All posts by Jacques Gagné

The Huguenot Families of the Hauts-de-la-France

The St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre of French Protestants (1572). It was the climax of the French Wars of Religion, which were brought to an end by the Edict of Nantes (1598). In 1620, persecution was renewed and continued until the French Revolution in 1789.

François Dubois – Current valid link to file (same source): Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts; direct link to the image: [2] Original link (museum homepage only): Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts.

  • Public Domain
  • File:La masacre de San Bartolomé, por François Dubois.jpg
  • Created: between circa 1572 and circa 1584 date QS:P571,+1550-00-00T00:00:00Z/7,P1319,+1572-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1584-00-

François Dubois
The Massacre of Saint-Barthélemy, circa 1572-1584

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  • François Dubois (Amiens, 1529 – Geneva, 1584)
  • The Massacre of St. Bartholomew, circa 1572-1584
  • Oil on walnut wood , 93.5 x 154.1 cm
  • Gift of the Municipality of Lausanne, 1862
  • Inv. 729
  • © Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts of Lausanne

This painting represents the massacre of Protestants started in Paris on August 24, 1572 and continued for several days, known as the Saint-Barthélemy massacre. It stages the main episodes of this bloody page of the Wars of Religion in a striking view of the city of Paris.

The topography is manipulated to show the main locations of this tragedy. On the left you can see the church of the convent of the Grands-Augustins (now gone) where the tocsin sounded which triggered the killings, the Seine and the Meuniers bridge. In the center, the Louvre and Catherine de Medici, the black widow, considered the main instigator of the massacre. In the foreground, the private mansion of Anne de Laval, in front of which Admiral de Coligny, leader of the Protestant party, was killed before being defenestrated, beheaded and castrated. Gathered around his corpse, the leaders of the Catholic party, the Dukes of Guise and Aumale and the Chevalier d’Angoulême. On the right, the Saint-Honoré gate and, on the hill of La Villette, the gibbet of Montfaucon, where the body of the admiral will be hung upside down. Bringing together more than one hundred and fifty figures,

This painting is quite exceptional because of the quality of its execution, but also because contemporary representations of Saint-Barthélemy are very rare. It bears on the first step of the steps of the hotel in front of which Admiral de Coligny is assassinated the inscription “franciscus Sylvius Ambianus pinx[it]”. The location of this inscription, the signature of the painter François Dubois, of whom it is the only painting known to date, says a lot about the convictions of this Protestant from Amiens who took refuge in Geneva after the massacre.

Find out more: web dossier

Click the above link to open in a new window.

Old Land Roll in Lower Canada

The database below entitled Old Land Roll in Lower Canada as noted in the BAnQ’s Directory of Townships https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3035112?docref=ydD2bC568QoqleH8sQN1XA was prepared in May of 1966.

Almost 60 years later, Wikipedia in March of 2023 updated a Directory of Townships with basically the same information, plus details relating to today’s current locations and regions.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_townships_in_Quebec

List of townships in Quebec

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article lists the townships of Quebec in Canada. The townships (Frenchcanton) no longer represent administrative divisions recognized by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (Quebec) (MAMH). Only municipal townships, formed from one or more townships, such as township municipalities and united township municipalities, are recognized.[1] Many geographic townships are still conterminous with municipalities.

Click on the link below to open.

Archives of the Old Regime

Features :

  • Archives nationales d’Outre-Mer &  Biblothèque Archives Canada (Library Archives Canada)
  • France Archives – Regional & Local
  • BnF Gallica – Revues savantes in 95 départements de France (95 regions) – The latter dossiers will not describe your own family or families but will tell you about the life of your ancestors in ancient France.

The Judicial Archives During the British Regime and Lower Canada -1780-

The database below focuses on the early Judicial System in Quebec and consists of an extensive list of authors who have written  on the subject. Complete books and articles are available online, publishers are also noted.

BanQ and the Loyalists 1783

Click the above link to download the database in a new window..

The above file contains information on the arrival of Loyalist Families in the Province of Quebec ( 1873) after the American War of Independence as noted by varaious authors. These books and articles are available, many upon request at numerous BanQ websites for consultation, while a number of articles may be downloaded.

Province of Quebec During the British Regime 1763-1791

View of the Esplanade and Fortification of Quebec 1832 shows the British garrison on Parade Robert A. Sproule, BanQ

The following link below lists books, theses, and magazine articles written by numerous authors on the subject of British garrisons in Quebec.

Books that are available to buy are indicated by $$$, while numerous articles and books are available to read online or download for free and are indicated at the end of their links.

To access the file below click the link and open in a new window.

Montreal, Quebec City, Trois-Rivières in the Early Days of British Canada

Early View of Montreal

Montreal Today

Above photo found at https://www.edrawmind.com/article/history-of montreal.html

Ordinances, proclamations, etc. issued by the military governors
of Quebec, Montreal, Trois-Rivieres, from the capitulation of
Quebec until the establishment of civil government on
August 10, 1764

The following database contains links to authors who have written on the subject of the Capitulation of Quebec and the aftermath. Also included are numerous biographies of the people who played a major role during that period.

Click the link below to access the database in a new window,

The Judicial Archives during the French Regime of New France 1644-1693

Montreal’s Old Courthouse

Along the north side of Notre Dame East near Jacques-Cartier Square, three courthouses stand together. The most interesting is the neoclassical Old Courthouse, Montreal’s oldest palace of justice (1856) which is now an annex of the Montreal City Hall, and a preferred spot for wedding photos. The “New Courthouse”  from the 1920s, used for criminal trials before being turned into a conservatory and later a court of appeal, and the oversized Palais de Justice, built in 1971 when concrete and smoked glass were the rage. by  Dick Nieuwendyk  of The Montreal Times

The Judicial Archives during the French Regime of New France

1644-1693  &  1693-1769

In 2022, students at McGill University, Université de Montréal, Université Laval, Concordia University, UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal), Université de Sherbrooke, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and at Chicoutimi, these students would be in a position to attend classes which in part address the Judicial Archives during the French regime of New France (1644-1759).

 Among genealogical societies across Québec, the following societies:

Société de généalogie de Québec at Quebec City, Société généalogique canadienne-française in Montréal, Société de généalogie de l’Estrie at Sherbrooke, are most likely teaching their members about the Judicial Archives of New France.

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The content of the link was constructed for family lineage researchers who have graduated from traditional genealogy search engines. It is a powerful dossier for family lineage searches who have graduated from the traditional Church & Civil Registers of acts of birth, baptism, marriage, death, and burials.

Contents of the database link below:

Royal Jurisdiction of Montreal 1693-1769

Guide to Court Records

Bailiwick Dossiers of Montreal

Transcripts of trial proceedings

Inventories of judgments of the High Judiciary Council of New France 1717-1760

Inventories of Ordinances issued by the Government Stewards of New France

Inventory of insinuations of the Provost of Québec

Bailiwick Dossiers of Montréal recorded by Notaries

Inventories of notary registries of the French Regime

Notaries & Clerk Registrars of the Court – Judicial District of Montreal – 1668-1760

Repositories in Canada

Seigneuries of New France and of Quebec 1654-1854

An aerial view of the seigneurial system in New France

The database below consists of the following:

Introduction to Seigneuries & Seigneurs of New France – 1654-1854

Table of Contents:

    Introductionp.   1-11
    Censitaires Recordsp. 11-12
    Inventory of Concessionsp. 12-14
    Notariesp. 14
    Authorsp. 14 – 124
    History Linksp. 124- 140
    Regional Genealogy Links by Countyp. -140 161
    Repositories in Francep. 161-163
    Repositories in Canadap. 163-166
  
  

The authors’ section consists of bilingual notations:

  • numerous biographical sketches of the seigneurs
  • published books, articles and theses on the subject
  •  regional studies
  • immigration
  • habitants and merchants