Skip to main content

Digital Resource: Voyageur Database

The Descent of the Fraser River, 1808, from a color drawing by C. W. Jefferys
Those researching the economic history of early Canada may find useful the Voyageur Database, which includes data from approximately 35,900 fur trade contracts signed in front of Montreal notaries between 1714 and 1830. It is currently the single largest collection of data regarding the contracts signed by participants in the Montreal fur trade. The information collected from the contracts includes: family names, parishes of origin, hiring company, length of contract, destination(s), advances and wages, supplies, conditions of hire, the name of the notary, date of signing, and miscellaneous notes. As the website explains, "The database provides information on a group that was mostly illiterate and thus previously difficult to document and write about. The Voyageur Database documents the expansion of a continental system of trade that had a profound effect on peoples and communities, throughout the continent."
     The project director is Nicole St-Onge of the University of Ottawa; oRbert Englebert of the University of Saskatchewan is assistant director. Their efforts build on the initial labors of Alfred Fortier, executive director of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface (1990-2002), who created the database that became the starting point of the larger project.

Popular posts from this blog

The Exchange is changing platforms! Please read to continue receiving our messages [working links]

  Dear subscribers to The Exchange: I am happy to announce that our blog is moving platforms. For almost a decade, the Business History Conference has used Blogger to publish and archive posts. However, in early 2021, the blogging site announced that their email serving service would be terminated. In addition, we noticed that many of our subscribers had stopped receiving the blog’s emails, and our subscription provides very limited reporting. In agreement, the Electronic Media Oversight Committee , web administrator Shane Hamilton, and web editor Paula de la Cruz-Fernández decided to move our web blog from Blogger to our website . We now write to you to request that if you wish to continue receiving announcements from the BHC, please subscribe here: https://thebhc.org/subscribe-exchange   Interested people will be asked to log into their BHC’s account or open one, free. If you have questions, please email The Business History Conference <web-admin [at] thebhc.org>  Through The

#BHC2022MexicoCity Workshop: Empresariado en América Latina en Perspectiva Histórica y Global

Segundo Taller Empresariado en América Latina en Perspectiva Histórica y Global En víspera de la reunión anual 2022 de la Business History Conference   Historia empresarial en tiempos de incertidumbre: acogiendo la complejidad y la diversidad https://thebhc.org/2022-bhc-meeting   7 de abril de 2022 Hotel María Isabel Sheraton, México Instituciones co-organizadoras Business History Conference y la Asociación Mexicana de Historia Económica, A. C. Llamado a presentación de resúmenes El día previo al inicio de la Business History Conference (BHC) 2022 se llevará a cabo el Segundo Taller Empresariado en América Latina en Perspectiva Histórica y Global. Esta es una invitación para aquellxs investigadorxs que prefieran presentar resultados de investigación en idioma español o portugués y deseen aprovechar la reunión anual de la BHC para entablar conversaciones con investigadores internacionales especializados en las temáticas que trabajan. No hay temas predefinidos en e

The Exchange has moved to the BHC's website

  Dear members subscribers of The Exchange   The Exchange, the weblog of the BHC, is now part of our website ( https://thebhc.org ). We migrated the blog to serve our membership and interested parties best since Blogger is discontinuing its email service.   Note that this will be the last message we will send from Blogger .   The Exchange was founded by Pat Denault over a decade ago, and it has become an essential channel for announcements from and about the BHC and from our subscribers and members. Announcements from The Exchange will come up on the News section of our website as they did before. However, if you wish to receive these announcements via email, and you have not done so yet, please subscribe to The Exchange by: Going to our website's homepage ( https://thebhc.org ), s crolling down to the end of the page, and clicking on "Subscribe to the Latest BHC News." Or go to the “News” section of our website's homepage ( https://thebhc.org/ ),   and click on “The