Church records
are the most important genealogical information sources in Québec. To identify and locate relevant registers, see Jacques Gagné’s guide to church registers for Aboriginal missions and parishes with substantial Aboriginal populations, “First Nations Missions in Québec,” available at BANQ and QFHS (see page XXX). For each nation, Gagné provides a list of the relevant churches in alphabetical order by location, with the full name of the parish, the religious denomination, the date of its founding, and the locations of the relevant records. Roman Catholic, Anglican, and United Church missions are included. The list includes many churches outside Québec as well, such as in northern Ontario, Labrador, the Atlantic provinces, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York.
Anglican Diocese of Montreal Archives
1444 Union Avenue, Montreal, QC H3A 2B8
www.montreal.anglican.ca
Telephone Number: 514-843-6577
E-mail Address: archives@montreal.anglican.ca
Hours of Operation, Access Conditions & Services
Appointments are required.
Photocopies can be made at a charge of 25¢ per page—maximum 30 pages
Extracts from parish registers will be supplied at a rate of $5 per extract.
Certificates of baptism and marriage will be supplied at a rate of $20 per certificate.
Staff will do research at a rate of $20 for the first hour, $10 for the second and third hours. Maximum three hours.
Collections & Description
Diocese includes the City and Island of Montreal, the Laurentians, the South Shore of the Montreal Region, and part of the Eastern Townships.
Holdings include records created by individual parishes, such as registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials; membership lists; and minutes of meetings; local church histories; and correspondence and papers of clergy.
2000, rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montreal, PQ H3H 1G4
Telephone Number: 514-931-7311
E-mail Address archives@diocesemontreal.org
Hours of Operation, Access Conditions & Services
Contact the Archives for details.
Collections & Description
The archives holds the official records of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal as well as private papers. The following is a selective list that includes only those genealogically valuable records that may refer particularly to Métis and Aboriginal people.
Ignace Bourget fonds
Correspondence between the Hurons of Lorette and the diocese of Charteres 1674–1680; and between the Abenaquis [Abénakis] of Saint-Francois-du-Lac and the diocese of Chartres, 1692–1749
98 pages
Jean-Baptiste Dupuy fonds (missionary)
Journal of a voyage to Temiscaming in the company of M-Charles Lefebvre de Bellefeuille, 1836–1839
55 pages
Ptre Hippolyte Moreau fonds
1840–1853
“Récit de sa mission au Témiscaminque, 1840”
Notebooks and copies of correspondence
251 pages Archives des Ursulines de Québec
18, rue Donnacona, Québec, QC G1R 4M5
www.ursulines-uc.com
418-692-2523 x 254
Courriel: archives@vmuq.com
Hours of Operation, Access Conditions & Services
Call ahead for details.
Collections & Description
The archives collection includes residential school and convent records. See Marcel Trudel’s, Les Écolières des Ursulines de Québec, 1639–1686: Amérindiennes et Canadiennes, Montreal, Places:Quebec: Hurtubise HMH, 1999, for details of the records that are available.
www.banq.qc.ca
BAnQ encompasses nine archives centres in Montréal, Québec City, Gatineau, Rimouski, Rouyn-Noranda, Saguenay, Sept-Iles, Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières, as well as a preservation centre (Centre de conservation) and the Grande Bibliothèque. Contact information and hours of operation for each are as follows:
Centre d’archives du Bas-Saint-Laurent et de la Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine
Édifice Louis-Joseph-Moreault, 337, rue Moreault, Rimouski, QC G5L 1P4
Telephone number: 418-727-3500
E-mail Address: anq.rimouski@banq.qc.ca
Hours: Monday to Friday: 8:30–12:00; 1:00–4:30
Centre d’archives du Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean
930, rue Jacques-Cartier Est, Bureau C-103, Chicoutimi, QC G7H 7K9
Telephone number(s): 418 698-3516
E-mail Address: anq.chicoutimi@banq.qc.ca
Hours: Monday to Friday: 8:30–12:00; 1:00–4:30
Centre d’archives de Québec
Campus de l’Université Laval, Pavillon Louis-Jacques-Casault, 1055, avenue du Séminaire, C.P. 10450, succursale Sainte-Foy, QC G1V 4N1
Telephone number: 418-643-8904
E-mail Address: anq.quebec@banq.qc.ca
Hours: Tuesday to Friday, 9:00–5:00; Manuscripts and microfilms division also open Saturday and Sunday 9:00–5:00; Wednesday and Thursday: 5:00–9:00
Centre d’archives de la Mauricie et du Centre-du-Québec
225, rue des Forges, bureau 208, Trois-Rivières, QC G9A 2G7
Telephone number: 819-371-6015
E-mail Address: anq.trois-rivieres@banq.qc.ca
Hours: Monday to Friday: 8:30–12:00; 1:00–4:30
Centre d’archives de l'Estrie
225, rue Frontenac, bureau 401, Sherbrooke, QC J1H 1K1
Telephone number: 819-820-3010
E-mail Address: anq.sherbrooke@banq.qc.ca
Hours: Monday to Friday: 8:30–12:00; 1:00–4:30
See below for special collections.
Centre d’archives de Montréal
Édifice Gilles-Hocquart
535, avenue Viger Est, Montréal, QC H2L 2P3
Telephone number: 514-873-1100, option 4
E-mail Address: anq.montreal@banq.qc.ca
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 9:00–5:00; Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 5:00–9:00
See below for special collections.
Centre d’archives de l’Outaouais
855, boulevard de la Gappe, Gatineau, QC J8T 8H9
Telephone number: 819-568-8798
E-mail Address: anq.gatineau@banq.qc.ca
Hours: Monday to Friday: 8:30–4:30; Tuesday and Wednesday: 7:00–10:00
Centre d’archives de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue et du Nord-du-Québec
27, rue du Terminus Ouest, Rouyn-Noranda, QC J9X 2P3
Telephone number: 819-763-3484
E-mail Address: anq.rouyn@banq.qc.ca
Hours: Monday to Friday: 8:30–12:00; 1:00–4:30
Centre d’archives de la Côte-Nord
700, boulevard Laure, Bureau 190, Sept-Îles, QC G4R 1Y1
Telephone number: 418-964-8434
E-mail Address: anq.sept-iles@banq.qc.ca
Hours: Monday to Friday: 8:30–12:00; 1:00–4:30; Wednesday: 7:00–9:00 (September to June)
Grande Bibliothèque
475, boulevard De Maisonneuve Est, Montréal, QC H2L 5C4
Telephone numbers: 514-873-1100; 1-800-363-9028 toll free from all regions of Québec
E-mail Address: use online form
Hours: Tuesday to Friday, 10:00–10:00; Saturday and Sunday 10:00–5:00
Access Conditions, and Services
All centres have photocopiers, digital readers/printers, multi-media stations, and computers.
Staff will not conduct research for inquirers. However, they will assist researchers in identifying and locating relevant records in their collection.
Collections & Description
The Grand Bibliothèque has the largest collection of published works in Québec. Virtually all books published in recent years are available, plus the vast majority of books published in Quèbec throughout its history. Thus, you will find all the published indexes, abstracts, and transcripts to Québec records here, including those for parish registers. They also have many records for the Atlantic provinces and the northeastern United States. Using these indexes vastly speeds up the research process.
The regional archives hold a vast collection of unpublished works, including the following:
Civil Status Registers
In Québec, there was no separate civil registrar; churches were entrusted with keeping records of civil status based on their performance of baptisms, marriages and burials.
The BAnQ holds virtually all of Québec’s original pre-1900 Civil Status records. These include Acts of birth, marriage and death.
Most are available on microfilm.
Wide variety of secondary records including civil status information, such as marriage register abstracts, genealogical dictionairies and databases.
Censuses
1666 Entire colony of Québec – 3215 inhabitants listed
1678 Seigneurie of Sillery only, all inhabitants
1681 Entire colony, all inhabitants
1716 Québec city only, heads of households only
1731 Seigneurie of Montréal, heads of households only
1741 Montréal only, heads of households only
1744 Québec city only, heads of households only
1760 Three Rivers only, heads of households only
1762 Entire colony, heads of households only
1762 Montréal and Three Rivers only, heads of households only
1765 Montréal and Three Rivers only, heads of households only
1773 English population of colony only, heads of households only
1781 Segneurie of St. Sulpice, heads of households only
1792 Parish of Québec, heads of households only
1795 Parish of Québec, heads of households only
1798 Parish of Québec, heads of households only
1805 Parish of Québec, heads of households only
1815 Québec city only, heads of households only
1825 Montréal only, heads of households only
1851/2 Entire colony, all inhabitants (many returns for major cities missing)
1861 Entire colony, all inhabitants
1871 Entire province, all inhabitants
1881 Entire province, all inhabitants
1891 Entire province, all inhabitants
1901 Entire province, all inhabitants
1911 Entire province, all inhabitants
Notarial Records
Marriage contracts
Engagement contracts (for labourers, such as voyageurs)
Orphan records
Donations (distribution of property to heirs before death)
Wills and testaments
Online finding aid to these records is in development; the finding aid lists all the notaries who operated in Québec before 1900, alphabetically by name, and by district. For each notary, the years of operation are listed. You can then view, page by page the calendars for a particular notary’s records, which will tell you the date of the Act, its number and a brief description “marriage contract between Jean Bernier and Marie Pelletier”, for example. Some calendars also have name indexes. Eventually the Acts themselves will also be digitized.
Court Records
Marriage licenses
Innkeepers’ licenses
Licencese of Justices of the Peace
Land Records
Grants
Deeds
Mortgages
Newspapers
Some of these have been digitized and are available online.
Private Records
To find private records pertaining to a particular Aboriginal community or people, search the PISTARD database using the relevant key words, as well as “Indien” and “Autochtones.”
The Centre d’archives de l’Estrie has the records of the Quebec-Sherbrooke Presbytery (excluding the Eastern Townships) of the Montreal and Ottawa Conference of the United Church of Canada, including the following pastoral charges:
Gagnon (Lac Jeannine)
Kenogami-Arvida
Metis Beach
Portneuf-Donnaconna
Trois-Rivieres
Sain-Simeon
Port-au-persil
Shawinigan
Shefferville (incl. Harrington Harbour)
Quebec City (Methodist-Temiscouata, Charlmers Presbyterian-Kamouraska, Chalmer-Wesley)
The records are comprised mainly of registers of civil status, minutes of Church boards and other church organizations, financial records, membership
and communion rolls, annual reports and bulletins. The oldest records date from 1801, the most recent from 1996.
Centre d’archives de Montréal has the records of the Montreal Presbytery, Laurentien Presbytery, the records for the Quebec congregations located within Ottawa Presbytery, and administrative records for the Montreal and Ottawa Conference of the United Church of Canada. Holdings also include personal and private papers and manuscripts of individuals associated with the Conference.
Holdings include records created by local congregations such as registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials; historic membership rolls and communion rolls; general membership lists; minutes of church boards, committees, and organizations (including women’s groups); printed annual reports of local congregations; congregational newsletters; local church histories; correspondence; and photographs.
Of particular note are the Oka United Church fonds
Registers of Civil Status, 1870–1987
Membership lists 1909–1913
Some documents are written in Iroquois.
11 cm
Bishop’s University, Anglican Diocese of Quebec Archives
2600 College Street, Sherbrooke, QC J1M 0C8
www.quebec.anglican.org
Telephone Number: 819-822-9600 x2567
E-mail Address: archivist@quebec.anglican.ca
Hours of Operation, Access Conditions & Services
Appointments are required.
Staff will do research at a rate of $15 per hour.
Collections & Description
The Quebec diocese includes the central and eastern parts of the province of Quebec. That is west to east from Magog to the Gaspe and the Magdalen Islands, south to north from the United States border to Kawawachikamach and the communities of the Lower North Shore.
Holdings include records created by individual parishes, such as registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials; membership lists; and minutes of meetings; local church histories; and correspondence and papers of clergy.
Bishop’s University, Quebec-Sherbrooke Presbytery of the United Church of Canada, Eastern Townships Archives
Old Library, McGreer Hall, Bishop’s University, Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7
www.united-church.ca/local/archives/mo/eastern
Telephone Number: 819-822-9600 ext. 2261
E-mail Address: etrc2@ubishops.ca (Jody Robinson)
Hours of Operation, Access Conditions & Services
Monday to Friday 9:00–12:00; 1:00–4:30
Appointments are preferred.
Staff will do small amounts of research for inquirers.
Collections & Description
Holdings include those records created by local congregations in the Eastern Townships such as registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials; historic membership rolls and communion rolls; general membership lists; minutes of church boards, committees, and organizations (including women’s groups); printed annual reports of local congregations; congregational newsletters; local church histories; correspondence; and photographs.
Holdings include records created by individual parishes, such as registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials; membership lists; and minutes of meetings; local church histories; and correspondence and papers of clergy.
690 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC H3A 1E9
www.mccord-museum.qc.ca
Telephone Number: 514-398-7100 x 249
E-mail Address: info@mccord.mcgill.ca
Hours of Operation, Access Conditions & Services
Archives & Documentation Centre: Tuesday to Friday, 9:30–5:00
Appointments are required.
Staff will not conduct research for inquirers. However, they will assist researchers in identifying and locating relevant records in their collection.
Collections & Description
This is a selective list that includes only those genealogically valuable records that may refer particularly to Métis and Aboriginal people.
C099 Hudson’s Bay Company Collection
Journals and letterbooks of chief factors John Thomas, James Russell and Robert Miles which concern their business activities and the socio-economic activities of fur trading posts at Moose Factory, 1808–1810, and the Eastern District, 1815–1817
Minutes of the Hudson’s Bay Company councils of the northern department and southern department of Rupert’s Land that deal with the business of the departments
C104 North West Company Collection
A partnership agreement
A deed of admission
Financial accounts of partners with various associated companies in the Northwest
Employee contracts
C303 First Nations Collection
1735–1980
10 cm, + 3 sound recordings
Materials used by missionaries (there is no detailed description of this collection available as of March 2008)
P098 The Maurice-Régis Blondeau fonds (fur trader)
1785–1786
138-page account book in which Blondeau recorded the credits and debits of his business operations in chronological order, including various transactions involving the trader Jean-Baptiste Cadot, a fur trader from the Michigan area
3 cm, textual records
P103 Robert McVicar (fur trader)
1815–1860
Private and official correspondence regarding Fort Garry, Moose Factory, Chippewyn and York Factory
P239 William Epps Cormack (explorer)
1822
Descriptions of French, English and Indian settlements in NFLD, fur trade
Munro Family (fur traders)
1685–1815
Correspondence regarding NWC fur trade
Marriage contracts for family members
The family lived in Montreal and Matilda Township, Dundas County, Ontario
Photograph Collection
Includes many photographs pertaining to Aboriginal people.
3459 McTavish Street, Montreal, QC H3A 2K6
www.mcgill.ca/rarebooks/
Telephone Number: 514-398-4711
E-mail Address: richard.virr@mcgill.ca (Curator of Manuscripts)
Hours of Operation, Access Conditions & Services
The Rare Books and Special Collections Division is located on the 4th floor of the McLennan Library building.
Monday to Friday, 9:00–5:00
Staff will photocopy documents that are judged to be in suitable condition for copying. The charge is 25¢ per page.
Collections & Description
This is a selective list that includes only those genealogically valuable records that may refer particularly to Métis and Aboriginal people.
The Masson Collection
North West Company and XY Company records.
Thirty-eight manuscripts cover the period 1778 to 1837 with the majority falling in the period c1790–1820. They include journals, letters and
descriptions of the geography, weather, flora and fauna, Aboriginal people and the history of the fur trade requested by NWC partner Roderick Mackenzie as part of an attempt to prepare a descriptive survey of the Canadian northwest.
The Masson collection has been completely digitized and made available online at http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/nwc/, with the addition of helpful maps, illustrations and a detailed narrative history of both the fur trade in general and the North West Company and XY Company in particular. Images of the documents are presented side-by-side with electronic transcripts. All are searchable by keyword.
MS317 N.O. Greene Papers (lawyer)
Documents regarding the settlement of Algonquin and Nipissing Indians of Lake of Two Mountains 1831–1853
5 cm, textual records
MS333 James Bissett Papers (fur trader)
HBC correspondence and accounts for Lachine, c1858–1875
MS406 John MacDonald of Garth Papers (fur trader)
1791–1860
Business and personal correspondence
12 cm, textual records
MS430 Thomas Blackwood Papers (fur trader)
1806, 1807
Correspondence from Michilimackinac
3 cm, textual records
MS431 Simon McTavish Papers (fur trader)
1792–1800, 1804–1806
Business correspondence
3 cm, textual records
MS432 W. Grant, Campion & Company Papers (fur trader)
1792–1800, 1820
Business correspondence
3 cm, textual records
MS433 Joseph Frobisher Papers (fur trader)
1787, 1788
Correspondence
Physical Address: 173 Cartier Avenue, Suite 102, Pointe Claire, QC
Mailing Address: Box 1026, Pointe Claire, QC H9S 4H9
www.qfhs.ca
Telephone Number: 514-695-1502
E-mail Address: admin@qfhs.ca
Hours of Operation, Access Conditions & Services
September to June:
Monday to Friday, 10:00–3:00
Wednesday, 6:30–9:30; Sunday, 1:00–4:00
July and August:
Monday to Wednesday, 10:00–3:00
Volunteers will do research for inquirers at a rate of $20 per hour. This service includes searches in the collections of the QFHS library as well as resources in other repositories.
Photocopies and microfilm printing, 25¢ per page.
Collections & Description
Has listing of parishes in which Aboriginal individuals are recorded, prepared by Jacques Gagné, “First Nations Missions in Québec.”
Holdings include transcriptions of monumental inscriptions from over 400 cemeteries, over 5000 books and a great many microfilms. |
