Quebec Marriage Returns, 1926-1997
A common social and religious tradition among Roman Catholic families in Quebec is to give their sons the given name of Joseph and their daughters the given name of Marie (or Mary) along with other given names that the child would use throughout his or her life. This tradition is reflected in this collection with a large percentage of men using “Joseph” and women using “Marie” or “Mary” as part of their full legal names.
Until the late 1960s and into the early 1970s it was normal for a woman to take her husband’s last name and drop her maiden name for social and colloquial purposes – although her legal surname was still her maiden name. Since 1976 a woman, upon marriage in Quebec, cannot legally change her surname to their husband’s surname without a special ruling that is issued by the Provincial Government and requires significant effort and costs.
Not all fields on the original documents have been transcribed and it is recommended to carefully read the scanned document presented with each marriage return.