Quebec Church Records: Difference between revisions

Because of rights-of-privacy laws, the public does not have access to civil copies of parish registers from 1900 to the present.  

Roman Catholic parish registers are the most accurate and helpful of all the French Canadian genealogical sources. These registers contain christening, marriage, and burial records from 1621 to the present. Between 1679 and 1993, all parishes in Québec were required to send duplicate copies to the civil archives. This duplication has ensured that a vast majority of vital records from Quebec survive to the present day.  

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The original civil copies of most parish registers are held in the regional branches of the Archives Nationales du Québec. Extracts of the records before 1900 can be requested. Application forms are available at any regional branch. Send the completed form to the branch holding the records. See the "Archives and Libraries" section of this outline for more information and addresses of the regional branches. The civil copies of most parish records were microfilmed by the Institut Généalogique Drouin through about 1940.&nbsp;&nbsp; These microfilm have now been scanned and are available at [http://www.ancestry.com/ www.ancestry.ca.]&nbsp;&nbsp; They are arranged by parish, then by year or groups of years.&nbsp;&nbsp; Most records have an index at the end of each year or group of years.&nbsp; Ancestry has also indexed the records, but the indexes presently do not allow soundex searches or searches for parents' names.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It is possible to access the records by parish, then by year or groups of years, without using the indexes.  

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When requesting information by mail from Roman Catholic parishes in Québec, you are more likely to be successful if your letter is brief and very specific. See the [https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/France_Letter_Writing_Guide French Letter-Writing Guide&nbsp;] for details.  

Some of the parishes of Québec and the counties to which they belong are in Répertoire toponymique du Québec (see the "Gazetteers" section of this outline). Information about parishes, which includes dates they were founded and their locations, is in: Magnan, Hormisdas. ''Dictionnaire historique et géographique des paroisses, missions et municipalités de la Province de Québec (Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Parishes . . .)''. Arthabaska, Québec, Canada: Imprimerie d'Arthabaska, 1925. (Family History Library [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titlehitlist&columns=*%2C0%2C0&callno=971.4+E5m book 971.4 E5m; fiche 6016524–28.)] Text in French. Indexes to civil copies of church records for the Island of Montréal and for the city of Québec are described in the "Vital Records" section of this outline. Genealogical dictionaries based on Catholic church records are described in the "Genealogy" section. If an ancestor disappears from the parish registers, he may have gone into the fur trade. For information about fur trade records, see the "Business Records and Commerce" section of this outline.  

== '''INDEXES TO CATHOLIC MARRIAGE RECORDS'''  ==

Researchers studying French Canadian Catholic families normally use one of the following indexes to locate a marriage in church records.  

*Loiselle, Antonin. ''Index to Many Marriages of the Province of Québec and Adjacent Areas''. Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1972. (On 174 [http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp Family History Library] films beginning with film # 543721. This Loiselle Index lists more than a million marriages. It covers about 70 percent of Québec Catholic marriages to 1900, with a few as late as the 1960s. It also includes a few parishes outside Québec where there were large settlements of French Canadians, such as Madawaska County, New Brunswick, and Manchester, Hillsboro County, New Hampshire.  

:The Collection Fabien is not at the Family History Library. The microfilms can be borrowed from the National Archives of Canada through public and college libraries participating in the interlibrary loan system. A list of the film numbers can be obtained from the National Archives of Canada.

:Part Two (65 volumes) list marriages alphabetically by the bride's surname. It gives information similar to the information in the Loiselle Collection.  

:The [http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp Family History Library] has a microfiche edition of the Répertoire Drouin.&nbsp; Part One begins with fiche 6202704.&nbsp; Part two begins with fiche 6203266. Each part contains two alphabetical listings. Since there is some overlap in the years covered by each listing, both listings should be consulted.  

If a church marriage record cannot be found, look in the '''notarial records''' for a marriage contract. About two-thirds of the marriages before the mid-1800s had marriage contracts. See the "Notarial Records"  

Protestant church records are not as extensive as the Catholic records. Clergy of legally recognized Protestant groups were required to send duplicate copies of their church records to the civil archives. They did not always do it. Also, baptisms and marriages performed by some non-Catholic clergy were not recognized by civil authorities until 1825 or later. Beginning in 1825, the registers of various denominations were "authenticated" (given legal authority) by the legislative assembly. Many Protestant registers contain less information than the Catholic records. For example, many marriage records do not list the parents of the bride or groom. Information missing from church records may be found in censuses; in land records; or in marriage contracts, wills, and deeds included with notarial records. See the "Census," "Land and Property," and "Notarial Records" sections of this outline. To find birth, marriage, and burial records of non-Catholic groups, look in: Broadhurst, R. Neil. ''A Checklist of Registers of Protestant and Jewish Congregations in Québec''. Calgary, Alberta, Canada: Kintracers, 1994. ([http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp Family History Library] book 971.4 K23br.) It includes a brief history of non-Catholic groups in Québec. Civil copies of Protestant records before 1900 have been microfilmed. The microfilms are available at the [http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp Family History Library] and at major archives and libraries in Canada and New England. To find a record, look in the Place Search of the [http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp Family History Library Catalog] under QUEBEC, [COUNTY], [TOWN] - CHURCH RECORDS. The civil copies of many Protestant records were microfilmed by the Institut généalogique Drouin through about 1940. These microfilm have now been scanned and are available at [http://www.ancestry.com/ www.ancestry.ca.]&nbsp;&nbsp;Ancestry has also indexed the records, but the indexes presently do not allow soundex searches or searches for parents' names. It is possible to access the records by parish, then by year or groups of years, without using the indexes.<br>