If your ancestors lived in Quebec — whether they spoke French or English — and you haven’t explored notarial records, you are missing out on one of the most interesting record collections available to family historians.
While some notarial records have been digitized and can be found on websites, such as the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, the Drouin Institute’s GenealogyQuebec, and FamilySearch, the launch of Ancestry’s collection last fall has made these exceptional records much more accessible, albeit with a subscription. The good news is that Ancestry continues to digitize the collection.
Since I wrote the blog post, How to order a notary record from the Quebec Archives after finding it in an index on Ancestry, I have heard from many who found it easy to order the records.
Nancy Cutway in Kingston, Ontario, wrote me yesterday about her latest discovery.
“I have to thank you again for your step-by-step instructions on ordering notarial documents – they made it dead easy. …
“It truly was a gold mine. Among the files I’d ordered was a 1923 statement about Henry Morgan’s wife having died testate and what property she owned and wanted distributed to her 2 children. It provided the date of the couple’s marriage contract in 1879, so I was finally, after years of searching, able to find their marriage by searching Drouin specifically for 1879, Henry and Mary Ann without surnames: because BOTH were incorrectly indexed on Ancestry.ca. …
“I also now know, from another document, that there were only 4 children living when my 3rd-great-grandfather’s will was probated in 1854.
“I’m still processing all the info I received for my $21.15, but it worked so well, I imagine I’ll be ordering more. You certainly have eased my access into Quebec records. …
“The BAnQ offers an excellent service.”
Ancestry — Quebec, Canada Notarial Records, 1637-1935
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec — Archives des notaires du Québec des origines à 1936
FamilySearch — Quebec Notarial Records, 1800-1920
GenealogyQuebec — Notarized Documents
