The Association for the Preservation of Ontario Land Registry Office Documents (APOLROD) was created in 1997 in response to a government plan to destroy, after microfilming, the physical land registry documents for the period 1867-1955.
In 2001 the Port Hope Archives acquired five filing cabinets with deeds, probates (1400+), and other documents. These instruments provide a record of every transaction that has taken place with a piece of property.
We created a spreadsheet listing the 34,000+ instruments for the 1867-1955 period: one sheet in instrument number order; another alphabetical listing by Grantor; and a third by Grantee.
With the help of the staff at the Land Registry office in Cobourg, twenty-three abstract index books, detailing every property transaction from Crown grants (1790s) to 1955, were copied for use with the instruments.
Note The Archives is presently closed, pending amalgamation with the Northumberland County Archives & Museum. Where these documents will eventually reside is currently under discussion. However, the index books are now online, but not easily read!
To attempt the often-daunting task of researching a property online
First use the following tax assessment rolls (provided by staff at Town Hall in 2008, after which MPAC came into being) which list the address, the year a dwelling is believed to have been constructed, and the legal description of the property.
- Port Hope (Ward 1)
- Hope Township (Ward 2) These properties, requiring only Concession and Lot number, are much easier to search.
Next, with the legal description of the property, you can access the appropriate abstract records online, but only during the service's operating hours.
You can check the Goad Fire Insurance Maps to see what buildings, if any, were on a property in 1904.
Peter and Barbara Bolton - Port Hope, Ontario
www.alivingpast.ca