Links to Online Resources
We are an excellent source of information, but it's a big world out there and the resources listed here may help you in your explorations. The sites listed below provide free access. Reliable paid services include newspapers.com and ancestry.ca.
The MemoryBC portal provides a searchable database of the materials available at nearly 200 archival repositories in British Columbia.
The City of Nanaimo, in partnership with the Nanaimo Community Archives, has contributed over 150 Statements of Significance to the federal Historic Places website. These statements detail the aesthetic, community and environmental values of local buildings and sites, including cemeteries.
The Nanaimo Herald was published from 1901 to 1938, when it was absorbed into the Nanaimo Free Press. The Herald was initially a "labour organ" but it appears, to the best of our understanding, to have not sustained that purpose for very long.
Vancouver Island University History Professor Dr. Stephen Davies is founder of the Canadian Letters and Images Project, an online, digital archive of Canadian wartime letters and related materials. He started the project in 2000 to help his students understand the First and Second World Wars. Over the past 23 years, the website has grown to include more than 35,000 letters as well as images, diaries and other materials. Includes Nanaimo materials.
Check out this resource that may be useful if you are conducting research on the Chinese Canadian or Japanese Canadian communities in western Canada. Includes documents related to Nanaimo.
Canada's Veterans Affairs website hosts a Military Memorials section that includes information about the Nanaimo Cenotaph. The page includes transcriptions of all the plaques that are currently (August 2024) on the monument.
This site provides legal descriptions for local sites. Many archival documents are organized by legal description so the site is especially useful for building and property research.
Vancouver Public Library's collection of digitized British Columbia city directories dates from 1860 up to and including 1955. The directories contain detailed historical information about British Columbian communities, including street and name listings of individuals and businesses in Vancouver and Victoria; population figures; government listings; operating newspapers; and schools and libraries from communities across the province. Updated regularly, they document the growth, development and progress of British Columbia over the years.
The Historic Crown Grant Search tool was created with the support of members of the Genealogical Society of Utah, as part of their genealogical interests.
This is a free search tool for users interested in searching for a Crown Grant by the Name of the grant holder, as well as other parameters, such as the Grant Date. This type of Crown Grant search is not currently possible in other Province of British Columbia online systems.
Please note that the search results provided by this tool are not complete, as the results only provide data from a portion of the Crown Grants that were issued between the years 1860 and 1930.
Visit Library and Archives Canada's Census portal to search censuses from 1871 to 1931.
This site offers searchable digital versions of the Nanaimo Courier (1889), the Nanaimo Mail (1896), the Ladysmith Leader (1902), the Ladysmith Recorder (Aug 1904), the Ladysmith Signal (1912) and the Ladysmith Standard (1908). Access is free.
This report is the result on an extensive search of our records to locate items in our holdings that relate to Snuneymuxw peoples and our effort to reduce access barriers for Snuneymuxw researchers. Researchers should know that, over time, we may discover other records and that this is a living document that will need periodic updating.
Compiled by the Nanaimo Family History Society, this index provides birth, marriage and death dates for 19th century Nanaimo. Researchers should be aware that not all vital events were published in the newspaper and should also consult the BC Museum Genealogy page for additional information. The newspaper is available on microfilm at the Vancouver Island University Library and at the Vancouver Island Regional Library (Harbourfront). The Archives does not hold the newspaper.
City Directories provide valuable information about people, organizations and businesses. Our thanks to Craig Horsland who transcribed the 1942 directory from jpegs and organized it by street.
The Province {1894-2010), The Vancouver Sun (1912-2010 and the Victoria Times Colonist (1884-2010) are available to view online. Access is free and no account is required.
BC Minister of Mines Annual Reports include detailed coal mine reports and are an invaluable source of information about Nanaimo area mines.
This Research Database provides access to thousands of records related to Japanese Canadian history and the dispossession of their property in the 1940s. Records, including some from Nanaimo, were gathered from archives and museums across Canada. Additional materials, such as the oral history recordings, were created by the Landscapes of Injustice partnership.
In 2016, the Nanaimo Archives produced a report about its Japanese history sources. The report was part of the Landscapes of Injustice project (see above) but we are making it directly available here for those who may not necessarily want to go through the entire website.
This searchable database comprises nearly 200,000 records. It includes nominal census records for indigenous and settler communities on Vancouver Island from 1871 to 1901, plus nominal records from the 1911 census of Canada for Alberni and Port Alberni and the City of Victoria. Other records on this website include directory listings and property tax assessment records for Nanaimo and Victoria (1881-1901); an inventory of Victoria building permits (1877-1921); and a record of street name changes in Victoria (1900-1914).
This web archive contains the “Despatches” – the official correspondence between the governors of the colonies of Vancouver Island (1849-1866) and British Columbia (1858-1871) with the British Colonial Office and associated branches. The Despatches have been transcribed, are fully searchable and indices have been prepared for all the people, including Indigenous People, all the Indigenous groups, ships and places mentioned. The transcripts link to images of the original letters; the numerous enclosures, containing supporting information sent with the letters, including over 200 maps, are also attached, untranscribed as images. This site contains numerous references to Nanaimo.
The database created and maintained by the BC Archives allows you to search for open birth, marriage, baptism and death registrations. Many registrations have been digitized and are attached to the listing under Vital Stat Image(s) which can be saved to your device/computer.
The Nauticapedia website includes searchable biographical and vessel databases and an extensive range of maritime related topics.
The City of Nanaimo has several heritage resources including a searchable building database (Community Heritage Register), a Brief History of Nanaimo (pdf), a list of past mayors with biographies and photographs, and more.
The Vancouver Island Regional Library (Harbourfront Branch) offers free format conversion (e.g. vhs to mp4) services on the second floor. For more information or to book an appointment, visit their website.
Vancouver Island University Library (Special Collections) has made the Nanaimo Free Press (1874-), the Nanaimo Daily Herald (1910) and the Cowichan Leader (1905-) available online. Researchers can search by subject, issue date, author or title. Access is free.
Familysearch.org is a free online genealogy platform and website. It provides access to a vast collection of genealogical records, tools for building family trees, and resources for researching your family history. The platform is designed to help individuals discover their family heritage and connect with their ancestors.
Voter Lists for the Nanaimo electoral district (including Nanaimo, Wellington, Newcastle, Harewood, Cedar, Departure Bay, Cranberry, Oyster Harbour, Nanoose and Gabriola Island) are included in the BC Sessional Papers online collection (part of UBC Online Collections). The lists provide the name, address and occupation of individuals entitled to vote in provincial elections. Researchers should note that criteria for voting eligibility changed over time.
The NLRTA holds the Skipsey Educational Heritage Collection of over 3000 historical teaching texts and related materials. In addition to being one of Western Canada's most complete collections of educational texts dating back to the 1800s, it also includes memorabilia, artifacts, photographs and early teaching aids. Their website features a searchable keyword database.
Vancouver Island University has a large collection of sound recordings created by the Nanaimo Historical Society. Many of these have been converted to mp3 format and have been transcribed. To learn more about the collection and to access VIU's holdings, click the View Document button.