Visiting the archives of Ontario

I finally got to go to the archives of Ontario, which I might have been avoiding, as I was unsure of my preparation. Like all new things you have to learn the system. It is a brand-new building, less than a year old, and seems to be well-organized with lots of space. I took the bus, as being a senior,it only cost me $1.50. The archives are located at York University, and the bus dropped me off, within 6 m of the front doors.

My goal that day, was to look up the probate and wills of four of our relatives, namely, my grandfather David Warwick, his father William David Warwick, my grandfather Frank Paige, and my grandmother Edith page, and if I had time, look up my great grandfather William Allan’s Patent (the original title from the Crown).

Needless to say, when you first start to do research in a new area, there are many delays, and unfortunately I didn't pay strict attention to the reference numbers. And I had a microfilm for Lennox and Addington County. I decided to look at some of the wills for that area. But I didn't find anybody that knew.

Eventually I came across references to our grandmother Mary Agnes Allan Warwick , and I did write down the reference number that would've sent me to the microfilm, except that you have to order it specially. Next I did find David Warwick, and went back to the reference book and found the number of the microfilm. I loaded the microfilm and quickly scanned through the information, there were 29 pages, and so the next thing you had to learn was how to get it printed. So back to the nice lady at the desk, who came and told me I had to go buy credits on a card, as each copy will cost 25 cents. Although this will not break the bank, I usually expect to pay between 8 and 15 cents. And then of course, I didn't pay attention to the size of the printing and ended up with eight copies that you could hardly read as they were so small. There went another two dollars. Naturally I did get all the copies, the right size, but my time had run out, it was time to go home.

Now what to these documents tell me, he was well off to say the least, and if he'd lived I'm sure he was a very rich man. He still owned quite a few houses, and lots, some along Danforth Avenue, and he also worked on two other streets where he had houses.

In future blogs, I will report on his properties and other investments.

Just in case you're interested