The Christie Seigneuries: Estate Management and Settlement in the Upper Richelieu Valley, 1760-1854

During the period following New France's fall to the British, Lieutenant-Colonel Gabriel Christie (1722-1799)acquired five seigneuries in the Upper Richelieu Valley. They continued to belong to the Christie family until well after the end of seigneurial tenure in 1854. The author argues that seigneurial property rights were used to control access to land, timber, mill sites, and other resources. Because of the increasing importance of these resources in the colonial economy, the seigneury itself began to have a more important impact on the social structure of the pre-industrial colony. Significant changes in the management of the Christie Seigneuries came with each generation of the family -- changes that reflected the personality of the seigneur and the changing socio-economic conditions. There was, however, a persistent preoccupation with capitalist exploitation of the seigneur's domain property. Accordingly, the author maintains that seigneurial tenure during the century of British colonial administration was important not so much because of its differences from freehold tenure but because of its similarities: it could be used by large proprietors to monopolize scarce resources.

Montreal and Kingston

McGill-Queen`s University Press

1992

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