Ancestry.com and Ancestry.ca (the Canadian version of Ancestry.com) has released a comprhensive every-name index of the 1851 Canadian census for Canada East (Quebec), Canada West (Ontario), New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, complete with images, which can be viewed using Adobe's Acrobat.

The images are quite good, but the search engine is a bit troublesome because the keywords we normally use for finding black folks (African, Negro, colored, coloured, etc.) don't work very well. I've found best success by leaving the RACE field blank and sort through the dozens of hits you receive.

Now, if they can only get the 1861 census indexed and imaged, that will REALLY be something, because of the tens of thousands of blacks who fled the U.S. following hte 2nd Fugitive Slave Act (1850) and poured into Canada are enumerated in the 1861 census. Many returned to the U.S. following Emancipation, so for many, the 1861 is the ONLY way to track your black fugitive slave ancestors prior to the 1870 census.

All the best in your research.

- Lisa B. Lee, PLCGS
Oakland, CA