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Family History

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Home/.../Library/Adults & Teens/Family History
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Family History

Researching Your Family History and History of the Local Area

Our Library is proud to provide resources for family and local history research. 

Our Local History Room has over 1400 reference books on the history of the local area and the families that lived here. 

There are also over 140 items to help you with general genealogy research and outside our area. 

Find Library Materials: Check our catalogue to see if we have the book or movie you are looking for, place a request or check your account.  For those who prefer a more streamlined approach, please use our Classic Catalogue

Send your Genealogy or Local History questions to our Reference Staff.

Special lists of resources available at the Library:

  • British Home Children Resources
  • Family Histories
  • Irish Research Resources
Online Resources to help you with your Family History Research
  • Ancestry Library edition (for use in-library only)
  • Family Search.org
  • CemSearch.ca - Online database of Cemetery records for Northumberland and surrounding counties
  • Cobourg and District Images - Archival Photos Database, also includes some Archival Folder scans.
  • Cobourg Newspaper Index - This is an index only.  To see the article, you must access the newspaper on microfilm in our Local History Room, or submit a request to our Reference Staff. 
  • Ancestry Genealogy Toolkit
  • Trello - A management tool that will help you streamline your projects, tackle your to-do lists and keep your research plan on track.

Check these local Funeral Home pages for Death Notices (as our local paper ceased publication as of September 14, 2023): 

  • Allison Funeral Home (Port Hope)
    • Current Services
    • Past Services
  • MacCoubrey Funeral Home (Cobourg and Colborne)
    • Current Notices
    • Past Notices 
  • Ross Funeral Chapel (Port Hope)
    • Current Services 
    • Past Services
Village Settlements of Hamilton Township

The author of the book "Village Settlements of Hamilton Township", Catherine Milne, has agreed to share digital copies of the chapters of her book.  They contain all the chapters of the publication, but not the photographs, maps and index which were added later. The book can be found in our Local History Room, and at each branch location.

Baltimore

Bewdley

Cold Springs

Harwood

Local People and Places

People:

  • Mina Benson Hubbard
  • Fern Blodgett Sunde
  • Percy L. Climo
  • Cobourg Conspiracy Articles
    • Cobourg Conspiracy
    • Ash Family Involvement
    • Calcutt Articles
  • Marie Dressler
  • The Field’s of Wiveliscombe - The Cobourg Connection
  • Garfield / Gaffield and Coffee / Coffey Family History
    • Updated PDF versions of these family histories, donated by author Roger William Gaffield Reid.
    • Garfield / Gaffield Family
    • Coffee / Coffey Family
  • John Henley
  • Robert "Bob" Homme (The Friendly Giant)
  • Archibald Lampman
  • John Shannon
  • Lieutenant-Colonel John Weir Foote
  • Alice Evelyn Wilson
  • Thomas and William York

Places:

  • Cobourg's Artillery Pieces / by G. I. Collette
  • The Hamlet of Carmel (Gleason's Corners)
  • The Hamlet of Eddystone
  • The Hamlet of Oak Heights
  • Vernonville
Northumberland County and Surrounding Area Sites
  • Alnwick/Haldimand Heritage
  • Brighton Digital Archives
  • Campbellford-Seymour Heritage Society
  • CemSearch.ca - Online database of Cemetery records for Northumberland and surrounding counties
  • Clarington Digital Archives
  • Clarington Public Library - Local History and Genealogy
  • Cobourg and District Historical Society
    • Historical Reviews
  • Cobourg Museum Foundation (The Sifton-Cook Heritage Centre)
    • Collection of Story Panels and Artifacts
  • Cramahe Digital Archives
  • Dan Buchanan - The History Guy of Brighton
  • Heritage Cramahe
  • Illustrated historical atlas of the counties of Northumberland and Durham
  • Index of surnames appearing in the Registry Office Abstract Index for the Town of Cobourg - 1800-1860 / compiled by Percy L. Climo.
  • Kawartha Branch of Ontario Ancestors
  • Lakeshore Genealogical Society
  • Northumberland County Archives and Museum
  • Northumberland County Gen Web
  • Northumberland History.net - Census & Militia information
  • Ontario Genealogy - Northumberland
  • Peterborough Public Library - Local History and Genealogy
  • Peterborough Public Library Learning Portal
  • Port Hope - A Living Past
  • Port Hope Archives
  • Port Hope Historical Society and Dorothy’s House Museum
  • Port Hope Public Library - Local History and Genealogy
  • Quinte Branch Search the names
  • Township of Hamilton Architectural Inventory (Heritage Houses in Hamilton Township)
Northumberland and Area Records on Canadiana

The Canadiana Database offers a variety of resources that are specific to Northumberland County and area:

  • The Union Publishing Co's (of Ingersoll) farmers and business directory for the counties of Durham, Haliburton, Northumberland, Peterboro' and Victoria, for 1896 : Vol. IX (1896) - We have this book in the Local History Room - but now you can view it online! You can save the images as JPGs or PDFs
  • The County of Northumberland directory for 1870-71 published and compiled by J. C. Conner
  • The "Eastern Ontario Gazetteer & Directory" from 1898-1899
  • The Union Publishing Co's (of Ingersoll) farmers and business directory for the counties of Durham, Hastings, Northumberland, Peterboro, Prince Edward and Victoria, for 1892 : Vol. VI (1892)
  • The Union Publishing Co's (of Ingersoll) farmers and business directory for the counties of Durham, Haliburton, Northumberland, Peterboro', and Victoria, and districts of Muskoka, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Algoma, Rainy River and Thunder Bay, for 1899 : Vol. XI (1899)
  • Directory and book of reference for the west riding of the county of Northumberland and the county of Durham : 1880
  • Ontario gazetteer and business directory : Second (1886/7)
  • Ontario gazetteer and business directory : 1884/5
  • Eastern Ontario gazetteer and directory : First (1898/99)
  • Pioneer life on the Bay of Quinte, including geneaologies of old families and biographical sketches of representative citizens
  • 1878 - "The Illustrated Historical Atlas of the Counties of Northumberland and Durham, Ontario"

Ontario Research Links
  • Archives of Ontario
  • County Atlas Digital Project
  • Evolution of the District and County System 1788-1899
  • Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid
  • Ontario Gen Web
  • Ontario Genealogical Society
  • Ontario Land Registry Access
  • Ontario Online Historical Newspapers Summary
  • Our Ontario
  • TONI - The Ontario Name Index
 Canadian Research Links

 

Canadian Research Links 
 Automated Genealogy Census  New Brunswick - Provincial Archives
 Black History in Canada  Newfoundland Grand Banks
 Canada Gen Web

 Nova Scotia Archives

 Canada Gen Web Cemetery Project  Nova Scotia Church Records
 Canada Place Names  Olive Tree Genealogy
 Can Genealogy  The Passenger List Indexing Project
 The Canadian County Atlas Digital Program  Peel’s Prairie Provinces
 Canadian Genealogy Centre  Provincial Archives of New Brunswick
 Canadian Census - up to 1926

 Researching British Home Children

 Canadiana

 Royal BC Museum

 Early Canadiana online

 That's My Family

 Genealogy Québec  University of Calgary 
 National Library and Archives

 Vernon Directories

 Military Research Links
Military Research Links 
Canadian Archival Information Network General War materials
Canadian Military Heritage Project Library and Archives Canada
Canadian Military History Gateway Local History Site
Canadian Virtual War Memorial Military genealogy
Canadians in the South African War Veteran's Affairs
Commonwealth War Graves Commission War Memorials in Canada
 American Research Links
American Research Links 
 Census - USGen Web Archives Census Project  New York Public Library's Digital Collection
 Chronicling America (free digitized historic U.S. newspapers)  
 Ellis Island  Ohio Memory
 Guide to Researching US Genealogy  US GenWeb Project
 LDS (Family Search)  United States National Archives
 International Research Links
International Research Links 
 1911 Census - England, Wales & Scotland Marji's Genealogy Page
 Elephind.com Old maps online
 Commonwealth War Graves Commission Open Archives - Dutch and Belgian Archives
 Cyndi's List Rootsweb
 Genealogyindexer.org Scotlands People
 Irishgenealogy.ie Scotland Places 
 Lineages UK Placenames database of Ireland 
 Linkpendium Resources at the National Library of Wales
  World GenWeb
 Grave and Burial Research Sites
  • FindAGrave.com
  • CemSearch.ca
  • CanadaGenWeb’s Cemetery Project
  • BillionGraves (a FamilySearch site)
  • JewishGen  JOWBR Cemetery Inventory
  • Interment.net
 Loyalists Research
https://olivetreegenealogy.com - You can find Muster rolls, history, regiments, land petitions, book recommendations

http://www.royalprovincial.com/genealogy/gen.shtml - Online Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies, You can find History, military records, genealogy lists

https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/loyalists - Library and Archives of Canada, You can find Papers, military records, land petitions, lists

https://www.cangenealogy.com/loyalist.html

Genealogy Gurus - Facebook Group

New genealogy feature posted weekly

Each week, our Gurus will post a new genealogical tidbit, historical resource, photo or database – and encourage our members to post their thoughts or some interesting resources to share of their own.  

Join the conversation on Facebook

Our Local History Room

Local History and Genealogy Collections

Included in this collection are:

  • Cemetery and census indexes
  • LACAC directories
  • Marriage indexes
  • Local area histories
  • Local Family histories
  • Historical atlases
  • High school yearbooks
 Microfilm
  • Our microfilm collection includes local census and assessment records back to the early 1800's. 
  • We have the local newspapers on microfilm from 1831 to present (with some gaps). 
  • There are indexes to the Births, Marriages and Deaths held by the Archives of Ontario. 
  • Other items include telephone directories of the local area back to 1883, church records, and some local Tweedsmuir histories.
  • Many of the above items are available for in-library use only.  
  • Some material may be available on interlibrary loan (for a fee) through your local library.
  • We have a digital microfilm reader/printer available for the public - you can save an article, print it, or send it via email.
 Planning a Visit?

If you are planning a visit to our area, please contact the Library before you visit to find out what resources would be of interest to you.

Our staff will do general searches for one or two names for you if you are unable to come to the library. 

Be sure to provide as much detail as possible in your request.

Contact the Information Services Department by phone 905-372-9271 ext 6210 or by email.

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