...... STARTING YOUR RESEARCH ..... GOOD PLACE TO COME

When working on a family from Atlantic Canada, make sure that you get the 1871 census for Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, or Newfoundland.  ---------- ------------ I had someone say I went to New York and got the 1871 census and couldn’t find my family there. No Wonder !!!  The 1871 censuses list each member of the household Name, Age, Occupation, Religious affiliation, Birthplace (country or prov.) So if you found your gr. grandfather in the 1871 census, now you know where he lived and how many children he had, his wife’s first name and his age. Example: ..... Don Macintosh, m. Mary _____, Donald is 30 years old in the 1871 census, and has 8 children, his occupation  was listed; fisherman, farmer.  ---------- ----------  Check if there were others of the same family name. If so list them also and their children and occupation. They might not be of the same religion, but 10 to 1 they are related. ---------- ------------ Check if there were others of the same family name. If so list them also and their children and occupation. They might not be of the same religion, but 10 to 1 they are related.  ---------- ------------ Go to the previous census, 1861, and see if this same family was in the area. With the list of others of the same name, copy all the info. By this time Don should be listed as 20 years old.  Check if there were others of the same family name. If so list them also and their children and occupation. They might not be of the same religion, but 10 to 1 they are related.  ---------- ----------- It is not always the case, he might be listed as 45 or 53 years old. Depends who took the census, and what kind of impression Don wanted to make on the census taker. Also there might have been another Donald in the same area at the time born the same year. You will also find, while doing genealogy on N.S., the common use of a name.  ---------- ------------ The father John had 8 sons, I can say at least 6 of these sons called one of their children after the Grandfather John, making another 6 Johns on the list born all around the same time. Now check out the 1881 census list for each person- Father's origin or ethnic background. By this time maybe that same Don had other children and his wife’s name is not the same. This might state that his first wife died between 1871 and 1881 and he remarried. Next do the 1891 census, this tells where each parent was born Ex...... father b. in N.S mother b. in Nfld. The 1891 census, in addition, asks for parents' birthplaces. Also for the person's relationship to the head of household. Here we find if this Joe was a son or grandson or maybe just a worker on the farm etc...... Now the Best is the 1901 Census. It gives the exact date of birth of each person listed Day , Month, Year. And in which year they came to Canada. We know from 1871 CENSUS that Don is of Scottish descent, if his father is still alive and listed on the 1901 census we might find John Macintosh b. 1821 in Scot . and came to Canada in 1828.  ---------- ------------  Now we know this family was here as early as 1828, that means John was 7 years old coming to Canada. That states, more than likely, he came with his parents, and Don’s grand parents are buried in Canada. They are probably buried in the same area as Don is presently living or not too far from the area. Now you can start looking for info on their family.  ---------- ------------ Take advantage of all the census info out there for the area and don’t stop at one or go backwards only, use the info from the later census concerning the family. Copies of these censuses can be had on microfilm at most Libraries, at LDS. centers and most historical societies.  The national government of Canada has taken censuses every ten years since 1851 to 1901. For NS there is a census for 1811, 1818 , 1827, 1838. ---------- ------------

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Many books have been written over the last  10 years, making it easier to find your ancestors. By searching  these  books you might find your family.  Check out some of the publications on this site,  

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