​          ​The Lords of the Manors divided the Seigneuries in New France. Originally from Mortagne, Dr. Robert Giffard was Lord of the Seigneury for Beauport. These Lords provided passage to would be tenants “les habitants” who worked for the Lord for a designated period in order to pay his passage to the new land. At the time Jean Côté arrived, five years was a common obligation, at which point the tenant was rewarded with a cow and a piece of land for his labour. 

        ​The largest part of a seigneurie comprised the lands conceded to censitaires (or tenants), called censives. Here Giffard, the seigneur, occupied a seigneurial domain, which housed his manor. The “terres de la fabrique” (church land) was home to the church, rectory (or priest’s residence), and cemetery. The lords set aside one plot of land, known as the commune, as a pasture for censitaires’ livestock. Water wheels powered flour mills, which the lord provided for the tenant farmers to use, and had to be along watercourses.

          ​Window glass was not available until France developed a process in 1688. Early abodes had no windows, and building ideas from the old country would have only had openings covered with an oiled, translucent paper that was shuttered in the winter.

           ​If you study church records in the Lotbiniere municipality in Québec or look up military records, French naval records, and other documents from the 1600s, you’ll expand your knowledge of the time.  I have made every attempt to ensure accuracy, but there are errors and omissions. Contact me if you have anything to add to the site. I am open to making it better for everyone.