Protestant Churches of Northern Quebec Regions of the North Shore of the St. Lawrence River to the shores of Hudson Bay, James Bay, Ungava Bay Vast territories referred to as: St. Lawrence’s Lower North Shore (Harrington Harbour) St. Lawrence’s Mid North Shore (Sept-Iles) St. Lawrence's Upper North Shore (Baie Comeau) Charlevoix (Murray Bay - La Malbaie - Pointe-au-Pic) Saguenay (Chicoutimi - Kenogami-Arvida - Jonquière) Lac St-Jean (Roberval - Dolbeau) Abitibi (Val d'Or - Rouyn-Noranda - Amos) Témiscamingue - Québec – Northern Ontario Border Eastmain District - James Bay - Hudson Bay Ungava Bay - Nunavik - Nouveau Québec Northumberland County A 1791 county which stretched from Cap Tourmente (just east of Québec City) to the Labrador border along the north shore of the St. Lawrence - It was later replaced by Charlevoix, Saguenay, Nouveau Québec counties. The settlements of Murray Bay and Tadoussac were the centres of the British presence in the territory in the 1790's, early 1800's. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northumberland_County,_Quebec As per a book compiled and researched by Réal Doyle and published by the Société de généalogie de Québec (Publication no 113-1-2-3 in 2007 by the name of Répertoire des baptêmes, mariages et sépultures de la Minganie, de la Basse Côte-Nord et du Sud du Labrador 1847-2006). The following is an adaptation in part of Mr. Doyle’s text touching upon the Protestant Churches and Missions of this vast territory: The Côte- Nord (North Shore of the St. Lawrence) has long been divided in sub- regions, one being Minganie also known as Moyenne Côte Nord or Mid 1 North Shore, the latter includes towns and villages between the municipalities of Rivière au Tonnère and Natashquan. The Island of Anticosti is included in the regional district of Minganie. The latter region is mostly made up of Francophones who migrated from Iles-de-la-Madeleine and the Gaspé Peninsula during the 19th century – As for the Basse-Côte-Nord or Lower North Shore plus the region of Southern Labrador (Labrador Coastal Region), these two regions being located east of Minganie, the residents are mostly English Canadians. Prior to the arrival of the Europeans, the Mi’kmaq and Beothuk peoples, plus at a later date the Montagnais were the first known residents of this region – During the 16th century, European fishermen, the Basques, Normands and Bretons were frequent visitors to the region during the summer months – The latter group of people never settled the region on a permanent basis – The region was first settled by fur traders from New France, immigrants from the British Isles, the latter including Scottish, Irish, British and Channel Islanders from Jersey and Guernsey. The latter group had previously migrated to the Gaspé Peninsula and Newfoundland – Other settlers to this region were Acadians from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and of the Gaspees (Gaspé). From about 1759 to 1854, the region was controlled by the Hudson’s Bay Company and as such, no migration of settlers was permitted. As per Mr. Doyle, the first Protestant Mission was established by the Church of England in 1874 with the opening of the Anglican Mission of Mutton Bay. Please note, that a large number of church registers including baptisms, marriages and burials are either lost or were destroyed by fire, such was the case of the civil registers of the Church of Scotland, the Presbyterian records for the region were destroyed in a church fire in Harrington Harbour in 1973, including most likely the church documents of the United Church. Other Protestant denominations who also had a presence on the Lower North Shore with Missions, for which church registers were never found, at least by researchers from this northern region, were Missions such as the Congregational Church in the town of Bonne-Espérance during the 1860s and 1870’s; the Plymouth Brethren Gospel Hall Mission of the 1950s in the towns of Anse-au-Loup, Forteau, Red Bay, the Pentecostals of Forteau in the 1980’s. Based on comments from Mr. Doyle, it appears that some of the Methodist civil register documents related to baptisms, marriages and burials are kept within the vaults of some of the United Churches of the 2 Gaspé Peninsula, no mention is made by Mr. Doyle as to the exact church or churches in question (most likely among those of the Methodist Mission of Cap aux Os), the latter are my comments – It is quite conceivable that the region of the Lower North Shore was first visited by Methodist and Presbyterian Missionaries from Gaspé and as such, the records could be found either in Lennoxville (ETRC) or Sherbrooke (BAnQ) or perhaps at one of the United Church Pastoral Charge in the Gaspé Peninsula. In addition to, Mr. Doyle indicates that over the last 30 years, he and his fellow volunteer researchers, have been trying to locate additional church documents related to baptisms, marriages and burials and the following are his comments on the subject. All Congregationalist church records are lost, Anglican church records dealing with the various Missions prior to 1874, only 25% were traced- back (where they are being kept is not indicated), the same applies to the Anglican Missions of Southern Labrador before 1860 and for the period between the years 1949 to 1958, the latter due to a fire at the Anglican Church of Pinware. The church records of the Presbyterian Church of Harrington Harbour are also lost, the latter previously outlined. In regard to the church records from the towns of Kegaska, Chevery and Aylmer Sound in the region of the Lower North Shore, these records can be found as part of the records of Harrington Harbour, the same applies with the United Church records for the same mentioned towns. Anglican church records from La Tabatière and Saint Augustine in the Lower North Shore can be found among the records of Mutton Bay. On the same subject, Anglican records from Brador Bay and Old Fort Bay can be found as part of the records of Rivière Saint-Paul (St. Paul's River). Also Anglican records from the towns of Anse-au-Clair, Anse-au- Loup, Capstan Island and Pinware can be found within the records of Forteau, the latter being part of the the Southern Region of Labrador – The United Church records in Forteau, includes all villages of Southern Labrador. Members of various families of the Lower North Shore of Québec and of the Southern Labrador region are members in most cases of the same families, you might find a baptism in one region, a marriage in the other and a burial in the region of the baptism. The work of Mr. Doyle is the first comprehensive attempt to shed light over the last 30 years, on a region of Québec and Southern Labrador unknown to most genealogy researchers, at least those of southern Québec. 3 Please note: Some of the information contained in these three books was obtained from tombstones from various cemeteries of the region within the Protestant and Catholic communities. Other sources most likely included regional Court Houses, plus Notary records kept at the Archives nationales du Québec in Sept-Iles and finally and most likely, records kept at various City Halls or Town Halls or Government Agencies through-out the region. Please also note that Mr. Doyle and his associates have also researched over the last 25 years the regions of Moyenne Côte-Nord (Mid North Shore - Sept-Iles region) plus the Haute Côte-Nord (Upper North Shore - Baie-Comeau region). Société de Généalogie de Québec Répertoire des BMS (baptêmes, mariages, sépultures) de la Minganie, de la Basse-Côte-Nord et du Sud du Labrador 1847-2006 – 2 tomes – 1,247 pages - #113 - $100. CDN plus shipping Réal Doyle, author https://www.sgq.qc.ca/images/_SGQ/Service/Boutique_Catalogue_2020.pdf https://www.sgq.qc.ca/images/_SGQ/Publication/BoutiqueCatalogue2017.pdf https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%B4te-Nord Effingham County Established in 1792 as one of the original county with Leinster and York, which formed the Laurentian region and regions then located north of the latter. The southern portion of Effingham would later become Argenteuil county and townships located north of Argenteuil. The northern portion of Effingham, most likely became Labelle County https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1825/Pages/districts.aspx - e Hampshire County A 1791 county located between Trois-Rivières county and Québec county - The northern regions of Hampshire would most likely have included some of the hamlets and villages outlined in this report. The southern section of Hampshire became Portneuf county. The northern section of Hampshire became part of Champlain county. https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1825/Pages/districts.aspx - h Leinster County A large territory and county established prior to 1792 with those of Effingham and York which formed the Laurentian region and regions north of the latter. The southern section of Leinster would later become Joliette, Montcalm and Terrebonne counties and the region north of these counties would become Abitibi county and the eastern portion of Labelle county. 4 https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1825/Pages/districts.aspx - l Warwick County A 1791 county located east of Leinster county which stretched northward to the outer limits of European civilization in those early years - The southern portion of Warwick county would later become Maskinongé, Berthier counties. The northern region of Warwick would become part of Abitibi county. https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1825/Pages/districts.aspx - w York County A large territory located west of Effingham County which later became Ottawa county to later be sub-divided into Hull, Gatineau, Pontiac, Papineau, Labelle counties.