This post is also available in: Français

The Drouin Collection Records is a collection of images of parish registers (baptisms, burials and marriages) as well as of other documents of historical and genealogical significance. It covers all of Quebec and French Acadia as well as parts of Ontario, New Brunswick and the Northeastern United States.

This massive collection contains the entirety of Quebec’s civil registry from 1621 to the 1940s, which encompasses the vast majority of individuals who lived in the province during that period, making it an invaluable tool for genealogical research in the province.

The Drouin Collection Records are presented in a file tree structure.

It contains the following collections:

Parish registers contain three types of records, baptisms, marriages and burials, corresponding to three sacraments bestowed by the Catholic Church to attest to their members’ status as Christians as well as their marital status. Parish records usually contain the following information:

In France, the earliest registers date back to the medieval era but only became mandatory in the 16th century, in time to be implanted at the very outset of the country’s North-American colonies. And as the civil authorities were interested in recording these events because of their legal value, they ordered that the registers be kept in two copies by the priests, one copy being turned over to them each year.

In Genealogy Quebec’s Drouin Collection Records, this civil copy can be found under the Fonds Drouin folder, while the religious copy is located under the Registres paroissiaux 1621-1876 (Parish registers 1621-1876) folder.

This procedure was maintained well into the XXth century, parish registers thus representing both for its size and coverage one of Quebec’s most important archival sources for the historical study of its population.

This folder contains the inventory of microfilms from which all of the Drouin collection’s images have been digitized.

Lieux de A à W

The Lieux de A à W (Locations from A to W) folder contains the registers of many parishes of French Acadia. Note that a majority of the Acadian registers were lost during the deportation of 1755, so most of the registers in this collection date from after this event.

The registers are organized in a file tree structure and the images are separated by parish name and then by year. Some parishes are sorted under the name of the city or region they serve, while others are listed according to the name of the parish itself.

It is important to know that in general, the images are listed in chronological order.

This means that the first image in the folder will contain the first events recorded in that year, which are usually the ones from January. Similarly, the last few images in the folder will be those from the end of the year.

As of January 2020, these parishes are in the process of being indexed and will be gradually added to the LAFRANCE, a detailed index of Quebec, Ontario and Acadia parish registers available to Genealogy Quebec subscribers.

Here are the parishes available in the Acadie (Acadia) folder:

Registres paroissiaux du nord-ouest du Nouveau-Brunswick (North West New Brunswick parish registers)

The Registres paroissiaux du nord-ouest du Nouveau-Brunswick (North West New Brunswick parish registers) contain the parish registers of numerous parishes from North West New Brunswick up to the 1990s.

The registers are organized in a file tree structure and the images are separated by parish name and then by year. Some parishes are sorted under the name of the city or region they serve, while others are listed according to the name of the parish itself.

It is important to know that in general, the images are listed in chronological order.

This means that the first image in the folder will contain the first events recorded in that year, which are usually the ones from January. Similarly, the last few images in the folder will be those from the end of the year.

Here are the parishes available in the Registres paroissiaux du nord-ouest du Nouveau-Brunswick (North West New Brunswick parish registers) collection:

The Divers – Miscellaneous folder contains, as its name suggests, various documents of historical and genealogical interest such as registers, family archives and genealogies, legal archives, letters, various religious documents, censuses, maps and much more.

As with the rest of the Drouin collection, the folders are organized in a file tree structure and their contents are navigated with the mouse. The name of a folder briefly describes its content.

The États-Unis – USA folder primarily contains American parish registers covering several regions and periods. Most of the parishes listed in this collection are from the North Eastern United States and were selected because of the strong French Canadian presence within the area.

The registers are organized in a file tree structure and the images are separated by state then parish name and year. Some parishes are sorted under the name of the city or region they serve, while others are listed according to the name of the parish itself.

It is important to know that in general, the images are listed in chronological order.

This means that the first image in the folder will contain the first events recorded in that year, which are usually the ones from January. Similarly, the last few images in the folder will be those from the end of the year.

Here are various documents and registers found in the États-Unis – USA folder:

The France folder currently contains baptism, marriage and burial records from the city of Cannes.

We hope to be able to add more French registers and archives in the coming years.

The Notaires – Notaries folder contains an index of minutes from some 600 Quebec-based notaries.

The minutes are sorted under the names of the notaries in a file tree structure.

The Ontario folder contains the parish registers of several Ontario parishes from their founding to the 1960s. Most of these parishes are located near the border between Quebec and Ontario and were selected because of the strong French Canadian presence within the area.

The registers are organized in a file tree structure and the images are separated by parish name and then by year. Some parishes are sorted under the name of the city or region they serve, while others are listed according to the name of the parish itself.

It is important to know that in general, the images are listed in chronological order.

This means that the first image in the folder will contain the first events recorded in that year, which are usually the ones from January. Similarly, the last few images in the folder will be those from the end of the year.

As of January 2020, these parishes are in the process of being indexed and will be gradually added to the LAFRANCE, a detailed index of Quebec, Ontario and Acadia parish registers available to Genealogy Quebec subscribers.

Here are the parishes available in the Ontario folder:

Québec

Fonds Drouin

The Fonds Drouin folder contains all of Quebec’s parish registers from their inception in 1621 all the way to the 1940s and even sometimes 1967 depending on the parish.

The registers are organized in a file tree structure and the images are separated by parish name and then by year. Some parishes are sorted under the name of the city or region they serve, while others are listed according to the name of the parish itself.

It is important to know that in general, the images are listed in chronological order.

This means that the first image in the folder will contain the first events recorded in that year, which are usually the ones from January. Similarly, the last few images in the folder will be those from the end of the year.

In many cases, an index of the year’s records is available within the last few images of a folder. The presence of this index depends on the practices of the priest who kept the register at the time.

It is on this collection that the LAFRANCE index, another one of the multiple tools available to Genealogy Quebec subscribers, is based. The LAFRANCE index contains all of Quebec’s Catholic baptisms and burials between 1621 and 1861, all of Quebec’s Catholic marriages between 1621 and 1919, and all of Quebec’s Protestant marriages between 1760 and 1849.

Registres paroissiaux 1621-1876 (Parish registers 1621-1876)

The Registres paroissiaux 1621-1876 (Parish registers 1621-1876) folder contains the parish registers of Quebec from 1621 to 1876. However, these are not the same images as those available under the Fonds Drouin folder.

Historically, a parish priest in charge of recording baptisms, marriages and burials had to produce two copies of his register. One copy was kept at the church, and the other was sent to the court office, the so-called civil copy. The copy in the Fonds Drouin folder of the Drouin Collection Records is this civil copy, while the one in the Registres paroissiaux 1621-1876 (Parish registers 1621-1876) folder is the religious copy kept in the church.

The registers are organized in a file tree structure and the images are separated by parish name and then by year. Some parishes are sorted under the name of the city or region they serve, while others are listed according to the name of the parish itself.

It is important to know that in general, the images are listed in chronological order.

This means that the first image in the folder will contain the first events recorded in that year, which are usually the ones from January. Similarly, the last few images in the folder will be those from the end of the year.

Registres non-catholiques 1760-1885 (Non-Catholic registers 1760-1885)

The Registres non-catholiques 1760-1885 folder contains the registers of various Quebec non-Catholic parishes from 1760 to 1885.

Most of these registers are also available in the Fonds Drouin folder, but the version available in Registres non-catholiques 1760-1885 was photographed more recently and may prove useful if the Fonds Drouin copy is of poor quality.

Here are the parishes available in this folder:

Registres paroissiaux du Fonds Létourneau (1820-2013) (Fonds Létourneau parish registers (1820-2013))

The Fonds Létounreau is a collection of parish registers photographed by the Société de Généalogie des Cantons-de-L’Est.

These registers cover the Sherbrooke diocese from the opening of the registers until 2013.

Registres québécois, Actes découpés (Quebec registers, cut-out records)

The Registres québécois, Actes découpés folder contains cut-out records taken from various parish registers in Abitibi-Témiscamingue as well as the Gaspé Peninsula. What differentiates these records is that they are individually cut-out from the parish register, often making them easier to browse and read.

Registres québécois, Série 4000 (1801-2008) (Série 4000 Quebec registers (1801-2008))

The Série 4000 contains parish registers from various regions in Quebec, mainly the Gaspé Peninsula, Mauricie, the Laurentians, the Eastern Townships and Outaouais. These registers cover from the beginning of the 19th century up to 2008.

The registers are organized in a file tree structure and the images are separated by parish name and then by year. Some parishes are sorted under the name of the city or region they serve, while others are listed according to the name of the parish itself.

It is important to know that in general, the images are listed in chronological order.

This means that the first image in the folder will contain the first events recorded in that year, which are usually the ones from January. Similarly, the last few images in the folder will be those from the end of the year.

The Recensements – Censuses folder contains censuses held in Eastern Canada at various times. The 1861 census of Lower Canada, the censuses of New Brunswick from 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901, as well as numerous excerpts from the censuses of New France dating from between 1666 and 1765. Note that these censuses are not always exhaustive.

The censuses are presented in a file tree structure and are navigated with the help of your cursor.

The Drouin Institute is currently in the process of redigitizing several parish registers from the Drouin collection to improve their readability. These redigitized images are exclusive to GenealogyQuebec.com.

The Drouin Collection Records can be browsed with a subscription to Genealogy Quebec here.