What is PRDH-IGD?

This post is also available in: Français

The PRDH-IGD is a directory of ALL vital events (baptisms, marriages and burials) recorded by the Catholic church in Quebec and French Canada from 1621 to 1849, as well as a genealogical dictionary of families commonly referred to as  “Family Reconstructions”. The PRDH-IGD database contains over 2,500,000 records.

Every individual mentioned in these records receives their own “individual file” in which all the information available on the individual is centralized. The individual file also contains links to every record in which the individual is mentioned in the database.

In addition, each married couple is assigned a “family file” which fulfills a similar role as the individual file, but in relation to a family unit. It contains the list of all the couple’s children with links to their individual files, the list of all baptisms, marriages and burials of these children with links to the records in question, and additional information on the married couple.

As such, the PRDH-IGD database can be seen as a comprehensive family tree of the French Canadian population from the beginnings of the colony to 1849.

All the information available on the site is maintained and corrected in collaboration with the demography department of the University of Montreal and is of unparalleled reliability in the field of genealogy.

To better understand the importance and value of family reconstructions, we will explore the database by using the case of François Plouf, who lived in St-François-Xavier-de-Verchères in the 18th century.

To begin the search, the information is entered in the search template. In this case, we are searching for any mention of a Francois Plouf in the database, without limiting the search to a specific period or parish.

We obtain a list of results for our search.

• The first column gives us the record number, which is used to identify the record in the database
• The second column gives us the date of the event
• The third column gives us the type of record (baptism, burial or marriage)
• The fourth column gives us the parish in which the event was celebrated
• The role column tells us what role the individual has in the record
• The sex, standard name and standard first name columns are self explanatory

We will select the 14th result, which is the baptism of François Plouf, celebrated on the 27th of November 1718 in Contrecoeur.

This baptism file was created from the original record. It extracts all the relevant information from it and presents it in a convenient manner.

In a PRDH-IGD baptism, marriage or burial file, every name is a link to that person’s individual file. By clicking on François Plouf’s name, we are taken to the following file.

The individual file centralizes all of the mentions of an individual in the database, such as the person’s baptism, burial and marriage. The individual file also mentions the parents as well as the spouse(s).

Again, every name is also a link to that person’s individual file. Additionally, written dates can be clicked to be taken to that event’s certificate.

Finally, the “First marriage” and “Family” mentions link to the appropriate family file. Let’s explore François Plouf and Marie Ursule emery Codere’s family file.

A family file is created for any married couple mentioned in a record certificate in the database. This family file centralizes all the information available on the couple as well as all of their children, and provides links to the individual files and record certificates that pertain to the family.

The family file can be seen as the final result of the PRDH’s family reconstruction process.

Ultimately, the PRDH-IGD database can be described as a massive family tree of all Catholic individuals who lived in Quebec between 1621 and 1849.

The database is being corrected and added to on a monthly basis, and we hope to be able to extend the period it covers shortly.

GenealogyQuebec.com integration

Members who are subscribed to both GenealogyQuebec.com and the PRDH have access to the following exclusive features:

1. View the original document (parish register) on GenealogyQuebec.com from any PRDH-IGD.com certificate
2. View the PRDH-IGD.com individual file of any individual named in a GenealogyQuebec.com‘s LAFRANCE certificate
3. 10% bonus PRDH-IGD.com hits free of charge on purchase for GenealogyQuebec.com subscribers (up to 100 hits)

What are the differences between the PRDH-IGD.com and GenealogyQuebec.com?

How to subscribe to the PRDH-IGD?

PRDH subscriptions use “hits”. A “hit” is debited from your account every time a record certificate, an individual file, a family file or a couple file is displayed. However, the initial search that leads to a list of results is free.

You will find the various subscription options at this address.