Gontier-Paquet EN
A biography of Bernard Gonthier (or Gontier) and Marguerite Pasquier dite Paquet, who both sailed from France to find a better life in New France. The Gonthier name eventually became Gauthier.
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Bernard Gontier & Marguerite Pasquier dite Paquet
A Shoemaker and a Fille du roi in New France
We often think of our common family names as set in stone — that the way we pronounce and write them today is the same as it would have been hundreds of years ago. Not so with French-Canadian names. With a host of "dit" names and a great deal of variability from one generation to the next, we find that many of our surnames have evolved over time. Case in point with today's biography subject, Bernard Gontier (or Gonthier). Many Canadian Gauthiers might be surprised to learn that their first ancestor to come to the new world was a Gontier and not a Gauthier.
17th-Century “Jeu de paume” in Paris, France (Wikimedia Commons)
Bernard Gontier
Bernard Gontier, the son of Jean Gonthier and Marie Laye (also spelled Lay, Lée or Lays), was born circa 1643 in Paris, France. His father Jean was a maître cordonnier (a master shoemaker). We also know the names of his maternal grandparents: Guillaume Laye and Marie Chapelain. Guillaume was a maître raquettier-paumier, a master racket-maker for an old French game called jeu de paume ("real tennis" in English), the predecessor to modern-day tennis.
Bernard is first mentioned in New France on 23 Mar 1664 when he is confirmed at Notre-Dame in Québec. Upon his arrival at Québec, Bernard was an engagé of the seminary. In 1666, he was recorded in the Canadian census living in Beaupré working as a shoemaker and servant for Monseigneur de Laval.
1666 Census of Canada, showing the entry for Bernard Gontier (Library and Archives Canada).
Marguerite Pasquier dite Paquet, Fille du roi
Marguerite Pasquier dite Paquet, the daughter of Méry or Émery Pasquier (a master woollen weaver) and Vincende Beaumont, was baptized on 7 Apr 1645 at the parish church of St-Paul in Poitiers, Vienne, France. Her great grand-parents were Annet Pasquier and Marguerite Genet.
1645 Baptism of Marguerite Pasquier (Fichier Origine)
Poitiers, Vienne, France (map data © 2020 Google)
Marguerite likely arrived in New France aboard the Nouvelle-France on 31 Jul 1670, joining the rest of her family (her father, stepmother and brothers). She brought goods with her estimated at 400 livres for her dowry. Marguerite and her family lived in the Bourg-Royal section of Charlesbourg, near Québec City.
2010 aerial photo of Bourg-Royal in Charlesbourg (credit: Pierre Alexandre Papillon)
At Home in Bourg-Royal
In 1667, the intendant Jean Talon expropriated the Jesuit owners from a portion of their land between Charlesbourg and Beauport. He decided to develop a star-shaped village there, naming it Bourg-Royal in homage to Louis XIV. This arrangement was rare in New France, most of the land forming rather long strips perpendicular to the St. Lawrence River. In this arrangement, the land unfolded around a central quadrilateral, called a commune, reserve or trait-carré, in the middle of which stood the church, the presbytery and cemetery.
An overly romanticized depiction of the "The Arrival of the French Girls at Quebec" (painting by Charles W. Jefferys, Wikipedia Commons)
Marguerite was known as a fille du roi or “daughter of the king”. The filles du roi were single young women who immigrated to New France in the 17th century to marry, start a home and establish a family to colonize the territory. The King of France acted as a guardian (their “father”) by paying the cost of her journey and a dowry at her wedding. This dowry was usually 50 livres, which is what Marguerite received at her first wedding.
Before she married Bernard Gontier, 25-year-old Marguerite was wed to 39-year old François Biville on 26 Nov 1670 at Notre-Dame in Québec. François was a soldier in the Carignan-Salières regiment, as well a master woodworker or joiner. He was able to sign his name. The couple had 3 children: François Joseph, Catherine and Jean. François Biville died at the age of 44 on 10 Jul 1675 at Québec.
After the death of her husband, Marguerite Paquet married Bernard Gontier on 20 Jan 1676 at Notre-Dame in Québec. He was about 33 years old, a resident of the Basse-Ville (or Lower Town); she was 30 years old. The couple had 6 children: Bernard, Louis, Jean Baptiste, Denis, Marguerite and Marie Hélène.
1676 marriage of Bernard and Marguerite (Ancestry.ca)
In 1681, Bernard and Marguerite are recorded in the Canadian census living at the seigneurie of Beaumont with four children. Bernard owned one firearm and three arpents of cleared land.
1681 Census of Canada (Library and Archives Canada)
Marguerite Paquet’s exact date of death is unknown, but she died sometime before 31 Jul 1698 when an after-death inventory was drawn up by notary Métru in Beaumont.
After Marguerite’s death, Bernard married Marie Françoise Forgues on 4 Nov 1698 in Beaumont. This couple had 2 children: François René and Bernard.
Bernard Gontier was buried on 13 Jan 1716 in Beaumont. He was about 73 years old.
1716 Burial Record of Bernard Gontier (Ancestry.ca)
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Sources:
Fédération québécoise des sociétés de généalogie, Fichier Origine online database (http://www.fichierorigine.com), entry for Bernard Gontier (person # 390039).
"Recensement du Canada, 1666", Library and Archives Canada (https://collectionscanada.gc.ca/), entry for Bernard Gontier, 1666, Québec, Finding aid no. MSS0446, MIKAN no. 2318856; citing original data: Centre des archives d'outre-mer (France) vol. 460.
Fédération québécoise des sociétés de généalogie, Fichier Origine online database (http://www.fichierorigine.com), entry for Marguerite Paquet / Pasquier (person # 243149).
Jocelyne Nicol-Quillivic, “Les Pasquier : Émery et ses enfants Maurice, Marguerite et René”, Migrations.fr (http://www.migrations.fr/PASQUIER_PAQUET/pasquier.htm).
“Bourg-Royal”, Fiche de toponymie, Ville de Québec (https://www.ville.quebec.qc.ca/citoyens/patrimoine/toponymie/fiche.aspx?IdFiche=5362)
René Jetté and the PRDH, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec des origines à 1730 (Montréal, Gaëtan Morin Éditeur, 1983), page 111, entry for François Biville dit LePicard.
“Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967,” digital images, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 28 Dec 2018), marriage record for Bernard Gontier & Marguerite Pasquier, 20 Jan 1676, Québec (Québec > Notre-Dame > 1668-1679); citing original data: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.
René Jetté and the PRDH, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec des origines à 1730 (Montréal, Gaëtan Morin Éditeur, 1944), page 514, entry for Bernard Gontier.
"Recensement du Canada fait par l'intendant Du Chesneau", Library and Archives Canada (https://collectionscanada.gc.ca/ : accessed 10 Sep 2020), entry for Bernard Gontier, 14 Nov 1681, Québec, Finding aid no. MSS0446, MIKAN no. 2318858; citing original data: Centre des archives d'outre-mer (France) vol. 460.
“Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967,” digital images, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 28 Dec 2018), burial record for Bernard Gontier, 13 Jan 1716, Beaumont (Beaumont > St-Étienne > 1692-1796); citing original data: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.