"Empire Builders" - the Irish in Canada
The Pull of the Prairies
Canada was an attractive destination for many Victorian Irish emigrants. The eastern shores of Newfoundland were perhaps not strange lands to early Irish fishermen, but emigration further inland really picked up in the Victorian era. It was often much cheaper to sail to a Canadian port and then make the journey overland south to America. But many headed west instead towards the vast Canadian prairies and the promise of land. However, the Canadian weather was so much harsher in its extremes than soft Irish days making farming precarious. My own great uncle, William Empson Jones, braved several brutal Saskatchewan winters before being defeated by "dust-bowl" conditions and packing his family up to move to Virginia, USA.
I can't claim to have explored genealogically within all of the Canadian provinces - the notes below mostly cover Ontario which is where I have ventured into with my own research. I also recently viewed an excellent talk as part of Rootstech 2022 by Melanie McComb entitled "Escaping the Famine: Irish Settlement in Canada". She has some excellent advice on the waves of Irish emigration and how they were processed through quarantine stations until well into the early decades of the 20th century. She highlights a number of useful collections which can be accessed through some of the commercial and national links detailed below.
Canada was an attractive destination for many Victorian Irish emigrants. The eastern shores of Newfoundland were perhaps not strange lands to early Irish fishermen, but emigration further inland really picked up in the Victorian era. It was often much cheaper to sail to a Canadian port and then make the journey overland south to America. But many headed west instead towards the vast Canadian prairies and the promise of land. However, the Canadian weather was so much harsher in its extremes than soft Irish days making farming precarious. My own great uncle, William Empson Jones, braved several brutal Saskatchewan winters before being defeated by "dust-bowl" conditions and packing his family up to move to Virginia, USA.
I can't claim to have explored genealogically within all of the Canadian provinces - the notes below mostly cover Ontario which is where I have ventured into with my own research. I also recently viewed an excellent talk as part of Rootstech 2022 by Melanie McComb entitled "Escaping the Famine: Irish Settlement in Canada". She has some excellent advice on the waves of Irish emigration and how they were processed through quarantine stations until well into the early decades of the 20th century. She highlights a number of useful collections which can be accessed through some of the commercial and national links detailed below.
Province of Upper Canada, 1800
David William Smyth, Surveyor General
Archives of Ontario
Upper Canada versus Lower Canada? Canada West? Map Resources
Reflecting its gradual settlement, areas of Canada have sported different names over the years, some confusingly so. For example, much of modern day Ontario was originally named Upper Canada at the end of the 18th century, reflecting its location on the higher reaches of the St. Lawrence river, versus Lower Canada which covered much of modern day Quebec. Ontario is south of Quebec so that's really doing to do your head in every time you wrestle with old maps! Speaking of which, there is a really helpful site entitled "The Changing Shape of Ontario", which should help you understand more about old boundaries.
These Ontario Historical County Maps are also very useful. Scots also headed for these new lands in vast numbers, a fact that is reflected in some of the borrowed place names today - check out those northern counties in particular.
Reflecting its gradual settlement, areas of Canada have sported different names over the years, some confusingly so. For example, much of modern day Ontario was originally named Upper Canada at the end of the 18th century, reflecting its location on the higher reaches of the St. Lawrence river, versus Lower Canada which covered much of modern day Quebec. Ontario is south of Quebec so that's really doing to do your head in every time you wrestle with old maps! Speaking of which, there is a really helpful site entitled "The Changing Shape of Ontario", which should help you understand more about old boundaries.
These Ontario Historical County Maps are also very useful. Scots also headed for these new lands in vast numbers, a fact that is reflected in some of the borrowed place names today - check out those northern counties in particular.
Canadian Records Online
Ancestry has quite an extensive roll-call of Canadian collections with censuses and passenger manifests and entry documents probably being the most useful to start of with. Many of these collections also feature on FamilySearch which has a Canadian Research Page that should be plundered for treasure, as well as exploring their catalogue for specific provinces etc. FamilySearch also has lots of freely available images of the original records. FindMyPast appears to have a more limited set of Canadian record sets, but if that's what you've got a subscription to and you like their search and sort functions better then you will find many of the important records like censuses. However, many of their record sets are very small but of course, you may be lucky.
The great thing about many Canadian vital records is the level of detail recorded. For example, those same Scots that festooned the landscape with their old place names also helpfully imported some of their more enlightened bureaucracy too, including full parents names in many records. This practice does of course vary by province. Remember too that many of Quebec's records may only exist in French.
Library and Archives Canada is the national institution charged with preserving Canada's historical records and there is lots of useful information on the site. Their Genealogy and Family History page should help you navigate their free databases and learn more. Hunt for regional archives too. For example, the Archives of Ontario have some good advice pages as well as maps and details about their collections, but these remain offline.
Ancestry has quite an extensive roll-call of Canadian collections with censuses and passenger manifests and entry documents probably being the most useful to start of with. Many of these collections also feature on FamilySearch which has a Canadian Research Page that should be plundered for treasure, as well as exploring their catalogue for specific provinces etc. FamilySearch also has lots of freely available images of the original records. FindMyPast appears to have a more limited set of Canadian record sets, but if that's what you've got a subscription to and you like their search and sort functions better then you will find many of the important records like censuses. However, many of their record sets are very small but of course, you may be lucky.
The great thing about many Canadian vital records is the level of detail recorded. For example, those same Scots that festooned the landscape with their old place names also helpfully imported some of their more enlightened bureaucracy too, including full parents names in many records. This practice does of course vary by province. Remember too that many of Quebec's records may only exist in French.
Library and Archives Canada is the national institution charged with preserving Canada's historical records and there is lots of useful information on the site. Their Genealogy and Family History page should help you navigate their free databases and learn more. Hunt for regional archives too. For example, the Archives of Ontario have some good advice pages as well as maps and details about their collections, but these remain offline.
Townland of Origin ... so much more than the title suggests!
Although he hasn't updated the site in several years due to other commitments, Joe Buggy's Townland of Origin website is still a fantastic resource for all things genealogical in not just the US of A but also Canada, another very important destination for Irish emigrants.
Although he hasn't updated the site in several years due to other commitments, Joe Buggy's Townland of Origin website is still a fantastic resource for all things genealogical in not just the US of A but also Canada, another very important destination for Irish emigrants.
(c) Irish Geneaography - 2022
