La gestion des seigneuries de Gabriel Christie dans la vallée du Richelieu (1760-1845)

The author remarks that other studies have demonstrated the variability of seigneurial tenure in Lower Canada while confirming its essentially feudal character. The author's case study of the five seigneuries in the Upper Richelieu Valley acquired by Lieutenant-Colonel Gabriel Christie (1722-1799), which continued to belong to the Christie family until well after the end of seigneurial tenure in 1854, reinforces the view of the flexibility of the system, demonstrating the adaptation of the Christie seigneuries to the emergence of the timber trade. More importantly, she demonstrates the significant impact that administrative practices could have on the nature of the seigneurial relationship. The author notes that the major turning points in these practices can be related to socio-economic changes such as the Loyalist migrations, the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the defeat of the Rebellions; they can also be linked to the personal circumstances of the seigneur. Family connections also imposed themselves in the exercice of seigneurial patronage. She argues, in conclusion, that the almost exclusive attention which has been given to ecclesiastical seigneuries in the past has masked an important element of the social dynamics of the seigneury — the seigneurial family.

Revue d'histoire de l'Amérique française

Vol. 40

no. 4

561-582

Printemps 1987

fr