Most researchers know that the Index to Upper Canada Land Petitions is on-line at the Library and Archives Canada Website:
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/upper-canada-la... Announced last year, with little fanfare however, was the on-line access to digitized copies of all the microfilms in Record Group 1 L3 (RG1 L3) so images of the Petitions can be viewed and accessed directly. The microfilm images are not linked to the images nor is there a link to the index of the reel numbers in the Land Section. I believe that LAC intended to provide better access but major funding cuts have precluded this work going forward.
The Microfilm images contain the numbered Petitions contained within specific "Bundles". Each item within a Petition usually has the Petition number written in the upper right corner followed by a letter on the second and subsequent pages that increments for each additional page in a Petition thus Petition number 126's first page would be identified as "126" the second as "126a", the third as "126b" and so forth. Most of the films contain portions of more than one "Bundle" so while you may find the correct Petition number it may not be relevant as the Petition of interest is contained within another Bundle on the same film. Some of the films have sheets inserted between Petitions listing the Bundle Number and Petition Number but most of the time it is a matter of using "Divide and Conquer" to find the Petition of interest.
To find a Petition first search the index for the index entry:
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/upper-canada-la... Obtain the Microfilm Number, Bundle, and Petition Number from the appropriate entry.
Next visit the list of microfilms in the Microform Digitization section:
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/microform-digitization/00...Click on the link to the appropriate microfilm and scroll though the images until you find the correct Petition number within the appropriate "Bundle".
An example will help to illustrate how to find a Petition.
In this case I am looking for a Petition of one of My Ancestors Lardner Bostwick. Using the Index I find two results, on in 1836 and another in 1846. Looking at the Index Entry for the 1836 entry we find:
Name: BOSTWICK, Lardner
Place: Chinguacousy
Year: 1836
Volume: 68
Bundle: B Misc. 1793-1840
Petition: 133
Microfilm: C-1635
Reference: RG 1 L3
Next we go to the Microform Digitization and select film "C-1635". Here we see the film consists of 1082 images. On page 3 we find the first petition is numbered 29. Each Petition is usually 2 or three pages long (the Petition, An Oath, and the back of the Petition showing the Decision) and as I'm looking for Petition number 133 I next tried page 300. I highlight the number "3" in the Page box in the upper right above the image type "300" to replace the "3" and hit enter to go to page 300. Looking at the image I see that the we appear to be looking at the second page of Petition 137 as it is marked "137a". So I am four Petitions too far so I go to page 288 and I see I am at "133a" so the Petition Number is Correct but the name (William Banker or Barker) is wrong so I am not looking at the correct "Bundle" of Petitions.
Next I look at Image "550" about halfway through the film and find Petition "236" so I am likely in the same incorrect Bundle. Moving about 3/4 of the way through the film to image 800 I find I am at a Petition numbered 67. This might be a possibility but I am off quite a bit so I try image 980 next (about 120 frames ahead) and find Petition 107 so I try image 1050 and find Petition 131 so I try page 1070 and find Petition 136 so I next try page 1060 and find Petition 133. I am at the Decision on the back of the Petition which is usually the last image so I move a couple of pages back and I have found the correct Petition.
It, however, is not for the ancestor I was looking for but a cousin with the same name but provides useful information to add to my records.