Most archives and genealogical societies have special collections and indexes of genealogical value. These usually must be searched in person.

Major Genealogical Dictionaries and Collections

Several genealogical dictionaries have information from Catholic records, censuses, and notarial records. They often give more complete family information than the marriage indexes in the “Church Records” section of this outline. One of the most useful dictionaries for Québec is:

Tanguay, Cyprien. Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes (Genealogical Dictionary of French Canadian Families). 7 vols. 1871–1890. Reprint, Montréal, Qué.: Éditions Élysée, 1975. (FHL book 971 D2t 1975; original edition on film 105970–72; computer number 217244.) Text in French. Gives information about a large number of families in the Province of Québec. Marriages are from the early 1600s to the 1800s. Entries may give christening and burial dates of spouses and sometimes christening, marriage, and burial dates of children. Often gives the exact place of origin in France of the immigrant ancestor. See Appendix C of this outline for instructions for using Tanguay's Dictionnaire.

Additions and corrections to Tanguay are in:

Leboeuf, J.-Arthur. Complément au dictionnaire généalogique Tanguay (Supplement to Tanguay's Genealogical Dictionary). 3 vols. Montréal, Qué.: Société Généalogique Canadienne-Française, 1957–1977. (FHL book 971 D2t supp. ser. 1 & 2; film 823824 items 1–3; computer nos. 119273, 217247, 217248, 217249.) Text in French.

For years prior to 1730, the following dictionary is more useful than Tanguay's:

Jetté, René. Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec (Genealogical Dictionary of Québec Families). Montréal, Qué.: Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 1983. (FHL book 971.4 D2jr; on 14 fiche 6049365; computer number 223611.) Text in French. The source for this one-volume genealogical dictionary is:

Charbonneau, Hubert, and Jacques Légaré, eds. Répertoire des actes de baptême, mariage, sépulture et des recensements du Québec ancien (List of Church Records of Christening, Marriage and Burial and of Censuses of Old Québec). 47 vols. Montréal, Qué.: Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 1980–1990. (FHL book 971.4 K22r; computer number 36873.) Text in French. A massive work that attempts to list the entire Québec population before 1765. Extracts every name from church and census records. Also extracts information from some notarial and other records.

An explanation of the Répertoire in English is in:

Key to the Repertory. Montréal, Qué.: Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 1980?. (FHL book 971.4 K22r supp.; computer number 290258.)

Genealogical Master Index

A useful index to genealogical information in more than 500 Canadian sources is:

Elliot, Noel Montgomery. The French Canadians 1600–1900: An Alphabetized Directory of the People, Places and Vital Dates. 3 vols. Toronto, Ont.: Genealogical Research Library, 1992. (FHL book 971 D22f; computer number 449505.) Includes English-speaking and French Canadians from Québec, and French Canadians from other provinces. Lists 468,000 people alphabetically. Records include surname, given names, type of event (birth, marriage, death, etc.), year, sometimes a locality, and always a source code (often including a page number). The appendix at the end of each volume gives bibliographic information about most of the sources. There is also a useful gazetteer of place names. The sources of the information include directories, land records, censuses, marriage records, and Tanguay's genealogical dictionary. Looking in the source may provide further information about the date, event, or residence.

French Canadians Outside Québec

Very early, French Canadians left the area of Québec to settle in other regions of North America. They settled in places such as Kaskaskia (Illinois), Vincennes (Indiana), and Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). Some church and other records from their settlements are transcribed in:

Faribault-Beauregard, Marthe. La Population des forts français d'Amérique au XVIIIe siècle (The Population of the French Forts in America in the 18th century). 2 vols. Montréal, Qué.: Éditions Bergeron, 1982–1984. (FHL book 970 V29f; computer number 186890.) Text in French.

French Canadian families also settled in the Detroit and St. Clair river valleys, now on the Michigan-Ontario border. They are listed in:

Denissen, Christian. Genealogy of the French Families of the Detroit River Region, 1701–1936. rev. ed. 2 vols. Detroit, Mich.: Detroit Society for Genealogical Research, 1987. (FHL book 977.43 D2d 1987; computer number 452008.) Includes index.

Family Histories

Many Québec families have produced histories or newsletters with genealogical information. The histories may include biographies, photographs, and other excellent information. They usually include several generations of the family. An example is:

Bergeron, Adrien. Le Grand arrangement des Acadiens au Québec (Acadians of Québec). 8 vols. Montréal, Qué.: Editions Elysée, 1981. (FHL book 971.4 D3ba; computer number 115896.) Text in French. Genealogy of 280 Acadian families who came from Nova Scotia and surrounding areas to Québec after 1755.

The Family History Library has many Québec family histories and newsletters. The main surnames from each history are in the Family History Library Catalog. Look for a surname in the Surname Search. It will show you all the histories where that name is a main surname.

Many Québec family histories are in:

Mennie-de Varennes, Kathleen. Bibliographie annotée d'ouvrages généalogiques au Canada = Annotated Bibliography of Genealogical Works in Canada. Text in French and English. 6 vols. Markham, Ont.: Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1986-1987. (FHL book 971 D23v.)

Local histories often include family histories. See the “History” section of this outline.

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