Oxford County Land Petitions : 1763-1865
Each applicant for a grant or lease in Upper Canada was required to submit a written petition. He or she also had to supply the necessary supporting documentation such as certificates from a local magistrate confirming his or her age, good character, loyalty and identity, or a discharge certificate from the Army or Navy.
The records of the land granting process focused on four essential steps:
- allocation of specific lots to the petitioners;
- surveying of the land to establish precise boundaries;
- performance of the settlement duties (clearing and cultivating a certain acreage, erecting a dwelling of minimum size); and
- issuance of the deed.
The key to a successful petition was to identify oneself without any doubt and to justify any special entitlement. Therefore, the petitions will often contain an applicant's story detailing services, losses and suffering during the American Revolutionary War or the War of 1812. They may also contain discharge certificates, letters of introduction from prominent individuals in Britain, reports by the Surveyor General or the Attorney General on technical and legal matters, and some lists of settlers by region.
The petitions were received at the Executive Council Office. They were presented and read before a meeting of the Land Committee of the Executive Council, and a decision was recommended by the Councillors to the Lieutenant Governor. This collection of records relate to pioneer settlers of Oxford County and represents their efforts to secure a life in a new land.
These Oxford County records were excerpted from a database developed by Library & Archives Canada.
Adams, Edward Hardy - 1832
Alger, Isaac - 1830
Alyea, Peter - 1820
Ames, Brockway - 1826
Anderson, James - 1847
Anglemire, Jacob - 1832
Arnold, Nehemiah - 1805
Arnold, Turpin - 1854
Ash, George - 1834
Averill, Paul - 1811
Babbit, Levi - 1801
Bailey, Adam - 1823
Bailey, James - 1820
Bailey, John - 1820
Bailey, William - 1820
Baker, Martha Burtch - 1816
Barnes, Lenadar - 1807
Barnum, William - 1852
Barraclough, John - 1835
Barrett, Michael - 1834
Barwick, James - 1835
Bates, William - 1840
Baxter, Charles - 1851
Baxter, Hugh - 1845
Baxter, James - 1845
Bean, Edward - 1797
Beattie, William - 1852
Bedford, William - 1832
Bettridge, William - 1835
Bevans, Moses - 1818
Bickerstaff, George - 1847
Birdsall, Benjamin - 1816
Bone, Mary - 1836
Bostwick, Henry - 1804
Bostwick, John - 1818
Bovard, Charles - 1820
Bowen, William - 1811
Boyce, James - 1841
Bradnock, Thomas - 1849
Brock, John - 1845
Brock, William -1845
Brown, Benajah - 1805
Browne, Richard - 1820
Brownson, George - 1841
Bryce, James - 1818
Bulless, Daniel - 1807
Burdick, Caleb - 1805
Burdick, Isaac - 1804
Burdick, James - 1802
Burdick, Levinah - 1805
Burdick, Levinah Teeple - 1805
Burdick, Samuel - 1803
Burke, Edmund - 1802
Burns, John - 1855
Burtch, Archibald - 1814
Burtch, Archibald - 1816
Burtch, Archibald - 1820
Burtch, Ethan - 1817
Burtch, Margaret - 1816
Burtch, Nathan - 1806
Burtch, Nathan - 1807
Burtch, Nathan - 1809
Burtch, Susan Teeple - 1815
Burton, Edmund - 1836
Burton, Edmund - 1837
Cain, Sarah - 1832
Campbell, Alexander - 1796
Campbell, Robert - 1834
Canada Company settlements - 1834
Canfield, Abraham - 1820
Canfield, Samuel - 1799
Carrall, James - 1820
Carroll, Abram - 1845
Carroll, Edwin - 1855
Carroll, Henry - 1821
Carroll, Isaac - 1800
Carroll, John - 1800
Carroll, John - 1800
Carroll, John - 1820
Carroll, Nelly - 1833
Carroll, Peter - 1835
Carroll, William - 1846
Carroll, William - 1850
Chamberlain, Joel - 1834
Chamberlain, Joel - 1834
Chamberlain, Myron - 1834
Chamberlain, Myron - 1834
Chambers, George - 1837
Chandler, Samuel - 1812
Clark, George - 1811
Clark, George W. - 1855
Clark, Robert - 1816
Clark, William - 1833
Clarke, William - 1836
Claus, William - 1817
Clement, Catherine - 1833
Clement, Jean Baptiste - 1833
Clements, Sarah - 1834
Clinton, Henry - 1832
Cohoe, Andrew - 1818
Colbourne, William - 1818
Cooper, Alexander - 1853
Corbin, Joshua - 1846
Cornwell, Richardus - 1816
Costello, William - 1819
Cowan, John - 1825
Cowen, Jeremiah - 1841
Cox, Peter - 1845
Cron, John - 1835
Cron, John - 1836
Cummings, James - 1841
Cunningham, John - 1826
Curtis, David - 1807
Curtis, William - 1816
Curtis, William - 1817
Daniels, John - 1833
Daniels, John - 1847
Davis, Joseph - 1824
Davis, Robert - 1824
Dawson, William - 1830
Day, John - 1837
Day, Margaret Highland - 1837
Dean, Josiah - 1798
Dean, Polley Burtch - 1807
Dean, Silas - 1805
Dease, Sarah - 1836
DeBlaquire, Henry - 1856
Deeton, Aaron - 1845
Delt, Joseph - 1835
Deton, Francis - 1832
Devine, Michael - 1835
Dexter, Thomas - 1802
Dibbel, Asa - 1801
Dowling, Nicholas - 1836
Doyl, Catherine Summers - 1808
Doyl, Charlotte Burtch - 1816
Doyl, John - 1816
Doyle, David - 1820
Drew, Andrew - 1820
Drew, Andrew - 1836
Eaton, Daniel - 1815
Eaton, John - 1797
Edmonson, William - 1856
Edy, Omri - 1820
Elgie, William - 1839
Elliott, Nancy - 1836
Elliott, Nancy Coon - 1820
Ernest, Cornelius - 1823
Evans, James - 1821
Evans, Joseph V. - 1832
Evens, Joseph - 1849
Everet, John - 1835
Fanning, Sarah - 1803
Farley, James - 1823
Farquson, H. H. - 1838
Fay, Lebbius - 1797
Fay, Patrick - 1848
Ferguson, John - 1855
File, Malachi - 1835
Finch, Titus - 1829
Fisher, Thomas - 1823
Ford, Robert - 1834
Foster, Charles - 1847
Fowell, John - 1860
Francis, George - 1846
Francis, Leicester - 1846
Fraser, James - 1834
Fraser, John - 1837
Fraser, John - 1837
Fraser, John -1832
Fuller, David - 1807
Fuller, David - 1808
Fuller, James - 1802
Fuller, James - 1808
Fuller, James - 1835
Fuller, Jonathan - 1807
Fuller, Jonathan - 1808
Fuller, Stephen - 1835
Fyke, John -1845
Galbraith, William - 1825
Galloway, John - 1822
Galloway, Zachariah - 1801
Garnett, Rothwell - 1834
Garnett, Rothwell - 1836
Geale, Catherine Lyons - 1835
Gibson, James - 1837
Gilbert, Abraham - 1835
Gilbert, Benjamin - 1831
Gilbert, John - 1836
Gilbert, John - 1837
Gilbert, Peter - 1831
Gillam, John - 1818
Gillis, John - 1845
Givins, J. - 1837
Graham - 1834
Graham, David - 1831
Graham, James - 1808
Graham, John - 1797
Graham, Philip - 1837
Graham, Philip - 1837
Graham, Philip - 1839
Grant, Anson - 1831
Grant, Anson - 1834
Grant, Ferdinand - 1836
Grant, George Chauncy - 1834
Grant, John C. - 1834
Grant, William - 1835
Green, J. C. - 1832
Green, Priscilla - 1839
Green, William - 1834
Grout, Anson - 1835
Gunn, Robert - 1851
Hall, Ichabod - 1811
Hall, Joseph - 1833
Hall, Samuel - 1800
Hall, Samuel - 1802
Hamilton, Robert - 1806
Haskin, Elisha - 1797
Hatch, John - 1833
Hawkings, Philip - 1845
Henshaw, Samuel - 1845
Heron, Andrew - 1799
Heron, Andrew - 1801
Hews, Joseph - 1839
Hickey, Hugh - 1850
Hicks, Martin - 1853
Hill, Alexander - 1857
Hill, Ebenezer - 1797
Hill, Nathaniel - 1836
Hillman, William - 1836
Holcroft, Thomas - 1856
Holcroft, William - 1836
Holmes, Hiram - 1835
Hook, William - 1853
Horner, Stacy - 1797
Horner, T. - 1818
Horner, Thomas - 1797
Horner, Thomas - 1817
Horner, Thomas - 1829
Horsman, Dennis - 1850
Howard, Elizabeth - 1797
Howden, John - 1820
Howden, John - 1837
Howden, John - 1838
Hughson, Jacob - 1839
Hull, Samuel - 1816
Hunter, Elijah - 1838
Hunter, Rollo R. - 1857
Ingersoll, Ann Maria - 1822
Ingersoll, Charles - 1832
Ingersoll, James - 1835
Ingersoll, Thomas - 1797
Ingersoll, Thomas - 1797
Ingersoll, Thomas - 1798
Ingersoll, Thomas - 1799
Ingersoll, Thomas - 1800
Jackson, John - 1830
Jefferson, John - 1836
Jessup, Susannah - 1799
Johnson, Levi - 1834
Johnson, Sidney - 1835
Jones, Jonas - 1824
Kalbfleisch, Charles Lewis - 1855
Karn, George - 1820
Karn, Leonard - 1820
Kerby, William - 1817
Kettle, Frederick - 1841
Kilborne, Whiting - 1847
Kilburn, Anthony - 1808
Kipp, Isaac - 1801
Kirkpatrick, Thomas - 1834
Lamport, Henry - 1820
Lancaster - 1825
Lancaster, Joseph - 1823
Lancaster, Joseph - 1826
LaPenotiere, Thomas - 1837
Laurie, Andrew - 1845
Lawrence, Effingham - 1801
Lawrence, John - 1855
Lawson, Henry - 1819
Leader, John - 1847
Lee, Patrick - 1838
Lee, William - 1841
Leonard, John - 1855
Light - 1833
Light, A. W. - 1835
Light, A. W. - 1839
Light, Alexander - 1837
Little, John - 1848
Lockry, Robert - 1855
London, Richard - 1845
Loomis, Benjamin - 1801
Lornaway, Henry - 1843
Losee, John - 1830
Lossing, Peter - 1816
Lossing, Peter - 1816
Lossing, Peter - 1819
Lossing, Peter - 1823
Lossing, Peter G. - 1818
Luddington, Levi - 1800
MacDonald, George - 1831
MacKay, Angus - 1835
MacKay, William - 1832
Mahoney, Selina Gilbert - 1832
Marks, Ruth - 1802
Marlatt, Samuel - 1831
Martin, Calvin - 1843
Martin, John - 1808
Martin, Mary Doyle - 1820
Marvin, Daniel - 1830
Matheson, Robert - 1835
Mathews, Samuel - 1811
Mathieson, Donald - 1851
Matthews, Abner - 1812
Matthews, Thomas - 1801
Maurner, Jacob - 1847
McAfee, Tamir Hughson - 1833
McAuley, John - 1816
McCartney, William - 1816
McCorquodale, Alexander - 1836
McCorquodale, Donald - 1836
McCorquodale, Hugh - 1831
McCrum, Samuel - 1841
McDiarmid, Hugh - 1845
McDonald, Elizabeth - 1836
McDonald, George - 1839
McDonald, Hasket - 1832
McDonald, Peter - 1836
McDonald, Robert - 1831
McDonnell, Alexander - 1798
McDonnell, Alexander - 1801
McDonnell, Angus - 1800
McDonnell, James - 1826
McGuire, William - 1837
McIntyre, Donald - 1820
McIntyre, John - 1843
McKay, Angus - 1832
McKay, Angus - 1837
McKay, James - 1836
McKay, William - 1834
McKay, William - 1834
McKay, William - 1834
McKean, George - 1845
McKenzie, Alexander - 1855
McKenzie, John - 1840
McLeavy, Robert - 1847
McLeavy, Robert - 1848
McLeod, Alexander - 1831
McLevey, John - 1835
McLevey, John - 1836
McLevey, Robert - 1835
McMartin, William - 1845
McMichael, William - 1816
McNab, Colin - 1792
McNames, Isaac - 1807
McNames, John - 1810
McNames, John - 1810
Mercer - 1817
Merrill, Isaac - 1822
Merritt, William - 1818
Millard, Jesse - 1841
Miller, Adam - 1816
Miller, Adam - 1818
Miller, Cornelius - 1837
Milmine, James - 1817
Milton, James - 1845
Moony, William - 1845
Moore, Charles - 1825
Moore, Samuel - 1816
Morgan, Lucius - 1800
Mott, Sears - 1816
Moyer, Henry - 1830
Mudge, Mica - 1830
Muma, Henry - 1849
Munn, Hiram - 1831
Murray, Alexander - 1845
Murray, George - 1832
Murray, James - 1832
Murray, John - 1833
Nelles, A. - 1824
Nelles, Abraham - 1828
Nelles, Abraham - 1828
Nichol, George - 1836
Nichols, Dorothy Rosenburger - 1834
Nichols, George - 1804
Nichols, George - 1820
Nichols, George - 1837
Norwich Church of England - 1837
Norwich Inhabitants - 1836
O'Neil, Edward - 1851
Oakley, Edward - 1838
Ogden, Robert - 1832
Oldfield, Joseph - 1844
Oliver, Robert - 1842
Omstead, Jonas - 1802
Osterhout, Mary - 1820
Otis, Christopher - 1819
Oxford Surveyor - 1830
Oxford Surveyor - 1830
Page, Elizabeth Hicks - 1836
Palmer, Arthur - 1834
Parker, Carleton - 1836
Parks, Alexander - 1844
Parsons, Chatwell - 1804
Pascoe, Richard - 1837
Pearl, Joseph - 1852
Pearl, Joseph - 1856
Peffers, Agnes - 1853
Pelton, Ann Doyle - 1833
Perrin, Thomas - 1835
Phillips, John - 1811
Phillpot, George - 1833
Pickel, Nicholas - 1831
Pickwell, James - 1850
Pine, Calvin - 1853
Pinkham, Hanson - 1847
Piper, Caleb - 1805
Piper, Caleb - 1806
Porter, Lebbens - 1800
Post, Israel - 1816
Post, Levina Stiles - 1822
Pringle, Lockwood - 1836
Putnam, Seth - 1800
Putnam, Seth - 1802
Putnam, Seth - 1802
Putnam, William - 1836
Raddish, Thomas - 1797
Reed, Israel - 1843
Reily, Alexander - 1831
Rexford, John - 1830
Reynalls, Carew - 1837
Reynalls, Carew - 1837
Reynalls, Carew - 1837
Reynolds, John - 1833
Reynolds, William - 1837
Roots, Henry - 1857
Rosbuck, Jane - 1837
Ross, Adam - 1837
Ross, David - 1852
Ross, Janet - 1834
Ross, John - 1833
Ross, John - 1834
Rounds, Lyrena - 1836
Rouse, Noah - 1847
Runchy, Reuben - 1817
Rupert, William - 1833
Rush, Henry - 1845
Rush, Peter - 1818
Russell, Charles - 1824
Russell, Peter - 1803
Rutherford, Robert - 1826
Ryerson, George - 1818
Sage, Sam - 1802
Sage, Willard - 1804
Sage, Willard - 1820
Sanderson, Thomas - 1839
Sarles, Andrew - 1823
Sayles, Deborah Fairchild - 1807
Sayles, Mordecai - 1796
School Reserves - 1847
Scott, Harry W. - 1845
Scott, William - 1852
Secord, Elijah - 1845
Seechrist, John - 1848
Seechrist, John - 1851
Selleck, Charles - 1802
Servos, Daniel - 1799
Servos, John Dease - 1807
Shannon, William - 1841
Shanshotts, Mary - 1825
Shantz, Christian - 1845
Shattuck, William - 1803
Shaw, John - 1833
Sheck, Alan W. - 1850
Sherman, John - 1798
Sherwood, Samuel - 1801
Sherwood, Thomas - 1800
Silleck, Ira - 1849
Slingerland, Henry - 1840
Smith, Peter - 1834
Smith, S. B. - 1840
Smith, William Kennedy - 1797
Snively, Anson - 1856
Spalding, Erastus - 1832
Sprague, Jonathan - 1835
Sprague, Jonathan - 1837
Springer, Aaron - 1859
Stafford, Abel - 1800
Stafford, Frederick - 1800
Staly, Albert - 1845
Stevens, Frederick - 1841
Stevens, Frederick - 1842
Stevenson, Thomas - 1841
Stewart, Archibald - 1845
Stiles, Peter - 1833
Stiles, Selah - 1831
Stratford, Samuel John - 1845
Street, Samuel - 1817
Street, Thomas Clark - 1836
Strong, John - 1830
Studevant, Hamlet - 1845
Sudworth, Abraham - 1833
Sudworth, Abraham - 1836
Sullivan, Catherine Markle - 1837
Sutherland, James - 1831
Sutherland, Robert - 1834
Swarts, James - 1832
Swarts, Maria - 1831
Swarts, William Dickson - 1820
Swartz, Margaret - 1825
Swartz, Mary - 1834
Swartz, Mary Catherine - 1838
Swayze, Israel - 1835
Sweet, Barton - 1801
Sweet, Barton - 1802
Sweet, Barton - 1811
Sweet, Robert - 1800
Sweet, Robert - 1802
Sweet, Robert - 1811
Taylor, Samuel - 1845
Teeple, Frederick - 1816
Teeple, Lemeul Covel - 1832
Teeple, Oliver Mabee - 1831
Teeple, Pellum - 1832
Teeple, Peter - 1817
Teeple, Phoebe - 1823
Teeple, Simon Peter - 1829
Teeple, Stephen - 1822
Teeple, William - 1812
Teeple, William - 1816
Teeple, William - 1819
Teeple, William - 1819
Teeple, William - 1823
Teeple. Edward - 1815
Teskey, William - 1845
Thompson, George - 1847
Thompson, James - 1837
Thompson, William - 1848
Thornton, Abel - 1805
Thornton, Benjamin - 1831
Thornton, Benjamin - 1853
Thornton, Jasper - 1832
Thornton, Remember - 1831
Thornton, Reuben - 1830
Thorpe, Gabriel - 1849
Throckmorton, Joseph - 1820
Tiffany, Gideon - 1801
Tims, Richard - 1820
Tims, Richard - 1820
Titus, Ebenzer - 1820
Todd, James - 1832
Todd, Thomas - 1832
Tolerton, Jonathan - 1830
Tolerton, Jonathan - 1839
Tomkins, Dennis - 1828
Topping, Edward - 1848
Topping, Edward - 1850
Tousley, Alanson - 1820
Tousley, Sikes - 1801
Tousley, Sikes - 1816
Towhey, Michael - 1845
Towsley, Ariel - 1800
Treneman, James George - 1850
Tripp, Michael - 1832
Tripp, Michael - 1833
Tripp, Moses - 1836
Trull, Reuben - 1804
Truscott, George - 1834
Tubbs, Richard - 1815
Underwood, William - 1816
VanSittart - 1835
VanSittart - 1836
VanSittart, Henry - 1836
VanSittart, Henry - 1840
VanSittart, Henry - 1847
Varney, Smith - 1818
Veitch, Janet - 1835
Veitch, Jannet - 1837
Wagster, Jacob - 1836
Wait, Thomas - 1820
Walker, George - 1836
Walker, Robert - 1849
Watson, Edward - 1801
Watson, Edward - 1809
Watson, Thomas - 1801
Webster, Hugh - 1818
Weir, Samuel - 1818
Weir, Samuel - 1837
Wells, Edward - 1830
Wesleyan Methodist Church - 1836
Whitehead, George - 1836
Whiting, Augustus - 1797
Whiting, James - 1836
Whiting, William - 1835
Wilcox, Amansa - 1831
Wiley, Henry - 1817
Wilkinson, William - 1836
Willcocks, William - 1800
Williams, John - 1845
Williams, John - 1847
Williams, John - 1848
Wilson, Robert - 1848
Winder, William - 1838
Winegarden, William - 1843
Wintermute, Anna - 1835
Withers, William - 1848
Wolverton, Asa - 1845
Wood, Guy - 1817
Wood, James - 1845
Woodrow, Edmund - 1818
Woodward, Jesse - 1832
Woolley, Enoch - 1832
Workman, James - 1856
Wright, Charlotte Smith - 1803
Wright, George - 1841
Wright, James - 1845
Wright, Sherman - 1832
Yeoward, Frederick - 1817
Young, Alexander - 1831
Young, John - 1825
Young, William - 1819
Young, William - 1827
Zorra Inhabitants - 1836
Zorra Locatees - 1836
Zorra Presbyterians - 1836
