Are you descended from a seigneur or know someone who is?
Benoit Grenier and Michel Morrissette of the University of Sherbrooke’s history department would like to meet people descended from seigneurial families and/or those who still live on an old seigneurie on Sunday, November 2, at 1:30 p.m. at the Société généalogique canadienne-française (SGCF).
Messrs Grenier and Morrissette are working on a research project about the history of seigneuries that is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
On Sunday, Messrs Grenier and Morrissette will make a presentation and hold a discussion about the seigneurial regime of New France, the oldest institution in Quebec’s history that was abolished in 1854. After this, the seigneurs were compensated with property for their loss of rights, and some people still had to continue paying them rent. It was only in 1935 that the government of Quebec adopted a law that abolished all seigneurial rents, and by the 1970s all remnants of this regime had disappeared. What has remained, however, is the memory and stories of this regime, and capturing this history is the purpose of the project.
The SGCF is located at 3440 Davidson in Montreal.
If unable to attend on Sunday, you may contact Professor Grenier by email at Benoit.Grenier2@usherbrooke.ca.
