Canada, Quebec Notarial Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Collection Time Period
This collection contains records dating from 1800 to 1900.

Record Description
The Quebec notarial records in this collection are images of bound documents, for the most part handwritten in French. Most of the records begin with a title page that gives the date and time, the name of the notary, and the parties involved.

How to Use the Records
Notarial records for each notary are usually arranged chronologically, so records of most value to the family historian are mixed with other written agreements, including conveyances of land and other property, bonds for the payment of money, and deeds of partnership, to name just a few. Some early marriage contracts were prepared by priests and may not be in the notarial records.

In order to ease your search it may be valuable to narrow down the time period and possible location that are covered by the records you are looking for. This online collection is set up in a browse format and so you may have to browse through several records before finding the records relevant to your search.

Collection Content
Notarial records contain a variety of acts, there can be found in this collection:

• Marriage Contracts • Wills • Deeds • Inventories • Agreements and Settlements • Transfers of Property • Donations (pre-wills) • Legal documents • Guardian records • Indenture records

The various acts contain a variety of information important to family history. Names of siblings, wives, children, and other information about family relationships can be found in notarial records. The type and quality of this information depends on the type of act and what items with which it is concerned.



Collection History
In Québec, "notaires" (notaries) have registered contracts since 1626. These include deeds, wills, marriage contracts, and other records. The persons involved in the contracts received the originals. The notaries kept copies. The copies are called "minutes."

Each document in a notary's minutes gives at least the name of the notary, the date and place the document was prepared, the names and addresses of the persons involved, and the names and addresses of the witnesses. The ages and relationships of the witnesses and the persons involved are sometimes included.

Notarial records are usually listed by the name of the notary and the dates he functioned. They are not normally indexed by the names of the persons involved in the contract. Notarial records are first sent to the judicial archives, but they are eventually deposited in the branches of the Archives Nationales du Québec.

Population Coverage
Most legal contracts in Quebec had to be notarized by a notary. So the majority of such documents can be found in collections of notarial records. Although, marriages were often preformed by the Catholic church and were sometimes not notarized, so when looking for marriage contracts it is advisable to check church records as well.

Collection Reliability
These documents are generally reliable as far as the information was known to the participants in the creation of the documents were aware.

Related Web Sites
Bibliotètque et Archives Nationale Du Québec

Related Wiki Articles
Quebec Notarial Records

Sources of Information for This Collection
"Quebec notarial records, 1800-1900" database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org).Quebec notarial records, la Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (divers endroits).

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the Wiki Article: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections

Please add sample citations to this article following the format guidelines in the wiki article listed above.

Examples of citations
Canada Census, 1871. digital images, From FamilySearch Internet(www.familysearch,org: January 7, 2011). John Mason, age 21, New Brunswick, film number 2229098