Sir Guy Carleton Branch Library

The foundation of the Sir Guy Carleton Branch library was the private book collection of Dr. Velma Rust, at one time the Branch genealogist. When she died in 2000 she left approximately 400 books to the Branch. In 2001 an agreement was reached with the City of Ottawa Archives to locate the Sir Guy Carleton Branch Library at the City Archives.

The library can be found in the Research Room on the third floor of the Archives in a separate section of shelving. The books and periodicals are accessible whenever the Archives are open: Tuesday – Friday, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, Saturday (September to May, except long weekends) 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. The Archives has a public computer with free access to Ancestry.ca and Newspapers.com. Volunteers are on hand whenever the Archives are open to assist with genealogical questions. The Archives has its own library of books on Ottawa, and also hosts the libraries of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) and the Ottawa Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS). Three microfilm readers are available and a book scanner.

The Sir Guy Carleton library collection has grown to over 800 books and 27 periodical titles. It also includes two CDs; Carleton’s Loyalist List including the Book of Negroes which lists those evacuated from New York in 1783, and an index to the 1786 McNiff Maps of Lancaster, Charlottenburgh, Cornwall, Osnabruck, Williamsburgh and Matilda (the Loyalist Maps). A Finding Aid can be found at the front of the Research Room. There are also a few Loyalist books in the collections of BIFHSGO and Ottawa Branch, OGS, and documents in the vaults of the City Archives. These are included in the Finding Aid at the front of the Research Room. The complete collection listing is available on the Sir Guy Carleton Branch website.

The library continues to expand and improve through donations and purchases. New material is acquired to assist Branch members and the public to explore their Loyalist family history and genealogy and to learn more of the collective Loyalist experience in Canada, especially in Ontario.

The Sir Guy Carleton Branch Library
City of Ottawa Archives
100 Tallwood Avenue, Ottawa, ON