My friend Gordon Craig, from the west side of King Township, has been doing some genealogical research on King settlers from the mid-to-late 19th century, some of which centred on my wife's Cairns family ancestors, and made me aware of the assessment rolls data that is available from the King Township municipal offices. Following his direction, I contacted Suzanne at the township offices and made an appointment to visit for half a day and examine some of the records in which I thought I might be interested. At the appointed time, I arrived to find all of the assessment books between the 1850s and 1880s laid out for me, in a meeting room, and a pair of white gloves with which to handle these ancient documents. I spent the morning familiarizing myself with the books and then searching for particular records of my wife's family. I was quite pleased with the information I discovered and came across several new pieces of information. I need to make several more visits to take advantage of all there is to offer in these documents. Occasionally, I stumbled across completely unrelated, but interesting, items, relative to my research. Such was the case with the headline of this blog entry. In the 1848 Assessment Rolls, living in the north end of Nobleton, on the 9th Concession (now Hwy. 27) was a gentleman named Robert Canada. The Township of King, and Suzanne, are to be commended for making this invaluable information so accessible, and at no cost, to its citizens. All it takes is a phone call to Suzanne, at the township offices, to get the ball rolling.
Please comment if you wish.
Barry Wallace
