Working on your family tree can be an exciting undertaking, but the sheer number of resources to consult can be overwhelming. Here are a few tips to get you started:
Basic Principles:
First Steps:
The Rideau Branch of the Ottawa Public Library has served the Lowertown and Sandy Hill neighbourhoods since it opened in 1934. On November 30th 2024, members of the local community gathered with us to celebrate the Branch’s 90th anniversary. Local history and culture was shared, stories were read, and cake was eaten.
The History
FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history.
Ottawa Public Library is now a FamilySearch Affiliate Library, this designation means library clients will now have greater and more convenient access to the wealth of genealogical resources available through FamilySearch at our 33 branches.
Benefits of an Affiliate Library
MyHeritage Library Edition™ contains billions of historical documents from more than 48 countries, millions of historical photos, public records, indexes and additional resources. Available in 40 languages, it is the largest, most internationally diverse family history research database in the world.
Users can access MyHeritage Library Edition either at the library or from the comfort of home via built-in remote access
This digitized full-images archives of the Ottawa Citizen provides genealogists, researchers and general public with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time.
This will allow Ottawans to digitally travel back through the centuries to become eyewitnesses to our local history.
A collection of thousands of individual genealogy databases from many different institutions. It includes American, Canadian and U.K. sources as well as some for Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Canadian coverage includes major sources such as the censuses from 1851 to 1916, Ontario civil registration of births, marriages and deaths, and the Quebec Drouin Collection (courthouse copies of parish registers). German records include passenger lists for many people leaving Eastern Europe.
This digitized version of The Globe and Mail includes all of the newspapers' sections, images, classifieds, advertisements, births, deaths, political cartoons and more for the dates covered. Users can browse by date or perform a keyword search.
This bilingual online resource offers historical content about Canada from the first European settlers to the early 20th century. This includes digitized books, magazines and government documents and spans 21 languages.
Cemetery records and headstone inscriptions provide valuable genealogical information. Gravestones will usually provide birth and death dates, as well as names of spouses and other family members. Cemetery records, or registers of burial, are maintained by cemeteries and may contain more detailed information than is found on the gravestone. Cemetery records are especially important if the person was buried without a headstone, or if the inscription has become illegible over time.
Database containing a directory of civil status records (baptisms, marriages and burials) in Quebec (1621-1799), a genealogical dictionary of families (1621-1765) and a directory of couples and descendants.
Please log in to Genealogy Quebec separately if you would like to use materials linked to both databases.