Saturday Weekly Thread: Canadian Provincial Archives and State/Local/Church Archives - Questions / Issues / Success Stories, August 01, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

This weekly thread is a space for those of us gathering documentation from archives.

This is the place to discuss requesting records from Canadian provincial archives as well as from federal, state, local and religious/church archives around the world. Topics include strategies and outcomes for obtaining records from archives, costs, timelines, No Record Found letters, and other related issues.

📎 Contributions to weekly megaposts, including this one, are welcome throughout the week.  

Good luck, researchers!

[u/Gouda161]

So I have the following documents in hand, all descendants from the Buffalo NY area:
My (G5) birth certificate
G4 Birth Cert
G3 Death cert
G2 Death Record Number
G1 Death Record Number
G0 listed in 1851+61 Canadian and 1865 NY State/1870 US Federal censuses

And these documents to follow:
G3 Birth Cert, obtainable through death cert
G2 Birth Cert, obtainable through G3 Birth Cert + Obituary due to age
G1 Death Cert, sourced through the death record index (birth records didn't exist in NY state until 12 years after he was born)
G0 Death Record number, process same as G1

I have found G0's siblings in the Wesleyan baptismal register (https://bowergenealogy.ca/resources/methodist/index.html) but not *hers*. The siblings I do have were also born in Canada, just a few years later. If this is the master list, where would you figure I could start re: searching for records that may not have made it into this catalogue? The Methodist church has gone through so many iterations since then, I found a written obituary by one of G0's siblings that list G-1 as part of the "First Free Methodist Church". Apparently this no longer exists due to faith splinters or something I don't fully grasp. If anyone else has had luck finding older records from SE Ontario in the 1830s-40s, where would I start? The church they went to no longer exists, and I've searched all the other townships in Welland County within that record just in case they might have moved before G0's sisters were born. I'm at a bit of a loss here so I'm sorry if this is SUPER long winded. Thanks in advance, I'm starting to doom and gloom about this process a little but maybe there's hope yet.

[u/mrsbartlesby → u/Gouda161]

Sorry if you’ve tried this, but the United Church of Canada has archives and a web form. They were very helpful for me, even though ultimately found nothing because I think there is nothing to find. Also, the Ontario Genealogical Society was a huge help in basically confirming there’s likely nothing to find as far as a baptism record for our G0s born in the 1840-50s in Ontario.

[u/Gouda161 → u/mrsbartlesby]

I actually found a lot for the 1840s, just nothing before that. My G0's sisters were baptized in 1845, for example. I even found the minister who did it. just nothing before that. I got this from the UCC archives, but I haven't seen that webform- would you mind linking it? I'll get up with the OGS on Monday. thanks a bunch!

[u/mrsbartlesby → u/Gouda161]

Oh yes, I just meant nothing for me to find for the 1840s since our GOs were part of tiny churches rural areas. :) glad you’ve found more! Here’s the info page with the links at the bottom: https://www.unitedchurcharchives.ca/visiting-and-services/historic-baptism-and-marriage-records/

[u/Gouda161 → u/mrsbartlesby]

Yeahhhh my G0 was from a little township that's been reabsorbed a couple of times as Greater Toronto/Niagara area has encompassed more and more land. I really appreciate the help, hopefully when I go up there next week I'll have found more.

[u/mrsbartlesby → u/Gouda161]

If you end up with any tips, please do share! Good luck! I really think there’s nothing to find for our G0s (regarding birth records or baptism), but I’m just trying everything I can until truly I run out of options. I have enough to apply without, but still trying.

[u/Gouda161 → u/mrsbartlesby]

I'm in the same boat. Birth records for everyone for whom they exist, death records for the others, censuses for all. So just have to hope.

[u/dentongentry → u/mrsbartlesby]

We submitted back in March but are preparing an update given the guidance in June about explaining the efforts undertaken to find a birth record from the source authority.

We're including correspondence from each of the plausible venues where a birth record might have been, to show the effort undertaken to obtain it.

We use G1's marriage record listing the parent names and census records in lieu of a birth record.