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Crown Lands Records
In contrast to the French river-lot system, the English usually divided the land into sections called ranges or “concessions”. The concessions were then divided into regular shaped farm lots of 100 to 200 acres. After 1763, areas in the Eastern Townships and counties on the Ottawa River were surveyed this way.

The beginning of the Crown grant system in Québec in 1764 and Ontario in 1795 changed the way the land was divided. A settler who wanted free land in a township submitted a petition directly to the governor or the lieutenant governor. Crown grants were made to all Loyalists or children of Loyalists after the American Revolution. Later, for a limited time any settler in the provinces of Canada could receive these grants. Free grants were abolished in 1827, except for the children of Loyalists, and other occasional exceptions.

Library and Archives Canada holds Lower Canada Land Petitions 1764-1841 (RG 1, L3L) and records of the Gaspé Land Commission (RG 1, L 7, vols. 79-80) which are nominally indexed in their finding aid 1801. Both the records and the index are microfilmed. The microfilm shelf list is posted on Library and Archives Canada website. The petitions may have information on the petitioner, his family parentage, military service and time of settling the land making them very valuable genealogically. The patents that were granted gave the name of the grantee, a description of the land and the date of the grant, also very useful.

There are several manuscript records relating to crown lands at Library and Archives Canada and at the Archives nationales du Québec. Some are:

List of lands Granted by the Crown in the Province of Québec from 1763 to 1731 December 1890. Québec: Charles-François Langlois, 1891. This book is a transcription of information from land patents. It is an especially good source to begin with if you are looking for English speaking settlers. It gives the date of the patent and the county, township and lot number where the grant was located. The index at the end of the volume is alphabetical only by the first letter of the surname. (FHL films 413121-22; computer number 392972)

Jésuit Estates

The Jésuit Estates were the properties owned by the Roman Catholic Society of Jesus. These lands were confiscated by the Crown following the conquest of Canada by the British and were located entirely in Québec. These lands were first rented and then sold separate from the Crown Lands in Québec. The records for this are in the Archives nationales du Québec (series-QBC-18-20).

Archives nationales du Québec

Throughout Québec there are regional Provincial Archives centers known as Les centres d’Archives nationales du Québec:

Abitibi-Témiscamingue et Nord-du-Québec
Abitibi-Témiscamingue et Nord-du-Québec 27,

rue du Terminus Ouest

Rouyn-Noranda, Québec J9X 293

Telephone: 819-763-3484

Email: archives.rouyn@banq.qc.ca

Bas-Saint-Laurent et Gaspésie, Iles-de-la-Madeleine
Bas-Saint-Laurent et Gaspésie,Iles-de-la-Madeleine

337, rue Moreault Rimouski,

Québec G5L 1P4

Telephone: 418-727-3500

Email: archives.rimouski@banq.qc.ca

Côte-Nord
Côte-Nord

700, boulevard Laure,Bureau 190

Sept-Iles, Québec G4R 1Y1

Telephone: 418-964-8434

Email: archives.sept-iles@banq.qc.ca

Estrie
Estrie 225, rue Frontenac, bureau 410

Sherbrooke, Québec J1H 1K1

Telephone: 819-820-3010

Email: archives.sherbrooke@banq.qc.ca

Gaspé

Gaspé 80, boulevard de Gaspé

Gaspé, Québec G4X 1A9

Telephone: 418-727-3500 ext. 6573

Email: archives.gaspe@banq.qc.ca

Mauricie et Centre-du-Québec
Mauricie et Centre-du-Québec

225, rue des Forges, bureau 208

Trois-Rivières, Québec G9A 2G7

Telephone: 819-371-6015

Email: archives.trois-rivieres@banq.qc.ca

Montréal
Montréal

535 avenue Viger est

Montréal, Québec H2L 2P3

Telephone: 514-873-1100 option 4

Email: archives.montreal@banq.qc.ca

Outaouais
Outaouais

855, boulevard de la Gappe

Gatineau, Québec J8T 8H9

Telephone: 819-568-8798

Email: archives.gatineau@banq.qc.ca

Québec

Québec Campus de l’Université Laval Pavillon Louis-Jacques-Casault 1055, avenue du Séminaire Case postale 10450, succursale Sainte-Foy Québec, Québec G1V 4N1 Telephone: 418-643-8904 Email: archives.quebec@banq.qc.ca

Saguenay - Lac-Saint-Jean 930, rue Jacques-Cartier est, bureau C-103 Chicoutimi, Québec G7H 2A9 Telephone: 418-698-3516 Email: archives.saguenay@banq.qc.ca

Québec Genealogical Societies

Quebec Family History Society 15 Donegani Avenue, P.O. Box 715 Pointe-Claire - Dorval Postal Station Pointe-Claire, Québec H9R 4S8 Telephone: 514-695-1502 Email: qfhs@bellnet.ca

The leading English-language society, they sell maps and the full index to Quebec Crown land grants, sorted alphabetically by surname, available online to members only.

Société généalogique canadienne-française 3440, rue Davidson Montréal, Québec H1W 2Z5 Telephone: 514-527-1010 Email: info@sgcf.com

Both societies have many links to other resources.

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