On Wednesday, Ancestry updated two of its most important collections of Quebec records for family historians: Quebec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1637-1935 and Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968.
Quebec’s notary documents are unique in North America, and they are incredible sources of information about ancestors. These documents can contain marriage contracts, wills, estate inventories, guardianships, leases, powers of attorney, mortgages, loans, deeds, sales, apprenticeships, and business partnerships.
In 2016, Ancestry partnered with BAnQ to digitize 300 years of the province’s notary records.
In the notarial records collection, the indexes are called Répertoires. and the actual notarial records are called Actes.
When looking for Quebec records, remember to search for a woman’s maiden name, not her married name, including during the time of New France.
As for the Drouin Collection of births, marriages and burials, what can I say? I wish every Canadian province and other jurisdictions had such a rich resource for those of us researching our family history.
