Uncovering My Reddy Family in the Québec Hôtel-Dieu Patient Registers

While performing a Full Text search on Family Search, I made a new discovery, which is rather rare for me. It was Registres journaliers des malades, 1689-1876 from the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, the oldest hospital in North America.

I clicked in… and was quite thrilled with what I saw.

Between 1864 and 1865, five of my Reddy ancestors appear in the daily patient logs. They include my 2nd great-grandmother Anastasia and four of her sisters. Their short stays, illnesses, and one heartbreaking death are all recorded by the Augustinian nuns.

What These Records Actually Are

The Hôtel-Dieu kept incredibly detailed daily registers of every patient admitted. Each entry typically includes:

• Date of admission (usually just the day of the month)
• Full name
• Age
• “Native d’Irlande” or “native de Québec”
• Residence
• Parents’ names (often abbreviated)
• Occupation of the father
• Date of discharge or death
• Length of stay

For poor Irish immigrant families like mine, these were often the only records outside of baptisms, census and burial records. They captured the children during the chaotic years after losing a parent.

The Reddy Sisters in the Registers

Here are the entries I found for my direct line (all from the 1852–1866 volume):

• 14 March 1864 – Anastasie Pendergrast (my 2nd great-grandmother, age 10), daughter of Thomas Reddy, carpenter. Discharged after 5 days.
• 6 December 1864 – Bridget Ready (age 21) and Margaret Ready (age 16), both admitted the same day.
• 19 April 1865 – Eliza Reddy, listed as “orpheline P.” (poor orphan).
• 13–22 December 1865 – Margaret Ready (age 17), admitted on the 13th and died on the 22nd.

These five entries span just 21 months. They show exactly how hard life was for the children after their mother, Margaret Prendergast, died in 1862.

How to Find These Records Yourself (Step-by-Step)

Important note: This collection is not name-indexed or searchable inside FamilySearch. You cannot type “Reddy” or “Ready” and instantly see the entries.

Start at the Family Search homepage, click search and select Full Text Search. Put in your ancestor’s name (make sure to try your usual name variations like Reddy, Ready, Pendergrast, Prendergast, etc.). The Hôtel-Dieu registers will sometimes appear in the list of collections that contain potential matches.

Once the collection shows up:

1. Click on Registres journaliers des malades, 1689-1876 (Hôtel-Dieu de Québec).
2. You will see many different volumes listed, each covering a specific date range (the full collection spans 1689–1876).
3. Choose the volume that matches your ancestor’s time period. For my family I opened: 1 juin 1852 – 31 janv. 1866
4. Browse the images manually to find your relative.
5. Another way to look is to search directly for the collection name “Registres journaliers des malades” in the FamilySearch Catalog and open the 1852–1866 volume

Pro tip: The monthly summary pages at the end of each month list most (Anastasia’s name wasn’t there) admissions, discharges, and deaths. It can be a faster way to spot your surname once you’re in the right volume.

Why These Records Matter

Most of us expect to find our ancestors in censuses or church records. But for poor urban families in 19th-century Québec City, hospital registers often fill the gaps — showing illness, poverty, and how families survived when there was nowhere else to turn.

If you have Irish ancestors in Québec City between the 1830s and 1870s, try a broad name + location search. You might be surprised what turns up.

The Reddy children’s story is one of survival against overwhelming odds. The hospital records don’t sugar-coat it — they show a family that relied on the kindness of the Augustinian nuns when there was nowhere else to turn.

If these records help you find your own ancestors, I’d love to hear about it in the comments. The Hôtel-Dieu registers are free and digitized — they just need a little patience and the right search to bring them into view.

Happy hunting!