Brant County holds a rich and diverse body of genealogical records documenting families, communities, and land across Brant, Haldimand, and Norfolk Counties. This collection brings together local publications, indexes, land and church records, cemetery transcriptions, directories, and unique branch holdings to support both focused family research and broader historical exploration.
Brant County offers a wide range of genealogical records covering families, communities, and land in Brant, Haldimand, and Norfolk Counties, including publications, indexes, land and church records, cemetery transcriptions, and local branch holdings.
Discover family roots and local history through searchable records, maps, and archival resources from Brant reion.
Our On-line Name Index Database contains 800,000+ entries of much of the collection, including local history books, church registers, cemetery transcriptions, scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, including births and obituaries since the 1960s and marriages and family announcements since 1990s, baptisms, Flashbacks and regular columns by local historians.
During the period from about 1875 to 1884, publishers produced what were referred to as “historical atlases” of most of the counties of Ontario. These included township and town maps, details of residents and business who paid for summaries to be included, and other details. One of the key features from a family history point of view are the township maps, laying out the surveyed property lots and the names of the current owners.
In 1998, McGill University began a project of indexing and digitally reproducing these atlases. We are grateful to the Canadian County Atlas Digital Project, Rare Books, and Special Collections, McGill University for allowing us to share their index for the Illustrated historical atlas of Brant County of 1876 with us. The table below is searchable on all fields, and the final column to the right is a direct link to the available information from the county atlases about the identified individuals as presented on the website of the Canadian County Atlas Digital Project site.
To find a value in the Title, Author, Subjects or Shelf Number Columns enter the value in the search box above the column. To search all columns in the entire Catalogue, enter the value in the Search box. Click the up or down arrows to sort the values in each column. Researchers will find some of the most useful information is available within our own Library. These include cemetery listings, church records, voter lists, indexes, directories, family histories, etc. Our bookstore also offers materials, publications, books, and maps for sale at 50% off.
Version 50 – Feb 5, 2022
Businesses and Associations –BA
Churches – CH
This master index will assist the researcher in finding information on various subjects mentioned in Flashbacks in the Brantford Expositor from 1965 to 2015 when the Flashbacks were discontinued. The year 1986 is missing. Some Flashbacks from a few years previous to 1964 have been added. Also included are topics from newspapers other indexes in the library and library books.
Subjects covered range from manufacturers, retail stores, clubs and associations, churches, schools, hotels, etc. Military topics are also well represented.
The information may be found in indexed binders on the shelves of the Resource Centre.
To find a topic or specific topics may be entered in several ways based on how the subject was entered in the newspaper. To find a specific topic, it is better to enter one word from the possible subject than the full title. There are many entries for topics such as Massey Ferguson and Slingsby.
To search for a particular subject in the Subjects Name Index database, type the name into the search box and press enter. The database will retrieve the information. To sort the values into alphabetical order, click on the upward-pointing arrow beside the bold headings. To further refine your search, you can enter values in one or more of the search boxes just below the headings. There is no way to specify “exact” for subject typed in will appear in the search results.
TWEEDSMUIR HISTORIES AT BRANT COUNTY OGS RESOURCE CENTRE
Private Collection of Helen Doctor
Did your ancestor live in any of the places listed below? If so you are in for a treat. The Tweedsmuir Histories are a goldmine of genealogical and local history.
The Tweedsmuir Histories were born out of an idea given to the Womens Institute by Lady Tweedsmuir, wife of Governor-General Lord Tweedsmuir (John BUCHAN: 1935 -1940). As an active member of the English Womens Institute she suggested preserving community and local histories of rural Ontario as had been done in England. Lady Tweedsmuirs suggestion was widely and enthusiastically accepted and the project was underway by 1945.
Clippings from newspapers, interviews with local citizens, photographs of villages, homes, people and events, historical accounts of an area and much more were collected and preserved in scrapbooks and binders. Some were even published in book form.
Helen DOCTOR, volunteer extraordinaire, and ardent Womens Institute member, continues to seek out and copy books from all over Ontario to add to our shelves.
The Ontario Genealogical Society is gradually digitizing these important sources of our history and culture. In the meantime you can come and visit us in the Resource Centre. Be prepared to work, however, as the material is not indexed.
Access members only digitized books, photos, and donated collections containing detailed records and local history for Brant County family research.
Download free genealogy forms to help organize and preserve your family history research.
OGS PEDIGREE CHARTS
(4 Generations)
A GENEALOGY WILL for Preserving Your Family History
This document does NOT constitute legal advice. Please see your lawyer
Looking to dig deeper? These external resources can help you uncover more about your family history.
Local Organizations and Archives
Major Genealogy Research Websites
Digital Newspapers and Online Collections
Canada and Provinces Links
- Canada-Automated Genealogy
- Canada-Pier 21
- Alberta Family Histories Society
- Alberta Genealogy
- British Columbia Genealogy
- Manitoba Genealogy
- New Brunswick Genealogy
- Newfoundland Genealogy
- Nova Scotia Genealogy
- Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid
- Ontario Genealogical Society
- Ontario Genealogy – Insane Asylums
- Ontario Obituaries
- Ontario Vital Statistics Project
- Ontario-Archives of Ontario
- Ontario-Brant County Public Library
- Ontario-Brantford Public Library
- Ontario-Descendants of Joseph Brant
- PEI Genealogy
- Quebec Genealogy
- Saskatchewan Health Statistics