The origin of the words cleric and clergy are the Latin and Old French clericus, meaning an official in charge of record keeping, and from Old English, meaning "literate person." Coined during an era in which the majority of people were illiterate and monks in their abbeys were protecting the written word from destruction by attacking hordes, church clergy earned the right to be keepers of official records.
Church and State worked hand-in-hand in New France
The French pioneers of New France, both Canada and Acadia, were for the most part religious people of good standing who believed in rule of law, arbitration, and respect for authority. They were also accustomed to the unpredictability of the politics of far away France and Britain and wanted little to do with it. When the British brought the conflict to their shores in an attempt to drive the French and Spanish out of eastern North America, the habitants shrugged and hoped the British would go away. They didn't. The British seized Quebec City in 1759. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 granted French North America to the British, but the Quebec Act of 1774 granted religious and linguistic rights to the French-speaking residents. That act of noblesse oblige was calculated to cement the habitants' loyalty to the British crown and dissuade them from joining the rebels' cause brewing in the southern colonies.
After war, life goes on
After the Treaty of Paris, the Catholic church continued its important role in the lives of the French-speaking residents of Canada. The treaty granted the habitants the right to retain their civil administration and religious freedom, and so the Church continued to be the official recorder of baptisms and burials as as it had been doing since the founding of the first parish in Quebec, Notre Dame de l'Immaculee Conception, in 1621. The church maintained this clerical role in Canada until 1926 when the recording of births became a civil act. Civil records for marriages began 1970 in Canada.
Genealogists look to church records
Genealogists looking for birth, marriage, and death records in pre-twentieth century Canada will have to rely mostly on church records of baptism, marriage, and burial. The records kept for centuries by the Catholic Church are crucial to Quebec genealogy and perhaps the only records in existence. Over the years, parishes have merged, changed, and dissolved, and the records have changed hands. Jeanne Sauve White has compiled a comprehensive guide to Quebec parishes in Guide to Quebec Catholic Parishes and Published Parish Marriage Records (Baltimore: Clearfield Company). Originally printed in 1993, it has been reprinted several times.
White's guide includes all Catholic parishes in Quebec province known to have existed prior to 1900 and a few later ones. The breakdown is by county, with its general location within the province given as well as a number that is keyed to the book's map of the province. The name of the regional archives in which the early records (usually more than 100 years old) of the county were found is given. A major city within the county is named. The dates shown in the list of parishes within the county indicate the year in which record keeping began, not necessarily the date of the establishment of the parish.
If a repertoire of marriages has been compiled for a parish, it is so indicated. Also noted is the inclusion of a parish's record in Loiselles Marriage Index or the Rivest Marriage Index. Contact information for those two indices is also given.
If researchers have the name of a parish and need to know what county it's in, there's an index for that. There's also an index of counties to assist in locating it on the map printed at the front of the book.
Records made after 1900
Most post-1900 vital records are under the jurisdiction of provincial authorities. Queries and requests for official documents issued in Quebec province can be sent to the Directeur de l'état civil Québec. Access to the Register of Civil Status, which contains information about births, marriages, civil unions, and deaths, is governed by the provisions of the Civil Code of Quebec.
Sources:
- Jeanne Sauve White. Guide to Quebec Catholic Parishes and Published Parish Marriage Records (Baltimore: Clearfield Company, 1993 and later editions)
- "Online Services," www.etatcivil.gouv.qc.ca/en/default.html, Directeur de l'état civil Québec, Government of Quebec, 2011. Downloaded 28 October 2011.
Denise Larson - Denise Larson is an author, editor, and freelance writer, mostly of history and genealogy, and a hobbyist in gardening and healthy ...
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