Finding Ancestors in Land Grants in Ontario

Yesterday I posted about Abstract Indexes to Deeds. I've talked about Ontario Land Grants before on Olive Tree Genealogy Blog.

There have been quite a few questions recently about Free Grants of Land in Ontario so I wrote up what I hope is a helpful explanation as well as a list of the abbreviations used for various types of Free Grants.

Up to 1826 free land grants were available to all settlers, to government favourites, and to UEL (Loyalist) and their children. In 1826 these free grants were abolished except Loyalist and military grants to soldiers, and anyone wanting Crown land had to buy it.

The qualifying regulations and administration fees charged to the settlers changed over time and you will need an understanding of this when searching for ancestors.

The new pages are online at Free Grants of Crown Land in Ontario

You can also start at Land Records in Ontario

There are links provided there for the new pages. The Land Records page provides details of

* Free Grants
* Land Petitions
* The Canada Company
* Crown Land Grants
* CLRI (Computerized Land Record Index)
* Abstract Indexes
* Assessment Records
* Township Papers

and more..