Mr. Fred Neal

Our Diocesan Archivist, Mr. Fred Neal, at the March Executive Committee meeting, emphasized the importance of Diocesan Officers as well as researchers having opportunities for regular and convenient access to these historical records.
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Fred was predeceased by his wife, Mavis, in 2006. Fred and Mavis were well known in the Diocese, and particularly in the Deanery of Temiskaming, where Fred served as rector at St. Simon’s Church, Temagami from 1992 until 2004.

Fred Neal, registrar with the diocese of Ottawa
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Fred Neal, registrar with the diocese of Ottawa

Many initial inquiries can be answered quickly, says diocesan registrar Fred Neal, thanks to the diocese's vast database.Since 1989, it has been entering clergy and parish records into a computer system so that it can instantly advise a caller if the diocese holds a document.The database, which is an index of all baptisms, marriages and burials between 1779 and 1960, holds some 600,000 names.Privacy laws prohibit the release of much of the more recent information, but the archives can locate most living clergy and provide searchers with current parish information. If a caller requests more information than the database holds, the diocese charges a fee: $40 per hour for a researcher's time and a flat $20 fee for each transcript or copy of any document. For example, says Mr. Neal, a caller might ask if the diocese holds her grandfather's baptismal certificate.The database may confirm that the man was baptized in 1913, but if the caller asks for information beyond that, for instance, for names of the godparents or the specific date of the baptism, a researcher will have to retrieve the certificate. As registrar, Mr. Neal is responsible for certification of any documents, including baptismal certificates, which are occasionally acceptable for personal identification. Many of the dates and names of ancestors accessed from the church's archives can then be used to further a genealogical search, says Mr. Neal, who was the diocesan archivist from 1989 through 1998. Along with current diocesan archivist Glenn Lockwood and the various volunteer workers who handle many of the searches, Mr. Neal refers researchers to other archives and sources of information like land records, passenger lists for trans-Atlantic ships and census information.

Freddie Neal Registrar

A guide for collecting, organizing and listing parish records is available from our new diocesan archivist, Fred Neal. Fred may be contacted at 705-732-1045 or by email at fjn sdn@vianet.ca or by mail at Box 325, Rosseau ON P0C 1J0.