Yesterday a post by Gail Dever alerted me about a webinar hosted by Family Search covering Quebec Notary records. I arrived to the webinar in time and enjoyed watching the class and learned ow to find Notary records online.
I have spent quite a but of time working with the index to Quebec Notary records created by Ancestry. At Ancestry some of the records have been added but for the most part I have found it is mainly an index. If you keep reading you will find out how to find them online.
Usually when I find a file at Ancestry that I want to order I jot the information and send a request to the Quebec Archives (BAnQ). Now I know an easier way thanks to Family Search, because they have the records on their site!
Here’s the process
Step 1
At Ancestry do a search on their Quebec Notarial Records 1637-1935 (a search on the Catalogue should help you locate the record set, if the above link doesn’t take you there). My search results for Robert Jeffrey shows quite a few so I will look for the 1821 record, since I know that will not be his son.
Click the View Record or hover your mouse over it to see added information. I clicked the underlined one on the above list and here is what is shown on when I hover my mouse over it.
Step 2
Copy down the information that is underlined above, you want the date of the record, the act number and super important is the Notary name, as the Notary name is how you will be searching at Family Search.
Step 3
Head over to Family Search and log in to your free account. Once you are signed in at the top headings hover over search and in the drop down menu click on Catalog. That should lead you to a page that looks like this –
Ok, if you have gotten this far you are doing great! Almost there! Click on Author, on the next page *do not put in anything in the place field*, but in the Author field put the Notary’s name. (Please note that not all Notaries records are here but there are many and definitely worth searching.)
Step 4
Once you have been successful in finding a Notary name click it and below that you will see the record set.
Click on Actes de notaire and you have arrived. Scroll all the way down the page and you will see all the films that Family Search has for that Notary.
I need #3793 and once I find the correct film, I click the camera icon at the end of the line and voila I am looking at the microfilm from my home.
Now all I need to do is make my way through the film checking the top left corner to see what number I am at and using scrolling/ jumping ahead by changing the number in the Image box I make my way to the record.
As I cannot read french I am grateful that this record is in English. This Notary record is Hugh McAdam complaining about the work done by Robert Jafferey who he had hired as a stone mason. A nice nugget for my research on Robert.
Hope this is helpful and you, like me will enjoy looking through these records.
My Genealogy Life 
Nicely done Patricia! I too was on the webinar hosted by Family Search yesterday covering Quebec Notary records. I’m always looking for some new tips and tricks since searching through Quebec Notarial records could be cumbersome and somewhat challenging for some. Lots of patience is required but it is well worth it when you find new pieces of genealogical info.
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I found that putting Actes de notaire in the title field of familysearch and then the surname of the notaire and then to look up a new one, I just changed name in the author field. It means I didn’t have to look at list of authors’ surnames who were not notaries. Because first names and initials are sometimes different than what is in Ancestry, it helped not to fill in first name but chose from a list. At least with Actes de notaire in the title field, I know the names that show up in the author field are actually notaires!
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That’s a great tip
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