Eastern Townships

The Eastern Townships of Quebec are roughly bounded between the 45° and 47° latitude, and 70° and 73° longitude in the southeastern part of the Province of Quebec, south of the St. Lawrence River, north of the New England states, and east of the Richelieu River.
 
There are numerous mountains, rolling hills, river valleys, and very good farm land in the Eastern Townships. The area was predominately English speaking in its early years and many United Empire Loyalists settled here.
 
There are twelve counties and 87 townships in this part of Quebec. Over the years there have been some name changes, and the list below provides the names of the counties in 1978. In recent years, the government of Quebec has consolidated administratively and renamed many areas in the province. For that reason, some counties no longer retain their original name and, for example, now appear as Brome-Missisquoi instead of the two separate counties, Brome and Missisquoi.
 
Counties and Townships of the Eastern Townships c.1978
 
Counties
Townships
ARTHABASKA
Horton, Bulstrode, Blandford, Stanfold, Arthabaska, Chester, Tingwick, Warwick, Simpson
BROME
Farnham, Brome, Bolton, Potton, Sutton
COMPTON
Westbury, Bury, Lingwick, Hampden, Ditton, Auckland, Clifton, Compton, Eaton, Newport, Hereford
DRUMMOND
Grantham, Wendover, Simpson, Kingsey, Durham, Wickham
FRONTENAC*
Adstock, Forsyth, Dorset, Marlow, Risborough, Spalding, Ditchfield, Louise, Clinton, Woburn, Chesham, Marston, Whitton, Winslow, Gayhurst, Aylmer, Lampton, Price
MEGANTIC
Somerset, Nelson, Inverness, Leeds, Thetford, Coleraine, Ireland, Halifax
MISSISQUOI**
Dunham, Stanbridge, West Farnham,
RICHMOND
Melbourne, Cleveland, Shipton, Windsor, Stoke, Brompton
SHEFFORD
Milton, Roxton, Ely, Stukely, Granby, Shefford
SHERBROOKE
Orford, Ascot
STANSTEAD
Magog, Hatley, Barford, Barnston, Stanstead
WOLFE
Wotton, Noth & South Ham, Wolfeston, Garthby, Stratford, Weedon, Dudswell
 
* Some include Frontenac in what is now called the Eastern Townships, and some do not. Some of the references of the late 1800s include the Counties of Beauharnois and Chateauguay, but they are definitely outside the pale in any recent standards, being instead part of what is usually referred to now as the Chateauguay Valley.
 
** The seigneuries of St. Armand East and West were also in Missisquoi County, and in later years, were called parishes.