BRANT COUNTY, ONTARIO RESOURCES

Archives of Ontario 77 Grenville Street Toronto, Ontario M7A 2K9	There are indexes available for land petitions from 1792-1867, and a nominal card index for Crown Land Applications 1764-1842. The Heir and Devisee Commission Records are indexed from 1805-1911 (the earlier records 1797-1804 are located at the National Archives of Canada in Ottawa). Many of the land records have been microfilmed,and are available on loan through your local Family History Center. Check the FHLC (Family History Library Catalogue) to see what is available for your county. Also, local public libraries in Ontario may also have genealogical collections which include land records.
Brant County Branch Ontario Genealogical Society	34 Market Street P.O. Box 2181 Brantford, Ontario, Canada N3T5Y6 ( 519) 753-4140 They have a wonderful list of Brant County publications for sale at very reasonable prices.
Brant County Census Records Mormon Church	1824, 1827, 1829, 1832 Census - A book, not filmed, is "Grand River Tract census, 1824, 1827, 1829, 1832, Haldimand Township, Wentworth County, Gore District : now Brantford Township, Brantford, and Paris in Brant County" by Angela Files. LDS Call number 971.347 X2g. The 1851 Census for Brantford - Part 4 of the census is missing and it looks like parts 1 and 3 of the agricultural census are also missing. There seems to be an index for the 1851 census at Salt Lake City, but it is not filmed. The LDS call number for the index is 971.348 X22h 1851 v. 1-5. 1861 Ontario Census: Brant (Town of Brantford and Townships of Brantford and Burford) Film #0349249 1861 Ontario Census: Brant (Townships of South Dumfries, Oakland, and Onandaga, Village of Paris, Township of Tuscarora and Agricultural Census) Film #0349250 1871 Ontario Census: Brant, South (Burford, Oakland, West Brantford and Tuscarora Townships) Film #0349145 1871 Ontario Census: Brant, North (South Dumfries, East Brantford and Onandaga Townships) Film #0349146 A good site is the LDS site that allows searches by placenames or surnames: www.familysearch.org/Search/searchcatalog.asp
Brant County Public Libraries	Main Library: 12 William Street Paris Ontario N3L 1K7 519-442.2433 Contact: Werner Mueller Hours: 10:00 - 5:00 Monday to Friday The Brantford Public Library has put the Births, Marriages, Deaths Index to the Brantford Expositor online
Brantford Library	Main Library 173 Colborne Street Brantford, Ontario Canada, N3T 2G8 Tel: (519) 756-2220 E-Mail: info@brantford.library.on.ca Has old city directories. Known to have 1907, 1909, 1910, 1911, and 1912 and probably others. They will do lookups in sources that have been indexed, photocopy them for you for just $10.00. That includes 5 pages of photocopies and postage.
City of Brantford	City Hall 519-759-4150
County of Brant	1249 Colborne Street West Highway 53 Mount Vernon Mailing Address: P.O. Box 160 Burford, Ontario N0E 1A0 519-449-2451 Fax 519-449-2454 Email: brantcounty@sympatico.ca
Census Records	Canada took census returns starting in 1851, 1861 and every ten years thereafter. Certain areas of Eastern Canada have earlier returns that are more limited in scope. Generally they list head of household only. There is a Library of Census Returns 1666-1881 available at some libraries that may help you determine what data is available. Census films may then be ordered from the Ontario Archives.
Church Records	The following church publications are located at the Baptist Archives, McMaster University Library, United Church Archives, Victoria College Library and the Public Archives of Ontario and Canada: New York Christian Advocate 1816-1826; Christian Guardian of the Episcopal Methodist Church; Observer of the Bible Christians; Weslyn of the Eastern Church; Weslyn Methodists; American Methodist Magazine; Christian Messenger and Evangelical Witness of the New Connection; British Methodist Magazine.
Grand Erie Education Archives	The Grand Erie Education Archives are located at 270 Main St. in Waterford, Ontario at Waterford District High School. The Archives house the attendance registers, minute books and so on of the 3 school boards of Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk. The opening was held on October 26, 2004 7pm at Waterford District High School. Wayne Joudrie, Director of Education, Paul Coon retired guidance counsellor and Bob Stevenson spoke. Here is a link to an article about the opening from the Simcoe Reformer http://www.simcoereformer.ca/news3.html
Ontario Land Registry Office Brant District Office	LRO #2, Court House 80 Wellington Street, Brantford, Ontario, N3T 2L9 (519) 752-8321 There are 66 offices throughout Ontario. First, you need to determine the locality of the office which holds the records you are interested in. Some offices have the original abstract books on open shelves, while others have the records on microfilm. Some of the early books have surname indexes, otherwise you must know the lot and concession number. You can also look at the microfilmed copy books, and some probate records are available. Most offices will allow you to make photocopies or will make copies for you, although the cost varies. Be sure to take Canadian currency-you can pay in U.S. funds, but you will not get the exchange rate. Most of the original Copy Books have been transfered to various local archival repositories. These are often university archives who have the space and necessary storage conditions. Copy Books may not be located where you may think either, for example, the University of Windsor Archives maintains all of the Copy Books for Essex County, most of the Copy Books for Lambton County, and about half of the books for Kent County.
Paris Museum and Historical Society Archives Click above for New Website	The Paris Museum and Historical Society Archives are Operated by The Paris Historical Society at the Paris Library. The Address is Paris Museum and Historical Society Archives, c/o Brant County Library, Paris Branch, 12 William Street., Paris Ontario N3L 1K7. There is a charge of $5 (subject to change) per visit. The Historical Society will do research, fee for research will be determined by size/difficulty. Email address is parishs@execulink.com Hours of Operation are Tuesday 1 pm to 5 pm, Thursday 6 pm to 8 pm, Friday 1 pm to 5 pm and Saturday 10 am to Noon
Public Archives of Canada 395 Wellington St.| Ottawa, Ontario
Tri-University Group of Libraries	Search Wilfrid Laurier University Library, University of Waterloo, University of Guelph.
Newspapers	Most Canadian newspapers are on microfilm and held by the National Library of Canada. These films are available through the inter library loan. I have borrowed many films, including the Expositor through my library in the USA. Go to http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/services/news/cnie.htm for which newspapers and years are available.
Brant County Census Records Mormon Church	1824, 1827, 1829, 1832 Census - A book, not filmed, is "Grand River Tract census, 1824, 1827, 1829, 1832, Haldimand Township, Wentworth County, Gore District : now Brantford Township, Brantford, and Paris in Brant County" by Angela Files. LDS Call number 971.347 X2g. The 1851 Census for Brantford - Part 4 of the census is missing and it looks like parts 1 and 3 of the agricultural census are also missing. There seems to be an index for the 1851 census at Salt Lake City, but it is not filmed. The LDS call number for the index is 971.348 X22h 1851 v. 1-5. 1861 Ontario Census: Brant (Town of Brantford and Townships of Brantford and Burford) Film #0349249 1861 Ontario Census: Brant (Townships of South Dumfries, Oakland, and Onandaga, Village of Paris, Township of Tuscarora and Agricultural Census) Film #0349250 1871 Ontario Census: Brant, South (Burford, Oakland, West Brantford and Tuscarora Townships) Film #0349145 1871 Ontario Census: Brant, North (South Dumfries, East Brantford and Onandaga Townships) Film #0349146 A good site is the LDS site that allows searches by placenames or surnames: www.familysearch.org/Search/searchcatalog.asp
Presbyterian Church	There is at least one church which did not join the United Church; the Alexandra Presbyterian Church (*) which is the successor of the Wellington Street Presbyterian Church (1845-1877) and the First Presbyterian Church (1878-1901).   The Presbyterian Church Archives and Records Office The Presbyterian Church in Canada 50 Wynford Drive North York, Ontario M3C 1J7 (416) 441-1111 Should by chance it turn out that your ancestors attended this church and you find out if registers exist and where they are (they are not in Toronto), please let me know!
Tweedsmuir Histories	The Tweedsmuir histories are kept by the local Women's Institutes. They are an accumulation of local news items; newspaper accounts of weddings, anniversaries, special occasions; family histories; and various other articles and write-ups of local interest. The Tweedsmuir history for the St. George area is covered by 2 W.I.'s - Blue Lake & Auburn W.I. has disbanded but their Tweedsmuir History books still exist. The St. George W.I. is still quite active and their Tweedsmuir History book is kept by one of their members. Therefore, "Tweedsmuir Village History" will be the history of the village of St. George as covered in the Women's Institute's Tweedsmuir History book.
United Church of Canada	A great collection of records - many available through interlibrary loan. Some of the Presbyterian Churches joined the United Church in 1925 and you can check with the United Church Archives in Toronto. I just noticed myself this week that an index is online to what local church records they do have. The United Church of Canada / Victoria University Archives 73 Queen's Park Cres. East Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1K7 Telephone: (416) 585-4563 Fax: (416) 585-4584