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Sidney Olcott, the First Eye

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October 17, 2025

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I found Sidney Olcott's birth certificate

I've been looking for it for over 40 years! Sidney Olcott's birth certificate. I found it by chance thanks to Google's artificial intelligence, Gemini. I've already explained here how I shed light on the gray areas of the life of the Canadian director I described in my book (in French) "Sidney Olcott, The First Eye."

To summarize: according to leading film historians, Sidney Olcott was born on September 20, 1873, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was the son of Mary Allcott, an Irish woman from Howth, a port north of Dublin, who had emigrated to America.

All this information has been included in most articles devoted to the director, including my own. And it's only logical that Wikipedia uses this date.

In June 1988, I visited Park Lawn Cemetery in Toronto, where Sidney Olcott is buried next to his mother, Mary. Although there are indeed two cards with these names in a wooden drawer cabinet in the cemetery office, I have never been able to locate their graves despite my research.

In a previous post, I gave the Canadian's true date of birth: September 20, 1872. This is based on two official documents: a naturalization application form, written by him at the Florida District Office of Immigration and Naturalization in Jacksonville, Florida, on November 23, 1909, where he gives the year 1972.

This date of September 20, 1872, appears on another official document: the census of men living in the United States after its entry into the war against Germany in 1917. It concerns a certain Sidney Olcott, a film director. QED. Wikipedia has since retained the date I discovered.

However, it was impossible to get my hands on Olcott's official birth certificate. Access to the Toronto vital statistics file is only granted to family members.

In March 2014, on the Find a Grave website, I discovered a photo of Sidney Olcott's tombstone in Park Lawn Cemetery. The pieces of the puzzle gradually fell into place.

Until a few days ago. By typing in Gemini where and when Sidney Olcott was born, Google's artificial intelligence directed me to a document stored on familyseach.org, the Mormon website.

The document is simple: When born; Name; Sex; Name and surname of Father; Name and maiden surname of Mother; Rank or Profession of Father; Signature, description and residence of informant; When Registered; Name of Accoucheur; Signature of Registrar; Division, County...

Here are the answers: September 20, 1872; illegitimate son, i.e., without an identified father; boy; no father's name; mother: Mary Allcott; no father's occupation; Mary Beale, matron of L Hospital; January 30, 1872; Mr. King is the accoucheur; Stephen Radcliff, the administrative authority; Toronto and York.

What does this document tell us? That Olcott was indeed born on September 20, 1872; that his mother is Mary Allcott; that his father is not identified. The rest is incidental.