Place:North Dumfries, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

The Township of North Dumfries is a rural township in Ontario, Canada, part of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. The township includes the communities of Ayr, Branchton, Clyde, Reidsville and Roseville.

Dumfries Township started as a single township in the Gore District. It was part of the large Grand River purchase bought by William Dickson in 1816 from Joseph Brant and his First Nation peoples and originally known as "Block One". The division into two townships--North Dumfries and South Dumfries--occurred in 1852 after the counties had taken the place of the districts in the local administration of the province. North Dumfries became part of Waterloo County and South Dumfries joined Brant County.

The township developed from less that 100 settlers in 1818 to over 4000 by 1834. All the lots were filled by 1832. Shade's Mill was the heart of the township. It was named after Absalom Shade, who was responsible, along with William Dickson, in opening the township. The original settlers were Scottish (hence the name of the township), but some Mennonites from Pennsylvania were present in North Dumfries. When Shade's Mill obtained its first post office in 1925, it was renamed Galt. Galt became an independently incorporated town around 1852.

In 1973, when municipal restructuring turned the County of Waterloo into the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, the township expanded to the east to include the Village of Clyde which had formerly been in Wentworth County and some sections of the township were annexed or amalgamated into the new City of Cambridge (formerly Galt, Preston and Hespeler). North Dumfries has continued to be called a township under the Regional Municipality and continues to surround its urban hub even though the name of the urban hub has changed).

For more information on "North Dumfries Township" see North Dumfries and Regional Municipality of Waterloo in Wikipedia.

The map of Waterloo 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 gives an outline of the 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.
  
  (Template:Waterloo local provision pending)

source: Family History Library Catalog