
Mongolia
Mount Albert ( 1821 - )
Mount Dennis
Mount Joy
Musselman Lake ( 1807 - )
Nashville
Newmarket ( 1801 - )
Newtonbrook ( 1797 - )
Nobleton ( 1812 - )
Oak Ridges ( 1799 - )
Pefferlaw
Pine Grove ( 1801 - )
Pine Orchard
Pleasantville
Port Union
Pottageville
Purpleville
Quantztown
Queensville
Ravenshoe
Rexdale
Richmond Hill ( 1800 - )
Richvale
Ringwood
River Drive Park
Roches Point
Scarborough Junction ( 1863 - )
Schomberg
Sharon
Sherwood
Snowball
Steeles Corners
Stouffville ( 1804 - 1971 )
Strange ( 1841 - )
Sutton West
Sutton
Swansea ( 1780 - 1967 )
Temperanceville
Teston
Thistletown
Thornhill ( 1794 - )
Toronto ( 1834 - 1953 )
Unionville ( 1840 - )
Vellore
Victoria Square
Vinegar Hill
Virginia
Wesley Corners
West Hill ( 1870 - )
Weston ( 1815 - 1967 )
Wexford
Willowdale ( 1810 - )
Woodbridge ( 1802 - )
Yonge Street
York Mills ( 1824 - )
Municipality
Whitchurch-Stouffville ( 1971 - )
Neighborhood
Parkdale ( 1850 - 1889 )
Swansea ( 1780 - 1967 )
Suburb
Agincourt ( 1858 - )
New Toronto ( 1890 - 1967 )
Weston ( 1815 - 1967 )
Township
Brock ( 1833 - 1852 )
East Gwillimbury (township)
East Whitby ( 1800 - 1852 )
East York ( 1924 - 1998 )
Etobicoke ( 1792 - 1998 )
Georgina
King (township)
Mara ( 1820 - 1852 )
Markham (township) ( 1794 - )
North Gwillimbury
North York ( 1922 - 1998 )
Pickering (township) ( 1800 - 1852 )
Rama ( 1820 - 1852 )
Reach ( 1821 - 1852 )
Scarborough ( 1793 - 1998 )
Scott ( 1807 - 1852 )
Scugog ( 1821 - 1852 )
Thorah ( 1820 - 1852 )
Uxbridge (township) ( 1806 - 1852 )
Vaughan ( 1792 - )
Whitby (township) ( 1800 - 1852 )
Whitchurch ( 1790 - 1971 )
York (township) ( 1792 - 1998 )
Uninhabited hamlet
Altona ( - 1852 )
Village (former)
Lambton Mills ( 1850 - )

This section is based on an article in Wikpedia.

York County is a historic county in Upper Canada (1792-1841), Canada West (1841-1867), and the present Canadian province of Ontario.

York County was created in 1792 and was part of the jurisdiction of the Home District of Upper Canada. It originally comprised all of what is now York Region, Peel Region, Halton Region, Toronto, parts of the current Durham Regional Municipality and the current city of Hamilton.

In 1816, Wentworth County and Halton County were created from York County. In 1851, Ontario County and Peel County were separated from the County of York.

Over the proceeding century the remaining York County had little or no alterations to its borders. Toronto annexed areas previously covered by surrounding townships, but expanded Toronto remained within the County of York.

In 1953, the city of Toronto; the towns of New Toronto, Mimico, Weston, and Leaside; the villages of Long Branch, Swansea, and Forest Hill; and the townships of Etobicoke, York, North York, East York, and Scarborough seceded from York County to form Metropolitan Toronto. The York County offices, which had been in Toronto, wre moved to Newmarket. The York County Court House and the Adelaide Street Court House in Toronto are the only reminders of the former county seat in Toronto.

In 1971, the remaining portion of York County was replaced by the York Regional Municipality.

Maps

Ontario GenWeb has a sketchmap of the original townships of York County and York GenWeb provides another sketchmap of the equivalent municipalities in York Region (established 1971). Note that after 1971 the boundaries of the towns of Newmarket, Aurora and Richmond Hill are defined. These towns were all separately incorporated from the townships many years before that date, but none would have had such a large geographical footprint.

The map of York County circa 1951 from Ontario Archives locates the individual municipalities, townships, city, towns and villages of the county. (Click at the bottom of the page to see the map enlarged.)

Historic Municipalities

The map of York County circa 1951 from Ontario Archives locates the individual municipalities, townships, towns and villages of the county.

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.

    === Websites with more local information on York County (York Region) ===

Toronto

  • Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society. Serves the current City of Toronto including Etobicoke, York Township, Weston, Long Branch, New Toronto, Mimico, Swansea, Forest Hill, East York, Leaside and North York as well as the original City of Toronto. Contains a table of links to Toronto City Directories to be found online. Many other services and publications.
  • Heritage Toronto has a large website and newsletter outlining Toronto's history and includes a series of links to other organizations.
  • There may be many other libraries and museums housing information for genealogical searching in York County or York Region including others with more of a Toronto bias.
source: Family History Library Catalog
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at York County, 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.