Massive PRDH-IGD update, now nearly twice as many individuals in the database!

More than a year ago, we announced the addition of the family reconstructions from 1800 to 1824 to the PRDH-IGD database.

Today, we are pleased to announce that the family reconstructions from 1825 to 1849 have been added to the PRDH-IGD website, which officially brings the 1800 – 1849 period to a close.

This massive update represents the addition of 787 675 individuals and 94 444 families to the database. In total, we are talking about 8 500 000 new family links to explore in the PRDH-IGD database!
To put this into perspective, the PRDH-IGD database contained a total of 870 763 individuals before this update. That number has now nearly doubled!

To give you a more concrete overview of these additions, here is a Family File before and after this week’s update.
Before the update:

After the update:

You will notice the absence of events dated after 1824 on the first image. In the second picture, you can see many new individuals in the family, those born after 1824, as well as several events that were not associated with this family before the update.

What is the PRDH-IGD?

First, it should be noted that the PRDH-IGD is made up of 2 elements. These two elements work in tandem to form what could be described as a comprehensive family tree of the entire Catholic population of the Province of Quebec from 1621 to 1849.

The first element is the repertory of vital events. This is a directory of all Catholic baptism, marriage and burial records celebrated in Quebec between 1621 and 1849, more than 2.5 million records. The records are presented in the form of certificates.

The second element is the genealogical dictionary of families (family reconstructions). In addition to baptism, marriage and burial records, the PRDH-IGD contains what we call individual and family files.

Any individual mentioned in a record from the database is given his own individual file.

The individual file centralizes all the mentions of the 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).
Every name and date in the individual file can be clicked to access the related individual file or record certificate.

Similarly, any married couple mentioned in a record in the database is given a Family File.

This Family File includes all the children of the couple as well as a link to the events where these children are mentioned. Again, all the names and dates in the file are links to the individuals and events in question. It is therefore possible to navigate from file to file and from record to record with a simple click.

You will find a more in depth explanation of the PRDH-IGD database on our blog.

How to subscribe to the PRDH-IGD?

PRDH-IGD subscriptions are hit based.

A hit is charged each time a page is displayed, except for the list of references obtained from a query, which is not charged. A subscription thus corresponds to the right to view a certain quantity of one or the other of the following elements: a certificate from the Repertory of vital events (record certificates), an individual or family file from the Genealogical dictionary or a couple file from the Repertory of couples.

You will find the various subscription options at this address.

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

GenealogyQuebec.comPRDH-IGD.com
Period1621 – 20181621 – 1849
Original documentsYesNo
Family Reconstructions        NoYes
Type of documentsBMD records,
Obituaries,
Death cards,
Tombstones,
Notarized documents,
Censuses,
Marriage directories,
Parish records,
Postcards,
City directories
BMD records,
Individual files,
Couple files,
Family files
Subscription typeTime based (24h, 1 month, 1 year)Purchasable “hits”

 

What are the benefits of being a subscriber to both websites?

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

  • View the original document (parish register) on GenealogyQuebec.com from any PRDH-IGD.com certificate
Click on the link circled in red to go from a PRDH-IGD.com certificate (left) to the original document associated with it on GenealogyQuebec.com (right)
  • View the PRDH-IGD.com individual file of any individual named in a GenealogyQuebec.com‘s LAFRANCE certificate
Click on the link circled in red to go from a GenealogyQuebec.com certificate (left) to an individual file on PRDH-IGD.com (right)
  • 10% bonus PRDH-IGD hits free of charge on purchase for GenealogyQuebec.com subscribers
During the subscription process on PRDH-IGD.com, you will be given the option to enter your GenealogyQuebec.com username to receive 10% additional hits free of charge

Price adjustment

When the PRDH website opened in 2000, a price was determined for each block of hits. These prices were adjusted in the early years, but have been maintained for almost 10 years now, despite significant inflation in the price of goods and services in Canada, and the addition of millions of records and individuals to the website. As such, we have decided to adjust the PRDH-IGD rates accordingly. Here are the new prices:

Amount of hitsCost before taxesCost per hit
10019.99$20¢
50049.99$10¢
100079.99$
2500174,99$
5000299.99$
10000499.99$

Prices are in Canadian dollars ($CAD)
Quebec residents: + GST + QST
Canada residents outside of Quebec: + GST + PST
Residents from outside Canada: No taxes

Please note that this price adjustment will not be applied until Friday, September 14, 2018. You will therefore have a full week following the receipt of this newsletter to take advantage of the old rates.

Genealogically yours,

The Drouin team

LAFRANCE update, addition of 15 000 newspaper obituaries and new blog articles on Genealogy Quebec!

The bimonthly LAFRANCE update was released earlier in the week. The additions pertain to the 1850-1861 period for Catholic baptisms and burials.

Update figures

Catholic baptisms 1850-1861 : 15 585 records added
Catholic burials 1850-1861 : 7 132 records added
In addition, the corrections sent by our users over the past 2 months have been applied.

About the LAFRANCE

The LAFRANCE, one of 16 tools available to GenealogyQuebec.com subscribers, is a detailed index with link to the original document of ALL Catholic marriages celebrated in Quebec between 1621 and 1917, ALL Catholic baptisms and burials celebrated in Quebec between 1621 and 1849 as well as ALL Protestant marriages celebrated in Quebec between 1760 and 1849. Baptisms and burials of the 1850-1861 period are added gradually through our bimonthly updates.

Newspaper obituaries update

The Newspaper obituaries tool, which can be found in the Obituary section on Genealogy Quebec, has been updated. Around 15 000 new death notices have been added, which brings the collection to a total of 664 001 notices. These obituaries have been taken from Quebec newspapers published between 1945 and 2015.

You can browse this collection with a subscription to Genealogy Quebec at this address.

New articles on the Drouin Institute blog

What is Genealogy Quebec?

What your ancestors can tell you about your life expectancy, by Bertrand and François Desjardins

Genealogically yours,

The Drouin team

What is Genealogy Quebec?

Genealogy Quebec is a subscription based research website regrouping all of the collections and tools developed by the Drouin Institute over the course of its existence.

The website’s 15 tools and collections total for over 100 million images and files covering all of Quebec as well as part of the United States, Ontario and Acadia from 1621 to this day. Genealogy Quebec is by far the largest collection of Quebec genealogical and historical documents on the Web.

A Genealogy Quebec subscription gives access to the following tools (click on the tool’s name for more details):

  • The LAFRANCE – Index with link to the original document of baptisms, marriages and burials from Quebec, Ontario, Acadia and the United States.
    • ALL of Quebec’s Catholic baptisms and burials from 1621 to 1861
    • ALL of Quebec’s Catholic marriages from 1621 to 1918
    • ALL of Quebec’s Protestant marriages from 1760 to 1849
    • 1,450,000 Quebec Catholic marriages from 1919 to today
    • 80,000 Quebec civil marriages from 1969 to today
    • 140,000 Ontario marriages from 1850 to today
    • 38,000 marriages from the United States
    • 3,000 Quebec Protestant marriages from 1850 to 1941
    • 17,000 miscellaneous Quebec marriages from 2018 and 2019
    • 68,000 miscellaneous Quebec BMD records from the 20th and 21st century
    • CURRENTLY BEING ADDED: Tens of thousands of baptisms, marriages and burials from Ontario and Acadia as well as Protestant records from Quebec
  • Marriages and Deaths 1926-1997 – Index with link to the original document of most of the marriages and deaths celebrated in Quebec between 1926 and 1997, all religious denominations included.
  • The Obituary Section – Index and original document of:
    • 2.7 million Canadian obituaries published online between 1999 and today
    • 1,250,000 obituaries published in Quebec and Ontario newspapers between 1945 and today
    • 97,500 memorial cards published between 1860 and today
    • 739,000 tombstones from Quebec and Ontario cemeteries
  • Drouin Institute’s Great Collections – Digitization of the following collections:
  • La Masculine (Men Series)
  • Fichier Histor
  • Fiches Acadiennes (Acadian Cards)
  • Dossiers généalogiques Drouin
  • Affinités généalogiques Drouin
  • Petit Drouin
  • Dictionnaire national des Canadiens-Français
  • La Féminine (Woman Series)
  • Prévôté de Québec
  • Fiches Franco-américaines (Franco-American Files)
  • Patrimoine Familial
  • Patrimoine National
  • Kardex Noir
  • Drouin Collection Records – All of Quebec’s parish registers from 1621 to 1940, as well as some from parts of Ontario, New England and Acadia.
  • The Petit NBMDS – 1,320,000 baptism, marriage and burial records from various parts of Quebec, Ontario and the United States.
  • The Connolly File6,700,000 Quebec baptism, marriage and burial files covering from 1621 to today.
  • Drouin Institute’s Family Genealogies – 660 family genealogies produced by the Drouin Institute during the 20th century. Totals for over 230 000 pages.
  • Drouin Institute’s miscellaneous Collections – Collection of images, documents, books, pictures and directories of historical and genealogical relevance. Contains the PRDH books, the Jetté dictionary, some municipal archives, old newspapers and much more.
  • Acadia – Families – Family files, with link to the related original documents, pertaining to Acadians. Covers more than 158,000 Acadian families.
  • Postcards – Contains 256,000 postcards sent or received over the course of the 20th century. Can be searched by sender or recipient.
  • BMD Cards – A repository of millions of baptism, marriage and burial cards from Quebec, Ontario and the United States. Contains, among other things, the “Antonin Loiselle” and “Kardex” collections.
  • Census – Contains Quebec’s 1881 and 1901 censuses as well as Ontario’s 1881 census.
  • Notarized documents –  Contains some 83,000 notarized documents indexed by type of contract, cited names, name of the notary, date and location. Linked to a digitized version of the original document.
  • City directories –  Contains a digitized version of Montreal (Lovell – 1843 to 2000) and Quebec city’s (Marcotte – 1822 to 1904)  directories.

Subscriptions

There are 3 types of subscriptions to GenealogyQuebec.com. All 3 subscriptions give access to the entire library of tools and databases; only the length of the subscriptions differ.

24h access – 7$

Monthly subscription – 14,95$

Yearly subscription – 129$

Prices are in Canadian dollar. Taxes will be applied for Canadian residents.

User guide – Getting familiar with the website

If you’re beginning on Genealogy Quebec, we recommend that you follow the Quick start guide.

Genealogy Quebec is geared towards both seasoned genealogists and novices alike. While a certain familiarity with the website is necessary to make the most of its 15 tools and collections, the majority of our users are able to retrace their ancestors through our 3 main tools, which happen to be the more straightforward and easy to use.

We have separated the collections in 3 categories in order to guide our less experienced users towards the right tools:

  • Primary research tools

These are the most comprehensive and detailed tools available on the website: The LAFRANCE, the Marriages and Deaths 1926-1997 tool, and the Obituary section. For most of our subscribers, these 3 tools will be sufficient to find their ancestors and retrace their lineage. All of these tools are equipped with a search engine.

  • Secondary research tools

These are our complimentary research tools. They are used to address potential gaps in searches made using our primary research tools, or to add additional sources and information to these searches. All of these tools are equipped with a search engine.

  • Archival funds and databases

These tools use a file tree structure. They are not equipped with a search engine and must be browsed manually.

On the Tools page, users may get more information regarding each tool, such as the type of document, the period and region covered as well as a short tutorial, by clicking on “More information”.

You will find a series of articles about our numerous tools and collections on our blog.

Establishing your ancestry and finding your ancestors using Genealogy Quebec.

What your ancestors can tell you about your life expectancy

In the two previous articles of this series, “Quebec mortality rate under the French regime” and “The first French-Canadian centenarians in Quebec“, we successively mentioned the high mortality which afflicted our ancestors at all ages of life and the scarcity of people reaching extreme ages. Today, we will present some factors underlying these realities.

As a first step, we used the PRDH (What is the PRDH?) database to establish the list of native-born French-Canadians who reached the venerable age of 97 before 1850.

Deaths of Native-born French-Canadians at age 97 and older which occurred before 1850

SEXYear of birthYear of deathAge at death
F1648174899 ans
F1691178997 ans
F1701180098 ans
F1703180097 ans
M1703180298 ans
F1709180697 ans
M1714181197 ans
F1714181399 ans
F1722181997 ans
F17251832107 ans
F1726182598 ans
F1731182897 ans
F17311835103 ans
F1732182997 ans
M1734183499 ans
F1736183498 ans
F17361838101 ans
F17381847108 ans
F1740183897 ans
F1740183998 ans
F1741184098 ans
M1741184098 ans
F17411841100 ans
F1741184199 ans
F1742184098 ans
M1743184298 ans
M1743184298 ans
M1744184197 ans
F1744184297 ans
F1744184399 ans
M1745184498 ans
Men: 8 ; Women: 23

Thirty-one people accomplished the feat, twenty-three women and eight men. Why such an imbalance in favor of women, when their life expectancy at age 25 is 2.5 years less than that of men?

It is that beyond the reproductive period, when mothers were at a significant risk of dying in childbirth, women have a survival advantage over their partners. We know that part of this benefit is biological because male mortality is higher than female mortality from the very beginning of life, including in-utero. This genetic difference is especially associated with a better resistance of women to biological aging, as well as an hormonal advantage.

Indeed, for example, estrogen facilitates the elimination of bad cholesterol and thus reduces the risk of heart problems; testosterone, on the other hand, is associated with violence and risk taking.

That said, regardless of sex, why do some individuals reach higher ages than their contemporaries? While we know that there is more to it than chance, no explanation of this reality is currently unanimous. The study of extreme cases of longevity does not really reveal much: the “little glasses of gin before dinner” and other recipes of the kind  have no serious basis.

It is tempting to believe, however, that some individuals initially have an advantage over others; Is it not said that the best chance of living old is to have parents and grandparents who have themselves reached an old age?

In this regard, I submit to you the extraordinary family of Nicolas Lizotte and Marie-Madeliene Miville-Deschênes, who married on May 3, 1724 in La Pocatière. Out of the 5 French Canadians who became centenarians before 1850, two of them were born of this couple, and one of their sisters is also part of our above-mentioned list, since she died at 98 years of age!

Nicolas Lizotte and Marie Madeleine Miville Deschesnes’ Family File sourced from PRDH-IGD.com

And it doesn’t stop there! The father, Nicolas Lizotte, died at 98 years old, making him the second oldest French Canadian male who died before 1850. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t mind being a Lizotte right now!

 

Bertrand Desjardins and François Desjardins

August 2018

Genealogy Quebec, now in a library near you!

Good news!

We are happy to announce that GenealogyQuebec.com is now available in the following libraries:

Réseau des bibliothèques publiques de Longueuil (September 2018)
Bibliothèques Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
Réseau BIBLIO des Laurentides
Bibliothèque Roland-LeBlanc (September 2018)
Bibliothèque de Beaconsfield
Bibliothèque Paul-O.-Trépanier
Ville de Trois-Rivières – Service des bibliothèques
Réseau des bibliothèques de Repentigny (September 2018)
Bibliothèque de Brossard
Bibliothèque de Sainte-Thérèse
Bibliothèque Guy-Bélisle
Bibliothèque de Québec

Does my library offer Genealogy Quebec or PRDH access?

Genealogy Quebec and the PRDH are available in numerous libraries and genealogical societies throughout Canada and the United States. You will have to contact your local library or society to inquire about Genealogy Quebec and PRDH access.

How can I get my local library to carry Genealogy Quebec and the PRDH?

Libraries and genealogical societies tend to rely on suggestions and demand when selecting resources to add to their catalog. As such, the best way to have your local institution provide Genealogy Quebec and PRDH access is to ask them to!

You can do so by calling or visiting the establishment, and letting the librarian or person in charge know about the websites.
Some libraries even allow you to suggest resources through an online form.

Obituaries – Free section

The development of our Online obituary section continues, and it now contains over 2.2 million death notices!
This section contains obituaries from all over Canada ranging from 1999 to this day. You can browse the collection for free at this address.

Finally, we would like to invite you to follow the Drouin Institute on Facebook, where we regularly share unusual and interesting genealogical and historical findings, such as the cost of groceries in 1927 in Saint-Jérome, or Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor’s marriage in Montreal!

Genealogically yours,

The Drouin team

LAFRANCE Update And Addition of 30 000 Newspaper Obituaries on Genealogy Quebec!

The bimonthly LAFRANCE update was released earlier in the week. The additions mostly pertain to the 1850-1861 period for Catholic baptisms and burials.

Update figures

Catholic baptisms: 10 444 records added
Catholic burials: 3149 records added
Catholic marriages: 121 records added

Note that 815 of these new records come from Cyprien Tanguay, who had access during the creation of his famous “Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes” to now unavailable records. These records mostly cover the SorelSaint-Augustin and Petite-Rivière-Saint-François parishes.

In addition, the corrections sent by our users over the past 2 months have been applied.

About the LAFRANCE

The LAFRANCE, one of 16 tools available to GenealogyQuebec.com subscribers, is a detailed index with link to the original document of ALL Catholic marriages celebrated in Quebec between 1621 and 1917, ALL Catholic baptisms and burials celebrated in Quebec between 1621 and 1849 as well as ALL Protestant marriages celebrated in Quebec between 1760 and 1849. Baptisms and burials of the 1850-1861 period are added gradually through our bimonthly updates.

Newspaper obituaries

In our previews newsletter, we announced the addition of 13 723 death notices to the Newspaper Obituaries section. These additions have continued through the month of June, with now over 30 000 new obituaries being made available in the collection.

This section contains 656 155 death notices published in Quebec newspapers between 1945 and 2015.
You can browse this collection with a subscription to GenealogyQuebec.com in the Obituary section.

New articles on the Drouin Institute blog

How far back can you research your ancestry in Quebec?

Genealogically yours,

The Drouin team

How far back can you research your ancestry in Quebec?

Thanks to the systematic recording of baptisms, marriages and burials by the Catholic church, Quebec genealogists – novices and professionals alike – have access to a detailed outlook of their ancestors’ lives and family connections. Through these documents, researching your ancestry in Quebec is much easier than it is in other parts of the world. But how far back can you retrace your ancestors in Quebec?

In 1608, Samuel de Champlain establishes the city of Quebec along the shores of the St-Lawrence river. 8 years will pass until the city’s first vital events (baptisms, marriages and burials)  start being recorded.

Guillaume Couillard and Guillemette Hebert’s marriage, with none other than Samuel de Champlain as witness. Source: LAFRANCE, GenealogyQuebec.com

Nowadays, the oldest surviving records are from the City of Quebec for the year 1621.

Beginning of Quebec city’s register for the year 1621, sourced from the Drouin Collection Records available on GenealogyQuebec.com. The first 20 years were reconstructed from memory shortly after being lost to a fire in 1640.

This register, as well as those from every Quebec parish between the years 1621 and 1940, is available in the Drouin Collection Records with a subscription to GenealogyQuebec.com.

First immigrants

In a previous article, we explored the lasting impact that first immigrants had in the frequency and variation of last names in Quebec. In this context, the “first immigrant” expression refers to the first member of a given family who settled in a region. When trying to research your ancestry in Quebec, your goal is to establish a direct link between generations spanning from yourself to the first immigrant in your family line. This guide, which describes the process of establishing your ancestry using GenealogyQuebec.com, is a must read for anyone interested in researching their ancestors in the province.

When it comes to women, many of these first immigrants are known as “King’s Daughters” (Filles du Roi). The King’s Daughters were single women recruited by the King between 1663 and 1673 in order to populate New France. You will find more information about these fascinating women in this article.

Fichier origine

To go back further than the Quebec parish records, the best resource available is the “Fichier Origine“. The “Fichier Origine” is a free-access directory of civil and notarized records pertaining to the family origins of  immigrants – mostly French – established in Quebec between the early 1600s and 1865.

Antoine Roy dit Desjardins’ Fichier Origine file

It contains every individual whose birth or baptism record was traced back to their country of origin. As such, you can use the Fichier Origine to find information predating the arrival of your ancestors in the province.

In addition, you should know that the PRDH-IGD individual files often integrate information sourced from the Fichier Origine. For example, here is Antoine Roy dit Desjardins’ individual file, where the date and location of his baptism were taken from the Fichier Origine.

Antoine Roy dit Desjardins’ individual file sourced from the PRDH

To conclude, it cannot be overstated how lucky we are in Quebec to have access to such a wealth of historical documentation and information, which makes it possible to research our ancestry all the way back to the early 17th century. This is particularly evident if your genealogical research takes you to another region or country, where the information is unlikely to be as accessible and detailed.

Good luck with your research!

Postcards Update And Tens of Thousands of New Documents on Genealogy Quebec!

In this edition of our newsletter, we will go over the numerous additions that were made to GenealogyQuebec.com’s tools and collections in the past few days.

Postcard images

The Postcards collection, which contains over 256 000 postcards sent or received in Quebec during the 20th century, has just received a major update. When this tool was first made available, only the back of the card was digitized and available for viewing.

Today, we have added the front side of most of the 256 000 postcards, allowing you to enjoy the cards in their entirety.

The postcards are indexed by the names of the sender and recipient. A search engine allows for easy browsing within the tool. This collection is available to GenealogyQuebec.com subscribers at this address.

Newspaper obituaries

Some 13 723 new obituaries have been added to the Newspaper Obituaries section.

You will find the Newspaper Obituaries in the Obituary section, which is available to GenealogyQuebec.com subscribers.

Registers

The St-Pierre de Shawinigan parish register (1899 to 2000) has been added to the “Registres québécois, Actes découpés” folder, which can be found in the Drouin Collection Records.

Still in the Drouin Collection Records, but this time in the “Registres divers”folder, you will now find 15 000 new images of various registers and archives from the city of Cannes, in France. These archives cover a period spanning from 1636 to 1902.

Also in the “Registres divers” folder, you will now be able to browse through most of the births from the state of Massachusetts for the years 1880 and 1909.

Genealogical charts from Planète Généalogie

2358 genealogical charts from the Planète Généalogie website, which was acquired by the Drouin Institute in 2017, have been added to GenealogyQuebec.com.

These charts were produced by the Planète Généalogie team as well as various collaborators within the past few years. They can be browsed in the “24 – Lignées généalogiques” folder, which can be found in the Drouin Institute’s miscellaneous collections tool.

Statuts de la province de Québec

In this collection, you will find a variety of legal documents pertaining to adoptions, name changes and inheritances. The documents are sorted by the subject’s family name.

The “25 – Statuts de la province de Québec” folder can be found in the Drouin Institute’s miscellaneous collections tool.

Municipal archives

Numerous books and municipal records from the cities of Victoriaville, St-Paul-de-Chester and St-Louis-de-Blandford can now be viewed in the “16 – Archives Municipales” folder, in the Drouin Institute’s miscellaneous collections tool. A total of 17 948 new images.

New articles on the Drouin Institute blog

The King’s Daughters and the PRDH database

The second part of Sandra Goodwin’s Maple Stars and Stripes podcast about the Drouin Collection Records is now available on her website.

QFHS – Expo hall

Saturday May the 19th from 9:00am to 4:30pm, as well as Sunday May the 20th from 9:00am to 3:30pm, you will have the opportunity to meet the Drouin Institute team at Roots 2018, the Quebec Family History Society‘s genealogical conference. The conference will be held at the McGill University’s New Residence Hall, 3625 Avenue du Parc, Montreal, QC, H2X 3P8. You will find more information on the QFHS’s website.
We would love to see you there!

Genealogically yours,

The Drouin team

The King’s Daughters and the PRDH database

On the 22nd of September 1663 arrive the first of some 1000 King’s Daughters who will eventually establish themselves in Quebec between 1663 and 1673.

Their arrival was timely considering that in 1666, the province counted 719 single males between the ages of 16 and 40, compared to only 45 single women of the same ages. This disproportion was partly due to the fact that New-France was, in its early days, a colony based on the fur trade. Thus, the majority of the population was male.

But what exactly is a King’s Daughter?

“King’s Daughters” is used to refer to the single women recruited to emigrate to New-France between 1663 and 1673. What distinguished these women was the fact that the King himself took them under his wing, paying for their travel and settlement in the colony as well as providing them with a dowry in expectation of their impending marriage.

Often orphans and of modest origins, and frequently raised in urban settings, these women were not adapted to the harsh living conditions present in New France.

King’s Daughters list

The Programme de recherche en démographie historique has identified and indexed all of the King’s Daughters who married in Quebec. The complete list can be viewed at this address.

Using PRDH-IGD to learn more about the King’s Daughters

The PRDH database, accessible to the public via subscription, contains every Catholic individual who has lived in Quebec between 1621 and 1849, including of course the King’s Daughters. Through the PRDH’s unique database structure, it is possible to explore these women’s lives in greater detail.

You will find a more detailed explanation of the structure of the PRDH’s database in another article, but in short, you have to know that it contains three types of files:

Record Certificate –  It is a transcription of the relevant information contained in a baptism, marriage or burial record.

Individual File – It is a file centralizing all the information available on the individual

Family File – It is a file centralizing all the information and all the individuals pertaining to a family unit (parents and children)

You can use this structure to your advantage in order to learn about the King’s Daughters and, perhaps even more importantly, find out if you’re descendent from one.

Is there a King’s Daughter in your family tree?

The PRDH-IGD database can be used to confirm – or disprove – the presence of a King’s daughter in one’s ancestry.

Since the PRDH’s data stops in 1849, it is necessary to begin by retracing an ancestor to a date prior to the year 1849.

To do so, you may want to use a genealogical research website such as GenealogyQuebec.com, which will provide you with all the tools and resources necessary to trace back your ancestry.

The process of using the PRDH to explore your ancestry and more specifically discover if you are descendant from a King’s Daughter is rather simple. To demonstrate it, we will use Joseph Valade and Marie Lafond Lagrenade, married in montreal on the 20th of November 1820.

We begin with a search for Joseph Valade in the PRDH database, using the built in search engine.

This search allows us to find Joseph and Marie’s marriage record.

From this record, we can access to the couple’s family file.

From this point, we will go up the family tree in an attempt to find a marriage in the 1660s. If such a marriage is found, chances are it will belong to a King’s Daughter. To go back a generation,  click on the word “Family” which can be found under the husband’s parents’ names in every PRDH family file.

We finally make it to a couple married in the 1660s. Thanks to the list compiled by the PRDH, we can confirm that the bride is indeed a King’s Daughter.

Looking at her individual file only provides further confirmation, as we learn that she originates from La Rochelle, which is a common place of origin among King’s daughters.

And so, are you descendant from a King’s Daughter?

LAFRANCE Update And Original Parish Document Now Available For The 1917 Marriages

The bimonthly LAFRANCE update was released earlier in the week. The additions pertain to the 1850-1861 period for Catholic baptisms and burials.

Update figures

Catholic baptisms 1850-1861 : 9008 records added
Catholic burials 1850-1861 : 4103 records added
In addition, the corrections sent by our users over the past 2 months have been applied. You will find a list of the the parishes that have been updated here.

About the LAFRANCE

The LAFRANCE, one of 16 tools available to GenealogyQuebec.com subscribers, is a detailed index with link to the original document of ALL Catholic marriages celebrated in Quebec between 1621 and 1917, ALL Catholic baptisms and burials celebrated in Quebec between 1621 and 1849 as well as ALL Protestant marriages celebrated in Quebec between 1760 and 1849. Baptisms and burials of the 1850-1861 period are added gradually through our bimonthly updates.

Original document linked to the LAFRANCE‘s 1917 marriages

The 1917 Quebec Catholic marriages available on the LAFRANCE are now linked to the original parish record. You can view the original document by clicking on the image number at the top right corner of the certificate.

New articles on the Drouin Institute blog

The first French-Canadian centenarians in Quebec, by Bertrand and François Desjardins

Bertrand Desjardins is Sandra Goodwin’s guest in the latest episode of her podcast Maples Stars and Stripes, as they discuss the Drouin Collection records and the sometimes lesser-known documents it contains.
You will find this episode’s show notes on this page.
Maple Stars and Stripes is a podcast dedicated to French-Canadian genealogy.

Genealogically yours,

The Drouin team