Showing posts with label Derek Hopkins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Derek Hopkins. Show all posts

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Quebec Family History Society "Connections" Arrive

The Quebec Family History Society has issued its Autumn 2008 issue of "Connections" today, and it is very interesting, as usual.

In this issue, they have articles on David THOMPSON and his last years in Quebec; the history of John METAGE, a Huguenot settler in Quebec; and the Artists Rifle Association and its 100th anniversary.

There is also the second report on "The Land Register of Quebec" written by Sharon Callaghan, and she points out that it pays to search the land register to see if your ancestor is there because you might think they did own land and it turns out they did - so check the records.

There is also "Seminar and Excursions"; "Seminars"; "Library Acquitions"; and many short articles and pieces of research.

At the September conference of BIFHSGO in Ottawa, I met up again with Derek Hopkins—Vice President of the organization, and whom I have known since 1996—and he gave me a demonstration of the society's new database where he and Bob Dunn are adding birth, marriage, and death records in Quebec.

This is definitely a database you should check if your have ancestors that have come from Quebec. You must be a member of the society for you to check the database, but at $60.00 a year, it is a price well worth the investment.

The website is <www.qfhs.ca> and the address is: P.O. Box 1026, Pte. Claire, Quebec H9S 4H9.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

The Spring/Summer Journal Arrives from QFHS

My copy of "Connections" — the Journal of the Quebec Family History Society (QFHS) — arrived last week. The 28 page journal has a picture of the world-famous Quebec City hotel, the Chateau Frontenac, on the front page. Taken in 1943, it is an impressive invitation to the index on the inside of the journal.

One of the articles includes "New Kid On The Block: St. James United Church" (Robert N. Wilkins, p.6), a piece about a Methodist church hidden from view in Montreal by shops built in front of it! Now on public view once more, it was one of the largest churches of the Methodist faith built in the world. It seats 2,000 people!

In this church in 1906, Booker T. Washington gave a speech on anti-slaverly. Another time, Harriet Beecher Stowe gave a similar speech on that topic, too.

At the end of page 3 is "Researching Your Family Lineage in France" in which the QFHS is offering to "... carry out detailed family searches of your French-Canadian Family Lineage(s) from Quebec to France".

They will do detailed searches for $50.00 per search and a search will take, on average three to four hours to complete - an average of $15 - $20 per hour. Where else can you find research, that experience, yet done with a knowledge only available at the QFHS?

One other article to note is their two-part series on "The Land Register of Quebec: Part I - The System" by Sharon Callaghan (p. 17) in which she says " ... that there is now an on-line, searchable database in which you can trace the history of any property in Quebec".

Part II of the article will appear in the fall issue of "Connections". She will take you on a tour of the website, and will review the search venue at <www.mrnf.gouv.qc.ca/english/home.jsp>.

There are also two articles on Montreal: "The City of Old" and "Phoebe David (1736/37-1785)" on pages 20 and 21. These should not be missed, as they provide great reading.

If you have never thought about joining QFHS, maybe it's time to consider doing so. I have been aware of Derek Hopkins and the gang since 1994, and they have done wonders with the English part of Quebec family history.

To see what else is avaible, go to their website at <www.qfhs.ca>, or send them a note at <admin@qfhs.ca>.