Oxford West Township


Modern Municipalities:
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Sources for Names:
-> see Maps /w Names
-> see Directories
-> see Census
 
Search by Surname:
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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 Oxford Co.
 
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Oxford West Twp. in historical OXFORD Co.

Hon. Samuel Street and Gideon Tiffany were the first landholders, but the first owner to begin development of the district was Thomas Ingersoll, who was granted Lot 20 of Concession 2, West Oxford, on May 17th, 1802.

Jesse E. Middleton, The Province of Ontario: a History: 1615-1927, published 1927, referring to Oxford E,W & N, 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 leasees - with transcriptions by Elgin Co. OGS-Ontario Ancestors.

RG 1-470-0-0-180 | 1800 | PDF 357 MB

The left page is Oxford East township (below Dundas Road). The lots adjoining at an angle are a small part of Oxford West township, where the town of Woodstock grew.

The right page is a completely different map. It is shown upside down. Oxford North township and Oxford West township are separated by the Thames River. ‘Ingersoll’ is pencilled in along the river.

See the Elgin County Archives' Talbot Settlement and Survey Maps, 1793-1849 under two Fonds:
F 501: The Thomas Talbot Fonds * with transcriptions!
RG 1-470: The Ministry of Natural Resources Fonds

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

1 available I0050969

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 | (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: 17 – 23
Oxford Oxford East C-1062 17 18 19
Oxford Oxford East C-1062 20 21 22
Oxford Oxford East C-1062 23    

 

1861 District SubDistrict Film     PGs: 01 – 03
Oxford Ingersoll Town C-1062 01 02 03

 

1861 District SubDistrict Film     PGs: 57
Oxford Woodstock Town C-1062 57

 
* 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
13 Oxford South E Oxford West Div 1 C-9911 Link to Start
13 Oxford South E Oxford West Div 2 C-9911 Link to Start
13 Oxford South F Ingersoll Town Div 1 C-9911 Link to Start
13 Oxford South F Ingersoll Town Div 2 C-9911 Link to Start
14 Oxford North E Woodstock Town Div 1 C-9912 Link to Start
14 Oxford North E Woodstock Town Div 2 C-9913 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.

Ontario historical township tax assessments showing concessions and lots

Log In to a free account at FamilySearch.org.


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

Township Dates Film Images  
Oxford West None Available

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: 206, showing 10 per page
SurnameIncidenceTownshipCountyDatesSourceAvailable online?DetailsMisc
Armstrong 1 Oxford West Oxford 1856 map Link to Source
Arnold 1 Oxford West Oxford 1856 map Link to Source
Austin 1 Oxford West Oxford 1856 map Link to Source
Bailey 2 Oxford West Oxford 1856 map Link to Source
Bain 2 Oxford West Oxford 1856 map Link to Source
Baird 1 Oxford West Oxford 1856 map Link to Source
Balis 1 Oxford West Oxford 1856 map Link to Source
Barber 2 Oxford West Oxford 1856 map Link to Source
Bennet 1 Oxford West Oxford 1856 map Link to Source
Bennett 1 Oxford 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.