Canada, Quebec Index to Civil Copy of Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

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What is in this Collection?
This article describes two collections. One is the civil copy of Quebec church records. The other contains images of the original indexes of those same vital records. Both cover the years 1642-1900. Records after 1902 are not currently available due to privacy laws.

These collections are a copy of baptism, marriage, and burial records which were sent to the civil government. Up until 1994, the Quebec government did not keep its own separate vital records. Therefore, churches were required to send copies of their records to the government archives. These are those civil copies. Both Catholic and Protestant churches are included.

Reading These Records
These records are in French. For help with reading the records, see the following resources:
 * French Word List
 * Quebec Language and Languages
 * French Handwriting Help

How Do I Search the Collection?
You can search the index or view the images or both. To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor
 * The name of a relative or date of the event

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page.
 * 1) Select Denomination
 * 2) Select County and City or Town
 * 3) Select Record Type
 * 4) Select Name Range, Year Range and Archival Number

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Cite the record. See below for help citing this collection.
 * Look at an image of the original record. The original may contain information that was not recorded in the index. To find a copy of the original record, visit the Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales Du Québec page.
 * To help keep track of your research, you may want to keep a research log. FamilySearch has an example example research log which you can download.
 * Use the information you have found to find the person in census records.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This can help you find possible relatives.
 * Search the records of nearby areas. *Check for other names. An individual might appear under an unexpected name for a variety of reasons:
 * - They might have been listed under a middle name, nickname, or abbreviation of their given name.
 * -A woman may have returned to her maiden name after the death of her husband.

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

Collection citations:

Image citation:

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