Five Years of Blogging

It is my Fifth Anniversary of Blogging!

I appreciate all of you who have been following, commenting, encouraging and sharing.

Five years ago I was inspired and encouraged by Gail Dever at Genealogy à la Carte to write a blog. I had many lists of resources from doing research into my family and friends' families and I wanted to share it all with others. I wavered between making a website, of which there were many, or writing a blog, of which there were not many like mine. The reason I went with the blog was because it gave me a chance to tell family stories related to the information I was passing on.

I sometimes like to challenge myself and do a series or participate in a challenge. This past year I attempted the "Twelve Days of Ancestors", related to the "Twelve Days of Christmas" series I did the year before. That was quite challenging but fun to do.

Thanks to all of you who follow on the Blog, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, and for sharing. I look forward to seeing what the coming year will bring!

Quebec and New France Resources

In the past few months there have been lots of beginners researching their ancestors who came to New France in the early years, or like mine, immigrated to the province of Quebec after 1800.

Quebec about 1690

If your ancestors were from French Quebec you hit the genealogy jackpot! 
If you submitted your DNA to Ancestry you likely have over 1000 "4th cousins or closer" matches. You may also find common ancestors on both sides of your tree.

New France took the French custom of recording women by their maiden name, and most early records reflect this. Many Protestant records gave the maiden name of the mother, but not all, and some gave no parents' names on a marriage record if the parties were not minors.

When going back on your tree always start with a marriage record, then when looking for the birth records you'll have the parents' names to get the right person. So your great-grandparents' marriage record will give you names of your 2x great-grandparents, and so on.

If you don't understand French, easiest is to use Chrome to open websites and right click to choose translate. Some have an English button, but that doesn't always work well. There are people on facebook groups that can help you translate records, but if you pay attention to the wording you will be able to pick out the pertinent words. There are websites that help with this, I have given a couple below. 

There are a few things to know about New France...

Land distribution was by the seigneurial system.  A seigneur was given land and he was responsible for populating and protecting that land.

A "dit name" is a nickname or nom de guerre, often used to distinguish families of the same name. Example, Pierre Maupetit dit Poitevin had three children all with the surname Maupetit dit Poitevin. Down the line the "dit Poitevin" was dropped for the most part and the name became Monpetit. On the other hand Michel Morel dit Parisien had a son that had his own dit name, Francois Morel dit Mador. His line dropped the Morel and were known as Mador. There can also be a great variation in spellings.

There were a few nominal censuses before 1825, they are on the resource list. 

Jean Talon wanted to boost the population, so he devised incentives. Couples would get a reward of money if they married young, and another 300 livres per year when they had over 10 children. There were also penalties for males who were 20 years of age and hadn't married yet and for parents that had daughters that were 16 years old and still single. 

Livres tournois (£ s d) were the first currency of New France (not British pounds). Each livre was divided into 20 sols (sous after 1715) each of which was divided into 12 deniers.  Eight ounces of gold (a mark) was worth 740 livres, 9 sols; eight ounces of silver was worth 51 livres, 2 sols, 3 deniers. It took about 200 livres per year per person to live comfortably. 

When the British took over in 1759-1760 the currency was British pounds, shillings and pence. They also changed the incentives and gave grants of land to people who had 12 living children. 

Birth, marriage and death records are at Genealogie Quebec You need a subscription to research on the site, which is very reasonable at $5 cdn /day or only $13 cdn/month (as on day post was written). There is much more than BMD on the site and it's well worth exploring. 

I have compiled a list of mostly free resources to start you on your genealogy travels. It is free to download and share. It is added below, and will remain posted under the Resources tab in the above menu.

Also try the subjects listed on the right of this blog, and the search box at top right. 


Relevant Links

Quebec and New France Genealogy Resources (download list)

Genealogie Quebec (Drouin) $ very reasonable

Drouin Blog (Free)

PRDH $

Les Premiers Montrealists 1642-1643

Base de données – Les Premiers Montréalais – Yvon Sicotte

Filles du Roi

Filles a Marier (with bios)

Carignan Soldiers (images of lists)

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ)

BAnQ – maps and plans

Notorial records

Contrats de mariage de la région de Québec, 1761-1946

Registres de l'état civil du Québec des origines à 1917(civil registers)

Guardianships, Quebec Judicial District 1639-1930

Coroners' investigations of the judicial districts of Beauce, 1862-1947, Charlevoix, 1862-1944, Montmagny, 1862-1952, Quebec, 1765-1930 and Saint-François (Sherbrooke), 1900-1954

Applications for free grants of land to families with 12 living children, 1890-1905

The prisoner file of 19th century Quebec Prison

Early Canadiana online (ECO)

Guide for ECO above

Inventaires d'un Collection de Pieses Judicires, Notariales

Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles Canadiennes

Origine des Familles Canadiennes-Françaises

Guide for above DGFC

Fichier Origine   

Nos Origines (not complete or entirely correct – use for hints only)

Tables généalogiques de la noblesse québécoise  

Gazette des Familles Canadiennes et Acadiennes VOL 2,1871

Researching vital records in France (links of Departments on left)

Royal Commission on the Relations of Capital and Labor in Canada 1889 (wages)

Annual report of the city treasurer of the city of Quebec 1891

Claims arising from building of the Beauharnois Dam - has names and amounts claimed

Sessional Papers of Quebec Legislature (Internet Archive)

Sessional Papers of Quebec Legislature (HathiTrust)

Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec (Internet Archive)

Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec (HathiTrust)

Statement of the Public Accounts of the Province of Quebec

Gazette officielle du Québec

SOLDIERS

Carignan Soldiers (images of lists)

Le régiment de Carignan

Database of the French and British army soldiers Plains of Abraham 1759-1760

List of Officers Of The Sedentary Militia Of Lower Canada,1862

CENSUSES BEFORE 1825 

Census 1666 at Internet Archives

Census 1666 originals

Census 1667 at Internet Archives

Census 1667 originals

Census 1671 Arcadia

Census 1681

Census 1686 Arcadia – incl Riviere St Jean and Port Royal

Census 1716 Quebec

Census Quebec 1744

Census Trois Rivieres 1760

Census Quebec 1762

Census Montreal and Trois Rivieres 1765

Recensements paroissiaux de Notre-Dame-de-Québec, 1792,1795, 1798, 1805, 1806

Censuses 1825 and later

CADASTRES & LAND

Cadastres abrégés des seigneuries du district de Montréal1863, Vol 1-3

Cadastres abrégés des seigneuries du district desTrois-Rivières 1863

Cadastres abrégés des seigneuries appartenant à la couronne 1863 (incl Lauzon, Sorel..)

Extrait du livre de renvoi officiel de la cité de Montréal –10 volumes

Plan de l'Isle d'Orléans (zoom in)

Letters Patent of grants of land (in Report By Québec Secretary's Office) 1891

Upper Canada land Books

Land Records at Lac

DIRECTORIES AND ALMANACS

BAnQ Directories and Almanacs

French Commercial Dictionary (trades)

Lovell's farmers' register of the garden of the Eastern Townships

Boyd's Business Directory of Montreal 1875  

EDUCATION

McGill Yearbooks

West Hill High School Yearbooks

List of graduates from McGill Normal School 1857-2007

King's Hall School for Girls, Compton and Bishops College 

King's Hall School for Girls - Info

Students who graduated from the Montreal Polytechnic School as Civil Engineer 1889

École de médecine et de chirurgie de Montréal

Report of the Superintendent of Education of the Province of Quebec

Catalogue des officiers et les élèves du Séminaire de Québec

Rapport annuel sur l'Institution catholique des sourds-muets pour la province de Québec

Collège de Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière 1827-1927

Collège de Lévis 1941-1942

Annuaire Université Laval

NEWSPAPERS

  

Quebec newspapers and magazines digitized by BAnQ 

Google Newspaper Archives

Quebec Newspapers online

PARISHES

Interactive map of all the PARISHES of Quebec 

Ile d'Orleans

Généalogie des familles de l'Ile d'Orléans

Monographie de St-Ignace du Cap St-Ignace depuis 1672 à 1903

History of Compton, QC and Eastern Townships

The history of the county of Huntingdon [Quebec] and of the seigniories of Chateaugay and Beauharnois from their settlement to the year 1838

Russeltown Flats church and cemetery

Annuaire de Ville-Marie

Annuaire de Ville Marie - Histoire de la Paroisse de Boucherville

Kamouraska 1674-1948

Lake St Louis Old and New  (incl massacre of Lachine and lists of furtraders etc)

Les anciennes côtes du lac Saint-Louis avec un tableau complet des anciens et nouveaux propriétaires

History of the counties of Argenteuil QC and Prescott ON

Paroisse de Charlesbourg 1887

Histoire de la paroisse de l'Ange-Gardien

Précis de l'histoire de la seigneurie, de la paroisse, et ducomté de Berthier

Les Premiers colons de la rive sud du Saint-Laurent

The pioneers of Inverness Township, Quebec : an historicaland genealogical story, 1800-1978 (Borrow online)

Other parish histories

QUEBEC CITY

Quebec City Heritage

Quebec Street Toponymy (old and current names) – use translate

Old Quebec, the city of Champlain

Trade and Shipping, Port of Quebec… ships and masters

Mount Hermon Cemetery Burial Register, 1848-1904

Historic Tales of Old Quebec 

Quebec Fowlers Club

MONTREAL 

Archives of Montreal

A chronology of Montreal and Canada 1752 - 1893

Montreal Street Toponymy (how streets got named) – use translate rather than Eng button

Maps and plans of Montreal 

Montreal Streets 1858

Immigrants Sponsored by the Montreal Emigrant Society, 1832

Biographical Sketches of Montreal citizens

Alphabetical list of the merchants, traders, housekeepers residing in Montreal 1899 

Montreal Archery Club 1859

Non-Catholic Baptisms of the Montreal Area, 1766-1835

Non-Catholic Marriages of the Montreal Area, 1766-1899

Non-Catholic burials of the Montreal area, 1767-1899

GENEALOGY SOCIETIES

Société de généalogie Vaudreuil-Cavagnal

Quebec Family History Society

Morin Heights Historical Association

Société généalogique de Châteauguay

Société de Généalogie de Drummondville

La Société de généalogie de Longueuil

La Société d'Histoire de Sherbrooke

Société de généalogie des Cantons-de-l'Est

Société de généalogie du grand Trois-Rivières

Société de généalogie de l'Outaouais

Société de généalogie de Abitibi-Témiscamingue

Société de généalogie de Lévis

Société de Généalogie de la Beauce

Step by step Quebec Research

Translating French records

Names of those who died from Yellow Fever in 1820

In 1820 there was an outbreak of Yellow Fever in Savannah Georgia, taking over 700 lives, including two doctors that were tending to the sick.

I left out "Savannah Georgia" from the post title for a good reason. These people that died in Savannah were not only from Georgia, but also from other states and other countries, including Canada, the UK and Germany.

I recently came across this book...

An official register of the deaths which occurred among the white population in the city of Savannah, during the extraordinary season of sickness and mortality which prevailed in the summer and fall months of the year 1820. To which is annexed a list of the persons who died out of the city, after retreating from it. 

The order is by date of burial, not by name. You can search for a name in the search box. When there is no cause of death it was the Fever. When there is no age it's because it was unknown or under two years of age.

Relevant links

Register of deaths in Savannah GA in 1820

Observations upon the autumnal fevers of Savannah

History of yellow fever

Agricultural Delegates From UK to Canada

In 1879 the Honorable J H Pope, the Agriculture Minister of Canada, invited tenant farmers' delegates from the UK to visit the Dominion of Canada for the purpose of examining its resources, and reporting back to their group what farming is like, encouraging tenant farmers to immigrate to Canada.

The delegates then reported back to their constituents, and these reports were published and handed in to the Department of Agriculture of Canada.

I found this while researching my Bruce family of Aberdeenshire. There is a young farmer named James Bruce from Gartly that was chosen as a delegate, my line were from Fyvie. 

Tenant farmer delegates

James Bruce reports on the cost of a farm and running it in the good Ontario neighbourhood of Guelph.

A farm in Guelph

Conclusions of delegate Colonel Francis Fane who toured Canada in 1890

Visit of tenant farmers 1890, page 54

It seems not all delegates took their task seriously and made headlines as far away as Australia!

But you can see from the report that most did a thorough job of it. The reports of later visits have illustrations.

Relevant Links

Reports of tenant farmers' delegates on the Dominion of Canada 1879

Reports of tenant farmers' delegates and other informations on Manitoba North-west Territory and other parts of the Dominion of Canada 1879

Reports of tenant farmers' delegates on the Dominion of Canada, 1880 visit

The Visit of the tenant-farmer delegates to Canada in 1890,incl Maritimes

Scotch tenant-farmers visit to Canada in 1893

An Irish agricultural delegate on the agricultural resources of Canada 1893

Welsh tenant-farmers on the agricultural resources of Canada 1893

  

Getting more from a census

When I get a census record for an ancestor, first thing I do is read the instructions to the enumerator. They usually give the date the census is to be taken, plus who to count and there may be instructions regarding age. At Ancestry once you've clicked on a result for one of the censuses, while still at the Record part click on the title of the record...  

When the search window opens, scroll down to the About section. 

Or you can go to a site that has free censuses, most will have info about how they were collected and any special instructions. Family Search also has info on the censuses. Also check for schedules of each census, which ones survived, and where to find them, and if there were any issues with that census.

Library and Archives Canada, Censuses

Now I'm ready to record all the information across the line.. age, religion, occupation, etc... whatever was under each heading. 

Next I check that census page plus a page or two on either side to see who their neighbours are. Often family members, or a future spouse lived close to one another.  

I also record the name of the enumerator. Then I check the first and last pages of that enumerator's section to see what notes he wrote.  I could not find my 2x great grandfather on the 1851 census for Frontenac, Ontario. I knew their daughter's future husband was a close neighbour so I checked that family on the census. They and some of their other neighbours were there, just not my ancestor nor his direct neighbours! Why? I then went to the page of that section of the census where the enumerator wrote his notes... 

"I beg most respectfully to state for the consideration of the gentlemen composing the Board of Statistics, that owing to the unprecedented fall of snow, and the ruggedness of this part of the country, coupled with the very limited number of cross roads open, I experienced great difficulty in procuring the required information, twenty four days is the amount of time I spent in completing the census of this district."

Well, if he did procure the information of my ancestor's family and their neighbours in those twenty-four days, he didn't include them on the forms. Luckily I found my 2x ggf in the 1855 directory, though that doesn't tell me who else was living there. 

Relevant links

US Census Enumerator Instructions, per year

Canada Census Enumerator Instructions, per year

Scotland Census Enumerator Instructions, per year

The first Commonwealth of Australia census 1911

Censuses of Great Britain