BREAKING NEWS: François Courville (1829-1902) Accused of Assault and Battery

I was at BAnQ-Vieux-Montréal Archives recently, devotedly busy in the microfilms section, when I decided it was time to take a break. What better way to relax than to look at an early Prison Register of Saint-Hyacinthe? Note that it started in 1863 since prisoners were previously held in Montréal.

Continue reading

From the Archives: A Portrait of Louis Tourville (1831-1896)

Tourville Louis 03Q_P1000S4D83PT0057

Louis Tourville (1831-1896) ~ Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, cote P1000, S4, D83, PT57


Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec is always adding images to its Website. Everytime I check for Tourvilles, I find something new! Continue reading

#52Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #27 Michel Tourville (1759-1810) and #28 Catherine Marié (1764-1830)

I can easily picture Catherine Marié (widowed for almost two years), sitting in Notary Public Pierre Laforce’s office, on this afternoon of the 12th day of October 1811, along with her eleven children: the elder, Jean-Baptiste, 25, married to Rosalie Bleau for three years; Michel, 24; Rose, 23, married to Joseph Forget-Depaty for two years; and the minor children: Catherine, 19*; Antoinette, 17; Hyacinthe, 15; Marie, 14; Charlotte, 12; Joseph, 11; Charles, 9; and François, 7. [*Note: The age of Catherine is estimated but the age of the other children is based on their actual birthdates.] Continue reading

#52Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #17 Jean-Baptiste Hubou dit Deslongchamps (1654-1697)

Ever since I have started working on my Hubou-Tourville family tree, I have always read that Jean-Baptiste Hubou dit Deslongchamps, son of Mathieu Hubou, died on a military expedition between 1696 and 1699. You may have guessed how frustrating this was for me. Continue reading

From the Archives: Map of a portion of the Seignory of Barrow, St-Hughes, Lower Canada

With this post, I am launching a new series called “From the Archives” in which I will share my discovery of documents from various repositories.

As I am working with transcribing notary contracts for the family of Charles Tourville and Sophie Arpajou, I found this by pure chance yesterday on the Website of the Archives nationales du Québec. It is impossible to save the image, so what I have here (a screen shot) is not very good. On my next visit to the Archives, I will ask for a copy. By clicking on the image though, you will be redirected to the document on the Archives’ Website and be able to enlarge the image.

Plan of the "fief" Bourchemin-East, in the Seignory of Barrow (St-Hughes), divided in lots during the summer of 1822.

Plan of the “fief” Bourchemin-East, in the Seignory of Barrow (St-Hughes), divided in lots during the summer of 1822.

What is exciting about this document is that we now have a better idea where exactly was the land of Charles Tourville, Antoine Hébert-Lecomte and Catherine Tourville (Charles’ sister) as well as others. We also know that François Tourville was a neighbor to his brother Charles for a while. I will try to find out what was the number of his lot.

If you look at the lef-hand-side, you can read the name of Antoine Hébert-Lecompte, lot 43. Lot 44 is the property of Louis Girard but we know that Charles Tourville bought this land from Girard in 1827. Lots 38-39 are the property of the Plourdes’, the step-family of the sister of Sophie Arpajou.

If you click on this link, you will see where the chemin Bourchemin East is today on Google Maps.

Isn’t this exciting? 😉