Community, Cultural Affairs and Labour

The Prince Edward Island Public Archives and Records Office, located in the Hon. George Coles Building on the corner of Richmond and Church Streets (P.O. Box 1000, Charlottetown PE C1A 7M4), has the largest collection of genealogical material pertaining to Prince Edward Island in the province. As the depository for public records, PARO contains several government series such as probate, chancery and supreme court records, land transactions (pre-1900), early maps, and vital statistic records which contain valuable genealogical information. Private collections of family papers and a large collection of church records from across the Island may also be of assistance.

As well, to facilitate your research the following resources are available:

1. The Master Name Index, an alphabetical index compiled from newspapers, census and cemetery transcripts, marriage registers and many other sources.

2. Alphabetical indices to extant baptisms (pre-1886), deaths (pre-1906), marriage licenses (1787-1919) and marriage bonds (1849-1902).

3. Family Files and Bound Genealogies which contain miscellaneous material compiled and contributed by researchers.

4. The Kindex, a list of names and addresses of researchers who are interested in a given surname and are willing to be contacted by other researchers.

Further details regarding the above sources can be found in Genealogical Research at the Public Archives and Records Office.

Or try our email address at archives@edu.pe.ca. Please provide your E-mail address, your name and full mailing address as most replies will be by mail as enclosures are often necessary. The Public Archives and Records Office of Prince Edward Island holds genealogical records for the province of Prince Edward Island only. Please keep in mind that birth, marriage and death certificates cannot be issued by the Public Archives and Records Office. Due to the volume of requests for information we receive and the ever-increasing numbers of visiting researchers and other archival staff duties, we are unable to provide extensive research, fill in blanks in family group sheets or genealogical charts. We can attempt to answer a few specific questions. Requests will be answered in the order in which inquiries are received. You will not receive an immediate E-mail message. There is no charge for conducting searches, however, a small fee will be charged for photocopies and postage. A list of private researchers available to conduct genealogical research for a fee is available on request.

The Estates Division of the Supreme Court, located in the Sir Louis Henry Davies Law Courts Building on Water Street (P.O. Box 205, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7K4), holds wills, administrations and estate papers (1807 to the present). These provide an excellent source of names, dates, places and relationships.

The Land Registry Office in the Jones Building at 11 Kent Street (P.O. Box 2000, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7N8), holds land records from 1900 until the present.

Confederation Centre Library, on Queen Street, and Robertson Library, on the University of Prince Edward Island Campus, have reading material on PEI, Canadian and world history; genealogy and heraldry; as well as microfilm copies of PEI census records, newspapers and business directories.