Notarial RecordsNotarial records exist only for the province of Quebec. They are private agreements written by a notary that took the form of contracts such as:
Marriage contracts provide information on the spouses and their parents. They were usually drawn up a few days before the religious ceremony. The Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec holds the notarial records. How to Search the RecordsFrom 1626 to 1784 The Parchemin database, prepared by Archiv-Histo, provides an abstract of each notarial record giving the:
Parchemin is available on CD-ROM at the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec and other institutions. From 1785 to 1799 Inquiries must be sent to: Société de recherche historique Archiv-Histo Example of an Abstract 01 08 1768 (1749?1783) [Daguilhe, J.-B.] (Mtl) Vente de terre située sur la rivière de Lassomption, seigneurie de Lavaltrie; par Jacques Martin dit Versaille et Marianne Sionot, son épouse, de la rivière de Lassomption, seigneurie de Lavaltrie, à Louis Moussaux dit Laplaine, de la rivière de Lassomption, seigneurie de St Sulpice.
Step 1 You must first find the name of the notary who was practising in a specific place by consulting:
Step 2 Consult the microfiche index for each notary for that place to obtain:
Step 3 Consult the contract on paper or on microfilm. For more information about where and how to consult notarial records, contact the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec or use Pistard, their online catalogue. Research at Library and Archives CanadaLibrary and Archives Canada holds copies of some early notarial records. Search Colonial Archives database under name of the person or the notary. |