Birth certificates, marriage certificates, ships’ passenger lists, petitions, deeds, newspaper stories, community history books, obituaries, death certificates... With resources such as these, genealogists can piece together a substantial portion of their family histories. Genealogists researching family history in Prince Edward Island are fortunate to have many such resources at their disposal.
Public Archives and Record Office
The Public Archives and Record Office is located
in the Coles Building on Richmond Street in Charlottetown
and has the most extensive records available on a
province-wide level. It is considered to be the most
important genealogical resource centre on Prince Edward
Island. Its holdings include:
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Land Registry Office
The history of Island people is the history of
the land. The Land Registry office, located in
Summerside, is a source of genealogical details that are
available nowhere else. Its holdings include land deeds
from 1763 to 1873 on microfilm and post-1873 deeds in
book form. The land registry also has Crown grants,
leases, mortgages, tax records, and an index to Prince
Edward Island wills and administrations. Copies of
post-1930 wills and post-1967 administrations are also
archived. To further aid in genealogical research,
detailed maps dating from 1763 indicate ownership of lots
and townships and there are ownership atlases for 1880,
1928, and 1968.
Prince Edward Island Vital Statistics
The Prince Edward Island Vital Statistics
Division of Health and Community Services, located in
Montague, has an index of baptisms from 1886–1905,
official birth, marriage, and death certificates from
1906 to the present. Their archives are not open to the
public, but records can be checked and certificates
issued to direct descendants for a fee.
Prince Edward Island Supreme Court
The Estates Division of the Prince Edward Island
Supreme Court has wills and administrations from the
1800s until the present.
Museums
Several museums across Prince Edward Island
include genealogical resources among their holdings. The
Dalton Centre in Tignish has information pertaining to
the Acadian families of the Tignish area. Its holdings
include census, church, and cemetery records, old
newspapers, and family files. The Alberton Museum
contains genealogical indexes, newspaper clippings, and
compiled genealogies for West Prince. The Acadian
Resource Centre at the Acadian Museum in Miscouche offers
researchers access to 30,000 genealogical cards relevant
to Acadian heritage. The Eptek National Exhibition Centre
in Summerside has a small genealogical library. The Eptek
Centre’s microfilm holdings include a Master Name
Index, census records, church records, and newspaper
clippings specific to Summerside families.
Other Genealogical Resources
In addition to the resources presented below,
researchers may refer themselves to the Prince Edward
Island Genealogical Society (PEIGS) which provides a
forum for exchanging genealogical information. The PEIGS
has published accounts of the arrival of Irish, Scottish,
and English settlers and has transcripts from cemeteries
from across the Island. Web surfers can consult the PEIGS
website which offers an 1891 Census index. The Prince
Edward Island Government web-site also provides online
censuses for 1768, 1798, and 1848 as well as several
community and business directories from the 1800s and
early 1900s.
