New Developments in French-Canadian
Genealogical Research

John P. DuLong, Ph.D.

The following links are discussed in my presentation discussing New Developments in French-Canadian Genealogical Research presented to the Local History Conference, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, on 21 April 2007.

Major Online Databases

PRDH, Le Programme de recherche en démographie historique (The Research Program in Historical Demography), genealogical database of baptism, marriage, burial, and other records from 1621 to at least 1799 abstracted and computer indexed at http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca/en/.
Drouin Collection, Ancestry.com, digital images of parish registers and other records of genealogical value at http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=List&dbid=1091&offerid=0%3a7858%3a0.
BMS2000, a cooperative project involving over twenty genealogical societies in Québec and Ontario, presenting online baptism, marriage, and burial (sépulture) records at http://www.bms2000.org/.
Parchemin, database of notarial records from 1626 to 1784 available at locations in Québec and elsewhere. For general information concerning Parchemin please visit Pierre Benoit's summary at http://pages.infinit.net/pbenoit/parchmin.htm. He has a list of locations holding CD copies of Parchemin. You can approach them and ask for a search to be done for a fee. Parchemin is produced by Archiv-Histo, you can also contact this organization about doing a search. Their address (as of autumn 2006) is as follows:

Archiv-Histo
2320, rue des Carrières
Montréal, QC H2G 3G9
CANADA
(514) 873-6347
(514) 873-6248, fax
archiv-histo@videotron.net
Fichier Origine, a fee database presenting summary of records pinpointing the place of origins of Québec immigrants in France at http://www.fichierorigine.com/index.htm.
Early Canadiana Online, collection of digital images of historical and genealogical documents and publications, soon to be available through Ancestry.com, at http://canadiana.org/eco.php?doc=home.
Lastly, there is a site to mark the 400th anniversary of the French presence in North America called New France-New Horizons that also contains some interesting digital documents from archives in France and Canada at http://www.archivescanadafrance.org/english/accueil_en.html.

Beauregard's Initiatives

FranoGene, Denis Beauregard's portal to French research in North America and France, great place to start any French-Canadian research project online, at http://www.francogene.com/index.php.
Genealogy of the French in North America, a huge genealogical dictionary incorporating additions and corrections to published and online works, at http://www.francogene.com/gfna/gfna/998/ and marriages only available on CD.

Library and Archives of Canada

Library and Archives of Canada main webpage at http://www.collectionscanada.ca/index-e.html.
Amicus, national union catalog for libraries in Canada, http://amicus.collectionscanada.ca/aaweb/aalogine.htm.
ArchiviaNet or Archives Search, research tools for archives, soon to be replaced by a better system, available at
http://search-recherche.collectionscanada.ca/archives/search.jsp?Language=eng.
Also see the Private Archives and Colonial Records with links to many original documents at http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/020112_e.html.
Canadian Genealogy Center, great place to start your research project, at http://www.collectionscanada.ca/genealogy/index-e.html.

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec

Main webpage for the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec is at http://www.banq.qc.ca/portal/dt/accueil.jsp?bnq_resolution=mode_1280.
Iris, online catalog for libraries at http://catalogue.banq.qc.ca/cap_fr.html.
Pistard, online catalog for archived collections with some digital images of original documents at http://pistard.banq.qc.ca/unite_chercheurs/recherche_simple.
Also, offers a special genealogy webpage at http://www.banq.qc.ca/portal/dt/genealogie/genealogie.jsp.
Lastly, there is a list of the regional branches of the Québec archives at http://www.banq.qc.ca/portal/dt/a_propos_banq/renseignements_generaux/centres_archives/centres_archives.jsp.If the document you seek is not digitized and online, then you have to contact the appropriate regional branch to order a photocopy.

Minor Online References

That's My Family, a federated search engine that will retrieve information from both the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec and the Library and Archives Canada at http://www.voicimafamille.info/.
Adhémer database for Montréal land records at http://www.cca.qc.ca/Adhemar/.
The Canadian Encyclopedia at http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCESubjects&Params=A1.
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography at http://www.biographi.ca/EN/index.html.
The Atlas of Canada at http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/index.html.
The Jesuit Relations at http://www.collectionscanada.ca/jesuit-relations/index-e.html. Also available at http://puffin.creighton.edu/jesuit/relations/.
The Champlain Society Digital Collection, electronic versions of the many books of original documents published by this scholarly society, at http://link.library.utoronto.ca/champlain/search.cfm?lang=eng.
Google Book Search at http://books.google.com/.
WorldCat, a world union catalog, at http://www.worldcat.org/.

Books and Databases on CD

Mémoires de la Société généalogique canadienne-française from 1944 to 2002 are on CD, this is Québec’s leading genealogical journal, visit the society's website for order details at http://www.sgcf.com/.
See Pierre Benoit's website for summary information regarding the Chronica and Thémis CD products at http://pages.infinit.net/pbenoit/index.html. (By the way, you can also get to a list of genealogical societies from M. Benoit's website at http://pages.infinit.net/pbenoit/societes.htm#menu.)

Royal Gateway Breakthroughs

QRD30--Québec Royal Descends, provides summary of findings relating to royal gateway projects, available at http://www.francogene.com/genealogy/qrd30.php.
Catherine Baillon project at http://habitant.org/baillon/index.htm.
Le Neuf brothers project at http://habitant.org/leneuf/index.htm.
Antoinette de Longueval project at http://www.habitant.org/longueval/.

PowerPoint Presentation

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New Developments in French-Canadian Genealogical Research PowerPoint Presentation

French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan

For help in tracing your French-Canadian ancestry please consider joining the French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan. Point your browser to http://www.habitantheritage.org to learn more about this group. We now offer an email list you can join to exchange messages regarding French-Canadian genealogy, history, and culture.