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Archiver > GEN-FR > 1997-09 > 0873215158


From: "Val Laferriere" <>
Subject: Re: Quebec City 1840s - Two Irish Orphans Turned over to care o
Date: Tue, 2 Sep 1997 08:45:58 -0700


> To:
> From: Alan Sturgess <>
> Subject: Quebec City 1840s - Two Irish Orphans Turned over to care of Catholic
> Bishop
> Date: Sun, 31 Aug 1997 00:00:46 -0700
> Organization: Accent Art Distributors ltd.
> Reply-to:

> About 1847 to 1852 two sisters left Ireland for Quebec City. One
> sister was single and the other was travelling with her two young
> children. The mother died on the voyage and the two children were
> apparently turned over to the Catholic Bishop of Quebec City as orphans
> when they arrived in Quebec City. I realize that technically¶ this
> is not a French genealogy question, but the possible church records may
> be familiar to someone who has been searching their Quebec roots.
>
> Where would records of these orphans exist and where might one start to
> look for them ?
>
> Alan Sturgess Vancouver BC < >

Hi Alan:
Orphan questions are actually genealogy questions so don't worry
about asking that here. My father was placed in a Catholic orphanage
in Montreal in 1936 which is where he grew up, so as far as I'm
concerned it is part of my genealogy.

You need to give me more information before I can direct you to
church records. Do you know the name of these two sisters and the
two orphaned nieces? Sounds like they immigrated during the Irish
Potato Famine so without names and approximate ages, church records
are a waste of time at this point. Start with passenger lists
and census records (assuming you have at least the names) and
pinpoint when they arrived in Canada.

If you have all this specific info, you can proceed to write letters
of enquiry to the archdiocese for the different parishes. I have
been doing this for years and I have three bits of advice:
1) write in french;
2) send a modest donation;
3) include a self-addressed stamped envelope for their reply.

Here are some addresses you might want to try:
Archidiocese de Gatineau-Hull
180, Boul. Mont-Bleu
Hull, QC. J8Z 3J5
They have records rom 1840-present on various parishes and some other
dioceses that didn't have another place for storage since 1963
(that's the best of my french translation <grin>)

Archives de la Compagnie de Jesus, province du Canada francais
C.P. 130
Saint-Jerome, QC. J7Z 5T8
These are New France records from 1625-present of St. Jerome.

Archives de la Province Canadienne des Religieux de
St-Vincent-de-Paul
2555, Chemin Ste-Foy
Ste-Foy, QC. G1V 1T8
1861-1996 records (still worth checking). They hold all their
religious, historical and political records for the work they have
done in Quebec and abroad.

Archives de la Ville de Quebec
350, rue Saint-Joseph Est
4e etage
Quebec, QC. G1K 3B2
records are 1833-present and although this is an arbitrary source,
they do list all the municipalities and parishes throughout the
region so perhaps they can furnish you with a list of individual
churches (most of which still stand and operate).

Archives des Freres des ecoles chretiennes de Quebec
10 rue Cook
Quebec, QC. G1R 4R2
They don't show a date reference for their records, but they are
having to do with schools records that the brothers operated in the
region.

ARchives des Ursulines de Quebec
18, rue Donnacona
Quebec, QC. G1R 4T1
1639-1996 records for everything these sisters accomplished. you
would inquire about their "education" details.

Archives des Ursulines de Trois Rivieres
(Both my great-aunt and my husband's great-aunt reside here and I
know one branch moved to Cap Rouge recently but this address is still
good).
784, des Ursulines
Trois Rivieres, QC G9A 5B5
they have predominantly 1697-1996. They did work in other provinces
too so be sure to be very specific!

Quebec Diocesan Archives
Bishop's University
Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7
they have email!
mostly administration records and related organizations to them and
parishes for the Anglican Church of Canada, 1793-1994.

There are a few more addresses that I could give you that deal more
with the small towns than with church records specifically. If you
know the area within Quebec, let me know.

Quebec kept excellent church records, it is just a question of
finding out who holds the right ones for you. Most churches don't
hold on to them anymore.

When you get a little closer to the church/town/parish, let me know
and I will post a ;message on my web site for free. You can check
out the information currently available under Orphans/orphanages at
http://www.wie.com/~legends

Good luck!

Val Laferrière, President
Legends & Legacies Writing Services
Email: or visit
http://www.wie.com/~legend

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