I feel like I'm really stuck.In the Abstract Index of for Pittsburgh Township (LDS film #199690) George Grave and Adam Graves were given land via a patent. From what I understand, if there was a patent, there should be a petition from the patent holder.
However, there is not a petition for this George Graves in the Upper Canada land petitions. So the question becomes: How did George Graves get his land from a patent if he never made a petition?
If he petitioned before 1791, could the petition have been made in Lower Canada? And if the petition was made before 1791 in Lower Canada (Upper Canada did not exist before 1791 and it was all Lower Canada) would land have been granted in what is now Ontario? It would seem that the patent was granted in February 1797, but a petition could have been made years before the patent was given.
So I'm trying to get a hold of the petitions of Lower Canada from the Library and Archives Canada website. Some of them are on line, but not all of the records. I believe I can write the Library and Archives Canada and they will mail me a photocopy of the document.
Was it possible that there could be a patent without a petition? Or could the petition be lost?
And how do I get a copy of the patent? If I can get a copy, will it provide more information? I ordered film MS1 Reel 6 of series RG 53-2 from the Archives of Ontario that should be an index to Land Patents so hopefully that will turn up more clues.
