Employees working in the Paris Office of Library and Archives Canada (LAC, then the Public Archives of Canada) created and added to the Paris Office Card Index (POCI) during the period from 1905 to 1950. The employees used the POCI to keep track of the documents of Canadian interest that they found in various French archives and transcribed. Transcribing constituted a means of creating copies before the use of microfilm.
The cards in the POCI constitute a chronological list of transcribed documents of Canadian interest in France. The POCI is organized by date of creation of the documents and spans the period from 1439 to 1897. Most of the cards, however, refer to documents created during the period from 1650 to 1765. A small alphabetical index accompanies the POCI.
The POCI is not absolutely comprehensive; it does not refer to every document of French provenance (transcribed or original) now in the holdings of Library and Archives Canada. This is because LAC continued to acquire documents of French provenance after closing the POCI. Still, the POCI remains a very powerful tool for anyone trying to retrieve documents of French provenance.
The transcribed documents referred to by the POCI are located in various archival fonds within the collection of LAC. Some of these fonds are:
- -Fonds des Colonies (MG1)
- -Fonds de la Marine (MG2)
- -Fonds de la Bibliothèque nationale de France (MG7-I)
- -Several French Departmental Archives (MG6).
Using the POCI
The cards in the POCI are hand-written. They are filed chronologically by date and provide the following information:
- -Title of the document
- -Sometimes a summary of the document (esp. letters)
- -Archival reference of the document
Researchers will find the POCI very useful when all they have to go on is the date of the document. In certain cases, the POCI will allow the researcher to track down different copies of the same document.
Researchers will sometimes find it difficult to properly identify or interpret the archival reference information on the cards. In part, this difficulty derives from the fact that the POCI uses diverse and arcane abbreviations when referring to specific archival fonds and series – see the examples below with their current LAC archival reference number between brackets:
- -Col. ou Colonies=Fonds des Colonies (MG1); the cards indicate the relevant series: C11A, F3, etc. (MG1-C11A, MG1-F3, etc.).
- -D.F.C.=Dépôt des fortifications des colonies (MG1-DFC)
- -Marine=Fonds de la Marine (MG2), with the series identifier: B2, B3, etc. (MG2-B2, MG2-B3, etc.)
- -Rochefort=Service historique de la marine à Rochefort (MG6-C1)
- -Bib. Nat.=Bibliothèque nationale de France (MG7-I), with sometimes the mention N.A.F., i.e. Nouvelles acquisitions françaises
- -Aff.étrangères=Fonds du ministère des Affaires étrangères (MG5)
Once a card in the POCI has provided the archival reference to the fonds and/or series, it will then provide the container (volume) number and the page (folio) number of the document in question. See the examples below:
- -Marine B3 105 ff.30-31v. This refers to a letter within the series B3 within the Fonds de la Marine. The proper reference is: Fonds de la Marine, Series B3 (MG2-B3), Volume 105, Folios 30-31v.
- -Bib. Nat., Fonds Français Liasse 22807, ff. 87-88. This refers to a letter within the Fonds de la Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des manuscrits, Fonds français, Collection Dangeau. The proper reference is: Fonds de la Bibliothèque nationale de France, Collection Dangeau (MG7-IA2), Volume 22807, Folios 87-88v.
It should be noted that sometimes the cards of the POCI bear references with the letter F that supposedly indicate the location of the documents in Ottawa. Researchers should ignore this specific type of reference information since it is now obsolete. Researchers should focus on the French archival references that the cards provide.
Researchers can find current archival references to these documents with our online research tool Archives Search.
Finally, researchers should note the staff members of the Paris Office entered information on the cards in French.
Files containing the different parts of the Index
- April 1439 to December 1636 [PDF, 10.7 MB]
- January 1637 to December 1649 [PDF, 9.6 MB]
- January 1650 to December 1663 [PDF, 8.6 MB]
- January 1664 to December 1668 [PDF, 8.8 MB]
- January 1669 to December 1671 [PDF, 8.3 MB]
- January 1672 to December 1674 [PDF, 9.6 MB]
- January 1675 to December 1676 [PDF, 8.9 MB]
- January 1677 to December 1681 [PDF, 9 MB]
- January 1682 to December 1684 [PDF, 9.9 MB]
- January 1685 to December 1685 [PDF, 6.6 MB]
- January 1686 to May 1687 [PDF, 10 MB]
- June 1687 to May 1689 [PDF, 10.9 MB]
- June 1689 to December 1691 [PDF, 10.2 MB]
- January 1692 to March 1693 [PDF, 10.6 MB]
- April 1693 to May 1694 [PDF, 13.3 MB]
- June 1694 to January 1696 [PDF, 14.3 MB]
- February 1696 to February 1697 [PDF, 12.4 MB]
- March 1697 to February 1698 [PDF, 12.5 MB]
- March 1698 to April 1699 [PDF, 13.7 MB]
- May 1699 to May 1700 [PDF, 11.4 MB]
- June 1700 to August 1701 [PDF, 11.3 MB]
- September 1701 to November 1702 [PDF, 10.9 MB]
- December 1702 to September 1703 [PDF, 10 MB]
- October 1703 to July 1704 [PDF, 9.8 MB]
- August 1704 to July 1705 [PDF, 10.5 MB]
- August 1705 to April 1706 [PDF, 9.7 MB]
- May 1706 to December 1706 [PDF, 9.7 MB]
- January 1707 to September 1707 [PDF, 10.1 MB]
- October 1707 to May 1708 [PDF, 9.2 MB]
- June 1708 to January 1709 [PDF, 9 MB]
- February 1709 to September 1709 [PDF, 9.3 MB]
- October 1709 to June 1710 [PDF, 9.9 MB]
- July 1710 to April 1711 [PDF, 9.9 MB]
- May 1711 to April 1712 [PDF, 9.5 MB]
- May 1712 to February 1713 [PDF, 9.3 MB]
- March 1713 to December 1713 [PDF, 8.2 MB]
- January 1714 to July 1714 [PDF, 8.3 MB]
- August 1714 to July 1715 [PDF, 8.5 MB]
- August 1715 to April 1716 [PDF, 7.6 MB]
- May 1716 to September 1716 [PDF, 7.8 MB]
- October 1716 to April 1717 [PDF, 7.9 MB]
- May 1717 to September 1717 [PDF, 8.1 MB]
- October 1717 to March 1718 [PDF, 8.9 MB]
- April 1718 to October 1718 [PDF, 8.8 MB]
- November 1718 to May 1719 [PDF, 9.2 MB]
- June 1719 to January 1720 [PDF, 8.6 MB]
- February 1720 to December 1720 [PDF, 8.9 MB]
- January 1721 to August 1721 [PDF, 8.4 MB]
- September 1721 to April 1722 [PDF, 7.3 MB]
- May 1722 to February 1723 [PDF, 8.3 MB]
- March 1723 to March 1724 [PDF, 8.7 MB]
- April 1724 to March 1725 [PDF, 8.6 MB]
- April 1725 to March 1726 [PDF, 8.3 MB]
- April 1726 to December 1726 [PDF, 8.2 MB]
- January 1727 to January 1728 [PDF, 8.4 MB]
- February 1728 to January 1729 [PDF, 7.8 MB]
- February 1729 to February 1730 [PDF, 8.1 MB]
- March 1730 to February 1731 [PDF, 8 MB]
- March 1731 to December 1731 [PDF, 8 MB]
- January 1732 to September 1732 [PDF, 7.9 MB]
- October 1732 to May 1733 [PDF, 8.8 MB]
- June 1733 to January 1734 [PDF, 8.2 MB]
- February 1734 to September 1734 [PDF, 7.7 MB]
- October 1734 to July 1735 [PDF, 8.1 MB]
- August 1735 to May 1736 [PDF, 8 MB]
- June 1736 to February 1737 [PDF, 8.1 MB]
- March 1737 to November 1737 [PDF, 8 MB]
- December 1737 to September 1738 [PDF, 8.2 MB]
- October 1738 to July 1739 [PDF, 8.7 MB]
- August 1739 to August 1740 [PDF, 8.2 MB]
- September 1740 to June 1741 [PDF, 8.3 MB]
- July 1741 to May 1742 [PDF, 8.9 MB]
- June 1742 to February 1743 [PDF, 8.6 MB]
- March 1743 to October 1743 [PDF, 8.5 MB]
- November 1743 to June 1744 [PDF, 7.6 MB]
- July 1744 to January 1745 [PDF, 7.6 MB]
- February 1745 to August 1745 [PDF, 7.7 MB]
- September 1745 to February 1746 [PDF, 7.7 MB]
- March 1746 to August 1746 [PDF, 7.2 MB]
- September 1746 to April 1747 [PDF, 8.7 MB]
- May 1747 to December 1747 [PDF, 7.9 MB]
- January 1748 to November 1748 [PDF, 7.7 MB]
- December 1748 to October 1749 [PDF, 8.1 MB]
- November 1749 to August 1750 [PDF, 8.2 MB]
- September 1750 to June 1751 [PDF, 8.9 MB]
- July 1751 to September 1752 [PDF, 8.6 MB]
- October 1752 to April 1754 [PDF, 9.3 MB]
- May 1754 to December 1754 [PDF, 9.2 MB]
- January 1755 to August 1755 [PDF, 9.8 MB]
- September 1755 to March 1756 [PDF, 8.6 MB]
- April 1756 to November 1756 [PDF, 9.3 MB]
- December 1756 to June 1757 [PDF, 9.2 MB]
- July 1757 to January 1758 [PDF, 8.7 MB]
- February 1758 to July 1758 [PDF, 8.4 MB]
- August 1758 to February 1759 [PDF, 8.8 MB]
- March 1759 to December 1759 [PDF, 8.7 MB]
- January 1760 to September 1760 [PDF, 8.5 MB]
- October 1760 to December 1761 [PDF, 10.6 MB]
- January 1762 to August 1762 [PDF, 12.1 MB]
- September 1762 to February 1763 [PDF, 10.4 MB]
- March 1763 to October 1763 [PDF, 9.8 MB]
- November 1763 to April 1764 [PDF, 9.4 MB]
- May 1764 to February 1765 [PDF, 9.9 MB]
- March 1765 to December 1765 [PDF, 10.2 MB]
- January 1766 to December 1766 [PDF, 9.6 MB]
- January 1767 to December 1768 [PDF, 10.2 MB]
- January 1769 to September 1771 [PDF, 10.8 MB]
- October 1771 to December 1774 [PDF, 9.4 MB]
- January 1775 to June 1777 [PDF, 8.6 MB]
- July 1777 to October 1782 [PDF, 8.8 MB]
- November 1782 to June 1785 [PDF, 9.2 MB]
- July 1785 to December 1800 [PDF, 9 MB]
- January 1801 to November 1897 [PDF, 7.7 MB]
- Abénaquis [Abenaki] to Berthelot [PDF, 8.7 MB]
- Berthelot to cures [parishes] [PDF, 8.2 MB]
- Dableige to Kruger [PDF, 8.4 MB]
- Lac Champlain [Lake Champlain] to Montcalm [PDF, 8.7 MB]
- Montcalm to Queylus [PDF, 6.4 MB]
- Rabotte to Youville [PDF, 8.6 MB]