WSAC Genealogy Meeting – Wednesday, March 4, 2026
LEARNING MOMENT:
The March/April issue of Family Tree Magazine includes five articles that may be of interest to our members:
- Form-Fitting – 8 form samples to assist in genealogical research.
- Site Savoir-Faire: 11 websites and a guide to government and specialty resources for genealogical research in France.
- The Secret Garden – Research immigration records at Castle Garden, the predecessor to Ellis Island, for ancestors who arrived in New York between 1855 and 1890.
- Finding Swedish Records on Arkiv Digital – offer 110 million images of church and other records.
- Finding Irish Censuses Online – search the 1901 and 1911 censuses.
Meeting Presentations:
CEMETERY RECORDS AND FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH BY THEA HAWRYLUK
Thea’s presentation on using Cemetery Records as a component to family history research was intended to provide:
- the value of information that can be found in cemeteries and cemetery records.
- sources available using cemetery records.
- some insight into the story of our family beyond just names and dates.
Thea introduced us to four principal resources when conducting genealogical research in Alberta using cemetery records:
Cemetery Books on Internet Archive: https://archive.org/.
The members of AGS from 1973 to 1996 began visiting cemeteries across the province and physically documented 600,000 plus cemetery records. These records were collected into books and copies were kept in the AGS Library. The Provincial Archives of Alberta, Library and Archives Canada and the Stanley A. Milner Public Library’s North of 52 Collection in Edmonton all have copies; however, these resources are only accessible for those who are able to visit the libraries or archives.
In partnership with AGS, the Edmonton Public Library has digitized more than 50 cemetery books from its North of 52 Collection and uploaded them to Internet Archive. These books are now available 24/7 from anywhere where there is internet access.
Internet Archives is a non-profit, digital library providing access to digital versions of books, of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, it provides free access to researchers, historians, scholars, people with print disabilities, and the public. To access this archive go to: archive.org. Or use the shortcut to find the cemetery books: https://archive.org/details/northof52.
Alberta Records Name Index (ARNI): https://www.abgenealogy.ca/alberta-records-name-index.
This resource can be found on the Alberta Genealogy Society website. It contains over a million records collected by AGS volunteers since 1974. The Index entries consist of the surnames and any other data that may be pertinent to the individual such as given name, birth and death date, age, cemetery name, source, nearest town, plot/grave number. It is important to remember this is an index – it does not have documents on-line but it tells you where to look for them.
Alberta Name Index (ANI): https://www.edmontongenealogy.ca/alberta-name-index-ani.
This resource can be found on the Alberta Genealogy Society Edmonton Branch website. It offers a simple unified search for Alberta residents named in various sources including Probates, Local Histories, Obituaries, Coroner Records, Land Records (not early homesteads), Newspapers and more. For family tree researchers the index provides a valuable search for family who lived in Alberta.
Both ARNI and ANI are useful websites for your search for family members as they can point to places where you may be able to find more information about them.
Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/
This resource is a massive, free, user-driven online database (owned by Ancestry.com) containing over 250 million searchable, volunteer-contributed burial records, photos, and virtual memorials from cemeteries worldwide. It acts as a digital cemetery, helping users locate ancestors, famous individuals, and loved ones. It can provide a starting point in searching for people. This site has both individual pages and cemetery pages which lists most of the burials in that cemetery. This site relies on volunteers to photograph grave markers.
USING ALBERTA LAND RECORDS IN FAMILY RESEARCH
The Indigenous Peoples:
Alberta was first inhabited by peoples who crossed the Bering Strait into Alaska about 10,000 to 13,300 years ago. In Alberta these Indigenous peoples comprised three major groups:
- The Blackfoot Confederacy on the Southern Plains who were skilled buffalo hunters.
- The Cree and Dene who settled in the Central and Northern regions who focused on hunting and fishing.
- The Sarcee and Stony Nakoda who were hunters and travellers.
The Indigenous peoples tended to be nomadic following their food source and moving to different areas based on seasons and weather. Although it is estimated that there were 20,000 to 50,000 Indigenous peoples in Alberta in 1640, there were no formal land records kept of them.
Coming of the Europeans:
In 15th century Europe there was great demand for animal furs especially beaver pelts that were used in various styles of clothing. This demand opened the door for the fur trade in North America. Europeans moved into western Canada in the 1600s where they developed a trading relationship with the Indigenous peoples. In 1670 King Charles II granted a charter to the Hudson’s Bay Company giving them exclusive rights to fur trading in an area known as ‘Rupert’s Land’. This area was approximately 1.5 million square miles in size and included all the lands that were drained by rivers flowing into Hudson’s Bay. Most of present-day Alberta was included in the area. Land records are virtually non-existent for this period as most settlement was around the forts and Hudson Bay trading posts.
Canadian Confederation:
In 1867 the Dominion of Canada was formed in eastern Canada with Sir. John A. MacDonald as the nation’s first prime minister. MacDonald had a vision for a greater Canada and developed his ‘National Unity Policy’ to:
- Block US Expansion into the prairie region.
- Build a strategic defense against US expansion and solidify British North America.
- Bring Manitoba and British Columbia into Confederation.
- Link the country from coast to coast with the building of a railway through to the Pacific Ocean.
- Encourage and develop economic development in western Canada.
In 1872 the Dominion Government passed the Dominion Lands Act and acquired ownership of Rupert’s Land from the Hudson’s Bay Company. Large areas of these lands were surveyed and using the Torrens System of land registration divided the prairies into 36 square mile townships, each subdivided into sections of 640 acres and then further subdivided into 160 acre quarter sections. The principal purpose was to encourage settlement and agricultural development.
To tie the country together, approval was awarded to the Canadian Pacific Railway to build a rail line from southern Ontario, through northern Ontario, across the prairies, through the mountains and into Vancouver. To finance this project at a cost of $100 million ($3.2 billion in today’s terms) as well as to compensate the Hudson’s Bay Company for the purchase of Rupert’s Land, the surveyed regions were allocated into three principal portions:
- One third to the Dominion Government for homestead settlements.
- One third to The CP Railway for payment of building the railway.
- One third to The Hudson’s Bay Company for the purchase of Rupert’s Land.
Homestead Settlements:
Homesteads of a quarter section (160 acres) were awarded to settlers 18 years and older (initially 21 years), who were British subjects or Canadian citizens, and could pay the $10.00 purchase fee. Homesteaders were required to live on their land for a minimum of 6 months each year, break or cultivate a portion of their land, build a habitable house, and after 3 years having met these requirements were given patent or ownership to their land.
Homesteads were the option of choice for most new settlers to Alberta. For the nominal fee of $10.00, a settler could obtain ownership of 160 acres of virgin land and build a livelihood for himself and his family. For settlers from Europe, the prospect of owning land rather working as a tenant farmer was very attractive, and thousands of European settlers made the journey to western Canada. For non-British subjects or non-Canadians, they were required to obtain Canadian citizenship through a Naturalization process which for the genealogist could reveal vital information on the settler as to place of birth/origin.
Specifically what Homestead Records can reveal to the genealogist and where they may be found is recorded in the ‘Researching Land Titles Records in Alberta’ handout.
Railway Lands:
As mentioned, the CP railway was awarded ownership of one third of the available surveyed lands for settlement as payment for the building of the railway systems. This was often a secondary choice for early settlers because the sale price of the land was determined by the railways and most often exceeded the $10.00 homestead fee. These lands were sometimes made available by auction, and speculators (individuals and corporations) would bid the price high. Speculators would then in turn resell the land to settlers at a further inflated price.
Nonetheless, many early settlements were obtained from railway lands, and these records can also reveal valuable family history information as to land descriptions, details of the land, the historical context of the land, and personal details of the settler. More specific information on what Railway lands can reveal and where they might be found is similarly recorded in the “Researching Land Titles Records in Alberta’ handout.
The Hudson’s Bay Company Lands:
Similar to the Railway Lands agreement, the Dominion government awarded The Hudson’s Bay Company ownership of another third of the surveyed lands as compensation for the purchase of Rupert’s Land. These lands are estimated to have totalled about 7 million acres as well as some 50,000 acres of land that surrounded the trading posts, Edmonton being one of these.
Where to research Hudson’s Bay land records and the information they will provide has also been detailed in the ‘Researching Land Title Records in Alberta” handout.
Alberta Land Title Records:
After the initial Homesteads, Railway Land sales, and Hudson’s Bay Land purchases, later land transactions on these parcels were recorded with the Alberta Land Titles Office. These records are valuable in that they trace the history of land ownership through to current times. They can be accessed through the SPIN2 (Spatial Information System) which is available with a Guest Login account at no charge. Copies of documents can be obtained online at a nominal fee. Spin2 offers help menus, instructional videos and user manuals.
Similar to Railway and Hudon’s Bay land records, details to records accessible at the Alberta Land Title Record office is detailed in the “Researching Land Title Records in Alberta’ handout.
UPCOMING MEETINGS:
Wednesday April 1 2026: Our meeting will be offsite at the Alberta Provincial Archives at 8555 Roper Rd. NW, Edmonton. Further details will be sent out by email in March.
Wednesday May 6 2026: The meeting will be facilitated by Ashley Rother who will speak on the topic of “Googling for Grandma” – the power of Google when researching, places to find a woman’s maiden name, and other research avenues.