Sunday, June 01, 2014

Census Sunday: The Beauvais Family and the 1911 Census

1911 Census of Canada
1911 census of Canada (Hartwell Township, Quebec) [1]

My great-grandfather Joseph Beauvais and his family were enumerated on the 1911 census of Canada. [2] They lived in the parish of Notre-Dame-de-la-Consolation situated in Montpellier in Hartwell Township.

Joseph’s eldest daughter, Juliette, my grandmother, was born on 30 June 1901, so this enumeration is her first appearance on a federal Canadian census.

Cropped version of 1911 Census of Canada
Cropped version of 1911 Hartwell Township census

The Beauvais family, as seen in the above cropped image version of the 1911 Hartwell Township census, consisted of head of family Joseph (33), his wife Olivine (33), and their children Ovide (12), Oscar (11), Juliette (9), Marie-Louise (8), Uldège (5), Léger (4), Romuald (3) and Emile (1).

The enumerator Antoine Leduc signed his name at the top of the form and wrote the responses in French. Although he dated the return Juin 17 [June 17], the official census date was 1 June 1911, making it the “first Dominion census taken in June”. [3]

Joseph’s main occupation is being a farmer (cultivateur), but he works additionally as a woodsman (bûcheron), for which he declared that he earned $150 in 1910. Other details include the family’s religion (Roman Catholic), its members’ place of birth (the province of Quebec, except second son Oscar was actually born in New York State, USA), and that the only ones who can read and write are the five eldest children, presumably because they spent 10 months in school during the previous year. The family commonly speaks French.

Sources:

1. 1911 census of Canada, Hartwell Township, Labelle, Quebec, population schedule, subdistrict 15, p. 17, dwelling 126, family 134, Joseph Beauvais household; digital images, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 31 May 2014); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm reels T-20326 to T-20460.

2. 1911 census of Canada, Hartwell Township, Labelle, Quebec, pop. sched., subdist. 15, p. 17, dwel. 126, fam. 134, Joseph Beauvais household.

3. Dave Obee, Counting Canada: A Genealogical Guide to the Canadian Census (Victoria, BC: Dave Obee, 2012), 148.

Copyright © 2014, Yvonne Demoskoff.

1 comment:

  1. I'm always curious about my family history. My name is Celeste Leger Leone. I took my maiden name as my middle name at baptism. My father was Edward Joseph Leger. I'm struggling to clear up a discrepancy on a genealogy tree. My Uncle Clifford is listed as still living. Thet would make him 109 years old now. My father would be 113 if he were still alive. He died when I was like 2 weeks shy of 20. Cancer. Anyway glad to find this blog.

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