Bathurst District Marriage Register of Upper Canada, 1831-1852

By Dan Walker & Fawne Stratford-Devai

In November of 1822 the Bathurst District was established. Marriage returns other than Anglican and Roman Catholic for Lanark County (1831-52), Renfrew County (1831-52), and Carleton County (1831-41) had to be registered with the Clerk of the Peace in the District Town of Perth. Included are some Anglicans and Roman Catholics who married outside of their faith due to their churches not being established yet.

Click to Browse the Index

Townships included in the Bathurst District: Admaston, Bagot, Bathurst, Beckwith, Blithefield, Bromley, Dalhousie, Darling, Drummond, Fitzroy, Goulbourn, Horton, Huntley, Lanark, Lavant, MacNab, March, Nepean, Pakenham, Pembroke, Ramsay, Ross, Sherbrooke North, Sherbrooke South, Stafford, Torbolton and Westmeath.

Background details: Any marriages showing a residence of the parties as Unsurveyed Lands would eventually become the townships of Admaston, Bagot, Bromley, Blythfield and Stafford. In 1838 Carleton County was removed from the Bathurst District and given the name of the Dalhousie District. However, the clerk of the Dalhousie District did not begin a separate register until 1842. Consequently, marriages returns for Carleton County from 1842 are not included in the Bathurst District Marriage Register. To date the Dalhousie District marriage register has not been found and is believed to have perished in the Court House fire of 1870.  The Bathurst District was abolished in May of 1849 but the Clerk continued to record marriages in the Bathurst District register until 1852.

Many returns were submitted by circuit rider ministers who were required to report marriages in the register of the District where they lived rather than the District where the marriage took place. Marriages not found in the Bathurst District Register may be in bordering districts of Eastern, Johnstown or Midland. 

Check bordering Districts:  Complete District Marriage Register Series booklist  When searching for marriages recorded in Marriage Registers keep in mind that many returns were submitted by ministers who were circuit riders who often performed marriages at great distance from their home bases. Circuit riders reported marriages in the register of the District where they lived which was not necessarily in the same District where the marriage took place. 

Related article: District Marriage Registers of Upper Canada (Ontario) 1786-1870 - What are they and why are they important?

Details:

164 Pages
8.5" X 11" 
Maps
Index 
Originally published by Norsim, Toronto, 1995
This revised and updated edition with new maps and introduction published by Global Heritage Press, Milton, 2000 
ISBN-10 1-894571-10-X
ISBN-13 978-1-894571-10-4  (coil-bound edition)