The Grande Bibliothèque in Montreal catalogued in January six Quebec families histories for its genealogy collection.
The Grande Bibliothèque is the flagship library facility of the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ). All books published in Quebec, including family histories, must be deposited at the Grande Bibliothèque. They form part of the national collection.
Although most of the family histories at the Grande Bibliothèque are written in French, if you find one about your ancestors, you will probably figure out a way to use it in your research.
If interested in learning more about the books listed below, contact BAnQ by completing the online form. (Click on English in the top right corner of form to see the English-language form.) The people at BAnQ will respond in English or French, depending on the language of inquiry, within a couple of days.
Family histories
The family names in the following new books have been highlighted in bold.
To help, I have provided a brief description in English after each title below.
Nicolas Bachand dit Vertefeuille by Gilles Bachand. Lanoraie, Quebec : les Éditions Première chance, 2020. 544 pages.
About Nicolas Bachand dit Vertefeuille who was born in Paris, France in about 1667 and died in Boucherville, Quebec in 1709. He married Anne Lamoureux, 1678-1757, from Boucherville.
Généalogie de la famille Bélanger du 16e au 21e siècle by Camil Bélanger. Berthier-sur-Mer, Quebec : la Plume d’oie 2020. 405 pages.
Genealogy of the Bélanger family from the 16th to 21st century. Nicolas Bélanger, 1632-1682, was originally from Normandy. He married Marie Guyon, daughter of Jean Guyon and Mathurine Robin, in Quebec City. They had 12 children.
Henri et Jeanne Bourdages : ancêtres et descendants : biographie familiale : du premier Bourdages à s’installer en Amérique à aujourd’hui by Jean-Yves Bourdages. Saint-Hubert, Quebec : Jean-Yves Bourdages, 2020. 271 pages.
Henri and Jeanne Bourdages: ancestors and descendants: family biography: from the first Bourdages to settle in America to today. Raymond Bourdages, 1728-1787.
Notre ascendance jusqu’à Jacques Cartier by Bernard Gagné. Cornwall, Ontario : Bernard Gagné, November 2020. 132 pages.
Our ancestral line back to Jacques Cartier. Jacques Cartier, 1491-1557. Guyon family is mentioned.
Ancêtres Thibaudeau by Bernard Guindon. Ste-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, Quebec : Bernard Guindon, 2020. 229 pages.
Thibaudeau Ancestors. Pierre Thibodeau, about 1631-1704.
Vézina(t), notre histoire, 500 ans d’énigme by André Vézina. Saint-Urbain de Charlevoix, Quebec : André Vézina, 2020?. 582 pages.
Vézina(t), our history, 500 years of intrigue. Jacques Vezinat, about 1610-1687.
Hudson’s Bay Company
In the History of Quebec and Canada section at the Grande Bibliothèque is the following recently catalogued book.
The Company: The Rise and Fall of the Hudson’s Bay Empire by Stephen R. Bown. Toronto : Doubleday Canada, 2020. 486 pages.
The story of the Hudson’s Bay Company, dramatic and adventurous and complex, is the story of modern Canada’s creation.
The Company started out small in 1670, trading practical manufactured goods for furs with the Indigenous inhabitants of inland subarctic Canada. Controlled by a handful of English aristocrats, it expanded into a powerful political force that ruled the lives of many thousands of people–from the lowlands south and west of Hudson Bay, to the tundra, the great plains, the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific northwest. It transformed the culture and economy of many Indigenous groups and ended up as the most important political and economic force in northern and western North America.
When the Company was faced with competition from French traders in the 1780s, the result was a bloody corporate battle, the coming of Governor George Simpson–one of the greatest villains in Canadian history–and the Company assuming political control and ruthless dominance. By the time its monopoly was rescinded after two hundred years, the Hudson’s Bay Company had reworked the entire northern North American world.
