Tag Archives: Lower St. Lawrence

Genealogy, New France, Quebec, Resources Outside of Montreal

Seigneuries of the Lower St. Lawrence and of the Côte-du-Sud

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If some of your ancestors lived along the south shore of the Lower St. Lawrence River (the Bas Saint-Laurent, as it is often called today,) the attached PDF compilation is designed to help you learn more about their lives.

See PDF:  Seigniories of the Lower St. Lawrence – Revised Version 2018-09-03

The river is tidal here, and so broad that the far north shore is hardly visible. This beautiful area of rolling farmland and salt marshes has been settled for generations, with many residents making a living fishing, building boats and transporting goods and people on the river.

south shore egret
South shore of the Lower St. Lawrence River

Until the 1850s, almost all the land was owned by a few individuals, known as seigneurs, who rented it out to the censitaires, or tenant farmers. Most seigneurs were honest and caring individuals who took care of their tenants. They granted lands to the settlers and financed their first years with money, food, cattle and other animals, farm equipment, wood-cutting tools, building tools and rifles.

In return, the censitaires would repay on a yearly basis their seigneur with beaver furs and other types of fur. They also repaid them with hard-wood, a precious commodity in the 17th century in Europe, for most hard-wood forests no longer existed on the European continent. If the seigneur and his family resided on the seigneury, the censitaires would bring them eggs and meat, as well as fresh milk.

south shore famrland
Farmland along the south shore of the Lower St. Lawrence

Many of the seigneurs on the attached list were merchants or fur traders, and obtained most of their revenue from the sale of wild furs and hard-wood. Some were importers and exporters and dealt with merchants in French port cities such as La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Rouen and Le Havre.

The compilation on the PDF attached includes six main sections:

The Seigneurs: this section focuses on the historic landowners on the south shore of the Lower St. Lawrence, including links to biographies of these individuals.

Regions: the geographic regions described in this compilation are Montmagny, l’Islet, Kamouraska, Témiscouata, Rivière-du-Loup, Les Basques, Rimouski, Neigette, La Mitis (Métis), Matapedia and Matane in the Gaspé.

Cemeteries: a list of historic cemeteries in this area.

Notaries: this compilation includes the names of notaries who worked in this region, the places and years they practised, and the archives where their acts can be found today. The notaries handled important legal documents for people, including wills, marriage contracts, business agreements, land rental and sales agreements, and protests in cases of disagreement.

Bibiothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ): locations and contact information for the archives, and how to order documents online.

Genealogical and historical societies in the region: contact information

With regard to the notaries listed in the attached PDF, the majority of the notarial acts can be obtained through the BAnQ online (free, http://bibnum2.banq.qc.ca/bna/notaires/ or http://www.banq.qc.ca/archives/genealogie_histoire_familiale/genealogie_banq/guide/archives-notariales/index.html), FamilySearch.org (free), or Ancestry.com (subscription). Ancestry has two distinct databases covering different time periods during the lifetime of a notary. Also listed are the notarial acts which can be obtained through Généalogie Québec (Drouin Institute online), (https://www.genealogiequebec.com/en/.

For each notary selected, if a URL address has been posted, this indicates that the genealogy provider’s online databases contains notarial acts. If a URL address has not been posted, this simply indicates that the provider does not own fonds of this particular notary.

Genealogy, Genealogy societies, Quebec, Resources Outside of Montreal

Société d’histoire et de généalogie de Rivière-du-Loup

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http://www.shgrdl.org/

418-867-6604

info@shgrdl.org

The small city of Rivière-du-Loup, located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, dates back to 1673, when the region was given to prosperous merchant Lord Charles-Aubert de la Chesnaye. The town began to expand in the early 19th century and the population increased with the arrival of the Grand Trunk railway in 1859.

Between 1850 and 1919, the town was called Fraserville. Malcolm Fraser had been an officer in the British army that defeated the French troops at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City in 1759. Fraser stayed in Quebec following the conquest and he was put in charge of the seigneury at Rivière-du-Loup in recognition of his service on the battlefield. (See http://www.manoirfraser.com/page/historique.php for a brief history of the Fraser family and their home.) In 1919, the town changed its name to Rivière-du-Loup.

Rivière-du-Loup’s economic base has always been agriculture and forestry, but many area residents have also worked in the transportation industry on the St. Lawrence River. The river is salty and tidal at Rivière-du-Loup and it is 24 kilometers (15 miles) wide. The city also serves as a service centre for the surrounding area. Rivière-du-Loup is in a beautiful location and its summers are cool, so it has attracted summer residents to nearby towns such as Cacouna since the mid-19th century.

The local history and genealogy society (www.shgrdl.org) has produced a number of French-language brochures and books, including family histories and several publications about the railway. See http://www.shgrdl.org/shgrdla.htm#items.

Three publications, researched and prepared by society members, provide genealogical information that may not be available elsewhere. They are:

 Des Écossais à la Rivière-du-Loup et leurs descendants – The Scots of Rivière-du-Loup and their descendants (1763-2004) – Marriages, baptisms, deaths – A book of 594 pages in the French language addressing more than 400 different family names among the churches of Rivière-du-Loup, the South Shore of the St. Lawrence River, Charlevoix, Saguenay, Lac-St-Jean Counties north of the St. Lawrence River plus the Gaspé Peninsula. The genealogist who researched this book transcribed records from the area’s Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregationalists churches. $50 + $10 shipping.

St-Patrice de Rivière-du-Loup – St. Patrick Catholic – Baptisms(1813-1992)  $50 + $12 shipping.

St-Patrice de Rivière-du-Loup – St. Patrick Catholic – Deaths (1813-1992) $40 + $10 shipping.

Today, the people of Rivière-du-Loup are primarily French-speaking, but many English-speaking families lived in the area in the past.Following is a list of Scottish, British and Irish families that lived in the Lower St. Lawrence region after 1763, including the present-day districts of Bellechasse, Charlevoix, Dorchester, Kamouraska, L’Islet, Matane, Montmagny, Rimouski, Rivière-du-Loup and Témiscouata:

Scottish, British, Irish Families of the region from 1763 onward

Adams, Achison, Alexander, Allan, Allen, Allison, Amsden, Anderson, Arbour, Archibald, Armstrong, Arthur, Atkinson, Austin, Ayton, Bagley, Bagnall, Baikie, Balfour, Ballantyne, Barr, Baron, Barron, Barry, Bartholomew, Bartley, Baxter, Beatty, Beck, Bell, Bennet (t), Berger, Bett, Birrell, Bissett, Black, Blackadder, Blackburn, Blain, Blair, Bolton, Bond, Booth, Boswell, Bower, Boyd, Boyle, Bradley, Briggs, Brogan, Brown, Bryson, Buchanan, Buck, Buist, Burgess, Burns Butchart, Butler, Caddel, Cahill, Caissy, Calway, Cameron, Campbell, Canady, Carmichael, Carr, Carroll, Carson, Carter, Cassels, Cassidy, Cavanagh, Clark, Clarke, Clement, Clerk, Clouston, Coleman, Collin, Collins, Colman, Connell, Cook, Cooke, Cooper, Cowan, Cowen, Cowie, Craib, Craig, Crawford, Critchton, Crockett, Croft, Crook, Cullen, Cummings, Dalton, Davidson, Davis, Davison, Dawson, Day, Dewar, Dick, Dickie, Dickner, Dickson, Dillon, Dobson, Dodbridge, Doherty, Donaldson, Dougherty, Douglass, Downes, Downing, Doyle, Drisdell, Drummond, Duncan, Dunn, Easton, Edgar, Ellement, Elliott, Ellis(s), Ewen, Ferguson, Fergusson, Findlay, Ficher, Fisher, Fitzsimmons, Flack, Fletcher, Flowers, Floyd, Foote, Forbes, Forest, Forrest, Forsyth, Foster, Fox, Francis, Fraser, French, Furlong, Gallagher, Gardner, Garvie, Gathwaite (Garwiitts), Gibson, Gifford, Gilchrist, Giles, Gilklet, Gillies, Gleeson, Glenny, Godcharles, Gold, Gordon, Grant, Gray, Green, Greer, Gregory, Geig, Grey, Griffin, Hackett, Hall, Halle, Hally, Hamilton, Hammond, Handfield, Hannay, Harbour, Harcourt, Harding, Hardy, Haresson, Harkness, Harper, Harrison, Harrower, Hart, Harton, Harvey, Harvie, Haslett, Hay, Hayward, Healey, Heaslet, Henderson, Henley, Henry, Heppel, Heppell, Herdman, Hibbard, Hill, Hins, Hodgson, Hogg, Holdron, Hoff, Holt, Holmes, Hope, Horner, Hould, Hovington, Howden, Howe, Hudson, Hume, Hunter, Hurley, Hutchison, Irvine, Irving, Jackson, Jacob, Jamieson, Jarvis, Jeffery, Jenkins, Jennis, Johnson, Johnston, Jones, Jopsing, Kack, Keighan, Kelly, Kennedy, Kenney, Kerr, Kidd, King, Kirby, Knox, Krieber, Lamb, Lane, Lang, Langis, Laurenson, Law, Lawrence, Lawson, Leach, Lee, Leggatt, Leitch, Leith, Lemesurier, Lever, Lewis, Lindsay, Lister, Litch, Lock, Lockhead, Long, Loof, Lord, Lucas, MacAllum, McBean, MacCarron, McCleary, McClintock, MacClure, McClure, MacConnell, McConnell, MacCourt, McCourt, McCraw, MacCutcheon, McCutcheon, MacDermott, McDermott, MacDonald, McDonald, MacDonell, McDonell, MacDougall, McDougall, MacEwen, McEwen, McEwing, MacFadden, McFadden, MacFarlane, MacFarquhar, MacGee, McGee, MacGowan, McGowan, MacGrath, McGrath, MacGregor, McGregor, MacGuire, McGuire, MacHenry, McHenry, MacHugh, McHugh, MacIntosh, McIntosh, MacIntyre, McIntyre, MacKay, McKay, MacKel, MacKelly, McKelly, MacKenna, McKenna, MacKenney, McKenney, MacKenzie, McKenzie, MacKey, McKey, MacKillop, McKillop, MacKim, McKim, MacKinley, McKinley, MacKinnon, McKinnon, MacLaren, McLaren, MacLaughlin, McLaughlin, MacLean, McLean, MacLellan, McLellan, MacLeod, McLeod, McLure, MacMahon, McMahon, MacMillan, McMillan, McMullen, MacNab, McNab, McNeely, MacNeill, McNeill, MacNess, McNess, MacNichol, McNichol, McNicoll, McNider, McNie, McSwanny, MacVey, McVey, MacWhinnie, McWhinnie, MacWhirter, McWhirter, MacWilliams, McWilliams, Malloy, Mann, Mansfield, Marshall, Marugg, Mason, Mathers, Matheson, Mathews, Mathieson, Matthews, Maxwell, May, Meaney, Meehan, Mellis, Mercer, Middlemist, Milburn, Miles, Miller, Mills, Milne, Mitchell, Moffat, Moffett, Molloy, Montgomery, Moore, Moran, Morgan, Morrin, Morris, Morrissey, Morrisson, Morrow, Mudge, Muir, Murdoch, Murphy, Murray, Nawling, Neil, Nelson, Nepton, Newberry, Nicholson, Nichols, Nicol, Nickols, Nixon, O’Conner, O’Connor, O’Connors, Orkney, Ogilvie, Otis, Page, Pard, Parker, Parkes, Paterson, Patterson, Patton, Peacock, Pearson, Pentiga, Perry, Peters, Pettigrew, Phillips, Pickford, Pollock, Pope, Porter, Power, Pratt, Preston, Price, Prior, Purcell, Quimper, Quinn, Rae, Ramming, Ramsay, Ramsey, Randall, Rankin, Rattray, Reader, Reed, Reid, Richard, Richardson, Riopel, Ritchie, Robbins, Roberts, Robertson, Robin, Robinson, Rodger, Rodgers, Roger, Rose, Ross, Rudiack, Rutherford, Ruthven, Ryan, Sample, Samson, Sargeant, Scherrer, Scott, Seaton, Seton, Shannon, Sharp, Sharpe, Shaw, Sheehy, Shields, Short, Simson, Sinclair, Skelling, Skene, Sladek, Slater, Smith, Smyth, Speers, Speirs, Standford, Stanley, Stein, Stephenson, Stevens, Stevenson, Stewart, Storrie, Stuart, Suck, Sutherland, Swan, Swinford, Synnett, Synnoth, Synnott, Tapp, Taylor, Temple, Thom, Thoms, Thomas, Thompson, Tolerton, Towers, Townsley, Trickey, Turner, Urquhart, Veitch, Vivian, Walker, Wallace, Wallis, Walsh, Walter, Walton, Ward, Wardrop, Ware, Warren, Watson, Watt, Watters, Wayne, Webster, Wells, Welsh, Whellan, White, Whyte, Wickens, Wilkens, Williams, Willis, Wilson, Winichuk, Winters, Wintle, Wiseman, Wood, Woods, Woodland, Wren, Wright, Yates, Young

Sources of the above listing of family names: Jeannine Ouellet, Dennis McLane, Université Laval, La Corporation culturelle de Frampton, Société de généalogie de Rimouski.