First three Quebec censuses available online

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Gail Dever

Yesterday’s post about the first Canadian census in 1666 generated interest among the always helpful Facebook crowd. Thanks to my online friend and researcher extraordinaire, Dianne Seale Nolin, here are the links to Canada’s first three censuses on Library and Archives Canada’s website. All were conducted in Quebec or, as it was known then, New France.

Quebec census — 1666

Quebec census — 1667

Quebec census — 1681

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10 Responses to First three Quebec censuses available online

  1. Susan Gingras Calcagni says:
    March 22, 2014 at 9:53 am

    I’m thrilled to read this post, I’m off to one of those “genealogy get togethers” today with a friend and the early Quebec census will be more than helpful. Dianne is model when it comes to helping others! Always a big thank you for her endless efforts. Thank you Gail for sharing.

  2. Dan says:
    March 22, 2014 at 11:05 am

    Small correction, the first census was in 1666, not 1661.

  3. Paul Carrier says:
    March 22, 2014 at 4:24 pm

    Do you know if anyone has transcribed these census records and made the transcriptions available online? It’s great to have access to the originals, but the handwriting is difficult to read, at least for some of us. Thanks!

    • Gail Dever says:
      March 22, 2014 at 4:58 pm

      To my knowledge, these records have not been transcribed. My friend Dianne uses a technique that makes it easier to find ancestors than browsing through all the pages. She has been quite successful.

      First, look at the book, Histoire des Canadiens-Français, 1608-1880 (Tome 4). You will find this book on Ancestry – http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=2799.

      Then, estimate how far your ancestor’s name is from the beginning of the book and take note of his neighbours’ names.

      Finally, go back to the census record at about the point you think your ancestor’s name will appear.

      This method is not as easy as entering a name and hitting Enter, but it sure beats travelling to an archival centre and looking at the records on microfilm. Good luck!

    • Dan says:
      March 22, 2014 at 5:33 pm

      1666: http://www.septentrion.qc.ca/catalogue/population-du-canada-en-1666-la [a reconstitution more than a transcription]

      1667: MSGCF 1967, Volume18

      1681: Sulte, Benjamin, Histoire des Canadiens-Français, tome IV, ch. IV

      Have fun!

  4. Dianne Nolin says:
    March 23, 2014 at 11:37 am

    The book Histoire des canadiens-français, 1608-1880 Tome IV is also at ARCHIVE.ORG for free and has 1666 and 1667 census.
    You can open it many ways… Read online is like reading the book. If you open it in Full Text you can do a quick search using Ctrl F. You can also open in PDF form and save it to your computer, put it on your reader, etc.
    It is also on Our Roots and Nos Racines.
    The census for 1681 is in Histoire des canadiens-français, 1608-1880 Tome V. Chapter IV. It is on ancestry, but if haven’t found it yet elsewhere.

  5. Jackie Corrigan says:
    March 25, 2014 at 6:00 pm

    Years ago I found the 1666 Census on Our Roots at http://www.ourroots.ca/e/page.aspx?id=3645485. I have no idea how I did that, because I can’t duplicate that search result now. LOL! Thank goodness I bookmarked the site. The census is in Rapport de l’Archiviste de la Province de Québec, 1935-1936 and you can search for your ancestors by name.

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