Looking for Ireland will dates - finding a hidden gem!

 

Today I am so grateful for the school system that taught me how to quickly scan down a long list of names.

I was on the Family Search website in the Ireland Probate section, checking all that would have surnames with the letter S

I was mostly looking for my earlier ancestors that were in Ireland. When I clicked on Index to Administration Grants O-Z 1595-1810 and scrolled through I found an unexpected gem!

I know I could have clicked on the Search symbol and searched for all with the name Seale, and I did do that first, but I never would have found this record as the name was transcribed with a C as Scale. Besides you never know if you'll come across a name you recognize.

I navigated to the S names (that are not in alphabetic order by the way, only order of date) going past the earlier years to before the first known year I have ancestors there, about 1680, looking for the Seale name in Queen's County. Scanning past lots of Searle and Sale... the first entry I came across was Image 187, will for Thomas Seale, carpenter, died in Trim, Meath in 1690. That is a new name and place to me, so it goes on my list of things to check into. 

I continued scrolling through the S names, page after page.. oh there's another one. Hey! What?? It is for a Marriage License issued to Richard Seale and Margaret Higgs !! This jibes with the Pedigree of Seales that Richard was married to a Margaret, and didn't have her surname or a date. Now I do!

For 1712, SEALE Richard and Higgs Margaret - ML #15

The Index to Administration Grants have a lot of Marriage License entries, I found a couple of other Seale marriage license entries. The other record sets seem to be all Wills or Intestate. 

Now I know why I have distant dna matches to people with the surname Higgs!

Relevant Links

Indexes to probate records 1536-1858, and surviving will books 1644-1834

A Newfoundland Discovery in Devon

I haven't been posting lately because I'm finally getting around to starting on those projects I've had in my head for a long time.

One of the two projects I'm going back and forth with is going through all the BMD registers for the little village where my King ancestors lived. The first register starts in 1559, and of course is in tiny neat-ish fading writing, and in Latin. 

I think the second entry "might" be one of mine, it was spelled Kinge or Kynge early on.

So saving all these early ones for another day, I started on the second book (starting 1653 by the old calendar) and it's a little easier on the eyes. Plus it's in English. I'm transcribing all the King names onto a spreadsheet. I only have to do baptisms before 1740, marriages before 1693 and burial before 1699. The ones after those dates were already transcribed, in alphabetic order, and I can just copy and paste the blocks of King names into my spreadsheets. If I find one I need I always check it in the register to be sure it was transcribed correctly. This helps me straighten out who's who with all the Thomas, John and Mary names.

So I'm looking at baptisms for the village of Loddiswell in Devon, England. I've recorded from 1653 and I'm up to 1696. The writing on this page is erratic, from tiny to big, faded to clear, and I came across this clear entry...

Nov 30 was baptized Thomas Robings being then about nine years old who was born in New Found Land Poor (?)

I don't know if there's family that stayed in Canada or they all went back to England, but there you go... a gem for someone to find someday. 

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

Records with Extras

A birth, marriage or death index will give you the date, or at the very least the year of an event. Finding the actual record in a register may give you more than you bargained for!  


This is the baptism record for the great-grandfather of the husband of my great aunt - 
William Gay was born in Midsomer Norton, Somerset in January 1819 to Theodocia Gay.

You can see that under the column "Quality, Trade or Profession" for all the others it is chandler or miner... but for William the clerk (or reverend) wrote "baseborn". Not illegitimate as most do... no.  Base born!!  Like he's the lowest of the low. It was a pretty common term in those days. 

Anne Roberts of North Bovey, Devon was the widow of Elias Clampitt when she married my 4x great uncle John King of Loddiswell. The couple married and resided in Wolborough, Newton Abbott. This is her burial record...

Anne King, Newton Abbot *the first death from Cholera Morbus, Oct 28, 1832.  

The clerk wrote a C.M. in the margin (Cholera Morbus) for Anne's records and on the next one for William Woodgate. I went a few pages ahead and there didn't seem to be any others marked with a CM through the next year. The clerk did make other notations, such as "thrown from his horse and found dead" and another "died in Exeter from a fall from a wagon". 

You see that it can pay off to find the record from the register. I wish all my ancestors records were written by clerks like that!

Colonial Magazine

The Colonial Magazine and versions thereof were published in London. Check each issue in the volumes.

Fisher's Colonial Magazine has Obituary notices in each issue, as well as other items, including where all the troops are stationed and news throughout the colonies. Check the list of contents at the beginning.

Fisher's Colonial Magazine Vol 1, 1844 

The Simmonds’s Colonial Magazine has lists of BMD at the end of each issue. In Vol 3, 1844, I found a Supplemental list of Immigrants on board the Appolline from London, via Plymouth to Hobart Town (AU) 1 Oct 1842. The list gives immigrants' names, their wages, their trade and the name of their employer. 

Simmonds's Colonial Magazine Vol 3, pg 10

In the East Indian magazines look for Indian News. This may include BMD, military appointments and promotions, removals and forloughs, civil appointments, etc. 

East India and  Colonial Magazine, Vol 1, pg 386

Look for more issues on Google Books.


Relevant Links

Fisher's colonial magazine and maritime journal

Colonial magazine and commercial-maritime journal (HathiTrust)

East India And Colonial Magazine

Simmonds’s Colonial Magazine and Foreign Miscellany (at IA)

Simmonds’s Colonial Magazine and Foreign Miscellany (at Trove 6 years)

Related Post
British Ancestors in the Colonies

Canada 150 - Civil Registers of Quebec

During our country's 150th anniversary celebration of confederation I will write posts titled Canada 150 with a link to a publication or website I find that may help you tell the story of your Canadian ancestors.
Click on the Canada 150 label on the right or at the bottom to see all the posts.

Today I have for you...

Registres de l'état civil du Québec – BMD - Civil Registers of Quebec  

St Anthony, Montreal 1884-1912

BAnQ has a collection of civil registrations of births, marriages and deaths with images. There are not all years or all parishes, mostly small towns, but you may find a record you have been missing. You can browse by parish, district or region, then by year. I didn't look at them all, but most seem to have an index, making it easier to search.

Relevant Links

Civil Registers of Quebec at BAnQ

Monthly Record of BMD for 1861 UK and Ireland

I came across this publication for finding ancestors in the UK or Ireland in the 1860s.

It says for the month ending January 1, 1861 on the cover but the first section is 1860 and mostly December but there are some records as early as September. The next section is 1861 and goes through the whole year.

This paper "entered at Stationer's Hall" was published monthly and distributed to subscribers in all the colonies.

Also has an "alphabetic list of estates of deceased persons, upon which claims will be barred unless made on or before the particular dates"

Relevant Link

The monthly Record of births, deaths and marriages, A - Z

LaFrance Update

The Drouin Institute LaFrance collection has been updated at Genealogy Quebec.

The LaFrance collection is a detailed index with a link to the original documents for baptisms, marrriages and burials in Quebec. Find out how to use the LaFrance collection in my previous post explaining all the collections at Genealogy Quebec.


See the update details, read about their RootsTech experience, and subscribe to their newsletter here.


As always, their ever-growing obituary collection ranging from 1999 to the present is FREE and can be accessed here.

The Drouin Genealogical Institute adds new records

The Drouin Genealogical Institute, author of the Généalogie Québec and PRDH websites, has issued the first of its bimonthly newsletters, announcing the addition of over 20,000 records to the LaFrance Collection for 1850-1861.

If you have Canadian ancestors (not only French), Généalogie Québec is the place to find them. If you are in another country and have relatives of your ancestors that immigrated to Canada at any time, you may find them here as the marriage and death records go from 1926 to 1997. Subscriptions to Généalogie Québec are very reasonable and payable through PayPal, making it easy to subscribe from any country.

Most people go straight to the Drouin Collection where the BMD civil records are, though that is not all that you will discover in this collection. Under the heading Divers (not like scuba divers, but French for Miscellaneous) you will find various documents including soldiers names who fought in the Battle of Ste Foy, Provost and justice records, register of notaries of Detroit, and it is here that I found the Genealogies of the families of Ile-d'Orleans. My husband's Nolin ancestor lived there from when he came from France and their genealogy is included.

You will see further down the menu are headings for Recensements (Census - since 1666) and for the Registres Paroissiaux  (the parish copies of the records).

The next category is Great Collections. This collection is searchable by your ancestors family name.  I typed in Nolin and results were links to 48 pages where this name was mentioned in books and records.

Next is Obituaries, Death Cards and Tombstones.  Here I found images of the tombstones of my great grandparents in the village of Waterville, and the death cards of many of the Guimont family. The up-to-date obituaries are free for anyone to search at Obituary. Genealogie Quebec.

The marriage & death, 2 BMD indexes, Notarized records and censuses are searchable.

The heading LaFrance contains a BMD index by individual, couple or parish. You can choose birth, marriage or death, or leave that field open. I went to individual, typed in Nolin, Jacques and it gave me 237 instances where a Jacques Nolin was mentioned (subject, parent, godfather etc). Click on the date to go to that fiche and each includes a link to the actual record. 

For one family I couldn't find two of their children after about age 15.  I went to the LaFrance collection, typed in the fathers name, and here were noted the marriages of these 2 children. This helps when you are searching in Ancestry and the transcriber misspells the names. It is also a way to discover if you have found all the children in a family. Now with a date and place it will be easier to find the record on Ancestry. 

This is what the Lafrance record will look like...

On the home page (you can click on English at the top right) scroll down to the bottom and you can download the User Guide, which explains the records you will find here and how to use them. 

Relevant Links

Généalogie Québec

Subscriptions

Obituary. Genealogie Quebec.

PRDH




Related Post:  Quebec Adoption records at The Drouin Genealogical Institute