LAC's Ship Registration Index Database (SRI) contains more than 78,000 entries of ships registered in ports of Canada between 1787 and 1966. Through this research tool, you can obtain information about a ship such as its name, its type, its official number, the year and port of registration, where it was built, its date of construction and, in some cases, what happened to it. The database also allows you to find references for the physical registers or microfilm reels.
I didn't find any large ships in the database, the type that would have brought immigrants. They were likely of British registration.
There are seven registrations for the Bluenose, the last of which is the well known schooner shown on the Canadian dime. From the database, she was 153 gross tons, built in Lunenberg NS, registered in 1921 and registry entry closed September 19, 1936 when sold to West Indian interests.
While of limited interest for genealogy, there are no personal names, the database is a useful resource to mine for information on the evolution of shipping in domestic waters.
Search the database from www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/ship-registration/001093-100.01-e.php
The database itself may not show names, but if a researcher knows that an ancestor either built or owned a ship, he or she will be led to the registration record where the names of all owners are listed. Perhaps those researching family in central Canada, this is less relevant than it will be for those in the Maritimes where ship ownership is more likely. I am glad to learn that LAC has put this important database online.
ReplyDelete