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Hi all,

A great uncle Patrick Maxwell emigrated to Quebec, Canada from Belfast in 1927 aged about 22. I believe he served in the Canadian Army in WWII.

How do I find out more about him?

I don't know when he died, if he married or if he had children.
I don't know where he settled.

Has anyone got any tips or advice for a good start point or avenues or research when looking for someone in Canada.

Regards,

Simon.

Is this his arrival in Canada?

Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935
about Patrick Maxwell Name: Patrick Maxwell
Gender: Male
Age: 22
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1906
Birth Country: Northern Ireland
Date of Arrival: 22 Sep 1928
Vessel: Andania
Search Ship Database: View the 'Andania' in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
Port of Arrival: Quebec
Port of Departure: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Roll: T-14749

Original gives address in Canada to which he's going as Canadian Government Authorities, Toronto, Ontario. Name of nearest relative in country from which you came as uncle Mr. Patrick McGrath, Corr, Coal Island, Co. Tyrone.

Margee,

Thanks for replying.
Yes the record you have found is him.
Patrick McGrath was his mother's brother.

I'll try and find out more regarding his destaination address!

Any clues as to how else I can progress?

Thanks again.

Simno.

I don't know what to suggest, Simon. As you have probably found out recent records are very hard to access in Canada. The last online census is 1911. There are attestation papers for soldiers of WW1 but not WW2.

Perhaps our good buddy mgnv will come on board and give advice. He's a wealth of information.

Thanks Margee,

I may have to go to a professional but hoping for a bit of help before then.

Regards,

Simon.

Nudged.

Can Anyone else help please?

Regards,

Simon.

Like the UK, there is no national registration of BMDs.
However, in the UK I'ld only have to check 3 places for a 1906 UK birth (Dublin, Edinburgh, Southport), but for a current Canadian death, I have to check 13 provinces/territories. Additionally, they all have varying closure periods - a closed record is only available to immediate family (variously defined). Ontario, which looks like his initial destination, has no closed period for deaths, but they publish no index for 70y. He's already in Ontario's current closure period for B & M when he arrives.

The best Canadian gateway is:
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/index-e.html
in particular, check out:
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-906.003-e.html

Tracing is really very, very difficult if you've got no idea of where he lived.
If you knew where, then there's city directories (some online), current online phone directories, newspaper archives, etc.

If you have proof of death, then an abbreviated WW2 service record is a public record.