Oro Township


Modern Municipalities:
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Sources for Names:
-> see Maps /w Names
-> see Directories
-> see Census
 
Search by Surname:
-> scroll to bottom
 
Transcription Progress:
-> see Sources below
 
Land Divisions:
Line Maps:
-> see Map Key below

Search onLand for Historical Books
for this County


Immediately use drop-down menu called ‘Filter by Township / Municipality’ (info)

Genealogical Inquiries:
Rootsweb Board for Simcoe Co.
 
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Oro Twp. in historical SIMCOE Co.

On the north shore of Lake Simcoe. Set apart in 1820 as a colony for liberated negro slaves. Only about twenty negro families settled, and the colony did not prosper. It was to supervise this settlement that Col. Edward George O’Brien came to Shanty Bay in 1830, and by his personal distinction made his home a centre of civilization. Between Kempenfeldt and Hawkestone the shores of the Lake were first occupied by retired naval officers, but the soil was [inferior], and one by one they disappeared. Hawkestone’s first settler was Richard Hodges, who came in 1830.

Jesse E. Middleton, The Province of Ontario: a History: 1615-1927, published 1927

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 I0050954

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).

Walton / 1837 Toronto City & Home District / free online

McEvoy / 1866-67 Simcoe County / subscr. site

Links & Transcription Progress

Irwin / 1872-73 Simcoe County & Muskoka Dist. / free online

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 | (enumerated, but lost)

Library and Archives Canada originally had provided this list of LINKS to the 1851 Agricultural Schedule IMAGES. Up until 2024, Names from Agricultural Schedules had been indexed for a District (County-wide) search. Now researchers must manually view the images per Sub-District (Township-wide).
 
The former LAC search form, above, pre-filtered by Township and set to return the Agricultural Schedule results, cannot be made operational in the 2024 database. I will be watching for a restoration of function. Here is a pre-set search form for the 1851 Census, Ontario-wide. (Then, hit 'Modify Search').
 
Please view the images as per the link given in the first paragraph. Do back up your files and research, as links and indexes are disappearing without acknowledgement or remedy.

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

1861 District SubDistrict Film     PGs: 57- 66
Simcoe Oro C-1073-1074 57 58 59
Simcoe Oro C-1073-1074 60 61 62
Simcoe Oro C-1073-1074 63 64 65
Simcoe Oro C-1073-1074 66

 
* The LAC search form is had been pre-set to search NAMES in this District, and within Agricultural schedules only. However, these indexes are significantly incomplete (and rendered even more unreliable in 2024). I recommend searching the 1861 Ag Schedule IMAGES by page number, in the chart, above.

In 2024 LAC has moved to a new Census Search utility. Here is a pre-set search form for the 1861 Census, Ontario-wide. (Then, hit 'Modify Search'). I will be adjusting search links at each township's page, but only to the Ag Schedule results by District (county) level.

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

Contact me with questions, linking errors, solutions you've found, etc. LAC had invited feedback during its transition process; now that it has abandoned the former database without ensuring the integrity and efficacy of their new system, they should be the receiver of complaints.

Important: See FINDING AID – involves a few steps.
 
1871 District SubDistrict Div.* Film Images
42 Simcoe North J Oro Div 1 C-9964 Link to Start
42 Simcoe North J Oro Div 2 C-9964 Link to Start
42 Simcoe North J Oro Div 3 C-9964 Link to Start

 

In 2024 LAC has moved to a new Census Search utility. Here is a pre-set search form for the 1871 Census, Ontario-wide. (Then, hit 'Modify Search'). I will be adjusting search links at the township level over the coming year.
 
This census search is essential - you will need to find the farmer's name in the regular schedule of households, then view an image of that census page to catch the Enumeration Division, Page and Line number.
 
Use the FamilySearch Index and images, instead (free account, login required).


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

Enumerators weren't always consistent in recording District- and Division information at the tops of the pages. To confirm Division number, check previous pages or rely on indexed information at Ancestry or FamilySearch.

The 1871 Census Districts | Maps of City Wards

Contact me with questions, linking errors, etc.


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: 754, showing 10 per page
SurnameIncidenceTownshipCountyDatesSourceAvailable online?DetailsMisc
[ ]an 1 Oro Simcoe 1871 map Link to Source
[ ]ert 1 Oro Simcoe 1871 map Link to Source
[ ]rt 1 Oro Simcoe 1871 map Link to Source
[ ]son 1 Oro Simcoe 1871 map Link to Source
[ ]ynn 1 Oro Simcoe 1871 map Link to Source
Ad[ ] 1 Oro Simcoe 1871 map Link to Source
Adam 2 Oro Simcoe 1867 directory Link to Source
Adams 2 Oro Simcoe 1837 directory Link to Source
Addison 4 Oro Simcoe 1871 map Link to Source
Addison 3 Oro Simcoe 1867 directory 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.