Finding Canada Census images.

Tuesday’s Tips
By Don Taylor

During my recent research into William Francis Halcro, I needed Canada Census Records. Certainly, Ancestry.Com has the records, but it requires a World Explorer membership. I don’t do enough research outside of the United States to justify my having a World Explorer membership[i].

The Library and Archives of Canada have many Censuses along with images. As I searched for William Halcro in Quebec, I only found him in a couple of censuses. Frustrated, I moved on to searching at Family Search.

Using Family Search, I learned that in many Canadian Censuses, William Halcro was indexed with the surname “Halero” and “Halers” in some censuses. Then I found that I needed to be at a family history center or an affiliate library to see the images. So, I added the item to my Source Box in a Halcro Project folder. That way, I could go to my local affiliate library, find the item quickly, and download the original document image for my records.

Then I had an inspiration, what if I used the name in the Family Search record with the same spelling in a search on the Library and Archives of Canada. Sure enough, it worked perfectly. Searching the 1901 Canada Census for William Halers in Quebec returned the desired image. Simple – Easy Peasy.

Conclusion

I will use that for my Canadian Census searches when I have an active Ancestry World Explorer membership.

However, when I don’t have an active World Explorer membership, I’ll do my Canadian Census searches using Family Search if Family Search has the image, great. But if they don’t, I’ll search for the same record using the spelling found in the Family Search at the Library and Archives Canada.

Endnotes

[i] I have had World Explorer membership occasionally in the past. Typically a six-month membership when I know I’ll be researching international locations for a while. I don’t do that too often, so typically I purchase 6 months every couple years, or so.