Young

How to Find Alberta Vital Records

Alberta has a bad rap for genealogical records, but it isn’t the black hole of the West as most people think. Well maybe isn’t as easy as its counterparts like Saskatchewan Vital Records or Manitoba but the records are there.

Vital records are available at the Provincial Archives (PAA) for

  • Births that are over 120 years (not adoptions
  • Stillbirths over 75 years
  • Marriage over 75 years
  • Deaths over 50 years

If you are looking for more recent records here is the link for more information on the Service Alberta web page.

Here is the process I used to get a record for a relative who was married in Edmonton in 1908.  The first thing I did was go to the Provincial Archives of Edmonton webpage and located the Genealogy tab.

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Once I selected the Genealogy tab I scrolled down to the b/m/d pdfs on the page to determine if there was a specific number I should be locating. I have to admit I did find this process a little tedious and confusing. In the end, I contacted PAA via email explaining what I was searching for, the names of the people, the date (I only knew the year) and the location.

I received an email from them stating that they had received my request and they would be in touch. A follow-up e-mail told me they had located the marriage record and asked if I would like them to mail it or come in and view it in their reading room. I replied that they should mail it, a digital copy was not given as an option.

Another email followed that included a link to pay for the record and they

accept Visa, Visa debit, MasterCard and AMEX. We are also not able to accept credit card information over the phone to make payments.

The cost for the record is minimal – $3.00 ($6.00 if outside of Canada) and photocopying fee of $.35-$.50 cents! Not bad Alberta, not bad at all.

If you have relatives in Alberta and have been putting off ordering Vital Records, I would like to encourage you to go for it. Overall the process to access the records is not difficult and as you can see full of information! Well, they call them VITAL records for a reason!

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Marriage record of William Lewis Young and Emily Mays at The Manse in Edmonton, Alberta 26 August 1908.

52 Ancestors: #9 Elizabeth (Harrop) Young

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Elizabeth was the daughter of Anna Eliza Stickle and Lewis Harrop. She was born on February 20th, 1840 in New York, later moving with her parents to Islington, York Co., Ontario and then to Orangeville, Ontario. She married William Young in 1877 in England, the son of Robert and Mary Young. His first wife Isabella had died leaving William with 4 young children.
1) Isabella b. 1866 in England married John Henry Bradshaw in Orangeville, Ontario in 1887.
2) John William Young b. 1869
3) Robert Young b. 1871 said to have died as a young man.
4) Mary A. Young b. 1875 married Herbert Winnett in 1905 in Vancouver. Mary died in 1954 in Oakville, Ontario.
William and Elizabeth had 3 children –
1) Elizabeth b. 1880 m. Michael Redmond
2) William Lewis b. 1882 m. Elizabeth Mays and lived in Edmonton, AB.
3) Sarah Jane b. 1887 m. Wesley Spafford and lived in B.C.

The 1881 census for Orangeville, Ontario shows the Young family along with Elizabeth’s mom Anna all living in the same house. William’s death in 1888 was recorded in the Orangeville Sun

A Respected Citizen Gone
Death Robbed Orangeville of one of its most respected citizens last week in the person of Mr. Wm. Young, gardner, who passed away at his residence on Bythia street on Friday after a brief illness. Deceased was 44 years of age and leaves a widow and seven children. The funeral took place to the town cemetery on Sunday, and was largely attended.

I have often wondered what Elizabeth did to support herself and her children, the 1891 census does not list Elizabeth as having an occupation, but in the 1901 census she is listed as 61 and a gardner. Maybe there was a family business – something to investigate!

Elizabeth buried her mother Anna in 1907, they had never been apart.

In 1921 Elizabeth is now living with her daughter Elizabeth who had married Michael Redmond and was living in Weston, ON. They had a full household with 3 adults and and 6 children.

Elizabeth passed away on September 4, 1907 at the age of 80 years. She is buried in Riverside Cemetery.

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52 Ancestors – #8 Anna Eliza (Stickle) Harrop

Anna is my 2x great grandmother and passed away at the age of 93 in 1907 in Ontario, Canada. I don’t know much about her life, but I will share what I do know with the hopes of uncovering more information. Census records list Anna as being born in the United States in 1814, and she could possibly be Pennsylvania-Dutch but without parent’s names I can only speculate.
Her husband Lewis Harrop is said to have left England with a brother and his first stop was also said to be Pennsylvania.
The first fact I can find on this family is the 1852 Canadian census where they are living on Con. 1 Lot 13 in Etobicoke, York Co. in Ontario. Lewis is listed as 51 along with his wife who is 38, they have 4 children Benjamin, Elizabeth, Robert and Mary Ann. The first 3 kids along with their mother, have the United States as their place of birth. Further census records will reveal that the 3 children were born in New York. Mary Ann and my great grandfather William Lewis were both born in Ontario.
The Harrop family is in the same location for the 1861 census but they lose the breadwinner July of that year. I found the father, Lewis after some searching, he was buried in St. George’s-on-the-Hill, on the outskirts of what is now Toronto in an unmarked grave.
The family relocated after Lewis’ death and settled in Orangeville, Dufferin Co. Benjamin the oldest had by this time married Mary Jane Russell and they had moved to Esquesing, Halton Co.
Elizabeth married William Young a widow with 4 young children. William was a gardner from England who died suddenly in 1888, leaving Elizabeth with 3 children of their own to raise. Elizabeth did not remarry but lived with her mother Eliza Anne.
Robert married Sarah Jackson and was a photographer, he later ran a newspaper in Chesterville, and his last occupation was for the railway.
Mary Ann married Michael Renahan and lived in Weston, Ontario where they raised their 3 children.
And my great grandfather William who lost his father when he was 5 was a butcher’s apprentice at 16, living with the butcher’s family. Later moved to Saskatchewan and married a girl from North Dakota who was a widow. He brought her and her daughter Fora Bell to his farm but lost his wife after 2 short years. William remarried in 1907 to Rachel Hodgins and they lived in Balcarres, Saskatchewan.
Anna Eliza or Eliza Anne (I have seen it written both ways) spent the remainder of her years living with her daughter Elizabeth Young. She did not remarry after losing Lewis and I do not know anything more about her life.

If you are connected to this family or know of the Stickle family in Pennsylvania/New York we should talk!! Get in touch with me by commenting or send me an e-mail cpgreber at telusplanet.net! Look forward to hearing from you!