Genealogy, Ancestry & Local History

• Central Canadians, 1600-1900
• Online version - Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 1000-1930, 1931-2000 some biographies are online

• Index of Births, Marriages and Deaths in Barrie Newspapers 1847-1978, and 1989 - 1997, 1998 (Birth & Marriage) 1999 (Marriage & Death), 2000 (Marriage). Available online for 1847-1979, through Barrie Historical Newspaper Archive.
• Office of the Registrar General (Index). 
  • Births 1869-1914
  • Marriages 1869-1939
  • Deaths 1869-1939
• Office of the Registrar General (Registrations)
  • Births 1869-1914
  • Marriages 1869-1914
  • Deaths 1869-1918, 1932

• Inventory of Cemeteries in Ontario: a Genealogical Research Guide
• Monumental Transcriptions: Records of 60 Burial Grounds in Central North Simcoe County
• Individual cemetery transcriptions for Simcoe County (indexes available online through Simcoe County Settler's Database) including Barrie Union, Alliston, Orillia, Innisfil and others.

• Ancestry Library online - Census, vital statistics, church, court, and immigration records from Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and other areas
• Personal name census for Ontario 1842-1911. Search 'Census of Canada' in the library catalogue
• Name indexes to the 1871 census for all Ontario counties and 1861, 1871 and 1891 for Simcoe County. Search 'Index to the census of Ontario' or 'census of simcoe county' in the library catalogue.

• Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Register: Simcoe County 1825 - 1910
• Other selected registers. Search 'church register' in the library catalogue for a list of most of our holdings or search a specific church.

• Index to Probate and Surrogate Court Records in Simcoe County - 1828-1929

• Barrie city directories 1988, 1989, 1991. Search 'Barrie city directory' in library catalogue.
• Barrie telephone directories 1884 to 1978. Additional Ontario telephone directories available. Residential listings published separately from 2013, library has 2013-2016 & 2019-present (Local History shelves). Search 'Barrie telephone directory' in library catalogue.
• Genealogical Research Directory: National and International 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
• Vernon's Directories, including Vernon's City of Barrie (Ontario) Directory, Vernon's Orillia City Directory, and Vernon's Simcoe County Directory.
• Other selected directories, such as Toronto 1837, Ontario 1857. Search 'Genealogy directories' in the library catalogue or a specific directory.

• Ontario Archives Land Record Index
• Index to Upper Canada Land Books 1787-1841

Our Local History collection contains books, microfilms, and other documents covering the history, geography, geology, culture and socio-economic  structure of Simcoe County. It specifically focuses on Barrie, Oro-Medonte, Springwater (including Vespra), Innisfil and Essa. Search the Library catalogue for resources on these topics:

• Histories of churches, schools, personalities, communities in Simcoe County
• Tweedsmuir Histories for selected Simcoe County townships (microfilm)

Note: Local history resources are available for in-library use only. 

Various print resources, search the Library catalogue for specific titles for this topic.

• Dictionary of Canadian Biography by National Archives of Canada and National Library of Canada 
• Ancestry Library Edition (in library use only)
• Family Search Canadian Military Records 
• Loyalist lineages of Canada by Toronto Branch, the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada.

• Barrie Examiner, 1864 to 1979 online, with some gaps in coverage; 1980 to 2017 as microfilm
• Globe and Mail: Proquest Historical Newspapers 1844-2016
• Inventory of Ontario Newspapers 1793-1986
• Northern Advance, 1854 to 1940 online, with some gaps in coverage
• Barrie Advance 1985-2004 with some gaps in coverage
• Barrie Banner August 1938-Feb 1940, August 1962-1984; 1985-October 1987 as Microfilm
• The Spirit Of The Age And Canadian General Advertiser And Intelligencer, as microfilm
• Toronto Star: Proquest Historical Newspapers 1894-2018

• Ancestry Library- Census, vital statistics, church, court, and immigration records from Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and other areas.
• Archives of Ontario - Tracing Your Family History- Genealogical holdings of the Archives of Ontario and links for genealogical research, information regarding births, marriages and deaths, microfilm interloans, wills and estates.
• Barrie Historical Newspaper Archive- Index of Births, Marriages and Deaths in Barrie Newspapers, 1847-1979
• Genealogy and Family History- Military Records, Land Grants, Census Returns, as well as lists of resources arranged by provinces.
• Cyndi's List- Comprehensive genealogical website covering worldwide resources, arranged by category and searchable by topic.
• Family Search - LDS- Ancestral Files; 1880 Census of the United States; 1881 census of Great Britain; 1881 Census of Canada.
• GenUKI- Comprehensive information about genealogical research in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including parish registers, birth, marriage and death certificates, surnames lists.
• Historical County Atlases of Ontario- Digitized illustrated historical county atlases of Ontario, published in 1874-1881. Searchable by name or county.
• History at Home: A Guide to Genealogy- Great primer for budding genealogical researchers with lists of recommended online resources.
• Ontario Genealogical Society - Simcoe County Branch- Includes the online Settler's Database for many Simcoe County cemeteries, family names of the 1861 and 1891 census, Settlers Forms, Pedigree Charts, Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Records.
• OurOntario- OurOntario searches across hundreds of sites. You can find audio, video, text, government documents, images and collections about Ontario, or from an Ontario organization. Great for searching historical local newspaper articles, birth/marriage/death notices and archival photographs. Includes pre-1980 Barrie Examiner and other local newspapers.
• OurRoots– Full text of local histories from across Canada
• RootsWeb- One of the largest genealogical websites, with a heavy focus on U.S. family research.
• Dictionary of Canadian Biographies- a reference work of Canadian Biographies
• Many Roads- 'Mega search engine' of the top 100 genealogy websites