At last, I’ve been waiting for this: to unlock hidden discoveries in historical Canadian records that have never been searchable until now. I know I wasn’t the only one waiting.
Go to https://www.familysearch.org/search/full-text
You should see a screen with a search box like this (somewhere along you’ll need to log on with your free FamilySearch account.)
Now search for a keyword. I tried Smith and got 12,262,190 results. Then, against Filters, I selected Place. Clicking on Canada reduced it to 1,080,787 results. Further refining to Ontario yielded 739,316 results. You can further filter by Collection, Year, Place, and Record Type. Click on Apply to see the filtered set.
The collection is not comprehensive. Ontario’s probate has the most records for the decades 1900 to 1920, Geographic coverage is spotty.
There’s a tiny collection of Canadian Homestead (Land) records.
Good job, FamilySearch.
How can I submit corrections to this AI-generated database? I click on my ancestor’s name, and come upon a few “I guess I can see how they mistook that T for a B”, but even more “That’s clearly a W and not a B, as it’s alphabetically listed with all the other Ws!”
Newman harry777@yahoo.com
I just tried your link and I’m amazed at the new information I’m finding. I can’t imagine having found these documents before. Thank you so much for bringing this to everyone’s attention!
Amazing. I think this will encourage many of us to review our research, look again at those bothersome brick walls and to marvel at the ease of access to a multitude of records. And this is just the beginning!
Very cool – just found the Probate file for my great-great uncle, Edwin Spong, who died in Hamilton in January 1926. It contains much more information than that sent to me from the UK Probate/Will Search Service…
Thank you. I approached this with skepticism for finding Canadian content but was amazed with findings in the Ontario Land Records that quickly took care of my afternoon!
FYI the AI index had a hard time with initial “K” vs “D” and “R”. Got around this by searching on uncommon middle name or other names in the documents.
Great resource. Just found will and land records for ancestors with the link you gave. Thank you!
Not perfect but Wow! Thanks John
I tried the link to Family Search earlier today and found amazing land information records on a quite prominent Canadian ancestor of mine. However, once I played around with it more, and then went on to other searches and time off,
I returned and could not find anything more than the Full Text info I had already input.
I have an instant log in with Family Search so that is not the problem.
The problem is getting back to the full site which talks about AI searches, and several other pages which I rambled through.
How do I get back to the full list of possibilities searching areas on the site?
Just tried the site for my Ontario connections and found my GGreat Grandfather’s Last Will & Testaments etc. So excited and want to thank you for sharing the research site.
This is fabulous! Found my 2nd and 3rd great grandfather’s wills and probate in Glengarry.