McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Archibald Chaussegros de Léry Macdonald Collection
General material designation
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Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on creator of the collection.
Level of description
Collection
Repository
Reference code
CA RBD MSG 439
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
95 cm of textual records
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
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Archival description area
Name of creator
(1862-1939)
Biographical history
Archibald Chaussegros de Léry Macdonald, was the son of Antoine-Eustache Lefebvre de Bellefeuille MacDonald and Marie-Louise de Lotbinière Harwood. He was born in Montreal on 28 June 1862. A Montreal lawyer, business, historian, and collector, he became well known for his historical and genealogical publications. He received a classical education at the Collège Sainte-Marie before studying law at the Université Laval de Montréal. He married Marie-Louise-Dumontine-Augusta Globensky on 24 September 1884. The couple had five children. Macdonald was for some years the law partner of W. D. Lighthall. He acquired the rights to the Seigneurie of Rigaud in 1897. He also served as mayor of Rigaud from 1901 to 1904, and from 1910 et 1913. He died 21 May 1939 at the Hôpital Notre-Dame de Montréal.
Custodial history
Collected by Archibald Chaussegros de Léry Macdonald from various sources over many years; this is described in his letter of June the 9th, 1922, to Dr. Gerhard Lomer, University Librarian. He recovered much of the material from attics and storage cupboards of family members and from people whom he visited. Acquired by the library from Archibald Chaussegros de Léry Macdonald in 1922.
Scope and content
The collection contains business and family correspondence, land grants, financial and judicial records, etc. of the seigneurial families Chartier de Lotbinière, Rigaud de Vaudreuil, Lefebvre de Bellefeuille, Lemoyne de Longueuil, Lambert Dumont, Chaussegros de Léry, Hertel, Harwood, and of allied families. Much of the material concerns the Seigneurie de Vaudreuil. Other material include correspondence (1809-1821) with Joseph Bouchette; extracts from the registers (1667, 1732) of the Conseil Souverain and the Conseil Superieur; and documents concerning Newton Township, the Seigneurie des Mille-Iles.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Language of material
- English
- French
Script of material
Language and script note
Primarily French with some English.
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
A complete inventory with a name index and genealogical tables is available.
Associated materials
Fonds Famille MacDonald, P30, Centre d'histoire La Presqu'île, contains records documenting the life of Archibald Chaussegros de Léry MacDonald and some of his genealogical research.
Accruals
General note
The seigneuries were the principal form of land distribution in New France, and continued in existence after the Province was ceded to Great Britain in 1763. The system was abolished in 1854, but payments of various kinds were still being collected in the twentieth-century. It was based on the feudal system in which the tenants were personally dependent on the seigneur. There were some 220 seigneuries created, usually about 5 x 15 km in size. They were generally river lots with the 5 km facing the St. Lawrence River. In all, they comprised some 36,500 square kilometers, virtually the entire inhabited area of the Province of Quebec.