Guide to Loiselle Card Index for Marriages in Quebec and Adjacent Areas
Getting Started
This guide focuses on the Loiselle Index available at the Toronto Reference Library. The Loiselle Index is a microfilm copy of a card index created by Père Antoine Loiselle, located in the Humanities and Social Sciences department on the second floor. The Index contains references to over one million marriage records for 520 parishes in Québec, six parishes in Madawaska County, New Brunswick and two parishes in Manchester, Hillsboro County, New Hampshire. A listing of the parishes covered is available on top of the microfilm cabinet. Please note that only marriages from 1642 to 1963 are cover in the Index.
Searching the Library Catalogue
Suggested Subjects and Keywords:
Suggested Titles
- Inventaire des contrats de marriage du régime français (in the Archives de la province de Québec collection) offers good information on marriage contracts for the French régime, but information supplied is not as extensive as that in Loiselle’s index.
USING THE INDEX – Microfilm FILM L835
The Index is arranged in alphabetical order: each reel’s box has been labelled with the first and last name to appear on that particular reel.
In general, the cards were filmed in alphabetical order. To conduct a thorough search however, you should look through all of the entries for a particular last name. In some cases, a person may be listed under a different first name since his or her first name in the Index may be different for his/her known or given name (e.g. a person known as Ted Smith may be listed under Edward).
Please remember to check all possible variations in the spelling of a name. There are no “see references” to direct you from one spelling of a name to another. Please note that there are two separate listings for the last names Dubeau and Therrien. These are the only family names with two separate listings. You have to check both of these listings.
A “card” exists for each bride and each groom. Therefore, each marriage can be searched under the bride’s name or the groom’s. It is not necessary to know the groom’s name to find information on the bride, and vice versa.
Each “card” gives the name of the bride and groom, the date of marriage and the names of the parish in which the marriage took place. If the bride or groom is widowed, his or her deceased spouse’s name is listed. In all other cases the parents’ names are listed opposite the bride or groom as appropriate. If any of the parents is decease, this is indicated. Also, if either of the sets of parents were married in a different parish, the name of the parish in which the parents’ wedding took place is indicated. If no parish is indicated, the parents’ wedding took place in the same parish as the children’s.
The following is an example of a “card” indicating where to find the information:
Written out, the information is:
a) Jeanne Baptiste, the daughter of Anne Baptiste (née Detroit) and a deceased father, married Marcel Lepoint, son of Pierre Lepoint and Catherine Lepoint (née Séguin), in Trois-Rivières, on August 20, 1864.
b) The bride’s parents were also married in Trois-Rivières, but the groom’s parents were married in Kamouraska.
c) For information on Marcel’s parents, check under either Pierre Lepoint or Catherine Seguin.
Abbreviations & translations
There are several abbreviations used in the index. The following is a list of the most common abbreviations, with translations where appropriate. Also supplied is a list of commonly used words with their translation.
Geographical Abbreviations
Mtrl stands in for Montreal and ND stands in for Notre-Dame.
Counties
Please note that you may not make copies of any material on the index without the permission of Père Loiselle.
Please address any requests to:
Père Antoine Loiselle
Couvent des Dominicains
5375 ave Notre-Dame de Grace
Montreal, P. Q.
H4A 1L2
For further assistance contact:
Answerline: 416-393-7131
answerline@torontopubliclibrary.ca
Humanities and Social Sciences Department, Toronto Reference Library 416-393-7175
Use our Ask A Librarian feature on www.torontopubliclibrary.ca
Comments