French-Canadian Genealogy

This guide contains a sample of The Newberry's resources on this topic. To locate additional resources, please check our catalog or consult a reference librarian.

Compendia

Elliot, Noel Montgomery. The French Canadians 1600-1900: An Alphabetized Directory of the People, Places and Vital Dates. Toronto: Genealogical Research Library, 1993. 3 volumes. Call No. Local History Ref F1027.F7 1992 (2nd floor open shelf). A master index to many vital records, city and town directories, etc.

Jetté, René. Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles du Québec des Origins à 1730. Montreal: Université de Montréal, 1983. Call No. Local History Ref CS88.Q4 J47 (2nd floor open shelf). The standard reference work for early Quebec families.

Lebel, Gerard. Our French-Canadian Ancestors. (Thomas J. Laforest, translator.) Palm Harbor, Florida: 1983-. 17 volumes as of 1993. Call No. CS89.L43. Biographical/genealogical sketches of many seventeenth century French immigrants to Quebec.

Répertoire des Actes de Baptême, Mariage, Sépulture et des Recensements du Québec Ancien. Montreal: Université de Montréal, 1980-. Call No. Local History Ref CS88.Q4 R46 (2nd floor open shelf). Ongoing series. Note periodic index volumes.

Tanguay, Cyprien. Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles Canadiennes. Montreal: Senecal et fils [printer], 1871-1890. Call No. Local History Ref CS81.T3 1871 (2nd floor open shelf). To some extent superseded by Jetté (above).

Census

Consult AGLL Canadian Census Listings 1666-1891 (Call No. Local History Ref Z1033.M5 A5 1988 on 2nd floor open shelf) or Thomas A. Hilman's Catalog of Census Returns on Microfilm (Call No. Local History Ref Z7554.C2 H55 1987 on 2nd floor open shelf) to determine counties for localities in any given census year. Consult catalog entry for a given census to determine county reel contents. For some French colonial census abstracts see Répertoire des Actes de Baptême, Mariage, Sépulture et des Recensements du Québec Ancien (above).

Census Schedules for the Province of Quebec (Lower Canada). 1831 (Call No. Microfilm 1079). 1842 (Call No. Microfilm 1080). 1851 (Call No. Microfilm 897). 1861 (Call No. Microfilm 991). 1871 (Call No. Microfilm 1064). 1881 (Call No. Microfilm 1099). 1891 (Call No. Microfilm 1098). 1901 (Call No. Microfilm 1229.) Specify reel numbers on call slip. Reel numbers can be obtained on the computer catalog record.

Canadian Census, 1881. [CD-Rom]Salt Lake City: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 2002. Call No. Local History Ref CD-ROM CS83.E35 2002 on 2nd Floor open shelf. Index and partial transcription of census.

Marriages

Loiselle, Antonin. Loiselle Card Index to Many Marriages of the Province of Québec and Adjacent Areas. Call No. Microfilm 993. Specify surname(s) on call slip. Covers over half a million marriages from the 17th through the mid-20th centuries.

In addition to the marriages recorded in the Loiselle collection, there are many published "répertoires" listing the marriages in a given parish, usually well into the twentieth century. Search the catalog by the subject "Marriage records-Quebec" to get a quick overview of the parishes with such coverage.

Periodicals

French Canadian and Acadian Genealogical Review. 1968-1981. Call No. E 6914 .003.

Memoires de la Société Généalogique Canadienne Française. 1944-. Call No. E 6914 .007. Index Onomastique for 1944-1975 . Call No. E 6914 .0072. Bibliographies

Beaulieu, Andr‚ and William F.E. Morley. Histoires Locales et Regionales Canadiennes des Origines à 1950: (volume 2) La Province de Québec. Toronto: University of Toronto, 1971. Call No. Local History Ref Z1392.Q3 B4 (2nd floor open shelf).

Mennie-de Varennes, Kathleen. Bibliographie Annotée d'Ouvrages Génélogiques au Canada / Annotated Bibliography of Genealogical Works in Canada. Markham, Ontario: Fitzhenry & Whiteside in association with the National Library of Canada, 1986. Call No. Local History Ref Z5313.C2 M46 1986 (2nd floor open shelf). 6 volumes.

Acadians

Arsenault, Bona. Histoire et Généalogie des Acadiens. Quebec: La Conseil de la Vie Française en Amerique, 1965. 2 volumes. Call No. F 8292 .049.

Bergeron, Adrien. Le Grand Arrangement des Acadiens au Québec: Notes de la Petite-Histoire Généalogies - France, Acadie, Québec de 1625 à 1925. Montreal: Editions Elysée, 1981. 8 volumes. Call No. Local History Ref CS88.Q4 B47 (2nd floor open shelf).

Hebert, Donald J. Acadians in Exile. Cecelia, La.: Hebert Publications, 1980. Call No. Local History Ref CS31.H4 (2nd floor open shelf).