Quebec Ancestors: La Societe des Filles du roi et soldats du Carignan, Inc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Quebec

Those of us with French Canadian heritage most likely descend from either a Filles du Roi and/or a Soldat du Carignan. Even more likely is that you will descend from more than one of them.

The Filles du Roi, or King's daughters, were women of marriageable age that were sent from France to help colonize and grow the population of New France. Almost 800 women were sent between 1663 and 1673, with their passage paid for by King Louis XIV of France. A dowry of 50 livres was given to many upon their marriage to one of the unmarried male colonists.

The Soldats du Carignan were of the Carignan-Salieres Regiment. The Regiment were the first regular troops from France, arriving in the summer of 1665. Their presence in the colony was to mainly counter the Iroquois and Mohawk. The second part of the plan was to have the soldiers and officers settle in New France. Of the around 1200 soldiers and officers that came, over 450 decided to stay and make New France their home. Many of the married Filles du Roi.

http://www.fillesduroi.org/NewIndex.htm

If you think you have a Filles du Roi or a Soldat du Carignan, a good place to start your research is La Societe du Filles du roi et soldats du Carignan, Inc. You can become a member of the Society, but it is not necessary to view some of their online resources. If you are not a fluent French speaker, don't worry. As you can see in the screenshot above, there is an English version and a French version of the site.

Filles du Roi (King's Daughters)

Clicking under this tab gives you a brief history of of the Filles du Roi. At the bottom are two databases.

The first is an alphabetical listing of the Filles du Roi. Beside each name is their husband(s) and marriage date. The information was obtained through Yves Landry's  Les Filles du roi au xvii'eme siecle, and Rene Jette's Dictionnaires geneologiques des Familles du Quebec.

The second is an alphabetical listing of the Soldats du Carignan who married a Fille du Roi. Set up the same way as the first database, it lists the bride and marriage date. it also lists in brackets alternate spellings of the soldier's surname.


Regiment

This section also has a brief history of the soldiers and officers of the Regiment. It also clarifies that this database concerns the military men who settled in the St' Lawrence region of New France. It does not include those who settled in Acadia. Among the quick links at the top of the page is a link to the database listing soldiers who married Filles du Roi.

Another quick link takes you to a page that gives information on the ships that brought the soldiers and officers. Set up in chart form, you get the following information on the ships:

• Ship's Name
• Tonnage
• Captain's Name
• Origin Port
• Arrival date
• Company

There is another quick link that takes to a page listing soldiers who married, but did not marry one of the Filles. It is set up the same as the two above, with bride's name and marriage date.

The first database is those who are confirmed soldiers and officers of the regiment. It is set up alphabetically in chart form. The headings are:

• First name
• Surname
• Dit/ De Name
• Surname variations
• Rank
• What Company they belonged to

At the end of the confirmed soldiers is the list of unconfirmed soldiers. These are ones that no definitive proof has been found so far to confirm the fact they were part of the Carignan Regiment.

The chart has the same headings as for the confirmed soldiers.

The last database is an alphabetical listing of those soldiers and officers who never married. Besde each name is a description of any information found on the soldier. Here are a couple of examples:

1. Flotard, unknown, dit de Lescure, lieutenant-unknown, Witnessed 7 baptisms, 3 marriages in Montreal in 1669-70, probably returned to France after August 1670
2. Ménard, Gilles, soldier-Saint-Ours, listed as servant to Jesuits in 1667 and 1681 censuses, d. 2 April 1690-occupation frère donné (monk)
3. Vincent, Jean, soldier-Monteil, confirmed 8 April 1670, contract of marriage on 31 Aug 1670 w/ Anne Riviere but they never married

Resources

This section is filled with links to Societies, web pages, and web sites to help you further your research. Please note though that not all the links are active. At the bottom of the page is a listing of books and book stores.

Membership

There are two types of membership in the Society. The first is a direct descendant's membership. It costs a one time fee of $20US for verification of your lineage, and then a $15US annual fee, for a total of $35US. Membership includes access to data and records, voting rights, and a certificate honoring your ancestry.  You also get their biannual newsletter.

The second is an associate membership, for those who do not have an ancestor who was either a Fille or Soldat, but have an interest in them. It is also good for those who are researching, but not have yet confirmed their lineage. Cost is $15US annually. An associate membership includes the biannual newsletter and the ability to exchange information with other members.

If you would like more information on the Filles du Roi check out these sites:

• Canadian Encyclopedia entry
• Wikipedia entry
• CBC Canada

You can find more information on the Soldats du Carignan-Salieres here:

• Canadian Encyclopedia entry
• Wikipedia entry
• CBC Canada

Prince Edward Island Ancestors: Island Newspapers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Prince_Edward_Island

If you have been researching Prince Edward Island ancestors for a while, then you probably know about this site. But for those just starting out, you should bookmark Island Newspapers. The site is a partnership between the University of Prince Edward Island Robertson Library, the Guardian Newspaper, Island Archives, and Islandora.

http://islandnewspapers.ca/home

Home 

On the home screen you can see that first there's a link to purchase 125 Years Through Our Eyes, a publication by the Guardian newspaper. Clinking on the image brought me to the dreaded 404 Not Found screen.

Next is the This Day in History link. here they feature a past issue of a newspaper. Today's issue is the 20 October 1917 issue of The Charlottetown Guardian. You will be able to see each individual page of the issue. Clicking on a particular page will take you to a new screen where you can zoom in and out. You also have the option of saving your zoomed in image by right clicking with the mouse. Most of the front page in this particular issue deals with war news of course, but there are some local news as well:

http://islandnewspapers.ca/islandora/object/guardian%3A19171020-001

Next link is the Directory of Island Newspapers. Here you can access individual newspaper histories. I clicked on the Advertiser, and found out that it ran from 1946 to 1854. It was published by John T. Pippy, and was the amalgamation of the Semi-Weekly Advertiser and the Morning News. It was published semi weekly.

The rest of the home page right now is a feature on electoral coverage from 1900-1962. It shows the issues of the Guardian published the day after the general election. The banners above the top of each issue showing the year is either red for a Liberal win that election, or blue for a Conservative win. The front page is showing, but click on that issue, and you'll have the ability to look at each individual page of that particular issue.


Browse 

Here you can browse individual newspapers. They are listed according to publication start year. In all there are 10 newspapers available for browsing. Some are actually two newspapers grouped together:

• Royal Gazette (1830- )
• British American (1832-1833)
• Colonial Herald and Price Edward Island Advertiser (1837-1844)
• Morning News and Semi Weekly Advertiser (1843-1846)
• Haszard's Gazette (1851-1851)
• Charlottetown Herald (1864-1923)
• Summerside Journal  (1865-1951)
• Guardian (1890- )
• Cadre (1969-1977)
• Gem (1983-1990)

Search 

Here you can search all available newspapers for specific terms. I typed "Aylward", which is surname in my family tree. Now my Aylwards left PEI in the early 1800's, so I did not expect to get anything actually relevant to my own research. I got 1,379 hits. On the left side of the results screen, I had the ability to narrow my results down. You can narrow by century, decade, year, month, date issued, and finally by page number. clicking on an individual result will let you zoom in and out and highlights your search term on the page. 

Timeline 

This handy feature shows the start dates on individual newspapers. A handy tool if you want to see which newspapers were around in a specific time period.

Directory 

This is the same page that you are able to access from the link on the home page. The directory lists all newspapers. There are about 100 newspapers listed. If the newspaper is one of the ones digitized, there will be links to take you to it. If it is not digitized on the site, try contacting the Robertson Library or the Public Archives and Record Office to see if they are available on microfilm. Contact information for the Robertson Library is at the end of the post.

About 

Because this site is a work in progress, they do not have anything to view in this tab.

Partners Tab

Another blank section.

User Guide

A blank page, like the above two tabs.

Donate

This will take you to section to provide feedback and donate to the project. If you have copies of old newspapers they would love to be able to digitize them. You can also provide a monentary donation.

If you would like to contact the Robertson Library of the University of Prince Edward Island, here is the contact information:

Robertson Library

University of Prince Edward Island

550 University Avenue

Charlottetown, PE

C1A 4P3

Specific phone numbers and email addresses are listed here.

Library hours change throughout the year. You can see the hours here.

Newfoundland and Labrador Ancestors: The Maritime History Archive Part 2

In Part 1, we looking at the catalog of the Maritime History Archive's holdings. In Part 2 we're looking at what else they have to offer.

Research Services

Staff can be hired to do research and provide scans of documents for a fee. Considering all they have in their holdings, the fees are not unreasonable. Research is done for $40/hour Canadian dollars, with a minimum charge of one hour's research time. Scans are an extra fee, the cost depending on what you are requesting. If you choose to go the snail mail route, there is a shipping charge. Depending on the size of the file, charges range from $2-$5 for shipping within Canada. Contact the Archive for shipping outside of Canada. Also note that a 15% HST tax is on top of the stated fees. A detailed breakdown of fees and how to make payment is on their website here. The page was last updated February 2017, so there should be no surprises.


Publications

The Archive has a few publications available for sale:

2018 Heritage Calendar:

Using images from the Archives, the calendar is $20.00 if you're local, or $25.75 if they're shipping it to you. Taxes are included.


Births, Deaths & Marriages in Newfoundland Newspapers 1810-1890:

This can be purchased as either a downloadable database, or as a CD. Cost for either is $57.44 with tax. Please note that neither is compatible with Mac operating systems.


Ships and Seafarers of Atlantic Canada:

This is also a downloadable database that can be purchased as a CD. It is actually three databases. There's one of Certificates of Registry for ships from major ports in Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and PEI. It covers years from 1787-1936.

The second database contains crew agreements from St. John (NB), Yarmouth (NS), Windsor (NS), and Halifax (NS). Years covered are 1863-1914. The database has information on over 200,000 names.

The third database contains crew agreements from non Canadian vessels, and contains over 100,000 names. They state that this database is a sampling, and by no means a complete database.

Cost is $57.44 taxes included. This product is also not compatible with Mac systems.


Canadian Fisherman

This is a set of 9 reels of microfilm. The Canadian Fisherman was a monthly journal that dealt with the commercial fishing industry. You'll not only find articles on the Atlantic Canada fishing industry, but also the Pacific, the Great Lakes, and the Prairies. It ran from 1914-1970. Cost is $290. It does not say but I would assume taxes are extra, since they do not specifically say taxes are included.

To see more details of the publications and place an order, look here.


Virtual Exhibits

This section can give you an insight into everyday life of Newfoundland and Labrador. There's exhibits on the ferries (called the Alphabet Fleet), Coastal Women, and the Titanic. You'll also find links to some of the collections we discussed in Part 1. They also provide links to virtual exhibits on other sites. Among the more than 20 exhibits I found:

• 6 different collections of digitized diaries
• Photographs from the Grenfell Mission hospital
• The Twillingate Sun, a newspaper that ran from 1880-1953
• The Mercantile Navy List and Maritime Directory. Digitized are various years from 1868 to 1938
• An exhibit detailing the sinking of the USS Pollox and the USS Truxtun in 1942

NL Heritage Web Site

This will take you to the Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage website. Here you can browse articles relating to the history of the province. You can also access photos, sound recordings and videos. The sub categories on the main page include Aboriginal Peoples, the First World War, and Government, among others. As of writing this, their featured article right now is on the 1892 fire of St. John's. While there, check out the other resources on the main navigation bar. 

Photo Catalogue

Here you can search their photograph collection. A handy tool when you're looking for something specific. I typed in "Grenfell Mission" and got 426 photos. 

Crew Agreements

This is the gem of their collections. From this link you can access three different databases.

1881 Crew Lists Database

The database has names of over 300,000 seamen from British registered vessels. You can search in any of four ways: Last Name, First Name, Vessel Name, or Official Number. I typed "Greening" in the last name field and got four hits. Each hit took me to a digitized image of the crew lists. This is a work in progress, so if your ancestor is not showing up, then keep checking. As, well search with variations on the last name. My 2x great grandfather, Dougald McArthur, was a ship's steward from Glasgow. I tried both MCARTHUR and MACARTHUR, and got different results each time. Also try searching with an initial as opposed to a complete first name. You'll get more possible hits that way.

Newfoundland and Labrador Crew Lists Database

Set up the same way as the 1881 database, this one deals with only crew lists from Newfoundland and Labrador. Along with search terms above, you can also search by Voyage Year. There are lists from 1863-1942. The initial project is complete, but as they come across more of the documents, they will add to the database. 

Merchant Seamen - Commissioned Fleet Auxiliary, 1914-1920

This database deals solely with the crew agreements of the Sunhill. You can search by either Last Name or First Name. As with the other databases, your results page will include links to the digitized image. This one is also a work in progress, so keep checking back if you don't find anything at first.

Contact information for the Maritime History Archive is:

Maritime History Archive

Memorial University of Newfoundland

St. John's NL

A1C 5S7

709-864-8428

mha@mun.ca

If you want to visit the Archive in person:

230 Elizabeth Avenue

St. John's NL

Henrietta Harvey (Mathematics) Building

Hours are Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The contact page was last updated in July of 2017. The first rule of visiting an archive is to always call to confirm hours though. I broke this rule last spring when I tried to visit an Museum/Archive in Alberta. We drove 3 hours only to find out that they were closed that day because they were changing their exhibits in the Museum. It was a nice drive, but not how I would have picked to spend the day!

Newfoundland and Labrador Ancestors: The Maritime History Archive Part 1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Newfoundland_and_Labrador

Researching family history in Newfoundland presents unique challenges. Though European colonization of "The Rock" goes back farther than even Quebec City, Newfoundland did not become a province of Canada until 1949. For a complete history and overview of the province, you can check out the Canadian Encyclopedia's entry on Newfoundland and Labrador here. Because they are a comparatively recent addition to Canada the normal avenues of Canadian research don't apply to Newfoundland. You have to be a little more creative in your research.

The province has always had strong ties to Maritime industries. One great resource for searching for your ancestor is the Maritime History Archive. As part of the Memorial University campus in St. John's, their mandate is to preserve the maritime history of not only Newfoundland and Labrador, but the north Atlantic as a whole.

https://www.mun.ca/mha/

This site has a wealth of information. You can spend a lot of time just on the site itself, and only a tiny part of what they have is online. I'm actually diving this post into two parts, because there's so much to look at. Click on the Holdings and Collections tab and prepare to lose yourself in the collections. I don't have Newfoundland ancestors but I'm wishing I did after looking at what they have.


Business Collections

This shows you the fonds from over 60 businesses. There are mercantile companies, shipping companies, as well as ones involved in ship building. Clicking on a company name gives you a description of what's available, ownership, copyright, as well as a history of the company. In some cases you can even find biographies of the families involved. Among the individual collections you'll find ledgers, payroll, diaries and journals. I also found in some collections wills and correspondence.


William Button Diaries

William Button was the son of Moses Button. M. Button and Sons started out as a general store. Through the years they diversified to include a lobster canning factory, a cod liver oil factory, ownership of wharves, and saw mills. The diaries of William Button include the years 1908, 1911-1913, and 1918-1925. Clicking on a year will give you a transcription of the diary. Though it mostly deals with the running of their businesses, you will find mention of the local community as well. For example, on 15 March 1922 he wrote how Dr. Templeton visited him. The doctor had earlier treated Wesley Goodwin's wife and child, who had fallen down some stairs.


Haystack Photographic Collection

Here you can find a history of the community of Haystack. As well, there are over 200 photos showing the people and culture of the area. The photos range from the 1920's to the 1960's. Photographs of people are captioned with names when known. I saw last names of Gilbert, Allen, and Halfyard, just to name a few.


Job Photograph Collection

The Job Family business empire lasted for 300 years, under various business names. Their photograph collection offers an insight into maritime life through the years. the photos are grouped under the headings of Property, Fishing, Events, Local Scenes, and Recreation. Clicking on the Larger Image link under each picture will give you a description and year.


Keith Matthews Collection

Dr. Keith Matthews amassed an extensive collection on the early surnames of the province. The files involve over 7,000 different surnames from 1500-1850. By clicking on the "Name Files" link, you can check if your surname of interest has a file. I looked up the surname of a friend with Newfoundland heritage (GREENING), and found that it is file G217. Using this I can order a PDF scan of the file sent me by email. Cost is .25 per page. They will only send you the complete file, not just certain pages. Among the pages, you will find Dr. Matthews' notes on the surnames. Among the sources he collected are religious records and court records.

Among the collection are also three other groups of documents. There's a collection of early Newfoundland history from British sources, and one on Newfoundland fisheries. The third deals with his research for his doctoral thesis.


Manuscripts

Here you can use the search function to look for manuscripts relating to a specific topic you're interested in.


Maps, Plans and Hydrographic Charts

No link here to anything more specific, but it does state that their collection is "mostly relating to areas around Newfoundland and Labrador".


Newspapers and Periodicals

Here they list the over 50 titles in their collection. There are originals and microfilm copies. What's interesting about this collection is that the newspapers and broadsheets are not just from Newfoundland and Labrador. You'll find them from all over England, from Ireland, and from New York. There's even a French language one from Jersey.


Phillip Templeton Ltd. Diary 1914

Here you'll find a transcription of the 1914 diary of Phillip Templeton Ltd. What's unique about this diary is that it is a company diary, as opposed to a personal one. Entries were made by several staff. Though it mainly relates to company matters, you will also find items about the local area of Catalina. It has mentions of World War I and the S.S. Newfoundland sealing disaster. You'll also find mention of the sinking of the Empress of Ireland. You can find my own blog post about the sinking here.


Photograph Collections

This section allows you to search for photographs by keyword. I put in "catalina" and got 19 photographs of scenery and boats from the area.


Researching Genealogy and Family History

This section gives you a listing of different collections to help with your genealogy research. Clicking on a record set gives you details and access of that particular set. There's family histories, and collections on indexes for vital statistics. You can find English and Irish parish records, and census records. There's also Captain's registers and crew agreements.


Resettlement Photo Collection

From the 1950's to 1970's, the Provincial government sponsored a resettlement of over 200 isolated communities. The controversial plan affected around 50,000 people. The government would financially help families to relocate to more accessible areas. The kicker was that everyone in a community had to agree before any money would be paid. As you can imagine, this caused some friction. Later, the stipulation was that 90% of the community had to agree. This section gives an overview of the "Resettlement", as it became known as. There are documents (both images and transcriptions) relating to it. You can also look at individual communities affected. Here you'll get a history of the community, and photos. People are named, so you might even find a picture of your family in there.


Shipping Records

Here are links to the different collections in their holdings. Among the overview of each collection set, you'll also get links to other helpful websites, and how go about ordering records. The record sets are:

• Crew Lists and Log Books
• Vessel Registers
• Shipping Lists
• Ships Captains
• Voyages
• Shipwrecks
• Atlantic Canada Shipping Project
• More Than a List of Crew

Student Research Papers

Here they describe their collection of student papers relating to the history, geography, and anthropology of Newfoundland and Labrador. There are thousands of papers, written between 1969 and 1986.

Young Men and the Sea Database Collection 

This section details the information used for the book Young Men and the Sea: Yankee seafarers in the Age of Sail. The three databases are Voyages, Salem Tax Lists, and Salem Tax Valuation Lists.

In Part 2 we'll look at what else is available on the website, including virtual exhibits, research services, and publications.