Researching The Oxford Rifles

Occasionally I receive requests for information such as the one below. I thought that I would outline how I would go about researching a military ancestor, or for that matter a military unit. I am a historian with a strong interest in genealogy, not the other way around, so my methods might well be a little different that that used by others.


“As I have been researching my great grandfather Vernon Graham I came across your site. He was in the Oxford Rifles abt 1865-66 and I think must have been part of the Fenian Raids. Could you please direct me as to where I would go to get records.? He is also listed as to being in the Woodstock Volunteer Rifles under Col Light. Your help would be much appreciated”

Oxford County volunteer militias date back to 1798. The Oxford Rifles were organized on 14 August 1863 by amalgamating the existing independent militia companies. The regiment did serve in the Niagara during the Fenian Raids, but arrived too late to participate in the Battle of Ridgeway.

I suspect from the little information I have that Vernon Graham was from Woodstock (I have been proven wrong before; however, most of the companies of any militia regiment are based on other towns or villages in the county). The first place that I would go to is the 1861 Canada Census to verify that Woodstock was indeed his home city. Here Ancestry.com is useful if you have access to the Library edition as it is free to use. If not the local library should have microfilm copies of the Canada Census’s.


The next step is to find copies of the pay books of the Oxford Rifles. For this period there is no equivalent of the World War One battalion diaries. Here a visit to the Woodstock City Museum might well pay off. They should have a copy of “Pay list of Oxford Rifles Militia 1865-1868: & record of officers 1907-1927”, Ontario Genealogical Society, Oxford County Branch, 1980. If you have no luck here then Library and Archives Canada have microfilmed “Nominal Rolls and paylists for the Volunteer Militia-22nd. Regiment, Oxford rifles”, Microfilm reel T-16577. I have not yet seen this microfilm so I can not attest as to what information is there. In any paylists the most you can expect is a list of names with pay and signatures. However, those who were involved in the Fenian Raids will be listed in a separate paylist. If you find his name and signature you can positively say that he was there.

Library and Archives Canada’s online medal registry rolls is a hit and miss affair for this period. The Fenian Raid medal was issued over 30 years after the event, and only sent if the veteran requested it. But you might get lucky !


Local newspapers are not online; however, most (if they survived) are on microfilm. The University of Western Ontario holds a wonderful collection of microfilmed newspapers. I have found that local libraries tend to have copies of the microfilms of their own local papers in house. The wonderful thing about the papers of that era is their rather gossipy way of listing every soldier who participated in any event in their community.

There have been some previous writing on the Oxford Rifles. Philip MacQuarrie, “For God and home: a history of the Oxford Rifles 1798-1954”, Woodstock Museum 1998. Herbert Miles, “A story of the Oxford Rifles, 1798-1954”, Oxford Museum 1974.One would assume that these booklets are in the Oxford Museum.

Some Christmas Posts From The Great War

Library and Archives Canada. A Christmas Card from the 4th. Division. The battles listed would put it in 1918 although Library and Archives Canada put it at 1917-1918.

Library and Archives Canada. This dates to 1926 but who can resist this recipe. This should do wonders for your cholesterol count. I wonder what the Temperance people thought of it? .

Library and Archives Canada. A Red Cross holiday card. Since Library and Archives Canada put it at 1914 to 1918 I assume that it was used every year (no proof of course). Of course, it could also mean that the good people at the Archives haven't a clue.

There are many more examples at both the Ontario Archives, and Library and Archives Canada. More than I could possibly put into a blog post.

Library and Archives Canada - New Records Online

Library and Archives Canada have put two new sets of records online for the First World War. These are “Commonwealth War Graves Registers, First World War”, and “Circumstances Of Death Registers, First World War”.

These are not databases so it is not possible to do a key word search. You need to use these links as you would use an actual microform reader. Supposedly this is to give us the experience of actually being in a reading room. Really !


If you are looking for a specific name there is a help page. Still it’s a hard slog. Reminds me of graduate school.

7th. Fusiliers

The 7th. Fusiliers went through several name changes such as the 7th. Fusiliers, 7th. Fusiliers, Light Infantry, 7th. Fusiliers, City of London Regiment. Regardless, that regiment was London's militia infantry regiment. "The London Advertiser"  in 1914 published what for me was an interesting series of photos of the regiment leaving for wars..

Members of the regiment just prior to their leaving for the Northwest in 1885. "The London Advertiser", August 22, 1914.

Volunteers from the regiment, and the Elgins, boarding trains on their way to South Africa in 1900. "The London Advertiser". August 22, 1914.

The send off for volunteers from the regiment, and the Elgins, who are off to Valcartier to train for the First Division. No more than six of these men would return in 1919 on their own feet. "The London Advertiser", August 22. 1914.

Veteran's Day 2011

There had to be a couple thousand people in Victoria Park this morning to watch the Veteran's Day parade and ceremonies on a very cold morning. I got what pictures I could through the crowd. More photos are on my blog The Forest City.

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Royal Canadian Ledger Sheets (1910-1941

Library and Archives Canada has released some records for 16,788 individuals who enlisted in the Canadian Navy between 1910 to 1941. The information is a best brief. Not all of the records are included. If you are lucky you will find the following:

Library and Archives Canada

Further information about the files can be found at the following link.

I received an email a couple of weeks ago asking for information on the following photo.

"I am writing to you to see if you can point me in the right direction of how to identify the men in the attached photo. I believe one of them is my great-grandfather and wish to confirm this information. The surname would be either Fee, Gray, Burley or Dunk. I do not have any information on the other two gentlemen. The back of the photo indicates it is a post card, made in Canada and has no writing on it".

This a problem that I run into all the time. These postcard photos are quite common. I expect just as in the case of my own collection nothing is written of the reverse because it is assumed that the people who received the postcard knew who was in the photos. Luckilly for me I still have some 90 year olds around who can put names to the individuals in my collection.

Other than that I can not help very much.