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The Drouin Institute’s Miscellaneous Collections, contain a mix of images, documents, books, pictures and directories of historical and genealogical significance.

This section is presented in a file tree structure.

The folders can be browsed manually or by using the search bar to find a word appearing in a folder or file name.

>> You can browse the Drouin Miscellaneous Collections for free with our 7-day trial.

Fonds d’archive (Archival fonds)

This folder contains archival fonds obtained from various sources and authors. In many cases, these are the personal archives of genealogists and history enthusiasts, digitized by the Drouin Institute.

The Fonds include photos, genealogies and family records, parish archives, books, postcards, notarial contracts, letters, biographies, parish records and much more.

Archives municipales (Municipal archives)

This folder contains the archives of multiple cities, towns and municipalities of Quebec.

Here is the list of locations available:

The municipal archives also contain a list of various directories and indexes, always in connection with Quebec municipalities.

Lignes de vie (Life lines)

This folder contains the life lines of several individuals who lived in Quebec. A life line lists the information available on an individual’s life, generally via baptismal, marriage and burial records. They also contain the list of the individual’s children and their spouses.

The life lines are sorted under the family name of the individual to whom the line relates.

Autres documents (Other documents)

This folder contains various archives and documents of historical and genealogical significance, such as yearbooks, stamps, parish records, photo albums, various archives, genealogies, books, biographies, postcards, contracts, cadastres, magazines, calendars, newspapers, lineages , directories, and much more.

Dictionnaire Jetté

This folder contains a digitized version of the Dictionnaire Jetté, a genealogical dictionary published in 1983. It covers the population of French origin established in Quebec since the 1600s up until 1730.

The dictionary pages are indexed by the names mentioned on each page, making it easy to use.

PRDH

This folder contains the original 47 PRDH volumes, which list all of Quebec’s Catholic baptisms, marriages and burials from 1621 up until 1765, which amounts to 300,000 records in total.

A much more complete, detailed and revised version of the PRDH is now available online on PRDH-IGD.com.

Journaux anciens (Old newspapers)

This file contains old digitized newspapers from various regions of Quebec dating from the last 200 years.

It contains the following publications:

Lignées généalogiques (Genealogical charts)

This folder contains 2358 genealogical charts from the Planète Généalogie website.

These lineages are organized under folders by the surname of the subject.

Statuts de la province de Québec (Statutes of the Province of Quebec)

This folder contains a variety of legal documents pertaining to adoptions, name changes and inheritances. The documents are available in both French and English.

The documents are sorted under folders by the subject’s surname.

Contrats notariés de l’Ontario (Notarised documents from Ontario):

This folder contains 2673 images of notarised documents from the Cornwall region of Ontario, dated from between 1860 and 1990.

The contracts are sorted under the subject’s surname.

Trois-Rivières (Juridiction)

This folder contains 3909 images of judicial documents (juridiction royale et seigneuriale) from the city of Trois-Rivières dating from the New France era, more precisely between 1655 and 1764.

Cadastres abrégés (Abbreviated land records)

This folder contains an abridged version of the cadastres (registers establishing the state of land ownership of a territory) of the Montreal region dating from 1863.

The cadastres are sorted by seigneurie.

Mariages DECQ

Marriages published on the Directeur de l’État Civil website over the past decade, sorted by alphabetical order of the last name of the groom and bride.

Useful links

Drouin Institute’s miscellaneous Collections

Try Genealogy Quebec free for 7 days

PRDH-IGD is a database of all Catholic baptisms, marriages and burials recorded in Quebec between 1621 and 1861 (nearly 3.2 million records) as well as a genealogical dictionary of families commonly known as “Family reconstructions”.

All individuals mentioned in these records receive their own “individual file” which centralizes the information available on the individual, along with links to the records in which they are mentioned.

In addition, every married couple receives their own “family file”, which fulfills a similar role as the individual file, but for a family unit.

It contains a list of the couple’s children with links to their respective individual files and vital events, as well as additional information about the married couple.

As a result, PRDH-IGD can be described as a detailed family tree of the entire French-Canadian population from the colony’s beginnings to 1861.

PRDH-IGD is the result of a rigorous academic effort spanning decades and is recognized worldwide as one of the most detailed and reliable demographic databases.

To better understand the 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 information is entered in the search engine. 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

We will select the baptism of François Plouf, recorded on the 27th of November 1718 in Contrecoeur.

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

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

The individual file centralizes every mention of an individual found within the database, namely their baptism, burial and marriage. The individual file also mentions the individual’s parents and 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 the event related to the date.

Finally, the “First marriage” and “Family” mentions link to the relevant Family File. Let’s use François Plouf and Marie Ursule emery Codere’s Family File as an example:

A Family File is created for every married couple mentioned in a record within 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 records that pertain to the family.

Ultimately, the PRDH-IGD database can be described as a massive family tree of all Catholic individuals who lived in Quebec between 1621 and 1861.

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.

The Drouin Collection is a collection of images of parish registers (baptisms, burials and marriages) as well as of other documents of historical and genealogical significance. It covers all of Quebec and French Acadia as well as parts of Ontario, New Brunswick and the Northeastern United States.

This massive collection contains the entirety of Quebec’s civil registry from 1621 to the 1940s, which encompasses the vast majority of individuals who lived in the province during that period, making it an invaluable tool for genealogical research in the province.

>> You can browse the Drouin Collection for free with our 7-day trial.

The Drouin Collection Records are presented in a file tree structure.

It contains the following collections:

• 00_Inventaire des microfilms (Microfilm inventory)
• Acadie (Acadia)
  • Lieux de A à W (Locations from A to W)
  • Registres paroissiaux du nord-ouest du Nouveau-Brunswick (North West New Brunswick parish registers)
• Divers – Miscellaneous
• États-Unis – USA
• France
• Notaires – Notaries
• Ontario
• Québec
  • Fonds Drouin (Drouin Collection)
  • Registres paroissiaux 1621-1876 (Parish registers 1621-1876)
  • Registres paroissiaux du Fonds Létourneau (1820-2013) (Fonds Létourneau parish registers (1820-2013))
  • Registres québécois, Actes découpés (Quebec registers, cut-out records)
  • Registres québécois, Série 4000 (1801-2008) (Série 4000 Quebec registers (1801-2008))
• Recensements – Censuses

What is a parish register?

Parish registers contain three types of records, baptisms, marriages and burials, corresponding to three sacraments bestowed by the Catholic Church to attest to their members’ status as Christians as well as their marital status. Parish records usually contain the following information:

• Name or first name of the subject(s)
• Name and first name of the subject(s) parents
• Event recording date
• Event date
• Parish in which the event was recorded
• Place of origin and/or place of residence of the individuals mentioned in the record
• List of witnesses to the event
• Signatures of the subject(s), parents and witnesses
• Age of the subject(s)
• Complementary information such as matrimonial status, name of the previous spouse, whether an individual is deceased at the time of recording of the event, and more

In France, the earliest registers date back to the medieval era but only became mandatory in the 16th century, in time to be implanted at the very outset of the country’s North-American colonies. And as the civil authorities were interested in recording these events because of their legal value, they ordered that the registers be kept in two copies by the priests, one copy being turned over to them each year.

In Genealogy Quebec’s Drouin Collection Records, this civil copy can be found under the Fonds Drouin folder, while the religious copy is located under the Registres paroissiaux 1621-1876 (Parish registers 1621-1876) folder.

This procedure was maintained well into the XXth century, parish registers thus representing both for its size and coverage one of Quebec’s most important archival sources for the historical study of its population.

00_Inventaire des microfilms (Microfilm inventory)

This folder contains the inventory of microfilms from which all of the Drouin collection’s images have been digitized.

Acadie (Acadia)

Lieux de A à W

The Lieux de A à W (Locations from A to W) folder contains the registers of many parishes of French Acadia. Note that a majority of the Acadian registers were lost during the deportation of 1755, so most of the registers in this collection date from after this event.

The registers are organized in a file tree structure and the images are separated by parish/city name and then by year.

Here are the parishes available in the Acadie (Acadia) folder:

Registres paroissiaux du nord-ouest du Nouveau-Brunswick (North West New Brunswick parish registers)

The Registres paroissiaux du nord-ouest du Nouveau-Brunswick (North West New Brunswick parish registers) contain the parish registers of numerous parishes from North West New Brunswick up to the 1990s.

Here are the parishes available in the Registres paroissiaux du nord-ouest du Nouveau-Brunswick (North West New Brunswick parish registers) collection:

Divers – Miscellaneous

The Divers – Miscellaneous folder contains, as its name suggests, various documents of historical and genealogical interest such as registers, family archives and genealogies, legal archives, letters, various religious documents, censuses, maps and much more.

As with the rest of the Drouin collection, the folders are organized in a file tree structure and their contents are navigated with the mouse. The name of a folder briefly describes its content.

États-Unis – USA

The États-Unis – USA folder primarily contains American parish registers covering several regions and periods. Most of the parishes listed in this collection are from the North Eastern United States and were selected because of the strong French Canadian presence within the area.

Here are various documents and registers found in the États-Unis – USA folder:

France

The France folder currently contains baptism, marriage and burial records from the city of Cannes.

We hope to be able to add more French registers and archives in the coming years.

Notaires – Notaries

The Notaires – Notaries folder contains an index of minutes from some 600 Quebec-based notaries.

The minutes are sorted under the names of the notaries in a file tree structure.

Ontario

The Ontario folder contains the parish registers of several Ontario parishes from their founding to the 1960s. Most of these parishes are located near the border between Quebec and Ontario and were selected because of the strong French Canadian presence within the area.

Here are the parishes available in the Ontario folder:

Québec

Fonds Drouin

The Fonds Drouin folder contains all of Quebec’s parish registers from their inception in 1621 all the way to the 1940s and even sometimes 1967 depending on the parish.

The registers are organized in a file tree structure and the images are separated by parish name and then by year. Some parishes are sorted under the name of the city or region they serve, while others are listed according to the name of the parish itself.

It is important to know that in general, the images are listed in chronological order.

This means that the first image in the folder will contain the first events recorded in that year, which are usually the ones from January. Similarly, the last few images in the folder will be those from the end of the year.

In many cases, an index of the year’s records is available within the last few images of a folder. The presence of this index depends on the practices of the priest who kept the register at the time.

It is on this collection that the LAFRANCE index, another one of the multiple tools available to Genealogy Quebec subscribers, is based. The LAFRANCE index contains all of Quebec’s Catholic baptisms and burials between 1621 and 1861, all of Quebec’s Catholic marriages between 1621 and 1919, and all of Quebec’s Protestant marriages between 1760 and 1849.

Registres paroissiaux 1621-1876 (Parish registers 1621-1876)

The Registres paroissiaux 1621-1876 (Parish registers 1621-1876) folder contains the parish registers of Quebec from 1621 to 1876. However, these are not the same images as those available under the Fonds Drouin folder.

Historically, a parish priest in charge of recording baptisms, marriages and burials had to produce two copies of his register. One copy was kept at the church, and the other was sent to the court office, the so-called civil copy. The copy in the Fonds Drouin folder of the Drouin Collection Records is this civil copy, while the one in the Registres paroissiaux 1621-1876 (Parish registers 1621-1876) folder is the religious copy kept in the church.

Registres non-catholiques 1760-1885 (Non-Catholic registers 1760-1885)

The Registres non-catholiques 1760-1885 folder contains the registers of various Quebec non-Catholic parishes from 1760 to 1885.

Most of these registers are also available in the Fonds Drouin folder, but the version available in Registres non-catholiques 1760-1885 was photographed more recently and may prove useful if the Fonds Drouin copy is of poor quality.

Here are the parishes available in this folder:

Registres paroissiaux du Fonds Létourneau (1820-2013) (Fonds Létourneau parish registers (1820-2013))

The Fonds Létounreau is a collection of parish registers photographed by the Société de Généalogie des Cantons-de-L’Est.

These registers cover the Sherbrooke diocese from the opening of the registers until 2013.

Registres québécois, Actes découpés (Quebec registers, cut-out records)

The Registres québécois, Actes découpés folder contains cut-out records taken from various parish registers in Abitibi-Témiscamingue as well as the Gaspé Peninsula. What differentiates these records is that they are individually cut-out from the parish register, often making them easier to browse and read.

Registres québécois, Série 4000 (1801-2008) (Série 4000 Quebec registers (1801-2008))

The Série 4000 contains parish registers from various regions in Quebec, mainly the Gaspé Peninsula, Mauricie, the Laurentians, the Eastern Townships and Outaouais. These registers cover from the beginning of the 19th century up to 2008.

Recensements – Censuses

The Recensements – Censuses folder contains censuses held in Eastern Canada at various times. The 1861 census of Lower Canada, the censuses of New Brunswick from 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901, as well as numerous excerpts from the censuses of New France dating from between 1666 and 1765. Note that these censuses are not always exhaustive.

The censuses are presented in a file tree structure and are navigated with the help of your cursor.

Image redigitization

The Drouin Institute is currently in the process of redigitizing all of the Drouin collection to improve readability. These redigitized images are exclusive to Genealogy Quebec.

The Drouin Collection Records can be browsed with a subscription to Genealogy Quebec here.