Zorra West Township


Modern Municipalities:
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Sources for Names:
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-> see Directories
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Search by Surname:
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Transcription Progress:
-> see Sources below
 
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Line Maps:
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Zorra West Twp. in historical OXFORD Co.

Set apart in 1819 and named probably by the Spanish-loving governor, Sir Peregrine Maitland. “Zorra” is the Spanish word for a vixen, a female fox, as “Lobo” is the word for wolf. The first landholder was Thaddeus Davis, a speculator, who was granted in 1820 over 2500 acres. The first settlers, coming in 1820 and 1821, were Angus and William MacKay, John Stephenson, James Thompson, William Crooks, Dennis Woolverton and Jeremiah Grass. There was a large influx of settlers in 1822, many of them Scottish.

Jesse E. Middleton, The Province of Ontario: a History: 1615-1927, published 1927, referring to Zorra Twp., undivided:

Click the drop-down titles below:


HINT: Before fine-searching the online maps, verify from the database of transcribed names (bottom).

Early survey maps with names of original patentees – over-written with subsequent owners.

1 available I0051590

THE ABOVE LINKS ARE BROKEN. These had been off-site links to the Archives of Ontario's RG-100 Patent Plans. In 2023 the A of O replaced the 'Archives Descriptive Database' with the 'AIMS' database. Please direct inquiries to the Archives of Ontario quoting the RG 1-100 collection and urging for restoration of *large-sized* map images. (I'm always happy to hear from you too).

The names on these maps are not transcribed for the HeritagePIN databases.

Maps at McGill University's Digital Atlas Project cover the Post-Confederation period (late for the scope of this project). Names of land-owners are transcribed at McGill's site.

Click the drop-down titles below:


HINT: Before fine-searching the online directories, verify from the database of transcribed names (bottom).

1862-63 Oxford Co. / Sutherland / free online
 
1867 Oxford & Norfolk /Sutherland / subscr. site
 
Links & Transcription Progress

Find Concession/Lot Locations from the Agricultural Schedules of the Canadian national Censuses.
1842 (limited), 1851, 1861 and 1871.

Click the drop-down titles below:

Finding Aid | Search Form – LAC | see table, below

1861 District SubDistrict Film     PGs: 71 – 84
Oxford Zorra West C-1062 71 72 73
Oxford Zorra West C-1062 74 75 76
Oxford Zorra West C-1062 77 78 79
Oxford Zorra West C-1062 80 81 82
Oxford Zorra West C-1062 83 84  
Oxford Embro Town C-1062 56    

 
* The LAC search form is pre-set to search this District, and for Agricultural schedules only. However, these indexes are significantly incomplete. ALL IMAGES ARE AVAILABLE by page number, in the chart, above.

The 1861 Census Districts | Re: Bothwell, Cardwell & Monck

Contact me with questions, linking errors, etc.

Important: See FINDING AID – involves a few steps.
 
1871 District SubDistrict Div.* Film Images
14 Oxford North B Zorra West Div 1 C-9912 Link to Start
14 Oxford North B Zorra West Div 2 C-9912 Link to Start
14 Oxford North B Zorra West Div 3 C-9912 Link to Start
14 Oxford North C Embro Town   C-9912 Link to Start

 
* The Enumeration Division must match the corresponding Sched. 1 Personal Census.

Header titles on each census page aren't always fully descriptive of the Districts and Divisions. Rely on indexed information at Ancestry or FamilySearch.

The 1871 Census Districts | Maps of City Wards

Contact me with questions, linking errors, etc.

Ontario historical township tax assessments showing concessions and lots

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Use the arrows to advance each page, or browse thumbnails of all images.

Township Dates Film Images  
Zorra West 1850 8661008 Link to Start
Zorra West 1875 8661008 Link to Start

NOTE: The above table is for records BEFORE 1880, only!
Films marked in red are viewable at LDS Family History Centers.


FamilySearch has begun to transcribe: (incomplete)

Ontario Tax Assessment Rolls, 1834-1899
Search by Surname and Region



See FamilySearch Wiki about Ontario Taxation.
Both Owners and Tenants were assessed for taxes (i.e. Freeholders and Householders).
See the Instructions to Assessors from 1847 Norfolk Co.


Search Surname - by part name, or use a star as a wildcard -- do not use single quote i.e. O'Brien - instead use O(star) :
Total Records Found: 221, showing 10 per page
SurnameIncidenceTownshipCountyDatesSourceAvailable online?DetailsMisc
Adair 1 Zorra West Oxford 1856 map Link to Source
Adam 2 Zorra West Oxford 1856 map Link to Source
Adams 2 Zorra West Oxford 1856 map Link to Source
Alexander 1 Zorra West Oxford 1856 map Link to Source
Allan 1 Zorra West Oxford 1856 map Link to Source
Allen 1 Zorra West Oxford 1856 map Link to Source
Anderson 3 Zorra West Oxford 1856 map Link to Source
Armstrong 1 Zorra West Oxford 1856 map Link to Source
Avery 2 Zorra West Oxford 1856 map Link to Source
Baker 2 Zorra West Oxford 1856 map Link to Source




heritagePIN PROJECT DATABASES | Project Goals and Progress




HeritagePIN has a number of Name Transcription Projects on the go since 2008. The time period of study is Pre-Confederation (1867). Since Ontario's civil records program took some years to fully implement, this time period has been extended to include Ontario's documented inhabitants prior to the mid-1870's.

Transcribed surnames are searchable at each Township's page




Beta





 
MAPS | project

I had been able to photograph several of the (brittle) Pre-Confederation maps at various universities and archives, and by 2016 the University of Toronto has made images available ONLINE for many more!

The names in these databases have been transcribed by me personally, and include names from the inset town maps, and indexes of subscribers, located in the margins of each map.

 
DIRECTORIES & GAZETTEERS | project


Likewise, with historical directories, names have been transcribed by eye, not by OCR (conversion to text). They include those entries for individuals living in towns and cities.

 
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES


Where maps and directories are sparse for a township, or for an early time period, the Databases are supplemented with record-sets * that show names and Concession/Lot locations *. These include early Land Grant/Patents, and Agricultural Census returns.