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The map of Norfolk County circa 1951 from Ontario Archives locates the individual townships, city, towns and villages 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. The Township of Walsingham was split into the Townships of North Walsingham and South Walshingham in 1881. "Walsingham Township fronts on Long Point Bay. It has Houghton on the west, Middleton on the north, and Charlotteville on the east... Taken as a whole, Walsingham promises to be one of the finest agricultural districts in the county. Much of it is yet new, especially in the west".... Early settlers included the John Backhouse family, the Samuel Barber family, and the Henry Kitchen family. [edit] WalsinghamA township in the Talbot District, is bounded on the east by the township of Charlotteville, on the north-west by Middleton, on the west by Houghton, and on the south by Lake Erie. In Walsingham 18,635 acres are taken up, 5322 of which are under cultivaton. A stream called Big Creek runs through the township from north-east to south-west, at the mouth of which is a settlement called Port Royal, where is a steam saw mill. Near the centre of the south of the township is a shipping place called Port Rowan. The principal part of the timber of the township is pine, and large quantities of sawed lumber are exported. There are two grist mills and six saw mills in the township. Population in 1841: 1,046. Ratable property in the township £18,412. (source: 1846 Canadian Gazetteer. Upper Province or Canada West. by Wm H Smith, published for the author by H & W Rowsell, Toronto. Quoted by courtesy of Elva Sanghera, Burnaby, BC) [edit] Research TipsThe 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. [edit] Early RecordsCivil 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. [edit] Vital Records after 1869Birth, 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.
[edit] Land Records and WillsInformation 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. [edit] CensusesThe 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. [edit] Hard-to-Find Places
[edit] E-books, Books and Newspapers
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