Division Registrar Vital Statistics Records - 1858-1935

The volumes listed in the table below contain registrations of births, marriages and deaths created by various Division Registrars (who were in fact city, town or county clerks) under the authority of the Vital Statistics Act. When an individual went to the Division Registrar to register an event, the information was recorded in a book or register and then forwarded to the Registrar General.

The registers themselves, along with any index books that may have been created, remain in the custody and control of the registrars and their successors, until such time as they are transferred to the Registrar General. Certain other volumes in this series appear to have been created before the existence of the Registrar General, but they were later transferred to the Registrar General under the authority of the Vital Statistics Act.

The registers are arranged by various methods, with the two most common being: chronological by the date of registration of the event; and by letter of the alphabet (i.e. all surnames beginning with the same letter are grouped together). Registrations that are chronological by date of registration are most often indexed at the front of the volume.

Most and possibly all of the registrations found in this series are also incorporated and indexed into Registrations of Births and Stillbirths (RG 80-2, Appendix A2), Registrations of Marriages (RG 80-5, Appendix A5) or Registrations of Deaths (RG 80-8, Appendix A7).

The "Archives of Ontario Microfilm Reference" column in the table will list the reel of MS 940 microfilm that you should borrow or purchase. When you receive the reel, find the correct year on the microfilm and look up the registration number within it. In order to view this reel you may:

• Consult the appropriate reel in our reading room on the ground floor, 77 Grenville St., Toronto.

• Borrow the reel through the Interlibrary Loan Department of your public library. Quote MS 940 and the appropriate reel #. These reels cannot leave the borrowing library, so make sure to request them from a library that has a microfilm reader.

• Borrow the film from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through their Family History Centres. The Family History Centres have a different numbering system than the Archives of Ontario. These Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU) conversion numbers have been provided in the right hand column of the table below or, for a complete list of all GSU conversion numbers, consult the microfilm conversion list.
• Purchase the appropriate microfilm reel directly from the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS). Quote MS 940 and the appropriate reel #. For information on how to place an order, visit the Ontario Genealogical Society website or contact the OGS at:
  
  
  Ontario Genealogical Society
  40 Orchard View Blvd. Suite 102
  Toronto ON M4R 1B9
  Phone: 416-489-0734 Fax: 416-489-9803
  E-mail: provoffice@ogs.on.ca
  

NOTE: On MS 940, Reel 11, microfilm targets for RG 80-13-0-52 and RG 80-13-0-53 incorrectly identified these two registers as being from "Lambton County - East Luther Township". Subsequently, both the registers and the revised targets were refilmed as Items 1 and 2 on reel 14.

NOTE: The Archives of Ontario has received the Division Registrar for the District of Patricia (the lands north of the Albany River now making up Kenora District) which documents births for 1894-1911.  This volume is restricted and the microfilm of it will be released in 2008.

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NOTE: On MS 940, Reel 11, the microfilm targets for RG 80-13-0-52 and RG 80-13-0-53

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