Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Great new resource for Quebec research

So as I'm beginning a new research project for my Dellibac ancestors from Quebec, I woke up this morning to the following posts from the Eastman's Genealogy Newsletter and Dear Myrtle about a new website for the Quebec Family History Society:

LinkThe Quebec Family History Society Launches New WebsiteLink

Quebec Family History Society Launches New Website

Being a complete newbie to Quebec research, I was unaware of this group so I decided to poke around the website a bit. For the most part, I saw a lot of advice to come in to takeLink advantage of the collections in the research room, with some brief description of a small number of what is available, and names of contacts to look up in case on-site research is unavailable. So initially I wasn't really too impressed. But then I found this page on the site, Research Tips . The page is broken down into topical categories such as Immigration, Quebec Church Records, Land Records, Court Records, Census, Military and Notary. Within each category are a selection of useful bites of information to help you understand what you might be able to find in each categorical grouping, as well as where you might find what you're looking for. In the Quebec Land Records section, the first tip tells you that there are three different land registration systems in Quebec and then gives a brief discussion of usage for all three. The tips section also tell you that the Cadastre system is the only one currently used in Quebec, so if you're looking for more modern subjects, chances are good that you're going to want to consult the Cadastre records. As the three systems did not replace one another, depending upon what time period you're looking at, there could be more than one set of land records for you to consult - one for each of the land registry systems in usage at that time and in that place, up to three sets! Why couldn't we in the US be so lucky!

There is a great array of information available on this page alone, which makes me wonder what may be available to those who decide to become a member. On the "Join Us" page, there is a run-down of the member benefits, which include discounts on research services, free lookups in commonly used collections, free issues of the member periodical, Connections, and various on-site benefits including discounts on registration fees for their workshops and events. The membership fee for an individual is $65 (not sure if that's Canadian or US) but that's right up there with the membership fees of the NEHGS, so that's one of the larger membership fees I've seen. Usually, I alternate my memberships to help with the cost issue so I'm not sure if I'll be able to swing this one anytime soon. But they do offer some nice benefits, and it would be nice to learn more about research in the are by reading their journal, so who knows. Either way, they've already set me up with a good deal of useful, beginning information on how to navigate records for Quebec so if I can ever find out where exactly my Moise Dellibac came from, perhaps these tips will help me find the most information possible.

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