Archives Letter
The following letter (slightly edited) from a reference archivist at the Alberta Provincial Archives offers some detail about their holdings and some options and costs for requesting searches in their holdings. This is as of December 2005.
There is some confusion about what records are available at the Provincial Archives of Alberta. Death _certificates_ are only available through either Vital Statistics or a Registry office. The Provincial Archives does not hold any death certificates. The Provincial Archives hold death _registration records_ for some communities in Alberta for some years between ca. 1870 and 1980. These records are not indexed; they are organised by community and then by year, so to find a specific individual, it is necessary to know both the date and place of death (or be prepared to spend some time searching). Note that the Provincial Archives does not hold records for every community in Alberta, nor for every year. Some records remain in the custody of vital statistics and have not been sent to the Provincial Archives. Note also that death _registration records_ provides much less information than would a death _certificate_. A death registration record normally records only the name of the deceased, the place of death, the name of the informant (usually the physician, may sometimes be a funeral director or clergyman), and (sometimes) the place of burial. There is no information on the cause of death, parents or spouse of the deceased, or his/her age in the records held by the Provincial Archives. Most of this information should be included on the death certificate, obtainable from Vital Statistics or a Registry Office. If you can identify which communities and years you are interested in, we can tell you what death registration are available at the Provincial Archives of Alberta. Unfortunately, we are unable to do look-ups for free. You are welcome to visit the Provincial Archives in person to search our holdings; there is no charge to use the facilities. In the alternative, contract researchers are available to search the records on your behalf. The rate is Cdn$30 per hour (minimum of 1 hour, prepaid). The Provincial Archives of Alberta requires payment in advance for all orders. We can accept Visa and MasterCard, or we can invoice you. The research will commence once payment has been received. There is a Cdn$3.00 mail-out charge and GST is charged on all orders. Unfortunately, the Provincial Archives cannot accept personal cheques. |
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This page was last modified 6 December 2005. |