Ontario Birth Index 1860-1920

Civil registration in Canada is a responsibility of the individual provinces and territories. Such registration began to be kept between the late 1800s and early 1900s. This index covers the years of 1860 to 1920.

You will find a transcript and image of the original record for each result in this index. Transcripts will usually provide the following details:

• First name(s)

• Last name

• Sex

• Birth year

• Birth date

• Registration year

• Father’s first name(s)

• Father’s last name

• Mother’s first name(s)

• Mother’s last name

• Place

• City

• County

• Batch number

• Film number

Images will often provide additional information such as parents’ occupations, where the parents were married, the name of the attending physician, address of residence, where specifically the child was born, and any remarks noted.

Norman Bethune was a physician who became a frontline surgeon. He served during the Spanish Civil War on the side of the Republican government and during the Second Sino-Japanese War with the Communist Eighth Route Army. It was his service in the latter conflict that has earned Bethune such acclaim as he credited with bringing modern medicine to the villagers in rural China. His service in China was held in such high esteem that there are many statues erected in his honor throughout China and Mao Zedong penned a eulogy for Bethune upon his death, which took place in China. Bethune is also heralded for his invention of mobile blood transfusions, which he developed for the frontline during the Spanish Civil War.

In these records, we learn that Henry Norman Bethune was born on 3 March 1890 to Malcolm N Bethune and Elizabeth Anne (née Goodwin) in Gravenhurst, Middlesex, Ontario. From the image of the original record we learn that his father was a Presbyterian minister by profession.

You can learn more about Norman Bethune in Findmypast’s newspaper collection, linked to in the Useful links and resources section

• Be sure to check the image attached to your ancestor’s transcript as there is likely additional information to be gleaned.