If you are looking for the notaries who prepared documents such as leases, wills and business agreements for your ancestors, the best place to start might be the notaries with the biggest practices. The notaries listed below are the notaries with the largest clientele in New France & Quebec under the British.

I have reviewed 551 notaries and I have selected, by judicial districts, the notaries with the largest number of notarial acts (minutiers) written.

The notarial acts of the notaries listed below are available on microfilm at the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) in old Montreal, or the BAnQ in Quebec City, or branches of the BAnQ in Sherbrooke, Gatineau or Trois-Rivières. Check before you visit. Meanwhile, more and more acts are being digitized and can be found online on the BAnQ’s website, on Familysearch.org or on Ancestry.ca.

Their clients were varied. Prior to 1760, they included primarily French Canadian and Acadian families. After the British Conquest, they included French Canadians and British, Scottish, Irish families and soldiers, Americans, Loyalists, Germanic soldiers and their families, Dutch Loyalists and Scandinavians & Baltic States immigrants.

Montreal Judicial District

>> Antoine Adhémar dit Saint-Martin 1677-1714 – 13 microfilms

>> Michel Lepailleur & François Lepailleur dit LaFerté – 1700-1739 – 14 microfilms

>> Jean-Baptiste Adhémar dit Saint-Martin – 1714-1754 – 10 microfilms

>> Charles-François Coron – 1734-1767 – 10 microfilms

>> Simon Sanguinet Senior & Junior – 1734-1786 – 13 microfilms

>> François Simonnet – 1737-1778 – 12 microfilms

>> Antoine Foucher – 1746-1800 – 13 microfilms

>> Jean-Baptiste Daguilhe – 1749-1783 – 10 microfilms

>> Joseph Lalanne & Pierre Lalanne – 1752-1792 – 12 microfilms

>> Pierre de Méru Panet & Pierre-Louis Panet – 1755-1783 – 10 microfilms –

>> François Leguay Senior & Junior – 1770-1807 – 10 microfilms

>> Edward William Gray & Jonathan Abraham Gray – 1777-1812 – 12 microfilms

>> Joseph Papineau – 1780-1841 – 11 microfilms

>> Edme Henry – 1783-1831 – 10 microfilms

>> Louis Chaboillez – 1787-18213 – 21 microfilms

>> Peter Lukin Senior & Junior – 1790-1837 – 10 microfilms

>> Jean Mondelet – 1794-1842 – 11 microfilms

>> Pierre Lanctot – 1809-1850 – 12 microfilms

Quebec City Judicial District

>> Gilles Rageot & François Rageot & Charles Rageot – 1666-1753 – 10 microfilms

>> Edme Jacob, Étienne Jacob, Joseph Jacob – 1680-1750 – 12 microfilms

>> Louis Chamballon – 1692-1716 – 15 microfilms

>> André Genest 1738-1783 – 13 microfilms

>> Jean Antoine Panet & & Jean-Baptiste Panet & Jean-Claude Panet – 1744-1783 – 20 microfilms

>> Antoine Crespin – 1748-1782 – 12 microfilms

>> Charles Voyer & Jacques Voyer – 1787-1842 – 14 microfilms

>> François-Xavier Larue Senior & Junior – 1788-1865 – 17 microfilms

>> Roger Lelièvre – 1793-1847 – 27 microfilms

>> Barthélemy Faribault – 1796-1821 – 23 microfilms

>> Louis Guay – 1806-1843 – 12 microfilms

Trois-Rivières Judicial District

>> Jean-Baptiste Badeau – 1765-1796 – 12 microfilms

>> Antoine Gagnon – 1792-1824 – 12 microfilms

>> Joseph Badeau – 1798-1835 – 21 microofilms

Richelieu Judicial District (Richelieu River Valley)

>> Henry Crebassa – Richelieu – 1795-1843 – 16 microfilms

Beauce Judicial District

>> John Walsh – 1803-1845 – 10 microfilms

>> Jean-Baptiste Bonneville – 1819-1871 – 12 microfilms

>> Jean-Olivier Arcand – 1832-1868 – 16 microfilms

Iberville Judicial District (Richelieu River Valley)

>> François Médard Pétrimoux – 1798-1849 – 13 microfilms

>> Louis Decoigne Senior & Junior – 1807-1857 – 15 microfilms

>> Laurent Archambault – 1820-1859 – 13 microfilms

Montmagny Judicial District (Lower St. Lawrence)

>> Nicolas-Charles–Louis Lévesque – 1752-1795 – 10 microfilms

>> Augustin Larue & Abraham Larue – 1804-1847 – 20 microfilms

Kamourasksa Judicial District (Lower St. Lawrence)

>> Louis Cazes – 1780-1798 – 10 microfilms

>> Augustin Dionne – 1797-1821 – 12 microfilms

Beauharnois Judicial District – (North of New York State)

Louis Sarault – 1805-1861 – 11 microfilms

Godfroi Chagnon – 1825-1862 – 11 microfilms

St. Hyacinthe Judicial District

>> Pierre-Paul Dutalmé – 1798-1821 – 10 microfilms

Charlevoix (St. Lawrence’s North Shore)

>> Charles-Pierre Huot – 1817 -1865 – 11 microfilms

Joliette Judicial District

>> Louis Raymond – 1796-1829 – 14 microfilms