Notes on Personne: Louis Renaud: Part Two

The opening paragraph draws from a WalesOnline story from 28 February 2017 available here. (Pulled 8/28/22) and also from Neil Oliver’s Love Letter to the British Isles Episode 1 available at Youtube.com.

The baptismal record for Jean-Charles can be found in Drouin here. Ancestry.com, Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967. Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2008 Provo, UT, USA. There are some indecipherable portions but my transcription is:

Le seiziesme jour du mois de mars de l’année mil sept cent dix [__________________] ont esté baptisé par nous prestre a Jean Charles néce jour fils de Loüis Regneault habitant de St. Antoine et de Marie Magdeleine Bedard ondoyé par Jeanne Pasquet [____________________] [__________] le parrain Jean Charles Roy [___] [___] garçon et la maraine Marie Joseph Bedard fille les quels ont declare ne scavoir signer de ce requis suivant l’ordonnance

The burial of Elizabeth Doucinet can be found in Drouin here .

Elizabeth’s baptismal record can be found here. See Archives De La Charente Maritimes Cote I 171-173 La Rochelle Pastoral Baptemes-Mariages 1632-1648 Image 551 of 645. The marriage record of her parents can be found in mage 381 of 645. The marriage record dated 23 November 1614 for Elizabeth’s paternal grandparents, Jehan (Jean) Doussinet and Madeleine Roy can be found here  See Archives De La Charente Maritime Cote I 160 (I 24) La Rochelle Pastoral Baptemes-Mariages 1610 – 1622 Image 19 of 32.

Elizabeth arrived in Canada on 11 August 1666. See LANDRY, YVES. Orphelines en France, pionnieres au Canada: Les Filles du roi au XVIIe Siècle. Montreal: Lemeac Editeur, 1992. 438p. Part 2: Repertoire Biographique Des Filles Du Roi, pp. 265-379.

For information regarding Elizabeth’s sister Marguerite see http://www.migrations.fr/FILLE_A_MARIER/FILLEAMARIER.htm#D. She married Phillippe Matou on 28 December 1662. It indicates that her parents Pierre Doucinet and Fleurance Cantou were from the parish of Saint Sauveur but this is questionable as they were married in the Protestant faith and there is no evidence that they recanted. Tanguay reports that Marguerite was christened in 1643 at Saint Sauveur but I could not locate any evidence to support this assertion.

Their brother Etienne appears to have taken a different path fleeing La Rochelle to England in 1682 and then on to New York. See Baird, Charles, W. History of the Hugenot Emigration to America, Volume 1. Dodd, Mead and Company (New York), pp 288-289. This book is available as a downloadable pdf. historyofhugueno00bair(1).pdf

In the marriage contract, Elizabeth is identified as Isabeau. Her parents are identified as being from the La Rochelle rather than being identified by the parish of the church they were from as is usually the case. This may have been a way to avoid the issue of her parents’ loyalty to the Calvinist Temple.

Jacques and Elizabeth’s marriage contract is available here. See Romain Becquet 1665-1682 Cote: CN301, S13 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Greffes de notaires – Archives nationales à Québec, images 525 – 527 of 1081.

The English translation courtesy of Christine Reno:  

Before Romain Becquet, Royal Notary in

New France and the undersigned witnesses, were present in their

person Jacques Bedard, son of Isaac Bedard, Master Carpenter,

and of Marie Girard, his father and mother of the Parish of Notre Dame

of Quebec on the one hand, and Isabeau Doucinet, daughter of Pierre Doucinet, Master

shoemaker, and of Florence Candau residing in the city of La Rochelle,

her father and mother on the other hand who, in the presence of Sir

Alexander of Prouville chevalier, Lord of Tracy, councilor of the king

in his councils and Lieutenant General of Arms of his Majesty both by

sea and by land and in the islands and terra firma of

South and North America, of Sir Daniel de Remy

de Courcelles, counselor of the king and general lieutenant counselor of Arms

of his majesty, governor of Canada, the island of Newfoundland and of Acadia,

of Sir Jean Talon, councilor of the king in his Councils of State and

privé [special?] Intendant of Justice, Police and Finances of the country of Canada, island

of Newfoundland and Acadia, have, according to their will and wish,

recognized and testified to have made their contract and promises of marriage

thus as follows: that is to say that he, Bedart, has

promised to take the said Doucinet for his wife and legitimate spouse,

as also the said Doucinet has promised to take the said Bedart for

her legitimate spouse, this marriage to be performed and solemnized before

our mother the Holy Catholic, apostolic and Roman Church

as soon as possible, and that it will be decided and resolved between them

if God and our dear [?] Holy Church consent and agree

for the future couple to be united in common in all their goods,

furnishings and acquired property from the day of the Espousal

following the custom of the city, district and viscountcy of Paris.

The said future spouses will not be liable for the debts of the other made

and created before the future marriage. Thus if there are any, they will be paid

and acquitted by the one who incurred them and from his possessions. 

page 2 

The said future wife will be accorded the customary dower

or the pre-established sum of two hundred pounds of dower to be

paid one time according to the choice of the said future wife, this

dower to be taken from the largest [?] [le plus clair] part of the goods of the said future husband

as he has at present, charges and mortgages. [?] The said

future husband will bestow on the said future wife with all her rights

[_________] [__________] [___] actions that she has at present and that could

belong to her by succession or [_________?] donation. Also, the said

future husband declares that his future spouse has brought and put

in community of goods up to the sum of two hundred pounds; and

arriving the death of the said future husband or of the said future

wife, the said future spouses agreed that the

survivor of the two should take by preciput before distribution and heirs[?]

the sum of one hundred Tournois pounds together with their clothing,

linens, rings and jewels according to [_?____] their usage, and

arriving the dissolution of the future marriage without procreated children

of said marriage, the said future spouses and [________] make from one

to the other irrevocable donation between the living in the best form

and manner that the donation can take place, [________]

of their ? persons? the movable goods acquired [in community], immovable acquisitions

which will be found to belong to them on the day of the death of the first

to die without anyone enjoying or retaining indivisibility for his presents

everywhere where applicable four months from today,

following the ordonnance the said future spouses have made and constituted for

their procurator the bearer[?] of the present to whom they have given

authorization [______?] everything [____] 

page 3

[________] thus made and agreed between the said parties

With the consent of the said father and mother of the said future husband

And[?] Chevalier[?] Philipe Mathou, resident, Marguerite

Doucinet, his wife, sister of the said future wife,

promising and obliging the said future couple the decision [?]

With regard to themselves and [_______________/]

In Quebec the bureau of the abovesaid and undersigned Notary,

this Sunday afternoon August 24th

1666, present Allain Allonoy[?]

and [______/] residing in Quebec [?] who have

signed the present documents with the said notary, and have the said

future spouses declare not to know how to sign or represent their names and [?] according to the Ordinance. 

                                                Jacques Bedard

                                                Faure [ ?]

                                                Salomon Allais [ ?]

                                                Becquet

For the debt owed by Louis to Jacques Bedard see La Fleur, Mary Ann, “Seventeenth-Century New England and New France in Comparative Perspective: Notre Dame Des Anges – A Case Study” (1987). Doctoral Dissertations. 1522. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1522, p. 247.

The transcription of Jacques Bedard inhumation is my own. The original can be seen here. Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967. Ancestry.com. Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2008. Provo, UT, USA

The formal inventory was recorded by the notary J.R. Duprac on August 1, 1711. A transcription is available from the Société de généalogie de Québec here. While you have to be a member to access the document, the membership fee is reasonable and worth considering. The document is too long to provide here.

The quote regarding the judgement of the Intendant dated 23 July 1711 comes from La Fleur p. 253. A copy of the ruling recorded by the notary J.R. Duprac is available from the Société de généalogie de Québec. The transcription shows the date as 25 July rather than 23 July. The specific reference to the Intendant’s ruling states that “Il est deu a Loüis Renaud la somme de trois cent six livres par luy preste pour retirer les droits que Julien Brosso et Elisabeth Bedard sa femme avois vendu et René Rheaume…”

The sections from the Inventaire are as follows:

Regarding the full payment of the dowry:

“Il est deu a Loüis Renaud comme ayant espousé Marie Magdelene Bedar

la somme de cent pour reste de reste de quatre cent livres pour estre

esgal en mariage d’avec leurs freres”

Reimbursement of Hospital expenses:

“Il est deu a Louis Reneaud soixante et sept livres pour trente trois et demie journéé fait a l’hospital”.

Regarding the cancellation of the debt and the grant of the hay fields:

Suit ce quy est deu à la succession

Il est deu par François Bedard la somme de cent livre que le dit deffunct son pere lui à presté

Il est deupar le dit Jacques Bedard la somme de cent vingt livres

d’argent preste par les dits Jacque Bedard et Elizabet Doucinet

Il est deu par Loüis Renaud vingt deux sols

quatre terres scitué au dit Charlebourg dependant de la succession

des dits deffunct Jacques Bedard et Doucinet lesdittes dits héritiers sont

conveneu que les et les foins pendant par la racines seront partages

esgallement entreux, et les mineurs du dit deffuncts Estienne Bedard

For the cession of land to Charles Bedard in Trait Carré see Société de généalogie de Québec https://www.sgq.qc.ca/ 1711, 16 août – Échange Charles Bédard et ses frères et soeurs (Jean-Robert Duprac). The legalize is difficult to translate. Here is a fragment translated by Google.  

“Loüis Renaud promises to give the said Charles Bedard her brother-in-law to help him 15# (livres) and the said François Bedard his pretensions in the raising of the wheat of which is on the land of the said late Bedard his brother, and the said Jacques Bedard likewise his claims in the said levy that he lent on the said land, and the said Thomas Bedard sours the sum of fifteen pounds in silver, made the day and in his presence of Sieur Thomas Blondeau, witnesses with the said François and Thomas Bedard and notary sign, and to the said Jacques Bedard declares that he cannot sign this inquired according to the order”  

Francois Bedard   Thomas Bedard    Thomas Blondeau     Duprac

The baptismal record for Marie Louis is available in Drouin.  Image 8 of 10. Ancestry.com. Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2008. Original data: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.

My transcription is

Le treisiesme jour du mois de Septembre de l’anneé mil sept cent onze a ete baptizer par nous prestre marie Louise née de ce jour fille de Louis Regneault et magdeleine Bedard sa femme la parain a de Louis Jurest garcon et la maraine Margueritte Bedard fille la quelle a [____] et la parain a declare ne scavoir signer de ce requis suivant L’Ordonnance signe Margueritte Bedard         Le Boullenger

The notarial records of J. R. Duprac show two entries for Louis for 6 October 1711. See Ancestry.com. Quebec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1637-1935 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.

Original data: Fonds Cour Supérieure. Greffes de notaires. Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Montréal, Québec, Canada.

See La Fleur coverage of the second generation’s “persistence” in Notre Dame des Anges pp. 232-276.

The 17 November 1711 transaction between Louis Renaud and Thomas Bedard can be found at Accueil – Société de généalogie de Québec (sgq.qc.ca). The legalize and utter lack of punctuation of the notary is quite confusing but it appears the primary focus of this transaction “is twenty arpent of land in area scissored and situated in said Charlesbourg holding on one side to the said purchaser, on the other side to Marie Joseph Bedard from the front in the Trait Carré of the said Charlesbourg, and by widening of two arpent of front the back of the depth, in that arable land and standing timber making up half of a land of forty of land in area without reserving any by the said sellers the known as Magdeleine Bedard belonging to the estate of the deceased Jacques Bedard and Elisabeth Doucinet”.  (My translation).

That same day, Duprac recorded a “Partager” which Louis attended where the land of Jacques Bedard and Elizabeth Doucinet was apportioned out to the heirs.

For the baptism of Louis, see Drouin, Charlesbourg 1679-1794 image 253 of 1120.  Ancestry.com. Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2008. Original data: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.

Le dix neufiesme octobre mil sept cent douze a ete baptize par nous prestre cure de cette paroisse Louis [_______] file de Louis Regnault [et Marie] Magdeleine Bedard Sa femme habitant de St. Anthoine le parrain Louis Jacques garcon et la maraine Marie Catherine [Chretien] fille les quells ont declare ne scavoir signe de ce requis Suivant L’Ordonnance             

Le Boullenger (My transcription).

The order of the provost judge from 19 January 1713 regarding Elisabeth Bedard’s renunciation of her interest in the estate of Julien Brosseau can be found at BAnQTL5, D2823-2.

Andrienne’s (Adrienne) baptismal record can be found in Drouin at Ancestry.com. See Charlesbourg 1679-1794 image 273 of 1120. 

Le septiesme jour du mois de fevrier de l’annee mil sept cent quinze a ete baptize par nous prestre Andrienne née de ce jour fille de Loüis Regneault habitant de St. Antoine et de Magdeleine Bedard sa femme le parrain esté Jacques Morand habitant de la [______] et la maraine Andrienne [Bourbo] femme de Jacques Jobin [_____] ont declare ne scavoir signe de ce requis suivant l’ordonnance. (My Transcription).

It does not appear she ever married. There is a codicil to her will registered in 1755 that appears to leave all her belongings to the church. Her inhumation also does not denote a husband. See Simon Sanguinet, Père 1748-1771 Cote: CN301, S251 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Greffes de notaires – Archives nationales à Québec. Her inhumation is recorded in Drouin. Ancestry.com. Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2008. Image 44 of 49. Original data: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.

Marie-Elisabeth’s baptismal record can be seen in Drouin image 289 of 1120 via Ancestry.com. (My transcription).

Le trent et un de mars de l’an mil sept cent seize ete baptize par nous prestre curé Elisabeth née de ce jour fille de Loüis Regneault et de Magdeleine Bedard sa femme le parraine a ete Jacques frichet [farinier] et la maraine Elisabeth huppé femme de Charles Bedard la quelle a signe et le parraine declare ne scavoir signe de [___] requis suivant l’ordonnance.

The quittance between Louis and his brother Pierre is logged in the notebooks of the notary Duprac. An image can be viewed on Ancestry.com. Image 32 of 40. Ancestry.com. Quebec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1637-1935 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data: Fonds Cour Supérieure. Greffes de notaires. Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Montréal, Québec, Canada.

The documentation of the surveyor Noël Bonhomme dit Beaupré can be found online at BaNQ. See Procès-verbal de cession de terrain et de ligne et borne séparant deux terres situées à Saint-Antoine, [paroisse de Charlesbourg]. La présente pièce concerne directement: Louis Renaut (Renaud), habitant de Saint-Antoine, beau-frère de la veuve Renaud et frère de Pierre Renaud; la veuve Renaut (Renaud), belle-soeur de Louis Renaud et de Pierre Renaud (arpenteur Noël Bonhomme dit Beaupré) 14 juillet 1717 Cote: CA301, S2, P2 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Greffes d’arpenteurs – Archives nationales à Québec.

L’an mil sept cent dix sept le quatorze de Juillet a la requeste de Louis renaut habitan de St Antoine et de la veuve renaut sa belle-soeurs [i_] Noel Beaupré artistic a qui il apartiondre et me suis expres transporté au dit St Antoine ou estant j’ay mesuret les terres dudit renaut et veue renaut en deux endroit [le plus etrois] en deux partie mais non egalle le quell il [s’ete] trouver ver  le milieu des dittes conssession pour le dit louis renaut quatre arpent six [perches] et six pieds et pour la ditte veuve renaut cinq arpents six perches et six pieds le dit Louis renaut voullant bien [lui] [les sera]  surplus pour la dedomager du chemin quelle doit porter apres quoy j’ay [tirai] une ligne deceparation qui [cour] du sud [suest] au nord norouest que j’ay tirai jusque au [bout] et planté [_____] piquet de sedre [ou] environt sur laquelle j’ay planter une bonne de pierre qui a raperte a une ancienne qui est planter en haut [sur] la face sous laquelle j’ay enterré brique et tinçons de tairinne le tout en presence et du consentennant du dit Louis et veuve renaut et du dit pierre renaut leur frere  

Noel Beaupré

(My transcription).

The “Accord” between Louis and Jeanne is noted in the notebooks of Duprac available at Ancestry.com. Image 32 of 40.

The baptismal record for Jacques Renaud is available in the Drouin collection from Ancestry.com - Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968. See Charlesbourg image 310 of 1120. Ancestry.com.  Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2008. Original data: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin. (My transcription). 

Le dix sept jours du moy d’avril de l’anné mil sept cens dix neuf esté suplées les Seremonies du baptheme par nous pretre Curé de charlebourg a Jacque ne de ce jour ondoyé par Jeanne reno regneault faisant l’office de sage femme fils de Loüis regneault et de Magdeline bedard sa femme le parrain l’esté Jacque bedard, garcon et la maraine marguerite jobin fille lesquels ont declare ne scavoir signé de ce requis suivant lordonnance 

The baptismal record for Jeanne Renaud is available in the Drouin collection from Ancestry.com. See Charlesbourg image 317 of 1120. Ancestry.com.  Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2008. Original data: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin. (My transcription). 

Le vingt quatriesme jour du mois de may a été baptize par nous pretre curé de Charlebourg Jeanne née du jour d’hyer fille de Louis Regneault et Magdeleine Bedard sa femme le parrain a eté René Louis [_____] at la maraine [eté Jeanne] Elisabeth Bouchain femme de Louis Pepin les quils ont declare ne scavoir signe de ce requis suivant l’ordonnance 

For the line and boundary minutes recorded by the surveyor Noël Bonhomme see Numerique.banq.qc.ca Procès-verbal de ligne et bornes séparant deux terres situées sur le bord du ruisseau de Sainte-Barbe. La présente pièce concerne directement: Louis Regneaux (Regnault, Renaud); le sieur Senregret (Sansregret) (arpenteur Noël Bonhomme dit Beaupré) 17 juin 1720 Cote: CA301, S2, P67 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Greffes d'arpenteurs – Archives nationales à Québec Id 60122. My Transcription. 

L’an mil sept cent ving le dix et septieme de Juin a la requeste du Sr. Louis Regneaux et du Sr.Senregret le noel Beaupré Terre arpenteur en toutes la nouvelle France soussigné ay commencer a la ligne de [pierre] Bezeau du coste du [sou oust] a ving quatre arpens de haut et j’ay tire une ligne [allant] ver le nordest sur la quelle j’ay [chesner] huit arpens et quatre pieds pour lesdites bezeau et sa fille Louise aubout des quells j’ay tire [une ligne] [_dû suest au norouest sur laquelle j’ay chesner six arpens qui sont la [profondeur] de la dite bezeau et son pere [ap??] quoy j’ay été commencer sur le bord du ruisseau et Ste barbe ou j’ay tire une ligne entre le Sr. Regneau et   senregret qui [_______] du nordest au sorouest a quinze degré de declinais ont sur la quelle j’ay plate deux bornes de pierre avec des maurceau de tairinnes et marmite et j’ay chesner du ruiseau de Ste barbe jusque la ligne de la bezeau ou j’ay trouve seize arpens une perches et douze pieds en presence des Srs Regneau et Senrégret qui ont declare ne sçavoir ecrire ny signé ce enquis suivant l’ordonnance. 

Noel Beaupré

The quittance between Pierre Brosseau and Louis Renaud can be found here. Adjudication à Louis Renaud, pour la somme de 900 livres, d’une terre appartenant aux enfants mineurs du défunt Joseph Brosseau et de Marie-Anne Gaudreau, à la requête de Pierre Brosseau, habitant de la rivière Saint-Charles, demandeur au nom et comme tuteur desdits enfants mineurs, laquelle somme sera payée comptant, à l’exception de ce qui revient auxdits enfants mineurs, que ledit Renaud retiendra jusqu’à leur majorité, et auxquels il paiera la rente de ladite terre 3 avril 1721 Cote : TL5, D2865-26 Collection Pièces judiciaires et notariales – Archives nationales à Québec Id 391258. (My Transcription.) 

L’an mil sept cent ving et un Le [huitiesme de mars] au Requeste de Pierre Brosseux habitan de la Riviere St. Charle [aux nom [et] comme tuteur des Enfant mineur de defunt Joseph Brosseaux son frère et de deffuncte Marianne gautraux sa femme leurs pere et mere Les quel [enver lu] de nostre ordonnance Estant en son de Requeste du 10 mars dernier quil nous a présenté [pour] faire vendre les par de [terre] appurtenant aux dit mineur le plus avantageusement que faire [ce] pourra Suivant la deliberation qui en a este faitte et pour cette [et faict] luy permettre de faire mettre affiche et lieux et endrois accoutumé par l’huissier des cette jurisdiction et d’en Recevoir les Enchêne à la porte de L’Église de Charlebourg attendre La difficulté quil luy a quil ce trouve des [En chez leur] a L’audience et pour estre les dittes Enchêne estre Raporte par devant nous pour en Estre adjudication  faitte aux plus [offrand et dernier] [en __________] vû les process verbaux des seize vingt trois et trentiesme du mois de mars dernier de Nicolas Jacque huissier de cette jurisdiction par le quil yl nous paroisse que la ditte Cerne en question a esté Enchênye par Ignace le Roux a la Lomine de trois cent cinquante livre et a Esté sur Enchesny pay Loüis Renaud a La somme de six cent Livre et pay Thomas doyon [________] 625 # et par le dit Renaud a [650] et par le dit Le Roux a six cent soixante et quatre et le dit Renaut a 700# et par le dit doyon a 125# [et] parle dit Renaut a 750# et par le dit Le Roux a 775 et parle dit Renaud a la somme 800# et par le dit doyon a 825# et par let dit Renaut a 860# et par le dit

The document continues here. 

Le Rous a 865# et par le dit Renaud [sur Enchesny] a la Somme de 700# et ne L’estant poin trouve [d’eau] ne plus haut [Encherisseur] du consentement du dit tuteur et de La ditte Marianne gautraux nous avon adjugé et adjugeon aux dit Loüis Renaut Le dit arpent et demy de terre de frond luy [____] La profondeur pour le [prix] Somme de neuf cent livre et Les frais de just ce (latté a trois livre pour les [__gé] Pinguet) quil a convenu des faire La ditte somme payable complant a la Reserve de ce qui Revient aux dit mineur quil [-------] Retiendra Entre Les main Jusque a leur age de majoritté donc il Leurs payeras La Rente suivant et donnance vû la ditte Request nostre ordonnance aux [Bas dicelle] et Les dit process verbeaux devant citté et date et oüy le procureur fiscal nous avon adjugé et adjugeon La ditte terre aux dit Renaut pour la ditte Somme de neuf cent livre aux charge La ditte Mandone et donné par nous Jacque pinguet de Vaucour Juge provost civil et criminel de nostre damme des ange  St gabriel et Sillery Le Jeudy 3d Avril 1721 Pinguet de Vaucour

The baptismal record for Marie-Angelique can be found at Ancestry.com. See Charlesbourg image 324 of 1120. Ancestry.com. Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2008. Original data: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin. (My transcription).

Le vingt quatre d’aoust mil sept cent vingt et un a eté baptize par [nostre] pere curé de charlebourg Angelique née du jour d’hyer fille de Loüis Regnault et de Magdeleine Bedard sa femme la parrain a eté Jean [Trudelle] a signé et la maraine Marguritte Couer femme de François Bedard la quelle a declare ne scavoir signee de ce enquis suivant L’ordonnance. 

The record of François’ inhumation can be found in the Drouin collection at ancestry.com. See Charlesbourg image 326 of 1120. Ancestry.com. Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2008. Original data: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin. (My transcription).

Le dix de decembre de lan mil sept cent vingt et un a ete inhume dans le cimitiere de cette paroisse par nous pretre curé en la dite paroisse François Regnault agé de dix neu fans mort du jourd’hyer fils de parents Loüis Regneault et de Magdeleine Bedard les [parents mort] ont eté present a son inhumation Loüis Jobin Jacques Villeneuve et plusieurs autres. 

The burial of Louis’ son Pierre is also available at www.ancestry.com. See Charlesbourg image 355 of 1120. Ancestry.com. Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2008. Original data: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin. (My transcription).

Le vingt cinq Janvier mil sept cent vingt six a eté inhume dans le cimitiere de cette paroisse par nous pretre curé de charlebourg pierre Regnault agé de vingt cinq and fils de Loüis Regneault mort de jour d’hyer apres avoir recu tous les sacraments on tete present a son inhumation Jacques Villeneuve et George Alard

I could not locate the notarial documents recording the vente or quittance between Charles Normand and Louis Renaud but the evidence for these transactions can be seen at Ancestry.com here and here. See images 112 and 126 of 224 Répertoires de Notaires (Notarial Catalogs) Québec Dubreuil, Jean-Étienne (1708-1734). Ancestry.com. Quebec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1637-1935 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.

Original data: Fonds Cour Supérieure. Greffes de notaires. Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Montréal, Québec, Canada. 

The document of 7 August 1732 appointing Louis as substitute guardian for the 6 minor children of Jeanne-Thérèse Déry can be found here. See BAnQ

August 7, 1732 Cote:  TL5, D2901-10 Collection Pièces judiciaires et notariales - Archives nationales à Québec Id 391397. (My Transcription).  

[_____] L'an mil sept cent trente deux le septiesme jour d’aoust Par devant nous Jacque pinquet Juge Prevost dans le seigneurie de nostre dame des anges et de St. Gabriel et [Sillery]; Est [comparüe] Jeanne Theraise Dairy veuve de defunt Pierre Renaux de la Seigneurie St. Gabriel, [Les] [quelles] nous [a dit] quand Consequence de Notre ordonnance [Et touts] au cas de Requeste quelles nous a presentés le cinq du present mois aux [fins] de fairs eleve [un] tuteur et un subrogé tuteur [___] a six enfant mineurs [Issus] de son marriage avec Ladit [feux] pierre Renaut Charle agé de vingt deux ans pierre agé de vingt ans, Margueritte agé de dix huit ans, Joseph agé dix sept ans Marie Jeanne agé Treize ans, et Marie Louise [Renaut] agé de onze ans; [que] cette Effect elle avoit fait approché Par devant nous Louis Renaud oncle des dit mineurs du costé paternal Joseph Dairy oncle du côté maternelle; [______] germain magniant oncle du côté maternelle a cause de Marie Dairy Son épouse;[________________] Charles AuClair aussi oncle de côté maternelle a cause Marie Magdelaine Dairy Son Épouse, Et Anthoine [duCaux] beau frere et cause de Marie [Theraise] Renaux son Épouse; et de Pierre [genestre] amie; Les quelles aprest avoir pretté ce [______] Pardevant nous en [cette] cas Requis de [suive [faire?]] la dites [election] En [cause] [____]  Conscience la dites Jeanne Therese Dairy [letant] [Relevée] et [aprest] En avoire deliberé Entreux on dit tous [______] [mineurs] Leur [vie] [estoil] que Ladites Jeanne [_____] dairy [a fut] [Elleve] tutrice a cet dit Enfans mineurs Et, Louis Renaux aux subrogé tuteur Nous oüi le Procureur fiscal, Nous avons [onis la que]; Et [_____] le [govt civil] des disparant et [_____] et La Consequence ordonnons que la dites Jeanne Theraise Dairy [de_____] tutrice de côté dit enfants le dit Louis Renaux leur subrogé tuteur la dites dairy tutrice et tantes Rentré et Le dit Louis Reneaux  ont volontairement accepté les dits charge Et ont pretés [_____] de [______] [______] Endroit soi_____ en [leurs ans] et [conscience] [dont _____]; faite et donné le [Jour] Et [____] sus dit [Etante] les dit [auClair] Joseph Dairy pierre genestre signé les autres [parait] sus nomé Declare ne scavoir signé dit Enquis [_____] ont L’ordonnance 

Joseph Deris         Charles Auclair               P. Genestre

Sesaline      Pinquet                           Duprac greffier

The marriage contract for François Dolbec and Marie-Madeleine Bedard is available from BAnQ here. See Contrat de mariage entre François Dolbec et Marie-Madeleine Denaux (Renaud - Regnault - Deneaux). 16 novembre 1732 [Document insinué le 27 janvier 1733] Cote: CR301, P1545 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Insinuations - Archives nationales à Québec Id 82676. (My transcription). 

Par devant La Notaire des Seigneurie de Beauport Notre [Dame] des Anges Et de St. Gabriel Et Scilery Soussigné [Residant] audit Beauport Et temoins Ci bas nommez furent presents En leur personne Le Sr Louis Renaux Et Marie Magdeleine Bedard Son epouse quil autorise a L’Effet des presented habitant demeurant au petit St. Anthoine; seigneurie St. Gabriel En La parroisse de Charlesbourg [stipulant] En cette parlée pour Marie Magdeleine Reneaux leur fille en le presente Et de son consentent d’une part, Le Sr francois Dolbecque fils de defunct François dolbecque et de deffuncte Anne Masse, Vivant se pere et Mere, habitant de la paroisse St. Augustin En la Seigneurie de Maure, [aussi] a le présentement Et de son Consentent [par] luy Et en [son M____] d’autre part Les quelles parties de Leur bon gré Et volonté En la presence Et du Consentent de leurs parents Et amis pour le assemble de part Et d’autre, Scavoir de la part du dit Sr François Dolbeque [du Sr. Romain] Dolbeq marchand [boucher] demeurant a Quebec, Son frere germain ; les frere Gerard, Le Sr. pierre Gerard beaufrere Et marie angelique Dolbeq son epouse et de la part des dits Srs Louis Reneaux Et Magdeleine Bedard, Et de leur cette fille de Charles. Et Louis Reneaux ses freres de René falardeaux beaufrere a cause de Charlotte Reneaux son epouse, d’andre genestre beaufrere a cause de Marianne Reneaux, son epouse; de Joseph Reneaux oncle du costé paternal, de Jacques Bedard et Elisabeth Reneaux Son epouse. oncle et tante du costé maternel du Sr. François Bedard, aussy oncle de costé maternel, ont eté faits les traîter Et prommesses de marriage qui en suivant c’est a scavoir, le dit francois dolbeq Et Marie Magdeleine reneaux; futurs epouse de sont promis, Et promettent le prendre [_____] et lautre parley Et nom, de Mariage, Et le dit marriage de faire, Et Solemniser En face de Notre mere Ste Eglise Chatolique appostolique, Et Romaine, le plus tost que fair le pourra Et qu’il sera deliberé Entreux Leurs dits parents Et amis, Si dieu et Notre ditte Mere Ste Eglise y consentent Et accordant [par] Etre [une], Et Communs [en tous] Biens Meubles acquêtes Conquêtes, immeubles, derroge le dit future epouse a la Coutume de Paris, Et autre Loi a le contraire pour cet article seulement Sans Etre Neantmoins tenus des dittes hypothèques L’un de l’autre faites, Et Crées au paravant Leur dit future marriage que Si aucune il y a Elles Seront payees Et Requiltées par celui [ou] Celle qui Les aura faites Et crées Et [sur son] Bien Et En faveur du quell future Mariage, Et Icelui parvenu de prendront Les dits futurs Epoux avec tous Et chacun [leur] bien Et droits a Eux Appartenants, Echeus, Et a Echure, Et Encontemplations [de ci] le dit Sr. Louis Reneaux et Magdeleine Bedard Son Epouse la Somme de trois Cens livres, En argent meubles et Ustancilles (ustensiles) de Menage, En advancement de [leur] [hoirie], sçavoir la somme de deaux Cent livres dans l'année Courante, Et Cent Livres dans Deaux ans du date des presente, faisant Ensemble Cette de trois Cens livres, et Vingt Cinq minots de [Ble], Et un Cochon gras, pour [obscured text] Comme a leurs autres Enfants le tout Entera En la future [comté],Et le future Epouse porte. En le future Comté, une terre; Et Confession, [____] Et [Située] En la seigneurie de Maure Consistent En cen arpent [et une] quart de terre de [front] [sur] trente arpent du proffondeur apparternante audit future [epoux] par donation a luy faite; par [___] les pere et Mere, avant les presents la quelle Entrera en la future Comté, Et [p___] la bonne amitie que les futurs Epoux le portent [____] et lautre; ont fait et font par les presents donation Mutuelle, et Reciproque au survivant d’eux de tous et chacun leurs biens, meubles acqueste conquests immeubles terres Rentes, En quelque En droit quils Soient [situer] pour Enjouie par le survivant a la caution juratoire [_____] la coutume a la quelle Les futurs Epoux ont [tenoncée]; et Renoncent pour veu toutes fois; [quá] La dissolution de leur marriage; quil ny [ait aucune] enfant vivante d’eaux Et pour faire [insinuee] ces presents par tout [ou il] appartiendra, dans les quatre mois de l’ordonnance, ont fait et constitué leur procureur general, et special le [porteuse] des presents au quell ils donnent pouvoir de la faire, Et d’En [requerir] acte, le future Epoux a doué Et [Doue] la future Epouse du douaire Coutumnes ou de la Somme de Cinq Cent livres de douaire presise pour une [f__] payer au choix, et option de la future Epouse, [Cylost] que douaire aura Lieu Et Deliverance, Le preciput Sera Egal, Et Reciproque Entreux de la Somme de precept deux Cent Cinquante Livres  aprendre par le Survivant sur les biens meubles de leur [communité], hors part Et Sans [crées] En meubles ou En [derniers] [Contants] au choix du Survivant sera permis a lors a la future Epouse quenant dissolution de leur Communité Renoncer a icelle Sy bon luy semble, 

Et [s'importes] franchement et quittant ce qu’elle [justissiera] y avoir apporté, avec son dit future epoux, Et mis En icelle Ses habits Singes Et hardes a Son usage, Sans diminution de ses douaire et preciput, Cy dessus Reglé et tous cependant Et constant Leur marriage, et tout jusqu'alors, sans payer aucune ditte hippoteque de Leur communité Encore bien, quelle y fut oblige au l’ordonnée auquelles Elle aura son hippoteque pour son [Re________] Le Survivant, aura, et prendra, les linges, Et hardes Servant a son usage, avec [lit] tel qu’il setrouvera alors, sans En tenir Compte a leur future Communité Car ainsy le tout a Eté accordeé Entre Les partie Et Amis promettant & obligeant et Renoncant a fait et passé au petit St Anthoine parroisse Charlebourg En La maison du Sr. Loüis Reneaux, après middy Le Sezieme jour de Novembre mil sept cent trente deux En presence des dits parents, Et amis, et de Pierre Maillou Et René toupin appeller [pour temoins] qui ont avec le future Epoux, Le Sr. Dolbeq françois Bedard, andré genestre et nous notaire Signé a la Minute Et originalle des presents; Et ont Les Srs Loüis Reneaux, Et la ditte [_______] Jacques Bedard Pierre gerard, Et autres sus nommer declare ne scavoir signer de la Enquis [l'estûre] faite Suivant L’ordonnance. 

La Donnation porte au contract Ci-devant a Eté insinué Et Registre En Registres des insinuations de la prevosté de Quebec, suivant l’ordon(nance) de Nous Lieutenant g(eneral) En date de le jour par nous greffier soussigné a Quebec le vingt sept Janvier mil sept cent trente trois 

Bonneau

Louis burial record is available at Ancestry.com. See image 427 of 1120 Charlesbourg. Ancestry.com. Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2008. Original data: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.

Notes on Personne: Louis Renaud: Part One

It’s not clear if in 1709 Louis had six or seven living children as Marie-Marguerite’s alleged death in 1699 is not verified. If she did die, then there would have been 6 living children at the time of his father’s death.

Louis’ petition to have Pierre Haimard as “tuteur” for his younger brother Joseph is available at BAnQ here. 7 Janvier 1709 Cote: E1, S2, P8 Fonds Intendants - BAnQ Québec Id 85721.

Louis’ baptism appears twice in the Drouin collection, here and here. Institut Généalogique Drouin; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Drouin Collection; Author: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967. Ancestry.com. Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2008 Provo, UT, USA.

The date of the move to St. Bernard’s parish is extrapolated from the place of baptism for Louis’ two siblings. His sister Marie-Anne was baptized at Notre Dame in Quebec (1673) and Marie-Louise was baptized at “la chapelle de Charlesbourg” (1676). See additional coverage in my previous post https://www.renaudfamilyhistory.com/blog/2019/4/1/place.

For the notarial index for the marriage contract between Louis and Marie-Magdeleine, see Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec; Montréal, Quebec, Canada; Collection: Archives des notaires du Québec; District: Quebec; Title: Duprac, Jean-Robert (1693-1723) Quebec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1626-1935 Ancestry.com. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2016 Lehi, UT, USA. Image available here. The unavailability of Duprac’s records online is unfortunate as he appears to have been the notary for the inventory of Guillaume Renaud’s estate. In Louis’ petition to have Pierre Haimard named guardian for his brother Joseph after his father’s death, the document refers to Duprac’s (also rendered Dupras) accountability for the inventory. See https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3312957. 7 Janvier 1709 Cote: E1, S2, P8 Fonds Intendants - BAnQ Québec Id 85721.

« Il nous Plaise de commettre

Le Sieur Haymart Juge de Ladite

Seig(neu)rie et aussy Jean Dupras not(aire) ?

dudit lieu, sçavoir ledit Sieur Haimart

pour faire les deux tutelles en question

et ledit Dupras pour faire les

inventaires, estimations, ventes, et

partages s’ils le jugent a propos,

ou se servir de Jacques Amiray

huissier de ladite Seigneurie pour

faire lesdites estimations, et ventes

et ce de tous les biens appartenans

auxdites Successions. En quel ques Endroits

qu’ils se trouvent a quoy ayant

Egard. » 

Transcription by Christine Reno.

The marriage between Louis and Marie-Magdeleine can be found here. See Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967 Ancestry.com. Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2008 Provo, UT, USA.

The reference for the plot of land in St. Antoine’s that was gifted to Louis and Marie-Magdeleine comes from La Fleur, Mary Ann, "Seventeenth-Century New England And New France In Comparative Perspective: Notre Dame des Anges ---A Case Study" (1987). Doctoral Dissertations. 1522. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1522 p. 252. 

The baptismal record of their first child, Marie Magdeleine, can be found here. See Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967 Ancestry.com. Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2008 Provo, UT, USA.

The documents related to the case between Louis, Julien Jamin and André Spénard can be found at BAnQ TL5,D2769-89 ; TL5,D2772-1 ; TL5,D2769-105 andTL5,D2772-2. There is likely more than one document missing from this case record but I think it fortunate that these four records were preserved even in their damaged condition. John Dickinson in his study of the seigneurial courts of Notre dame des Anges notes the lack of organization and the discarding of some documents from the registers of Notre Dame des Anges making it difficult to reconstruct cases. See fn 45 on page 333 of Dickinson, J. A. (1974). “La justice seigneuriale en Nouvelle-France: le cas de Notre-Dame-des-Anges.” Revue d'histoire de l'Amérique française, 28, (3), 323–346. https://doi.org/10.7202/303366ar

“Le manqué d’organisation dans les registres rend une telle compilation très difficile puisque certains documents se trouvent écartés des registres. Seules les années où l’on trouve des cahiers complets nous assurent une bonne chance de retrouver les procès-verbaux des audiences bien que certains ne soient que partiels. Les années choisies furent celles qui représentaient le plus de certitude: couvrant le début, le milieu et la fin de la période étudiée.”

See pages 331-332 where Dickinson refers to the average period between sessions and pages 332-333 where he covers the stages of a court cases.

My concept of viewing the seigneurial courts as a means of community relations comes from Bruce Mann Neighbors and Strangers: Law and Community in Early Connecticut. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1987. p. 167-168. While there are differences between English Common Law and the Customary Law of France, both share historical roots going back to the Twelfth Century. The evolution of these two legal systems and their common heritage was the subject of a conference in 2017-2018. See https://ilcr.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/institute-projects/civil-law-common-law-customary-law/

The baptism and inhumation for Charles-Jacques Renaud come from the Drouin collection. Institut Généalogique Drouin; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Drouin Collection; Author: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Online at Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967 Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations Inc 2008 Provo, UT, USA.  

For Marie-Margueritte Renaud’s baptismal entry, see Drouin Collection. Louis’ attendance at the marriage of his brother Jean-Bernard is documented in Drouin here.

The baptismal entry for Pierre in Drouin can be found here. The baptismal entry for François can be found here. The reference to his quick baptism reads as best I can transcribe “né le premier du present mois et an ondoye par le Reverend pere Michel Germain Deroumort (?) de la compagnie de Jesus”.

The transaction between Louis and his father as well as those of his brother can be found here and come from Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec; Montréal, Quebec, Canada; Collection: Archives des notaires du Québec; District: Québec; Title: Duprac, Jean-Robert (1693-1723) available online as Quebec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1626-1935 Ancestry.com, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2016 Lehi, UT, USA.

The death of Louis and Marie-Magdeleine’s son Charles and Jean Bernard’s son Louis in 1703 can be found in Drouin here. For information on the epidemics of 1703 see https://www.cbc.ca/history/EPCONTENTSE1EP3CH3LE.html and also Bertrand, Desjardins. (1996). Demographic Aspects of the 1702-1703 Smallpox Epidemic in the St. Lawrence Valley. Canadian Studies in Population. 23. 10.25336/P6459C.

The baptism of Marie-Charlotte is available in Drouinhere. The arrival of Marianne in 1705 is documented in Drouin here.

Louis’ time as Church Warden is noted on page 315 in Charles Trudelle’s Paroisse de Charlesbourg. The case regarding Pierre Renaud’s failure to make his rental payment is located online at BAnQ TL5,D2805-1. The archivist description of the document reads as follows “Reference by the Provost judge Pierre Émard (Haimard) of the action brought by Germain Magnan, plaintiff in the name and as warden of the parish of Saint-Charles, against Pierre Renaud, concerning arrears on the rent of a bench occupied by said Pierre Renaud in the Charlesbourg church”. (Translation Google).

The baptismal record for Marie-Joseph can be found at Ancestry’s online Drouin catalogue here.

The case between the church wardens of Charlesbourg parish against André Bernier are available at BAnQ TL5,D2806-5, TP1,S28,P8525 and TP1,S28,P8537. Bernier’s claim rested on the original grant of 18 November 1693 by the parish to Pierre Canard which is available in the notarial records of Louis Chambalon here. The translation of the summary of the 14 April 1707 document comes courtesy of Christine Reno. The translation of the archivist’s document title for the 16 August 1707 document comes from Google Translate. The original French reads

Arrêt déboutant Louis Renaud, Barthélemi Coton dit Laroche et Thomas Blondeau, marguilliers de l'oeuvre et de la fabrique de l'église Saint-Charles, paroisse de Charlesbourg, leur demande au sujet d'une certaine rente dans la cause les opposant à Pierre et Joseph Renaud, frères, tant pour eux que pour les autres frères et soeurs cohéritiers des défunts Marie Pelletier et son mari, Pierre Canard, habitants de Gros-Pin.

The information on the birth and baptism of Charles Renaud in April 1708 is available online in the Drouin collection available at Ancestry.com here. Charles is particularly important as he is the next ancestor in La Ligne.

For more information on the influenza pandemic of 1708-1709 see Jarcho S. Transatlantic transmission of infectious diseases; the applicability of paleopathology. Bull N Y Acad Med. 1990;66(6):660-663 and Jarcho, S. and K. M. Richards. “The epidemic or pandemic of influenza in 1708-1709.” Dynamis 5-6 (1985): 125-41 and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1809789/?page=1.

The inhumations of Joseph Verret, Louis Regnault and Marie De La Mare are available in the Drouin collection available on Ancestry.com here. Louise’s inhumation entry is immediately followed by her mother’s. Joseph Verret’s is on the preceding page. Louise may have died as a result of child birth. Her son Jean Baptiste Verret was born on 14 December (one day after his father was buried) and Louise died on 15 December and was buried the following day just a week before her mother died. There were complications during the birth of Jean-Baptiste as the entry indicates he was baptized (ondoyé) by the “chirrugien” or surgeon “chirurgien”. Unfortunately, Jean-Baptiste did not survive and was buried on the same day. Whether his and his mother’s death resulted from the influenza we cannot say.

The petition by Louis on behalf of his father before Pierre Haimard to appoint Jean Verret and Jean-Bernard Renaud as guardians for the orphans of Marie-Louis and Joseph Verret comes from BAnQ TL5, D2809.

Notes on Document: The Marriage Contract of Guillaume Regnault and Marie De La Mare

As always, I am indebted to the paleographic, transcription and translation assistance from Dr. Christine Reno, Professor Emerita of French and Francophone Studies at Vassar. Without it, this blog post would not exist or would at best be significantly inferior.

The marriage contract of 27 August 1668 can be found in the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec Gilles Rageot 1666-1691 Cote: CN301, S238 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Greffes de notaires - BAnQ Québec Id 78360 image 500-501 of 1224. Direct Link Here

Despite being a short article, I got a lot of use out of D.J. Sturdy (1982) “A Note on Marriage Contracts in the Seventeenth Century”, Seventeenth-Century French Studies Newsletter, 4:1, 27-31, DOI: 10.1179/c17.1982.4.1.27 The link to this article is https://doi.org/10.1179/c17.1982.4.1.27 . The quote regarding the function of the marriage contract is on page 27. Sturdy draws on Roland Mousnier’s Les Institutions de la France sous la monarchie absolue, I (Paris, 1974), chapter 2, pt. 1.

The reference for France Parent and Geneviève Postolec can be found on page 301 Parent, F. & Postolec, G. (1995). “Quand Thémis rencontre Clio: les femmes et le droit en Nouvelle-France.” Les Cahiers de droit, 36 (1), 293-318. See https://doi.org/10.7202/043330ar.

See page 28 in Sturdy for the structure of the marriage contract and his statements regarding the witnesses.

The references to Peter Moogk’s work come from Moogk, Peter N., La Nouvelle France: The Making of French Canada – A Cultural History, Michigan State University Press (East Lansing), 2000, pp. 161-162, 178-179.

Another brief article that proved very helpful was Suzanne Boivin Sommerville’s “Marriage Contract in New France according to La Coutume de Paris/The Custom of Paris. This article was originally published in Michigan’s Habitant Heritage, Vol. 26, no. 3 (July 2005): 135-137.

The quote by C.-J. de Ferrière comes from his Corps et compilation de tous les commentateurs anciens et modernes sur la Coutume de Paris, Paris, s. éd., 1714, III, p.141 as quoted in Parent & Postolec, p. 298-299.

For more information on clandestine marriages see Beatrice Gottlieb’s “The Meaning of Clandestine Marriage” in Burguiere, Andre. and Wheaton, Robert. and Hareven, Tamara K.  Family and sexuality in French history / Andre Burguiere ... [et al.]; edited by Robert Wheaton and Tamara K. Hareven.  University of Pennsylvania Press Philadelphia 1980, pp. 49-83. See page 53 and 73 for the quotes I used.

See page 37 of Gagné, Peter J. King's Daughters and Founding Mothers: The Filles Du Roi, 1663-1673. Vol. 1. Orange Park, FL: Quintin Publication, 2000 for the timing of marriages for Filles du Roi.

Notes on Personne: Isaac Bédard

The marriage date for Louis Renaud and Marie Magdeleine Bédard comes from Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967. Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2008 Provo, UT.

The quote regarding the success of the Bédard family can be found in La Fleur, Mary Ann, "Seventeenth-Century New England And New France In Comparative Perspective: Notre Dame des Anges ---A Case Study" (1987). Doctoral Dissertations. 1522. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1522 p. 196. 

Isaac Bédard’s inhumation is recorded in Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967. Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2008 Provo, UT. The fact that Guillaume was named at all is significant as many of the attendees are relegated to being characterized as simply "plusieurs autres", many others. Direct link here. 

This history of the Bedard family comes from an unidentified source provided by one of the readers of the blog. There are footnotes but that portion of the document was not shared with me. 

Some historians such as Marcel Trudel place Isaac's birth at 1616 while other researchers such as Tanguay place Isaac’s birth in 1614 which is in alignment with the death record which indicated Isaac was 75 when he died in 1689.  See Trudel, Marcel. Catalogue des Immigrants, 1632-1662. Cahiers du Quebec Collection Histoire. Montreal: Editions Hurtubise HMH, 1983. p. 569. See also Tanguay Volume: Vol. 1 Sect. 1: A-Hel; Page: 36 in Quebec, Genealogical Dictionary of Canadian Families (Tanguay Collection), 1608-1890. Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2011. 

Marie Girard’s baptismal record comes from the Archives départementales de la Charente-Maritime I 167 (I 31) - La Rochelle - Collection du greffe - Pastoral - Baptêmes - 1622 - 1625 - Vue 20/173 available online at http://www.archinoe.net/v2/ad17/visualiseur/registre.html?id=170061750. 

The marriage entry for Isaac Bédard and Marie Girard comes from the Archives départementales de la Charente-Maritime I 171-173 - La Rochelle - Collection du greffe - Pastoral - Baptêmes Mariages - 1632 - 1648 - Vue 602/645.

The baptismal record for Jacques Bédard comes from the Archives départementales de la Charente-Maritime I 171-173 - La Rochelle - Collection du greffe - Pastoral - Baptêmes Mariages - 1632 - 1648 - Vue 470/645. 

For the baptismal record of François Bédard see Archives départementales de la Charente-Maritime I 171-173 - La Rochelle - Collection du greffe - Pastoral - Baptêmes Mariages - 1632 - 1648 - Vue 526/645. 

For the baptismal record of Pierre Bédard see Archives départementales de la Charente-Maritime I 171-173 - La Rochelle - Collection du greffe - Pastoral - Baptêmes Mariages - 1632 - 1648 - Vue 568/645. 

The previous four sources can be found online at http://www.archinoe.net/v2/ad17/visualiseur/registre.html?id=170042509. 

For the baptismal record of Richard Bédard see Archives départementales de la Charente-MaritimeI 176-180 - La Rochelle - Collection du greffe - Pastoral - Baptêmes Mariages - 1649 - 1667 - Vue 24/559. 

For the baptismal record of Isaac Bédard see Archives départementales de la Charente-MaritimeI 176-180 - La Rochelle - Collection du greffe - Pastoral - Baptêmes Mariages - 1649 - 1667 - Vue 93/559. 

For the baptismal record of Louis Bédard see Archives départementales de la Charente-MaritimeI 176-180 - La Rochelle - Collection du greffe - Pastoral - Baptêmes Mariages - 1649 - 1667 - Vue 193/559. 

For the baptismal record of Anne Bédard see Archives départementales de la Charente-MaritimeI 176-180 - La Rochelle - Collection du greffe - Pastoral - Baptêmes Mariages - 1649 - 1667 - Vue 262/559. 

The previous four sources can be found at http://www.archinoe.net/v2/ad17/visualiseur/registre.html?id=170039077 

The burial record for François is available at Archives départementales de la Charente-Maritime I 174-175 - La Rochelle - Collection du greffe - Pastoral - Sépultures - 1647 - 1667 - Vue 4/291 

The burial record for Pierre is available at Archives départementales de la Charente-Maritime I 174-175 - La Rochelle - Collection du greffe - Pastoral - Sépultures - 1647 - 1667 - Vue 20/291 

The burial record for Richard is available at Archives départementales de la Charente-Maritime I 174-175 - La Rochelle - Collection du greffe - Pastoral - Sépultures - 1647 - 1667 - Vue 35/291 

The burial record for Isaac is available at Archives départementales de la Charente-Maritime I 174-175 - La Rochelle - Collection du greffe - Pastoral - Sépultures - 1647 - 1667 - Vue 68/291 

The burial record for Anne is available at Archives départementales de la Charente-Maritime I 174-175 - La Rochelle - Collection du greffe - Pastoral - Sépultures - 1647 - 1667 - Vue 187/291 

The previous five sources are located online at http://www.archinoe.net/v2/ad17/visualiseur/registre.html?id=170023058 

The date of abjuration comes from the previous mentioned document that covers the Bédard history in France. Unfortunately, the document is not paginated but on the final page that was shared with me there is the following quote, “It remains also to be known as to whether Isaac and Jacques had abjured to make the Atlantic crossing. In an article published in the journal Our Ancestors by Father Gérard Lebel in 1981, he wrote, citing Omer Bedard, there was a document in the City Library of La Rochelle "those who abjured in the church Notre Dame de Cogne, Sainte-Marguerite and Saint ... since 1633 " where Isaac Bedard, Jacques Bédard and Marie Girard, natives of the city of La Rochelle, had abjured April 2 1660 (84).” 

The date of Isaac’s arrival in Canada is varied with some suggesting 1661 but others suggesting 1660. See Richardson, A.J., et. al., Quebec City: Architects, Artisans, and Builders, History Division, National Museum of Man (Ottawa), 1984 p. 94. 

See also La Fleur, Mary Ann, "Seventeenth-Century New England And New France In Comparative Perspective: Notre Dame des Anges ---A Case Study" (1987). Doctoral Dissertations. 1522. p. 241. 

Other sources show 1660 such as Trudel, Marcel. Catalogue des Immigrants, 1632-1662. Cahiers du Quebec Collection Histoire. Montreal: Editions Hurtubise HMH, 1983. 569p. 

A brief description of Isaac and Jacques arrival in Quebec and Jacques confirmation can be found at http://remigagnon.com/descendance-isaac-bedard/d1.htm. The author indicates that “Isaac and his son went to Quebec to prepare the family nest, in 1660. At the beginning of the following year, Isaac already had a site in the Upper Town, between Louis Chapelain and the Jesuits on the Côte- de-la-Fabrique. In the spring, on May 1, 1662, Jacques the elder of 17 was confirmed by Monsignor de Laval in Quebec. Then, Marie crossed the Atlantic in 1663, it seems, since on May 12, 1664, the younger Marie was born in Quebec. It is Father Bernières who baptizes the child, six days after its birth. The godfather and godmother are Jean Normand and Marie Letart, wife of Jean Roussin.” (Translation Google). The original French is “D'abord, Isaac et son fils se rendirent à Québec pour préparer le nid familial, en 1660. Au début de l'année suivante, Isaac possède déjà un emplacement à la Haute-Ville, entre Louis Chapelain et les Jésuites sur la Côte-de-la-Fabrique. Au printemps, le 1er mai 1662, Jacques l'aîné de 17 ans est confirmé par Monseigneur de Laval à Québec. Puis, Marie traverse l'Atlantique en 1663, semble-t-il, puisque le 12 mai 1664 naît la cadette Marie, à Québec. C'est l'abbé Bernières qui baptise l'enfant, six jours après sa naissance. Le parrain et la marraine sont Jean Normand et Marie Letart, femme de Jean Roussin.” 

The purchase of land from Mathieu Hubou (also Huboust dit Deslongschamps) can be found in the Quebec Archives under Copies dactylographiées et manuscrites d'actes notaries 1626-1919 Cote : CN301,S289 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Greffes de notaires - BAnQ Québec Id 78397 image 1728 of 2348.  

The date of Marie’s arrival appears in http://remigagnon.com/descendance-isaac-bedard/d1.htm 

The ruling in favor of Vincent Regnault against Isaac Bédard can be found in the Quebec Archives as Ordre d'une compensation accordée à Vincent Renaud (Renault) pour dégât fait sur son habitation par le bétail d'Isaac Bédard 13 octobre 1663, Cote: TP1,S28,P1396. Fonds Conseil souverain - BAnQ Québec Id 401485.  

The archivist notes provide the following information with modernized spelling: “Vincent Renaud plaintiff in livestock damage. Isaac BEDARD, defendant. Hearing parties, it is ordered that the defendant will compensate the plaintiff with half a bushel of wheat out of a half allocated to him for the damage done by the defendant's cattle in the plaintiff's wheat, and the costs paid to be paid half by half, in doing so the defendant to complete the work he undertook to do to the plaintiff by giving him a day's work. " (Translation Google). 

See also Trudel, Marcel, Histoire De La Nouvelle-France IV: La Seigneurie De LaCompagnie Des Indes Occidentales 1663-1674, Fides: Quebec, p. 408.  Trudel writes, “Règlements dont l'application va, bien entendu, donner lieu à des procès qui occupent le Conseil souverain. Denis Duquet devra donner un minot de blé froment à la veuve Macquart pour compenser le dommage fait dans ses blés par le bétail; le même jour, il en coûte un demi-minot de blé à Isaac Bédard.” 

The Sovereign Council’s ruling in the matter between Isaac and Michel Desourcy is available in the Quebec Archives as Arrêt condamnant Isaac Bédard à payer la somme de 18 livres pour un cochon à Michel Desorcy, 15 décembre 1663 Cote: TP1 S28 P1492 Fonds Conseil souverain - BAnQ Québec Id 401581

The archivist notes provide the following information with modernized spelling: “Michel DESORCYS applicant. Isaac BEDART defendant. After the plaintiff concluded that the defendant be condemned to return or pay a pig that he had given him in custody and her paid at the rate of one hundred sols. And that by the defendant was said that seeing said pig too wild he would have eight days later warned the plaintiff to withdraw it and that he did not want to take responsibility for it. to which the plaintiff replied that it is true that he had been warned but that it was in a time when he was already lost. Hearing parties after assessment made of said pig to the sum of eighteen pounds, the Council ordered the defendant to pay the plaintiff half of the said sum of eighteen pounds, with the said one hundred sols, the whole together amounting to the sum of fourteen pounds in a month and at the expense. MESY ROUER DE VILLERAY DAMOURS.” (Translation Google).

The quarrel between Isaac and Mathieu Hubou can be found in the Quebec archives as Ordre à Mathieu Hubou de fournir à Isaac Bédard le bois nécessaire pour travailler à un bâtiment, suivant le contrat entre eux et condamnation de Bédard à travailler incessamment jusqu'à la perfection dudit bâtiment et défenses aux parties de médire, se quereller et se frapper, à peine de 10 livres d'amende 1er avril 1664, Cote : TP1 S28 P1620 Fonds Conseil Souverain - BAnQ Québec Id 401709

Transcription of the text with modernized spelling: “Mathieu HUBOU applicant. Isaac BEDART defendant. After the plaintiff found that the defendant was ordered to pull his wood and work on his building and that the defendant was told that he could not, and that the plaintiff had beaten him, the Council ordered that the plaintiff will provide the defendant with the necessary wood to work on said building, in doing so said defendant condemned to, immediately after the seeds, work incessantly until perfection of the said building, forbidding the parties to backtrack, to quarrel, nor to strike hardly to the offender a fine of ten pounds." (Translation Google).  

See also Trudel, Marcel, Histoire De La Nouvelle-France IV: La Seigneurie De La Compagnie Des Indes Occidentales 1663-1674, Fides: Quebec, p. 60 fn. 62. Trudel writes, “Par exemple, Isaac Bédard refuse de travailler plus longtemps pour Mathieu Huboust dit Deslongschamps, parce que celui-ci l’aurait battu; le Conseil maintient le contrat en defendant aux parties ‘de se medire, quereller, ny frapper,’ sous peine de 10 livres d’amende (procès – verbal du 1er avril 1664, JCS, I: 153).” 

The record for Isaac and Marie's daughter Marie comes from Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967, Ancestry.com. 2008 Provo, UT. Direct link at https://www.ancestry.com image 73 of 93.  

The sale of the farm to Claude Charron in December 1665 can be found in the Quebec Archives under Romain Becquet 1665-1682 Cote: CN301, S13 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Greffes de notaires - BAnQ Québec Id 78136. Direct link here.  A fully transcribed version can be found under Copies dactylographiées et manuscrites d'actes notaries 1626-1919 Cote: CN301, S289 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Greffes de notaires - BAnQ Québec Id 78397. Direct link here. 

Mary Ann La Fleur’s coverage of the sale can be found on page 243 in "Seventeenth-Century New England And New France In Comparative Perspective: Notre Dame des Anges ---A Case Study" (1987). Doctoral Dissertations. 1522. 

Charon was quite a prominent player in Quebec in his day being one of the wealthiest. He also was a supporter of a colony being established along the Detroit River. See the Dictionary of Canadian Biography at http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/charron_de_la_barre_claude_1E.html.

The purchase from Pierre Murault in March 1665 is available at the Quebec Archives under Romain Becquet 1665-1682 Cote: CN301, S13 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Greffes de notaires - BAnQ Québec Id 78136. Direct link here. 

Isaac’s contract with Talon is available from the Archives under Romain Becquet 1665-1682 Cote: CN301, S13 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Greffes de notaires - BAnQ Québec Id 78136. Direct link here. 

Trudel’s coverage of this transaction in Trudel, Marcel, Histoire De La Nouvelle-France IV: La Seigneurie De La Compagnie Des Indes Occidentales 1663-1674, Fides: Quebec, pp. 441-442 fn. 71. Trudel writes “Dans la mise en oeuvre du bois, quelques contrats importants passés entre l'intendant et des habitants témoignent d'une certaine activitéqui pouvait être source de revenus.” In the footnote Trudel mentions Isaac specifically. “Isaac Bédard et Laurent Dubocq, 100 avrions à15 sols pièce (contrat du 9 mai 1666, greffe Becquet) …” Dubocq was an associate who worked with Isaac. See Richardson, A.J., et. al., Quebec City: Architects, Artisans, and Builders, History Division, National Museum of Man (Ottawa), 1984 p. 94.  

The Marché between Isaac Bédard and Claude Charron on 3 June 1668 is available from the Archives under Romain Becquet 1665-1682 Cote: CN301, S13 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Greffes de notaires - BAnQ Québec Id 78136. Direct link here. See also Richardson, A.J., et. al., Quebec City: Architects, Artisans, and Builders, History Division, National Museum of Man (Ottawa), 1984 p. 94.  For a detailed account of building construction in Canada during this period see Moogk, Peter N., Building A House in New France: An Account of the Perplexities of Client and Craftsmen in Early Canada. McClelland and Stewart (Toronto), 1977.  

The appeal for relief from the Jesuits can be found under Romain Becquet 1665-1682 Cote: CN301, S13 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Greffes de notaires - BAnQ Québec Id 78136. Direct link here. 

The Marché between Bédard and Soullard is available under Romain Becquet 1665-1682 Cote: CN301, S13 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Greffes de notaires - BAnQ Québec Id 78136. Direct link here. Soullard was a gunsmith and goldsmith. See the Dictionary of Canadian Biography at http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/soullard_jean_2E.html.  

The Marché between Isaac Bédard and René Branche on 5 April 1670 is available from the Archives under Romain Becquet 1665-1682 Cote: CN301, S13 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Greffes de notaires - BAnQ Québec Id 78136. Direct link here. 

The Marché between Isaac Bédard and Timothee Roussel on 200 October 1671 is available under Gilles Rageot 1666-1691 Cote: CN301, S238 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Greffes de notaires - BAnQ Québec

Id 78360. Direct link here. For a brief biography on Roussel see the Dictionary of Canadian Biography at http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/roussel_timothee_1F.html . This transaction is also noted in Richardson, A.J., et. al., Quebec City: Architects, Artisans, and Builders, History Division, National Museum of Man (Ottawa), 1984 p. 94.  

Bédard’s transaction with Jean Juchereau on 25 November 1671 is available under Gilles Rageot 1666-1691 Cote: CN301, S238 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Greffes de notaires - BAnQ Québec Id 78360. Direct link here. A brief biography for Juchereau is provided in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography at http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/juchereau_de_la_ferte_jean_1E.html 

My coverage of the potash industry comes from Trudel, Marcel, Histoire De La Nouvelle-France IV: La Seigneurie De La Compagnie Des Indes Occidentales 1663-1674, Fides: Quebec. Trudel mentions Isaac specifically on p. 434 fn 41. Recall that Guillaume Renaud and Michel Verret earned wages from a similar contract. Trudel writes “Et même si l'habitant, sans y participier directement, se contente de laisser faire chez lui ce travail de fabrication, il y trouve son bénéfice: on lui défriche gratuiteme3nt quelques arpents, parfois 10 arpents, et l'on connaît même un cas oùle contrat stipule 25 arpents de défrichés sans qu'il en coûte àcet habitant. 

Fn 41 …En d'autres cas, ce sont 10 arpents: sur la terre d'Isaac Bédard (contrat du 29 Janv. 1673)…” 

The grant from of 17 October 1681 from the “Hospitalieres" is available under Romain Becquet 1665-1682 Cote: CN301, S13 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Greffes de notaires - BAnQ Québec Id 78136. Direct link here. 

I could not find the document for the Villeray contract in the Archives though it is cited in Richardson, A.J., et. al., Quebec City: Architects, Artisans, and Builders, History Division, National Museum of Man (Ottawa), 1984 p. 94.  For a brief biography of de Villeray see the Dictionary of Canadian Biography at http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/rouer_de_villeray_louis_1E.html 

The transaction between Isaac and François Lavergne is available in the Archives under Gilles Rageot 1666-1691 Cote: CN301, S238 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Greffes de notaires - BAnQ Québec Id 78360. Direct link here. 

The additional grant from the Hospitalieres can be found in the Archives under Romain Becquet 1665-1682 Cote: CN301, S13 Fonds Cour supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Greffes de notaires - BAnQ Québec Id 78136. Direct link here.

Notes on Démographique : Birth, Marriage and Death : A Generational Comparison

 I relied heavily on the records in the Drouin collection available online through Ancestry.com. See Institut Généalogique Drouin; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Drouin Collection; Author: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967. Whenever I could not locate a record in the online Drouin or Parish Registers, I relied on data from the PRDH, or rather data others culled from the PRDH (Programme de recherche en démographie historique) and posted online.

The exact date of their daughter Marie-Magdeleine's death is not known but the PRDH indicates she dies in 1763 in St.-Augustin. Drouin notes her inhumation in 1763 but indicates that the specific date was not provided in the parish register. Her birth is confirmed through the baptismal record in the Drouin Collection. The godfather was her grandfather Guillaume Renaud and the godmother her maternal grandmother Elizabeth Doucinet. 

Marie-Marguerite's baptismal record can be found in Drouin. The godfather was her maternal grandfather (denoted as "ayeul maternel" which is currently rendered “aïeul maternel"). Her godmother was her aunt Marie Villeneuve wife of Estienne Bedard. 

Their first son named Charles was born on 11 June 1699 and died 23 February 1703. His baptismal record can be found in Drouin. The godfather was Charles Villeneuve the son of Mathurin Villeneuve. The godmother was Catherine Bedard, the maternal aunt of Charles.

Pierre's baptismal record of 6 March 1701 is found in Drouin. His godfather was Pierre Bedard the son of Jacques Bedard and the godmother was Jeanne Renaud, his aunt. He died on 24 January 1726. 

François baptismal record of 3 August 1702 is available in Drouin. The portion referring to the earlier provisional baptism reads as follows: 

"…né le premier du present mois et [?] ondoyé par le Reverend pere Michel Germain Des[?] de la compagnie de Jesus…"

The godfather was François Bedard and the godmother Magueritte Fashe the wife of Vincent Beaumont.

Marie De La Mare had her first child at the age of 19 and her last child was born when she was 42.  Marie-Magdeleine Bedard had her first child at the age of 18 and her last child was born when she was 44. 

Adrienne was born on 07 February 1715. The godfather was Jacques Morand and the godmother Adrienne [?] wife of Jacques Jobin. The codicille for Adrienne is available on Ancestry.com. The original is available from Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec; Montréal, Quebec, Canada; Collection: Fonds Cour Supérieure. District judiciaire de Québec. Cote CN301. Greffes de notaires, 1626-1962.; District: Québec; Title: Pere, Simon Sanguinet (1748-1771).  

I used LaFleur's research in my post, Where Did Guillaume Live?: The Concession Document of 1706. See La Fleur, Mary Ann, "Seventeenth-Century New England and New France in Comparative Perspective: Notre Dame des Anges --- A Case Study" (1987). Doctoral Dissertations. 1522. This quote comes from page 261. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1522 

Louis and Marie-Magdeleine’s had two children named Charles. The second son named Charles was born 18 April 1708. He married Elisabeth Garneau 29 October 1731. Initially I had believed he also died in 1748 but I could find no evidence to support that date. Elisabeth Garneau’s inhumation is available in Drouin. Charles Renaud's subsequent marriage to Marie Anne Giroux is found in Drouin and refers to him as “veuf (widower) d’Elisabeth Garneau”

Notes on Événement: Guillaume Renaud Named Procureur Fiscal

All transcriptions are my own unless otherwise noted. All translations result from my use of Google Translate and my own edits unless otherwise noted.

All archival references come from the online records of BanQ Québec unless otherwise noted.

The term procureur fiscal is a bit confusing because the literal translation of “tax attorney” or “tax prosecutor” is easily misunderstood in the modern context. The term “procureur” appears to have etymological roots in the Latin “procurator” so it could be a vestige of the Roman rule in Gaul. See entry at Centre National de resources Textuelles et Lexicales at https://www.cntrl.fr/definition/procureur.

The “fiscal” portion is somewhat less clear though my interpretation is that since the position served as a guardian of the seigneurial rights and privileges, its main role was to ensure that the seigneurs were appropriately compensated for the exercise of their right to dispense justice to the habitants residing under their jurisdiction. Justice was not free in 18th Century France and its colonies and in order to resolve their disputes peacefully, habitants had to pay. For example, in the case of the death of Jean Normand, Guillaume prepared a Mémoire des Frais tallying up the expenses incurred to pay the witnesses, the judge, the clerk and his own fees.

Guillaume’s installation as Procureur Fiscal can be found at TL5,D2795-11 8 September 1704.

Bouvart’s letter of recommendation can be found at TL5,2795-10 8 September 1704.

Pierre Haimard also came from humble origins arriving in New France in 1690. He had quite an eventful life before being named judge of the provost court for Notre-Dame-des-Anges in 1704.  See Roland-J. Auger, “HAIMARD, PIERRE,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 2, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003-, accessed January 3, 2020, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/haimard_pierre_2E.html.

The Jesuits had received their concession in 1626. They received additional land grants in 1637 and 1652. See Wikipedia, “Seigneurie de Notre-Dame-des-Anges, accessed January 3, 2020 here.

See Roy, J.E., La Justice Seigneuriale de Notre-Dame-des-Anges, 1890, p.8 microfiche PDF edition available at https://ia802703.us.archive.org/17/items/cihm_12823/cihm_12823.pdf.

The original French reads “C’est le seigneur justicier qui nommait les officiers de ses tribunaux par lettres-missives signees de sa main et scellées de ses armes. Dans la seigneurie des Jésuites, le supérieur et le procureur du college de Québec signaient les commissions.”

See Dickinson, John A. (1974). “La justice seigneuriale en Nouvelle-France: le cas de Notre-Dame-des-Anges. Revue d’histoire de l’Amérique française, 28, (3), p.345. See https://doi.org/10.7202/303366ar. The original French reads “Les activités de cette cour subalterne ne se limitaient donc pas seulement aux ‘petites chicanes’. Ses fonctions dans le domaine des règlements des héritages et de la protection des droits des mineurs lui accordaient certainement une grande importance auprès de ceux qui y étaient soumis. Dans une société où la famille formait la base du système légal, la responsabilité de veiller à ce que les rapports entre les membres soient conformes à la Coutume était très lourde. Les justices seigneuriales constituaient donc des mécanismes utiles de l’administration judiciaire de la Nouvelle-France.”

The Memoire des Frais qui ont été fait pendant le procès relatif au décès de Jean Normand (Lenormand) 21 November 1707, TL5,D2800M-1

The assessment of the fine to Charles and Joseph Normand was levied by the Sovereign Council. See TL5,D2800E-1 2 August 1706.

The role of procureur fiscal as protector of minor children and orphans is mentioned in Dickinson, “La justice seigneuiale en Nouvelle-France”, p.331. The original French reads “…le choix de tuteurs, les clôtures des inventaires de biens après décès et les partages des biens.”

The description of the procureur fiscal’s role in criminal cases as “rigorous” comes from Roy, p.14.

The description of Charles Normand’s actions subsequent to his father’s death comes from Normand, Mark. J., The Normand Family of Louisiana—Volume One: The History from Normandy to Avoyelles, Slaughter, Louisiana: 2011-2012 pp. 48-56 as summarized by http://louisianalineage.com/b199.htm. This account does not square with the documents in the archives which indicate that the assessment by Judge Haimard based upon the surgeon François-Xavier-Jourdain Lajus was that Jean Normand was murdered rather than the victim of an accident. Unfortunately, the 3-page document is in poor condition in spots and the handwriting is difficult to distinguish forcing me to rely on the brief summary of notes of the archivist. See TL5,D2800C-1. However, Normand’s account does provide an explanation as to why Charles felt the need to bypass the seigneuriale officials. I also rely on Dickinson’s coverage of the case on pp. 329-330.

The royal inquiry consisted of an inspection of the exhumed corpse by two surgeons, Jean de Mosny and Jean Coutard on July 27, 1706. The following day Duprac, the clerk of Notre-Dame-des-Anges visited both the widow of Jean Normand and his son Joseph who reported that he had handed over the clothing his father was wearing at the time of his death to the Provost of Quebec. See TL5,D2800B and TL5,D2800A.

Guillaume’s request to the Sovereign Council is unfortunately faded throughout but can be found at TL5,D2800D-1.

For the ruling of the Sovereign Council see TL5,D2800E-1, 2 August 1706. Once again, the connection between Guillaume and the Chartier family shows up. Having worked for Réné-Louis’ father Louis-Théandre and naming Réné-Louis the godfather of his first-born Louis Renaud. See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/René-Louis_Chartier_de_Lotbinière.

Guillaume’s request to continue his investigation and Haimard’s ordonnance of the same day can be found at TL5,D2800C-4 6 August 1706 and TL5,D2802 6 August 1706. See also TL5,D2800F-1 and TL5,D2800F-2 dated 6 August 1706.

The activities of August 11, 1706 are found in TL5,D2800G-2 (dit Lafranchise);  TL5,D2800G-3 (Pierre Pivin); TL5,D2800G-4 (Marie Pivin); TL5,D2800G-5 (Jacques Glinel); TL5,D2800H-1 and TL5,D2800H-2 (Glinel/Haimard).

For the activities of August 12, 1706 see TL5,D2800H-3 (Guillaume’s demand for the shirt); TL5,D2800G-7 (Guillaume’s request to publish a monitoire); TL5,D2800K (recapitulation).

Guillaume’s attempt to close the case after the monitoire failed to yield additional witnesses can be found at TL5,D2800L 22 November 1706.

The judgment by Haimard in favor of Guillaume versus Joseph Normand is available at TL5,D2806-1 24 March 1707.

For the Memoire des Frais and the Declaration of Auvray see TL5,D2800M-1 and TL5,D2800M-2 21 November 1707.

The case of the Normand brothers concerning their mother’s succession is at TL5,D290.

The list of the six men known to have served as procureur fiscal is available in Chapter V of Dickinson, John, “Les officiers de la justice seigneuriale de Notre-Dame-des-Anges (1664-1759)” Université Laval 1972, p.90. The permalink is http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11794/28734. This is Dickinson’s Master’s Thesis and it provides some interesting details on Guillaume not found elsewhere on pages 95-101. For example, as I noted in a previous post, Guillaume and his contemporaries were hard at work securing their legacy for their many offspring by any means. Dickinson offers a brief but useful description of Guillaume and his situation

“Guillaume Renaud lived and cleared a land of 10 acres in Saint-Gabriel in the 1680s, but the date of taking possession is uncertain since the concession was recognized in 1706. In 1690 he bought 120 acres of land in Saint-Antoine, of which ten were cleared, for 250 livres. In 1692 he leased 40 arpents of this land to the Jesuits on the condition that the "savages" clear it. He rented several cleared lands before he could produce enough food to support himself. In 1702 and 1706 he sold his land in St. Gabriel to two of his sons and kept only one acre to live there. Although he calls himself a carpenter in the 1690 contract of sale and undertook to repair a barn for 30 sols per day in 1692, he never seems to have practiced his profession. His appointment to the position of fiscal prosecutor allowed him to abandon the hard plowing of his land by providing him a sufficient income to support himself.” 

The original French text describing Guillaume’s ability to endow his family and his assets at the time of his wife’s death is

Guillaume Renaud dota sa femme d’un douaire de 200 livres. Il fut aussi en mesure d’avantager ses fils pour une somme de 200 livres chacun lorsque’ils se marièrent. Dans l’inventaire dressé lors du décès de sa femme, il avait 1.141 livres de biens et une terre de 60 arpents à Saint-Bernard qui ne fut pas estimée. Ceci constitue une fortune considérable pour un homme d’origine modeste.

For my assessment that the opportunity to move up the social order was declining I relied on Dickinson’s Thesis. His assessment was that the Jesuits selected men based upon the amount of education required for the position. However, he also notes that the backgrounds of the men changed over time as the seigneurial justice gained in prestige and were able to attract men from higher social strata.

“The social origins of the officers at the time of recruitment have undergone a certain evolution. The great diversity of origins at the beginning of the period disappears around 1750, which indicates that society began to stabilize. This elevation of the social level corresponds to the increase of the prestige of the seigniorial justice and to a diminution of the social mobility by the way of the offices.”

Reine Malouin also covers Notre-Dame-des-Anges in La Seigneurie de Notre-Dame-des-Anges (Québec, La Société Historique de Québec, 1955), Cahier d’histoire, no 7.

Notes for Place: Where Did Guillaume Live: The Concession Document of 1706

The concession document is available on line at BAnQ Numérique http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3149965?docsearchtext=Guillaume%20Renaud

All transcriptions and translations are courtesy of Christine Reno who patiently corrected my transcription and translations. 

François Genaple recorded the time of day in the official account as "avant midi le huitie(me) de janvier mil sept cents six " (before noon, the eighth of January one thousand seven hundred six). The Jesuits held title to the land grant or seigneurie they called Notre-Dame des Anges. A seigneurie is a parcel of land granted by the king or the authority acting on behalf of the king such as a trading company. The seigneurs were required to populate and develop the land as one of the conditions upon which the grant was given. 

The seigneurie of Notre-Dame des Anges is part of the modern-day Limoilou suburb of Quebec. See Richardson, A.J.H., Bastien, Geneviève, Dubé, Doris and Lacombe, Marthe, Quebec City: Architects, Artisans, and Builders, National Museum of Man (Ottawa, 1984), p. 94. 

I draw heavily on the dissertation by Mary Ann La Fleur throughout this post. Her archival research into the families of Notre-Dame des Anges contributed to my efforts to understand the document within the historical context. See La Fleur, Mary Ann, "Seventeenth-Century New England and New France in Comparative Perspective: Notre Dame Des Anges --- A Case Study" (1987). Doctoral Dissertations. 1522. The quotes used in this post can be found on pages 165, 37 (footnote 7), 132, 111, 171-172, 244, 252, 248, 197, 219-220, 239, 260-261, 265. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1522 

See Chapters VI, VII and VIII in La Fleur's study for the discussion of the "persisters" on pages 194-276. 

The Notarial Records of Gilles Rageot come from Ancestry.com. Quebec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1626-1935 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data: Fonds Cour Supérieure. Greffes de notaires. Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Montréal, Québec, Canada. 

Bail à ferme is a contract by which the owner abandons the exploitation of his domain against a royalty/payment. https://dictionnaire.reverso.net/francais-definition/bail+%C3%A0+ferme.  

The reference to Guillaume’s potash contract can be found in Trudel, Marcel. Histoire De La Nouvelle-France, Volume IV,  La Seigneurie de la Compagnie des Indes Occidentale, 1663-1674. Québec: Fides, 1997 fn 45 p. 435. 

I could not find a specific definition of quittances des rentes seigneurials but it appears this is the term for the receipts Guillaume received indicating that he had paid his annual obligations to the Jesuits. 

Guillaume was named procureur fiscal for the Jesuits on 6 September 1704. I plan to discuss this in detail in my next blog post. 

The terms of Guillaume's annual obligations included land rent of 100 sols which was a copper coin worth 1/20 of a livre and about 12 derniers. See French livre. It is hard to make a conversion into today's dollars. It should be noted that Guillaume obviously had access to coins as he successfully paid these dues. It is also noteworthy that the rent was stipulated in this coin rather than simply saying 5 livres suggesting the livres would not be as common in terms of circulating currency. 

I could not find a satisfactory definition of sous marqués other than to confirm that it was a coin used in the colonies. The sous or sols was minted in denominations of 1 sol or 2 sous so the sous marqués may have been the 2 sous. There are numerous images online where these coins can be purchased that seem to indicate this is the case.  

The Cens was a token cash payment. According to La Fleur, the Cens was only levied on a roture which was a "concession of land which could not be subconceded, and which was held be a censitaire from a seigneur." See page 284. 

A "capon" is a male chicken that has been castrated and fattened for eating. The stipulation that they be alive and "good" is curious but probably reflects a desire to ensure the meat was fresh. 

The French text stipulating Guillaume's obligations "to make and maintain paths" is as follows:  

"d’y faire et entretenir les chemins

êtablis pour la commodité publique; de porter

les grains de leur nourriture moudre au plus

prochain moulin de la dite seigneurie, sans les

pouvoir porter moudre ailleurs qu’en payant

au meunier dudit moulin le droit ordinaire or-

dinaire [sic] de mouturage; de continuer de travailler

aux defrichemens et culture des terres de la dite

concession et de decouvrir et en abatre les bois

qui pourront nuire aux grains et fruits des terres

voisines; et de fournir aux dits Revds Peres

incessamment une expedition des presentes en

bonne forme, ou leur rembourser ce qu’ils en

auront payé pour la retirer: par ainsy à êté

faite la presente concession a ces conditions"

The French text outlining the rights of the Huron to gather wood is as follows:

"comme aussi la liberté pour eux, leurs

sauvages Hurons neóphites de prendre sur la

dite concession le bois de charpente et de

chaufage dont ils auront besoin; et que s-‘il

s-‘y trouvoit un endroit propre pour la bâtise

d’un moulin, ils auront le droit d’en prendre

un demi arpent en payant ce quy auroit pu

couter pour le defrichement dudit demy arpent,

[en payant ce quy auroit pu couter pour le

defrichement dudit demy arpent {dittography)]"

The French text describing the location of Guillaume's concession is as follows:

"du côte du sud sur une ligne courant nordest quart d'est

et sorouest quart d'ouest, la quelle la separe

des habitations de Louis et Bernard Renaut;

la dite concession contenant vingt arpens

de profondeur sur la même largeur dudit front;

bornée du cotépar la ligne qui fait la sepa-

ration de la seigneurie de Saint Romain d'avec

celle de Sillery en devant dite de Saint Gabriel;

et du côté du sorouëst par une ligne tirant

le nor-ouest quart de nord parallele á la

precedente et qui la separe de la terre des Hurons:…"

The map by Villeneuve, Carte des Environs de Quebec en La Nouvelle France Mesurée très exactement en 1688 par le Sr de Villeneuve Ing., is available online from Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Cartes et plans, GE SH 18 PF 127 DIV 7, at https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b5968897v/f1.item.

There are many versions of the Catalogne map available online. The most comprehensive and zoomable version is available at http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2244521.

As of this writing I could not identify the link between Marie Ann La Teille and Guillaume Renaud. La Fleur indicates she is the granddaughter of Guillaume. She must have been infirmed in the Hôpital Général rather early in life. She could not have been born earlier than the mid-1690s if she was a child of one of Guillaume's children. If she was living there her condition must not have been very healthy. I am unable to determine at this point who her father or mother was.

The information on the Bedard's and their connection with the Renauds is drawn from La Fleur's study but also Richardson, A.J.H., Bastien, Geneviève, Dubé, Doris and Lacombe, Marthe, Quebec City: Architects, Artisans, and Builders, National Museum of Man (Ottawa, 1984), pp. 94-96.

Notes for Evénement: Marie de La Mare and the Trial of Claude-Philiberte Pahin (Pachin)

The source document for this post can be found at the Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales Du Québec online at http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoiLa…a trouvé ?e/archives/52327/3348621.

The individuals and roles of those involved are as follows:

Claude-Philiberte Pahin (Pachin), wife of Pierre Coirier, defendant

daughter of Pierre Coirier, defendant

son of Pierre Coirier, party to the incident

Jean Bernard dit Anse, complainant

wife of Jean Bernard dit Hanse, witness (victim)

daughter of Jean Bernard dit Hanse, witness (victim)

Marie Lamarre (La Mare), wife of Guillaume Renaud (Regnault), witness (victim)

René Louis Chartier, Lord of Lotbinière, counselor to the king, lieutenant general for civil and criminal matters in the district (prévôté) of Quebec

François Genaple, Clerk

(Exploit de) Marandeau, bailiff (huissier)

Jeanne Chalu, wife of Joachin Girard, witness

Anne Girard, daughter of Joachin Girard, witness

Marie (Anne) Regnault, daughter of Guillaume Regnault (Renaud), witness

Marie Galerneau, wife of Michel Varet (Verret), witness

The "village" of Saint-Bernard would probably be considered nothing more than a neighborhood in today's parlance.  Along with la petite Auvergne, Saint-Claude, Bourg-Royal, Saint-Joseph, and Saint-Romain, Saint Bernard formed the parish of Charlesbourg.  See https://www.ville.quebec.qc.ca/publications/patrimoine/docs/histoire_de_raconter_charlesbourg.pdf 

The section pertaining to the residents of St. Bernard’s in the census of 1681 can be found on page 82 of volume 5 of Benjamin Sulte’s Histoire des Canadiens-Français available online at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015084540635;view=1up;seq=122.

The Indian tribes that are generally referred to as the Iroquois refer to themselves as the Haudenosaunee, "People of the Long House". The term Iroquois is considered to be pejorative. I first ran across this issue in David Vermette's A Distinct Alien Race: The Untold Story of Franco-Americans: Industrialization, Immigration, Religious Strife, Montréal: Baraka Books (2018) p. 25. Vermette merely mentions the pejorative nature of the term Iroquois. The Wikipedia page for the term Iroquois covers the historical debate regarding the origins of the term Iroquois. While fascinating, the germane point is that Iroquois arises outside the tradition of the referential population whereas Haudenosaunee is the term used within the population and culture. 

The phrase “Sur les fonds de bapteme” appears throughout the document as well when describing the individual’s relationship to the parties involved.  According to the 1852 edition of Grand Dictionnaire Français-Anglais et Anglais-Français this phrase means to be a godparent (see entry for Tenir p. 1020). “un enfant sur les fonds de baptême [ en être le parrain ou la marraine), to stand godfather or godmother to a child.” 

The title under which the document is catalogued refers to the defendant by her maiden name Claude-Philiberte Pahin (Pachin). The French practice was for the woman to retain her maiden name throughout her life to retain the connection to the house of her father. However, throughout the document the defendant is referred to as the "femme de Pierre Coirier" reflecting the legal identity of the woman being subsumed by her husband. Additionally, although the title refers to Jean Bernard dit Hanse, the body of the document simply refers to he and his wife as Anse. Dit names were employed for a variety of reasons one of which was to distinguish families of the same surname. The other dit name that appears in the document refers to Michel Verret as "dit Laverdure." I confirmed Verret's identity with the updated edition by Charles Beaumont of Gosselin, David, Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles De Charlesbourg: Depuis La Fondation De La Paroisse Jusqu' À Nos Jours. 

There are multiple references to the children passing through the bled of Anse. I believe this is a rendition of the word blé which means "corn." However, the term corn did not necessarily refer to maize but rather any type of grain crop such as wheat and rye. 

The Chemin du Roy or "King's Road" runs along the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Québec. The historic route follows along the current Quebec Route 138 and Quebec Autoroute 40. There is even a tourist-oriented website that highlights the history and attractions along the historic route at  https://www.lecheminduroy.com/en. 

The livre was the basis of French currency established by Charlemagne and was equal to one pound of silver. It was the equivalent of 20 sous or sols which were further divided into 12 deniers. Although there were earlier occurrences, the modern franc did not arrive until the French Revolution of the 1790s. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_livre. 

Michel Verret had a close association with Guillaume Regnault as noted in the notarial records see Personne-Guillaume-Regnault-part-three. Michel’s son Joseph (1671-1708) married Guillaume's daughter Marie-Louise Regnault (1676-1708). Michel Verret married Marie Galerneau in 1683 when Marie was only 16 years old. His first marriage was to Marie Deschamps. The infant referred to in the document was probably Elizabeth Verret who was baptized in February 1686. Unfortunately, the record in the Drouin Collection is a mess. 

The phrase "avec un baston" appears throughout the document to describe Madame Coirier's arrival at the scene. Based upon a later reference to Madame Coirier's "ballet (balai)" it would appear she attacked Madame Anse with her broom handle.

It is repeated throughout the document that Madame Coirier threw Madame Anse's coiffure into the fields as she ran back to her house. While this term has come to mean an elaborate hairstyle, it is not likely that Madame Anse was walking around in such a state. It is more likely that she was wearing some kind of headdress or bonnet that Madame Coirier had in her hand as a result of the tussle.

Perhaps the most shocking of all the testimony comes from Jeanne Chalu's assertion that Madame Coirier called for her husband to bring an axe to cut off the arms of Madame Anse "et lui disait de lui apporter une hache pour couper les bras a ladite Anse."

With respect to the family ties between the Chartier's and the Regnault, I have often wondered how Guillaume Regnault ever entered into the employment of such an important individual as Louis-Théandre Chartier de Lotbinière. Given that I believe the evidence suggests that Guillaume arrived in Canada as an engagé rather than as a soldier, it is possible that his connection to Chartier was arranged prior to his arrival in Canada or began shortly thereafter. I am further intrigued by the curious suggestion that Chartier’s wife, Elisabeth D'Amours' father, Louis, was at one time married (his second wife) to Marie Regnault though she was not known to be related to the Regnault's of Saint Jouin. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Regnault-8#_note-0.

The court proceedings appear to have begun with taking the statements of witnesses followed by the testimony of the defendant. At a subsequent phase, the witnesses and the accused were brought together where the opportunity was given to confirm or make alterations to their prior testimony. The defendant would be given the opportunity to respond to the testimony of the witnesses rather than just the questions of the investigator.

Madame Coirier's counter to Marie De La Mare's testimony refers to a confrontation between Marie and Madame Jobin which may have been violent as well. According to Madame Coirier, "la femme de Jobin l’a battuë il y a deux ou trois ans." The word battuë comes from the verb battre meaning "to beat."

The entry for Pierre Ragnault’s baptism in the Drouin collection can be seen here.

The proceedings appear to occur during the period of June 11, 1686 through July 22 1686.

June 11        Event

June 15        Testimony of Marie De La Mare (pg 1), Anne Girard (pg 3), and Marie Regnault (pg 4)

June 20        Testimony of Marie Galerneau (page 6)

June 23        Testimony of Jeanne Chalu (page 8) 

July 2           Jean Bernard petitions for more food (page 10) 

July 12         Defendant’s initial testimony (page 12) 

July 20        Follow up testimony from all witnesses and Defendant (Marie De La Mare page 18; Anne Girard page 19; Marie Regnault page 19; Marie Galerneau page 20; Jeanne Chalu page 20; The Defendant begins page 22)  

July 22        Sentencing (page 31) 

Bibliography for Personne: Susanne De La haye

The quote regarding French women keeping their surname throughout their life comes from Natalie Zemon Davis, Society and Culture in Early Modern France Stanford University Press 1975 p. 71.

Robert Wheaton’s discussion of the maintenance of lineal rights to property can be found in his essay “Affinity and Descent in Seventeenth-Century Bordeaux” in Family & Sexuality in French History, ed. by Robert Wheaton and Tamara K. Hareven, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1980 pp.120-121. See page 117 for his statement on godparenthood.

On communal marital property in Normandy see Suzanne Desan’s essay “Making and Breaking Marriage: An Overview of Old Regime Marriage as a Social Practice’ in Family, Gender, and Law in Early Modern France, ed. by Suzanne Desan and Jeffrey Merrick, University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2009, pp. 5-6.

For the origins of the surname of De La Haye I relied on a variety of sources including several online resources The Island Wiki, SurnameDB, House of Names and Wikipedia. As usual I also relied on Dauzet, Albert, Dictionnaire Étymologique des Noms e Famille et Prénoms de France, Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1951 p. 322. Dauzet draws a link between De La Haye and the surname Deshayes as the plural (des- hayes) of De La Haye. While I did not find many instances of De La Haye in the registers of Gonneville-La-Mallet, I found numerous instances of Deshayes and Deshaies. This is not to suggest that there is a family connection. See also Roland Jacob Votre nom et son histoire: Les noms de famille au Québec, Montréal, Québec: Les Éditions de l’Homme 2006 pp 143, 183.

For Jean-Louis Flandrin’s discussion of kin see Flandrin, Jean-Louis, Families in former times: Kinship, household and sexuality. Translated by Richard Southern. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979, pp. 14-15. His coverage of endogamous marriage and kinship pp 34-35.

For my brief reference to Pierre Goubert see page 64 in The French Peasantry in the Seventeenth Century; translated by Ian Patterson (Cambridge University Press 1986)

Lechevalier’s description of Saint-Jouin can be found in A. Lechevalier’s Recherches Historiques Sur Les Communes du Canton de Criquetot-L’Esneval Depuis L’Époque Féodale Proprement Dite Jusqu’a la Révolution (Paris: Librarie Normande, 1897), pp. 141-152. His coverage of Gonneville-La-Mallet and Écultot can be found on pp. 108-119. His description of the market in Gonneville-la-Mallet appears on p. 108.

Natalie Zemon Davis’ treatment of youth abbeys can be found in Davis, Natalie Z., Society and Culture in Early Modern France. Stanford: Stanford University Press 1975 in Chapter 4 “The Reasons of Misrule” pp. 97-123. My reference to outside suitors being viewed as “poachers” is derived from pp. 106-107. See also Flandrin above and his coverage of the rite of the ‘barrier’ pp. 35-49.

I reviewed the relevant portions of the parish registers from Gonneville-la-Mallet, Écultot and Saint-Jouin available online from the Archives départementales de Seine-Maritime at http://www.archivesdepartementales76.net/.  I am indebted, as always, to the paleographic skills and expert knowledge of the French language of Professor Christine Reno. I would never have located the baptismal record of Susanne De La Haye without the direct reference provided by Eric Mardoc author of Aventuriers haut-normands en Nouvelle-France, Hautot-Saint-Sulpice, France, 2007.

The reference to Guillaume Regnault’s baptismal record was covered previously in Personne: Guillaume Regnault: Part One

For an example of a reference to Anthoinette De La Haye see the Saint-Jouin parish register 4E 02934-1623-1657-Saint-Jouin.

The quote from Peter Moogk regarding correspondence between those that went to Canada and those they left behind comes from Moogk, Peter N., La Nouvelle France: The Making of French Canada—A Cultural History. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press 2000, pp. 137, 216.

The concluding quote comes from the poem “The Right Meaning” by César Vallejo, translated by Robert Bly, as it appears in The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart: Poems for Men, edited by Robert Bly, James Hillman, and Michael Meade, Harper Perennial edition, 1993, p. 394.

Resources

Bibliography for Épilogue: Inhumation and Legacy

The data on the attendees of the multiple inhumations mentioned come from the Drouin Collection available at Ancestry.com.

Gosselin's comments on Charles Boismé on page 126 in Gosselin, David and Beaumont, Charles, Dictionnaire Généalogique Des Familles de Charlesbourg: Depuis La Fondation De La Paroisse Jusqu'à Nos Jours, Québec: 1906. Nabu Public Domain Reprint. Translation is my own.  In footnote 2 Gosselin indicates that "Chs Boesmé est le premier ancêtre canadien de tous ceux qui portent ce nom, et le premier bedeau connu de la paroisse de Charlesbourg." In footnote 3, he notes that Boismé (also Boesmé) "résidait dans le quartier de l'ancien cimetière." 

Gédéon Catalogne's map of 1709 indicates at least two plots of land for Boismé #626 and #539 as shown in https://www.renaudfamilyhistory.com/blog/2017/6/18/personne-guillaume-regnault-part-three.

The brief history of the cemetery is recounted in Malouin, Reine, Charlesbourg: 1660-1949. Québec: Les Editions La Liberté Inc. 1972, pp. 95-101.  I utilized Google Translate to assist in deciphering Malouin's account of the cemetery and to identify the location of the old cemetery in le parc du Sacré-Coeur.

The description of the of the monument and excavations comes from Journal Le Carrefour de Québec at

http://www.carrefourdequebec.com/2014/06/inauguration-du-parc-sacre-coeur/.

The translated quotation in the text was derived from Google Translate.

I borrowed from Jack Verney’s interpretation of the works of Groulx, Sulte, Roy and Malchelosse found in The Good Regiment: The Carignan-Salières Regiment in Canada 1665-1668. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1991, pp vii-ix. For his assessment that the Regiment was less than a success in terms of military objectives see pp. 122-128.

For my thoughts on the importance of reinforcing ancestry and genealogy with a solid understanding of history I borrowed liberally from a combination of lectures by the historian Timothy Snyder, most notably Why History Matters and Remembrance, History, and Justice: Coming to Terms with Traumatic Pasts in Democratic Societies.

The quoted portion of the poem by William Stafford comes from the final two stanzas of “A Ritual to Read to Each Other” found in The Darkness Around Us Is Deep; Selected Poems of William Stafford. Edited and with an Introduction by Robert Bly. New York: Harper Perennial, 1993, pp. 135-136.

Bibliography for Personne: Marie De La Mare

The story of the “filles du roi” is well documented in numerous books and now a multitude of websites. Peter Gagné’s two volume King’s Daughters and Founding Mothers: The Filles du Roi, 1663-1673. Orange Park (Florida): Quintin Publications 2001 is a good place to start. I drew on Volume One for the transatlantic voyage, the arrival in Québec and the courtship period as well as the marriage process. See pp. 29, 31-33. The quotes from La Hontan on the vetting process for prospective husbands and the preference for farm girls appear on p. 36. The description of the notary process is provided on page 37. The statements that Marie could not sign the marriage contract and Marie and Guillaume settling in Québec after their marriage appear on page 194. 

Gagné also relies on Thomas Costain’s The White and The Gold: The French Regime in Canada. Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 1954. Costain is largely known as a writer of fiction however this is a work of narrative history though without the benefit of references. It’s a good read providing some imaginative details which may or may not be based upon historical sources.  His colorful characterization of urban girls can be found on page 61. Nevertheless, his brief summary of the lives of Madame de La Peltrie, Marie De l’Incarnation and Jeanne Manse in Chapter XII provides a glimpse into the biographies of three women important to the founding of Québec and Montréal.

Dom Guy Oury’s Marie of the Incarnation [1599-1672] correspondence, translated by Sr. St. Domininic Kelly published by Irish Ursuline Union 2000-04-28 was the source for the quotes from Marie De l’Incarnation, see pages 297 and 314.

Alan Greer’s The People of New France. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997 provided much of the social context upon which I relied to illuminate some of the undocumented aspects of Marie’s life. For his coverage of women and their ties to the family see pp. 60-75. His quote regarding no singular “women’s position is found on p. 64. The quote from Jean Bodin and the bishop appears on p. 61. The reference to “communauté de biens” is on page 69 while the reference to a woman’s ability to “renounce the community” follows on page 70. His coverage of childbirth and midwifery appears on pp. 65-66 as does his reference to the work of Gauvreau. The spelling of “Charlebourg” rather than “Charlesbourg” reflects Gauvreau’s quote.  See Gauvreau, Danielle. Québec, une ville et sa population au temps de la Nouvelle-France. Sillery: Les Presses de l’Université du Québec 1991.

For those that would be interested in a contemporay account of midwifery I would recommend Sharp, Jane, The Midwives Book: Or the Whole Art of Midwifry Discovered ed. by Elaine Hobby. New York: Oxford University Press 1999. Sharp was a seventeenth century midwife in England but her work derives from other sources such as The Compleat Midwifes Practice which relied on French sources. According to Elaine Hobby, Sharp reworked portions of the book into her own (p. xvi.) At this time, ‘humoral theory’ still dominated and one particular belief was that males were produced from the seed of the right testicle and would lie on the right-hand side of the womb (pp. xix, 36, 83). The length of the penis or “man’s yard” was of concern for physiologic reasons rather than a mere fetish for bigness. The concern was that the length should be neither too long nor too short, (p. 25). For the use of butter or other oils as lubricants see p. 148 and 161. The positioning of the mother and the supporting women is described on pp. 158-159. For the post birth instructions and procedures see pp. 163 and 272. The mixture of herbs and spices are described as “a powder of Bole, Sarcocolla, Dragons blood, Cummin and Myrrh” (p. 272).

The information regarding René-Louis Chartier de Lotbinière is courtesy of Verney’s The Good Regiment pp. 43-44, and 48 as well as The Dictionary of Canadian Biography available at http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio.php?id_nbr=703.

Trudelle's characterization of Charlesbourg is found on page 5 footnote 1 of his Paroisse De Charlesbourg which is available both online via Google Books or via Nabu Public Domain Reprints.

The information on diseases and epidemics in New France are from Mazan, Ryan M., "Analyzing Epidemics in New France: The Measles Epidemic of 1714-15" (2011). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 141. http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/141.

All images are credited in the main body of the texts. All transcriptions and translations were graciously provided by Christine Reno.

Bibliography for Famille: De La Mare

The details regarding the ship La Nouvelle France and its arrival date in Québec can be found in the section covering Les Filles du Roi at Migrations . This website is constantly being up updated with new information.

For the coverage of the Filles du Roi I relied on Gagné, Peter J. King’s Daughters and Founding Mothers: The Filles du Roi, 1663-1673, Volume 1. Orange Park, Florida: Quintin Publications 2001. For the quote on the ratio of men to marriageable women see page 19. The characterization of the Filles du Roi as orphans and payment to recruiters is on page 23. For the pensions to large families see page 39.

The reference to engagés and return rates to France can be found on page 105 of Moogk, Peter N., La Nouvelle France: The Making of French Canada—A Cultural History. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press 2000. For King Louis’ concern for the vulnerability of the small colonial population in New France see page 13. The quote from Jean-Baptiste Colbert regarding the appearance of Les Filles du Roi is quoted in Moogk on page 106.

For the alleged Norwegian Viking origins of the De La Mare family and name as well as their connection to the Norman invasion of England by William the Conqueror see https://www.theislandwiki.org/index.php/De_La_Mare. The discussion questioning the Norwegian origins and the weakness in the position put forth by D.C. Douglas see http://www.deloriahurst.com/deloriahurst%20page/3310.html. The quote from T.D. Kendrick on the Danish composition of Rollo’s army can be found in the 2013 edition of his 1930 History of the Vikings. New York: Fall River Press 2013, p. 195.

The surname De La Mare varies throughout the historical records as well as in modern day. While I prefer De La Mare, I preserve the spelling variations used in the reference documents. The linguistic origins of the name can be found in Dauzat, Albert, Dictionnaire Étymologique des Noms de Famille et Prénoms de France. Paris: Librairie Larousse 1951, pp. 185, 360.  Additional detail can be found in Jacob, Roland, Votre nom et son histoire: Les noms de famille au Québec. Montréal: Les Éditions de l’Homme 2006, p. 180.

The evidence of Guillaume de La Mare as treasurer for the parish of Saint-Maclou comes from Neagley, Linda E., Disciplined Exuberance: The Parish Church of Saint-Maclou and Late Gothic Architecture in Rouen. University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, p. 64. Neagley’s source comes from Series G, G6874 of the cartulaire for the parish fabrique which are housed in the Archives départementales de Seine-Maritime. Series G, G6872 and G6873 are available online. Construction for the structure was begun under the English during their occupation of Rouen and Normandy during the Hundred Years War (1337-1453). While the parish “was one of the poorest parishes in the city” the church was financed almost entirely on funds within the parish. (pp. 57-58). Despite the tough economic times of the period, the Dufour family of Rouen continued to direct its resources and attention to the construction of the church. The architectural significance of the structure, according to Neagley, stems from its characterization as “a rare example in the history of gothic architecture where a clear and coherent vision is manifested in the totality of its execution.” (p.24).

An additional historical account of Saint-Maclou as told through the tenures of its Curés (parish priests) can be found in Prévost, Chanoine L., Histoire de La Paroisse Et Des Curés De Saint-Maclou: depuis la Fondation jusqu’à nos jours (1219-1966). Rouen: Editions Maugard, 1970.

The many images from the parish registers are appropriately referenced in the main post. My continued thanks to Professor Christine Reno for her expert paleographic and translation assistance.

For my coverage of the Wars of Religion in Rouen I relied primarily on Benedict, Philip, Rouen during the Wars of Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981. The percentage of Protestants in 1560-61 in Rouen and the anticipated triumph of their Protestant cause to transform France can be found on pages 52-54. The description of Catholic efforts at summary executions of Protestants and the rescue efforts by Protestants as well as the quote describing the Protestant actions at the Corpus Christi Day procession are found on pages 61-62. One example of the virulence of the Catholic reaction to Protestantism is Benedict’s account of the cure of Saint-Maclou and grand vicar of the cathedral, Adam Sécard whose anti-Protestantism was so pronounced he had to be reprimanded by parlement in 1552 for his violence. See p. 67 and footnote 2 on page 69.

For Benedict’s discussion of the differences in world views of the Protestants and Catholics and the concept of Protestantism as “pollution” see page 63-64. According to Benedict, Protestant tactics to attack and mock rituals and ritual objects was a “desecration, and desecration placed the community in danger” of divine retribution. For a lengthier discussion on the meaning of religious violence during this period see Chapter 6 “The Rites of Violence” in Davis, Natalie Z., Society and Culture in Early Modern France. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1975, pp. 152-188. Also of interest is her coverage of women during the Wars of Religion in Chapter 3 “City Women and Religious Change” on pages 65-96. Davis records one instance in Aix-en-Provence where a group of female butchers beat and hung a wife of a Protestant bookseller. (p. 93).

Benedict’s coverage of Protestant efforts to seek assistance from the English resulting in the Treaty of Hampton Court is found on page 100. His coverage of the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre appears on pages 125-130. His characterization of the post massacre period through the 1580s as relatively peaceful is on page 163. The quote regarding the role of notables bourgeois and marchands appears on page 6.

Another useful source for this period is Lloyd, Howell A., The Rouen Campaign 1590-1592: Politics, Warfare and the Early-Modern State. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973. Lloyd covers the cosmopolitan nature of Rouen on pages 2-3. Lloyd’s book is a detailed account of the activities in Rouen during Henry IV’s attempts to defeat the Spanish backed Catholic League to secure his claim to the throne of France. Capturing Rouen was essential to this goal.

For an understanding of the complicated governmental structure of Early Modern France, I recommend Harding, Robert R., Anatomy of a Power Elite: The Provincial Governors of Early Modern France. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1978. The structure of government and the balance of power between the King and the different layers of local and regional governments is essential to understand in order to fully grasp the effect of the spread of Protestantism and the Wars of Religion as well as the efforts of the French Kings to exercise their authority and power to govern the people of France directly rather than through intermediaries.

All of the images found in the parish registers are available on line at http://www.archivesdepartementales76.net/. I could not find any evidence for the first child of David De La Mare and Anne de Bussevestre. The only mention I have seen comes from Fichier Origine’s entry for Marie De La Mare at  http://fichierorigine.com/recherche?numero=242258. I was able to verify the parish entries for her other siblings all of which are available online. The references are:

Alexandre, 04-01-1638, 3E 00999-1636-1638- Rouen (paroisse Saint-Maclou) image 280 of 345; Jeanne, 28-03-1639, 4E 02080- 1638-164 – Rouen (paroisse Saint-Maclou) image 21 of 70; Guillaume, 29-05-1640, 4E 02080 - 164 -1641- Rouen (paroisse Saint-Maclou), image 29 of 79; Anne, 26-09-1642, 4E 02081 – 1641-1642 – Rouen (paroisse Saint-Maclou) image 130 of 177; Michel, 01-01-1647, 3E 00999 – 1643- 1648/01/18 – Rouen (paroisse Saint-Maclou) image 265 of 319; Robert, 30-03-1649, 3E 00999 – 1648- 1651- Rouen (paroisse Saint-Maclou) image 58 of 167 and Marguerite, 19-02-1652, 3E 00999 – 1651 – 1655 – Rouen (paroisse Saint-Maclou) image 12 of 180.

Bibliography for Personne: Guillaume Regnault Part Three

For information on transatlantic voyages see Moogk, Peter N., La Nouvelle France: The Making of French Canada—A Cultural History. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press 2000, pp 124-125. His characterization of churchwardens and fabriques can be found on page 73.

The information on the Sénéchaussée and the Custom of Paris comes from Wikipedia. The information on Chartier de Lotbinière come from a variety of sources. See André Vachon, “CHARTIER DE LOTBINIÈRE, LOUIS-THÉANDRE,”  in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed June 18, 2017, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/chartier_de_lotbiniere_louis_theandre_1E.html. See also Kingsford, William, History of Canada: Canada under French Rule. Toronto: Rowsell & Hutchison 1887, pp. 318-319, 322, 332-333, 347-348.

For a description of Guillaume’s duties working for Lotbinière see Our Tangled French Canadian Roots: A History of The People who were Part of Our Gregoire, Adam, Martel and Beaudry Lines by Jan Gregoire Coombs, Middleton Wisconsin, 2009, p. 51 and  Bessière, Armand, La Domesticité Dans La Colonie Laurentienne Au XVIIE Et Au Début de XVIIIE Siècle (1640-1710). PhD Dissertation, 2007.

The information regarding Guillaume’s payment from the Crown to remain in Canada comes from Verney, Jack, The Good Regiment: The Carignan-Salières Regiment in Canada 1665-1668. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press 1991, p. 111.

The copy of the marriage record comes from Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967, Ancestry.com. The data for the children comes from a combination of the Drouin collection and Ancestry.com. Quebec, Genealogical Dictionary of Canadian Families (Tanguay Collection), 1608-1890 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. See also Gagné, Peter J. King’s Daughters and Founding Mothers: The Filles du Roi, 1663-1673, Volume 1. Orange Park, Florida: Quintin Publications 2001 pp. 193-194.

There are multiple versions of Catalogne’s map available online. For a book version see “Seigniorial Settlement in 1709” Trudel, Marcel, Atlas de la Nouvelle-France/An Atlas of New France. Les Presses de l'Université Laval, Québec, 1968, p. 166.

The Notarial Records of Gilles Rageot come from Ancestry.com. Quebec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1626-1935 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data: Fonds Cour Supérieure. Greffes de notaires. Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Montréal, Québec, Canada.

The reference to Guillaume’s potash contract can be found in Trudel, Marcel. Histoire De La Nouvelle-France, Volume IV,  La Seigneurie de la Compagnie des Indes Occidentale, 1663-1674. Québec: Fides, 1997 fn 45 p. 435.

Guillaume’s service as a church warden has been documented in Malouin, Reine, Charlesbourg 1660-1949. Québec: Les Editions La Liberté, 1972, pp. 47-48.  Trudelle, Charles, Paroisse de Charlesbourg. Québec: A. Coté et Cie, 1887, p. 32; 314. Trudelle’s book is available in its entirety for download via Google Books. Marcel Trudel’s recollection on the churchwarden’s place in the local community can be found in Trudel, Marcel, Memoirs of a Less Travelled Road: A Historian’s Life, translated by Jane Brierley. Montréal: Véhicule Press 2002, pp. 23-24. The statement that Guillaume worked for the Jesuits can be found on page 100 in Linda Turner's The Lemire (La Mere) family. St. Paul 1978. It is self published and is available online at Ancestry.com as well as librairies throughout the nation.

Bibliography for Personne: Guillaume Regnault Part Two

Much of my narrative account of the Regiment relies on Jack Verney’s The Good Regiment: The Carignan-Salières Regiment in Canada 1665-1668. Montréal: McGill-Queen’s University Press 1991. Although perhaps less useful from an analytical perspective, I have found it worthwhile to review earlier accounts of the Carignan-Regiment as the style of historical writing differed in the late 19th and early 20th Century. Historians from this earlier period were more prone to inserting extended quotes from primary or contemporary sources which can be a goldmine for those who do not have ready access to national or local archives. For example there is an extended quote on pages 339-340 recording the Dutch reaction to Courcelle’s expedition in Kingsford, William, History of Canada: Canada under French Rule Toronto: Rowsell & Hutchison 1887.

“We learn that ‘by mistake of his guides’ M. de Courcelles ‘hapned to fall short of the castles of the Mauhaukes, and to encamp within two miles of Schonectade.’ The arrival caused a deputation to ask ‘Monsier Coursell’ why he brought ‘such a body of armed men into the Dominions of His Majesty. Surely,’ says the chronicler, ‘so bould and hardy attempt hath not hapned in any age’: M. de Courcelles was surprised to learn that the country was claimed by England, and that there was a garrison at Albany of sixty soldiers, with nine pieces of ordnance, under Captain Baker.’ Those who observed the words and countenance of Monsieur Coursell saw him disturbed in minde that the King was Master of these parts of the country where he expected to have found the Dutch interest uppermost, saying that the King of England did grasp all America.’”

Another such example is Lovell, John, Lovell’s history of the Dominion of Canada, and other parts of British America . Montreal: Lovell Printing and Publishing Company 1876.

The quote from François Le Mercier and the quote from Marquis de Salières regarding the building of forts come from the CBC series Le Canada: A People’s History.

I relied on Marcel Trudel’s work on the population of Canada and the effect of such a large influx of troops. See Trudel, Marcel, The Beginnings of New France 1524-1663 Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1973, p. 246 and Trudel, marcel, La Population Du Canada En 1663, Fides: Montréal, pp. 2, 11.

The correspondence of Marie De L’Incarnation are required reading for anyone interested in the early French settlement. Not just religious in focus, she documents in some detail on the daily activities of the colony for an extended period of time. I used the Dome Guy Oury edition Marie of the Incarnation [1599 – 1672]: Correspondence translated from the French by Sr. St. Dominic Kelly published by Irish Ursuline Union, 2000.

The work of William B. Munro is available via Google Books and through Archive.org. See Munro, William Bennett, Documents relating to the seigniorial tenure in Canada, 1598-1854. Toronto: The Champlain Society 1908, p. xxxiv.

Much of the content in this post relies on research I conducted over five years ago in which I relied on a number of other online resources for quotes and narrative overview which are no longer valid URLs. Several of these quotes and much of the narrative can also be found in Verney.

Bibliography for Personne: Guillaume Regnault Part One

Despite the presence of some errors in Tanguay’s work, his 7 volume Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes françaises depuis les origins de la colonie jusqu’à nos jours is a good first reference for anyone interested in French-Canadien geneaology. It is also available as the Genealogical Dictionary of Canadian Families (Tanguay Collection), 1608-1890, on Ancestry.com.

Emile Vaillancourt collaborated with Archange Godbout in producing La Conquête du Canada par les Normands: Biographie de la première generation normande du Canada. Montréal: G. Ducharme 1930.  He profiles Guillaume on page 222. Unfortunately he also cites 1644 as the year of birth.

I am grateful to Dominique Ritchot of Fichier Origine for providing me with the correct baptismal date for Guillaume and for the link to the Saint-Jouin parish registers in the archives. As a result I was able to locate all of Guillaume’s siblings in the register. All of the extracts from the parish registers come from the Archives départementales de Seine-Maritime online at http://www.archivesdepartementales76.net/. The Regnault family can be found in 4E 02934-1623-1657-Saint-Jouin: Anne (image 37 of 90) Catherine (image 41 of 90), Guillaume (image 49 of 90), Guillaume (image 52 of 90), Françoise (image 61 of 90), Marie (image 72 of 90), and Antoine (image 84 of 90).

Unfortunately there is no baptismal record for Guillaume’s father due to a gap in the parish registers. They were probably destroyed or lost at some point in history. The best guess places the baptismal date for the paternal Guillaume in the period of 1610-1612. This is based upon the understanding of the relative ages of marriage during 17th Century France. The historian Pierre Goubert has noted that women married at a later age during this period, usually between the ages of 23 and 25 while men usually married between the ages of 27 and 30. The marriage date of Guillaume Regnault and Susanne De La Haye is not found in the parish registers of Saint-Jouin though it probably occurred either in 1638 or 1639 given the baptismal date of their first child Anne on February 1, 1640.

Goubert’s The French Peasantry in the Seventeenth Century; translated by Ian Patterson (Cambridge University Press 1986) is a short but dense account. I soon abandoned taking notes in favor of photocopying entire chapters of the book for later reference. He covers the age of marriage on page 64 and the death of a child on page 52. He notes that much of the time the parents did not even attend the funeral as they are not noted on the burial entry in the parish records.

The standard account of the Carignan-Salières Regiment is Jack Verney’s The Good Regiment: The Carignan-Salières Regiment in Canada 1665-1668. Montréal: McGill-Queen’s University Press 1991. Like Goubert, Verney’s account is less than 150 pages but dense with information. Verney’s account attempts to correct or to find the reality behind the myth spun by the nationalist historians such as Benjamin Sulte and Abbé Lionel Groulx. According to Verney, Groulx sought “to turn the province of Québec into a spiritual and national homeland for Franco-Americans, a refuge…to provide a bulwark against the advancing tide of Protestant, English-speaking materialism." (p. vii). For Verney, the men of the regiment were not the progenitors of some virtuous race or people but rather “a workaday seventeenth-century infantry unit sent to fight overseas." (p.ix). Verney's coverage of soldier recruitment appears on pages 7-8, 11 and 24.

The full version of the soldiers who remained in Canada can be found on the New France New Horizons website at http://champlain2004.org/html/11/03_e.html.

I learned of Michel Langlois’ research and assessment that Guillaume Regnault was not on the ship La Paix from the Migrations website. This site specializes in the soldiers of the Carignan-Salières Regiment and the Filles du Roi. The site’s layout is very busy but it is packed with information including identifying the ships and dates of arrival for the soldiers and the Filles du Roi. Their entry on Guillaume (Regnauld) can be found at http://www.migrations.fr/compagniescarignan/compagnielacolonelle.htm. One of the site coordinators Bernard Quillivic suggests that Guillaume may have arrived in 1662 as a soldier with the Governor D’Avaugourt. I think this is improbable given that Guillaume would only have been 16 or 17 years of age.

The most direct evidence that Guillaume was already in Canada before the soldiers arrived appears in Trudel., Marcel, Histoire de la Nouvelle–France: Volume IV, La seigneurie de la Compagnie des Indes occidentales 1663-1674. Québec : Fides 1997. In footnote 87 on page 308 Trudel lists Guillaume Regnaud as one of 12 habitants who enlisted. The use of the term habitant suggests that Guillaume was already established in Québec and Trudel would not have referred to him as such if he had been a soldier. The text reads in French: “Il faut prendre garde qu’ily avait des soldats au pays avant 1665, qui y sont encore en 1666, au nombre de 9, et que nous portons au catalogue, comme aussi 5 militaires qui se sont retires du service en arrivent, pour s’integrer à la population. Enfin, il faut conserver dans le catalogue une douzaine d’habitants qui se sont enrôlés formellement dans les troupes de 1665.” His coverage of immigration in 1665 appears on pages 233-239.

Trudel's book contains over 800 pages of text plus what could be a valuable bibliography. Unfortunately my ability to read French is limited and such a tome would take me years to finish though I have no doubt the volume would prove illuminating.

The reference to engagés comes from Greer, Alan, The People of New France. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997, pp. 15-16.

Bibliography for Evenement: Charivari and Youth Groups

The two main sources used for this post are Davis, Natalie Z., Society and Culture in Early Modern France. Stanford: Stanford University Press 1975 and Mandrou, Robert, Introduction to Modern France, 1500-1640: An Essay in Historical Psychology; translated by R. E. Hallmark. New York: Harper & Row 1975.

Davis’ book is a collection of eight essays of which the bulk of this post draws on Chapter 4 “The Reasons of Misrule” pp. 97-123.  The song quoted at the opening of the post appears in Chapter 7 “Printing and the People” p. 200.  It was translated from the French by Christine Reno. The original French is

          Quand ils ont sceu au village

          Que ce mary

          N’avoit non plus de courage

          Q’une soury

          Ils ont faict charyvary

          Pour la riser….

          Ent res grande diligence

          Un bon garcon

          Du village par plaisance

          Fit la chanson.

 Mandrou’s book is a brilliant look at the mentalité of the age. I drew primarily from Chapter 9, “Temporary forces for solidarity: youth societies and feast days.” The extended quote regarding the Feast of Fools appears on pp. 135-136. It is a contemporary account from the Cordeliers of Antibes and Mandrou’s source for the quote was Thiers, J.B., Traité des jeux et divertissements (Paris 1686). Mandrou’s assertion that the youth groups helped spread the Reformation appears on p. 134.

Bibliography for Nom: Regnault

The origins of the name Regnault are covered in Dauzat, Albert, Dictionnaire Étymologique des Noms de Famille et Prénoms de France. Paris: Librairie Larousse 1951, p. 516 and Morlet, Marie-Thérèse, Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de L’Ancienne Gaule de VIe au XII Siècle, Vol. 1: Les Noms Issus du Germanique Continental et Les Créations Gallo-Germaniques. Paris: Éditions Du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 1968, pp. 183-188. Morlet further notes that with respect to the elements Ragan and Rag, “Cet élément se rattache au got. ragin, v. isl. regin, decision, v. sax. regan, puissant; got. raginon, conseiller, v. nor. ragna, invoquer. L’élément rag- que nous relevons à côté de ragin doit représenter une forme courte” p. 183. Morlet’s book is of interest given its focus on the names appearing from the 6th to the 12th Century.

For a more recent work that focuses solely on the family names prevalent in Québec see Jacob, Roland, Votre nom et son histoire: Les noms de famille au Québec. Montréal: Les Éditions de l’Homme 2006. Jacob covers the surname Renaud in multiple pages but primarily on p. 84. He covers the conversion from the Roman naming convention to the Frankish naming convention on p. 49. See also page 18 where he classifies names of Germanic origin as deriving from the Franks.  

The citation for the frequency of the name Regnault in fifteenth century Normandy comes from the open access pre-print, subsequently published as Darlu, Pierre; Bloothooft, Gerrit; Boattini, Alessio; Brouwer, Leendeert; Brouwer, Matthijs; Brunet, Guy; Chareille, Pascal; Chesire, James; Coates, Richard; Longley, Paul; Dräger, Kathrin; Desjardins, Bertrand; Hanks, Patrick; Mandemakers, Kees; Mateos, Pablo;Pettener, Davide; Useli, Antonella; and Manni, Franz (2012) “The Family Name as Socio-Cultural Feature and Genetic Metaphor; From Concepts to Methods, “ Human Biology: Vol. 84: Iss 2, Article 5. Available at http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=humbiol_preprints

According to the authors the “two-element naming system still in use in France today” emerged in the 11th Century. The paper also covers, among many other topics, “the Patronymic stability: Normandy 1383 to 1515”.

Linda Turner’s The Lemire (La Mere) family. St. Paul, 1978 appears to be self-published. It is available online at Ancestry.com as well as some libraries throughout the nation.

Jan Gregoire Coombs’ Our Tangled French Canadian Roots: A History of The People who were Part of Our Gregoire, Adam, Martel and Beaudry Lines (Middleton Wisconsin, 2009) covers Guillaume Regnault on p. 51.

Bibliography for Place: Saint-Jouin-sur-Mer

All of the extant parish registers from Saint-Jouin are available online from the Archives départementales de Seine-Maritime. They are a challenge to decipher as many are in poor condition and the scribes gave no thought for neat penmanship. I am fortunate to have had the paleographic and translation assistance of Professor Christine Reno who patiently waded through the many images I sent her way.

Finding information on the history of Saint-Jouin was not an easy task. There is little to no information available in English and there is little direct mention of Saint-Jouin even in French sources that I uncovered. I was delighted to come across A. Lechevalier’s Recherches Historiques Sur Les Communes du Canton de Criquetot-L’Esneval Depuis L’Époque Féodale Proprement Dite Jusqu’a la Révolution (Paris: Librarie Normande, 1897). Lechevalier offers several pages directly on Saint-Jouin. The book is available in downloadable PDF via Google Books.

The work of Abbé Jean Benoît Désiré Cochet provided some important details though I barely dedicated the time and attention his work deserves. His Les églises de l’arrondissement du Havre (Ingouville: Gaffney frères, 1845-1846) was particularly useful and is also available in Google Books.

A brief history of the church is available from Saint-Jouin’s website at http://www.st-jouin-bruneval.fr/histoire/eglise/.

For background reading on Normandy and France during the Middle Ages I recommend Felice Lifshitz’s The Norman Conquest of Pious Neustria: Historiographic Discourse and Saintly Relics 684-1090 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies 1995). Lifshitz’ study covers the period of history after Roman Gaul. With the arrival of the Frankish tribes and the establishment of the Merovingian dynasty the former Roman Gaul became known by the Latin term “Francia” while the area of much of modern day Normandy was part of the Frankish province of Neustria. With the arrival of the Vikings or “Norsemen” in the 10th Century the lands in and around the Seine Valley became known as Normandy.

Patrick J. Geary’s Before France and Germany: The Creation and Transformation of the Merovingian World (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988) provides a brisk survey of the Merovingian period (476-750 CE). Geary sees the Merovingian Period in terms of its continuity with Late Antiquity. He illustrates the fluid interchange between the Roman and “Barbarian” cultures and how they cross pollinated one another. It is a mistake to view this period as a “Dark Age” void of “civilization.”