in Quebec The County of Argenteuil
in Quebec
The County of Argenteuil
Canada
Quebec
The County of Argenteuil is located at
80 km
of Montreal and 130 km from Ottawa. It’s situated
on the south-west side of the Laurentians.
Map : MRC d'Argenteuil
The feodal Seigniory was transformed into the County of Argenteuil
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The original Seigniory of Argenteuil
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After the
in 1763, Great
Britain appointed
rich and noble men as "Counts" or "Barons" as did the French
seigniorial regime. Its goal was to incitate these people
to come to Quebec and invest their money
to develop the economy more rapidly.
Montreal in 1760 - Picture in big size, PDF
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However many Counts after having received their title
in Great Britain never came to their Fief in Canada.
Several Counties remained without ever having seen their Count.
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Other
people received a title and a territory. They came and settled
for a few months and finally moved back to England.
They
told their friends they didn’t like
"to live in a country of savages and illiterates" …
Algonquins, by Samuel de Champlain
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A description of Canada, in 1799
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In fact the two systems, French
seigniorial and English
cantonal, cohabitated for many years
entertaining frustration and conflicts.
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In 1791, Lower
Canada was divided into Counties bearing British names.
The County of Effingham corresponds to what is now called the County of
Terrebonne.
The County of
York included all territories West of Effingham :
the future Counties of Vaudreuil-Soulanges, Two Mountains, Argenteuil,
Labelle, Outaouais, Pontiac, up to Temiscamingue.
In 1828, the
limits of the Counties were modified
and the new Counties received French names.
That’s when the Counties of Terrebonne and Two Mountains were erected.
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In 1854 the
French seigniorial system was officialy abolished
and replaced with the cantonal system like in England.
In 1855 the
province of Quebec was divided in new Counties
just like the rest of Canada. The name Argenteuil
was given to the County that englobed the former Seigniory.
For this
occasion maps of the Counties
and former Seigniories were drawn. They validated their
territorial limits, which were in certain cases very old.
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A view of the territory of the County of
Argenteuil as
repertoried by the
British Crown in 1861 on the cantonal map of the province of Quebec.
This territory included the seigniories
or townships of Grenville, Chatham, Harrington,
Arundel, Howard, Wentworth, Argenteuil and parts of Gore, Grandison and Mille-îles.
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Official
report of the 1861 census
for the County of Argenteuil
Document
provided by Renée Gauthier
Official 1891 religions census for the County of Argenteuil
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An Iroquois home designed in 1892
A dance of medicine and an Iroquois, in 1892
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At the
beginning of the XXth century,
the County of Argenteuil’s territory was modified again by
the Government of Quebec. It became an electoral district.
This County
included the Seigniories or townships of Grenville, Chatham, Harrington,
Arundel, Montcalm, Howard, Wentworth, Gore, Mille-îles and Argenteuil.
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The village of Carillon, before 1900
Landscape in the territory in the 1920s
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The County of Argenteuil, in 1927
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The map of the Counties surrounding Argenteuil in 1957.
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The electoral district of the new County in 2005
The Argenteuil MRC
The MRC (Municipalités Régionales de
Comté)
were created by the Quebec government in 1979.
They replaced the old County corporations.
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Otherwise the Seigniories were replaced by townships.
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Scenery of Argenteuil (Photo courtesy of the Office of cinema and television of Argenteuil-Laurentides)
Actual MRC of Argenteuil. The County
with 450 lakes and 3 rivers.
Map : Argenteuil MRC
Since 1957 the
MRC was amputated from
a large part of its territory on the northern side.
The County of
Argenteuil included twenty-one municipalities.
Nowadays there are only thirteen of them in the new MRC.
Furthermore,
the actual MRC represents only
one third of the original superficy it had in 1855.
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Detailed map,
in PDF format
Map : Argenteuil MRC
Road map of the area, in PDF format
Another very detailled road map of the area, in PDF format
View
of Argenteuil (Photo courtesy of the Office of cinema and television for
Argenteuil-Laurentides)
Newspaper, in French
L'Outaouais, une rivière aux noms multiples
(Article du journal "La Presse", par
Monsieur Normand Cazelais), au format PDF
Scenery
of Argenteuil (Photo courtesy of the Office of cinema and television of
Argenteuil-Laurentides)
Quelques liens utiles
--> Argenteuil, a territory rich in contrasts (MRC of Argenteuil) : Click
--> The Lower Laurentian Tourist Office : Click
--> The Argenteuil Regional Museum : Click
--> The brochure of the Argenteuil Regional Museum in PDF : Click
--> The brochure of the West Laurentians Heritage Trail in PDF : Click
Today the Counties still exist but they only
serve for electoral purposes even
though the MRC were created in 1979.
Certains Counties were modified. Some became
bigger, others smaller. Some of them had their name changed.
The titles of Count still exist and some of them are still in use.
These titles are hereditary and are transmitted from one generation to the next.
The title of Count of Argenteuil, as created by the British Crown,
is still recognized by the countries of the Commonwealth
and by other countries under the monarchal system
today.
The Count of Argenteuil today
The
present
heir
of
ancestral
title
of Count
is
Alain
Pierre
Chebroux
Seignior
of Argenteuil
and Baron
of
Grenville
The continuation with numerous documents about the Seigniory : DND
or Back
Thanks : This information is
courtesy of
His Imperial Highness Prince Normand, The Prefect of the Argenteuil MRC (Quebec),
Arnaud Bunel, Renée Gauthier, the Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec, and the
Atlas of Canada.
Translated by Renée Gauthier
© Alain
Chebroux, Count of Argenteuil : www.count-argenteuil.com
© Count Alain Chebroux of Argenteuil.
The Seigniory and the County :
www.argenteuil.name