Robert Gardner, my fifth great-grandfather, emigrated from Scotland to Canada in 1822.

The owner of a tavern, Robert grew frustrated when the Scottish government imprisoned him for radical meetings held in his bar—even though he took no part in the meetings.

He decided to head to the New World, where he would have more freedom. His oldest son and daughter went with him; his wife, Janet, and two other children were to follow later.

A piece from his life story, which has been passed down to me, reads,

“While she [Janet] had no clue as to where her husband had settled, she perhaps thought of America as being something of the size of Scotland, so sailed forth bravely for the vast, little known continent of America to find her husband, knowing he had settled somewhere on it.

“The little group were five weeks and three days on board ship and finally arrived at Prescott above Montreal, Canada, where to their great relief, was their father. Having heard that the wives of twenty-five Scotchmen had followed their husbands, who had left as he had done, he traveled seventy-five miles on foot to meet his family whom he vaguely hoped might be among them. The meeting was a time of rejoicing that they always remembered.”

PIECING THE IMMIGRATION STORY TOGETHER
Fortunately for our family, someone took the time to write down Robert and Janet’s story. However, most people aren’t so lucky. They don’t have journals, life histories, or other documents for most—if any—of their ancestors.

That’s where records like the Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865­–1935 come in. If your ancestors immigrated to Canada sometime between those years you will soon have an easy way to track them down.

The Library and Archives Canada (LAC), which holds microfilms of these passenger lists, has recently agreed to combine forces with Ancestry.ca to put them online. In the initial phase, they will be focusing on the Quebec City passenger lists, 1879–1900, which comprise more than 750,000 names. These records are expected to be available sometime early next year.

WHAT’S IN THE RECORDS?
So, what is in these passenger lists?

These lists were the official records of immigration for Canada during this period; there are no immigration files or applications.

They contain information such as name, age, country of origin, occupation, and destination. Countries of origin range from France, England, Ireland, Scotland, Russia, Italy, China, and elsewhere. Halifax, St. John, Vancouver, Victoria, and North Sydney are among the port cities documented.

MY ANCESTORS DON’T FIT IN THAT CATEGORY
So, what if, like my fifth great-grandfather, your ancestors didn’t immigrate during that time period? Or, what if they came to the U.S. before settling in Canada?

Don’t worry. Ancestry.ca and the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) will be making more collections available in the future. For example, the border crossing records from the U.S. to Canada between 1908 and 1935 are also on the horizon.

So, keep your eye on this newsletter, where we will announce the records as they become available. In the meantime, continue using our other online resources—like the Canadian census records and Drouin Collection—to make more family connections.

Jana Lloyd is editor of the Ancestry Monthly newsletter for Ancestry.com members. She can be reached at AMUeditor@ancestry.com but cannot assist with personal research questions.