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L’Aubergiste | The Innkeeper 

An aubergiste or innkeeper was a person who owned a furnished house, an inn or a tavern to lodge and feed travellers and passers-by, in exchange for money.

An auberge was similar to a cabaret and a hotel, but there were differences between the establishments, however. In New France, the inn was a simple place where you could drink, eat and stay, while the cabaret was a place where alcohol was generally served in small quantities. The hotel, on the other hand, was a furnished property that was more comfortable than the inn, where it was also possible to drink, eat and stay. That said, the differences between these three types of establishments were not evident until the 18th century. It was only from 1726 that tenants were required to display the category of their establishment: hotel, cabaret or inn.

Regardless of the establishment, the customer could buy mainly wine or brandy, as well as rum, beer and cider. There were restrictions, however: the sale of alcohol was prohibited after certain hours in the evening and during religious services and some cities prohibited the sale of certain drinks to indigenous people.

The history of inns in New-France begins in the middle of the 17th century, when Jacques Boisdon was first granted the right to operate an inn and pastry shop. [Yes, you read that right. “Bois donc”, meaning “have a drink”, was the perfect name for an innkeeper.] Inns, taverns and cabarets were important meeting places for socializing and for business, especially for fur-traders and voyageurs.

As the inn was typically located in the innkeeper's home, this meant that his kitchen was the centrepiece of the establishment, and that his family, especially his wife, helped to run and manage the inn. If an innkeeper died, it wasn't uncommon for his widow to take over the business. She also handled business if he was away travelling. It is estimated that about 10-15% of innkeepers in Québec and Louisbourg were women.

To find out more about drinking establishments in New-France, visit the Canadian Museum of History.

Women who had this occupation: Agnès Maufay, Françoise Jacquine Nadreau, Marie Robitaille

Men who had this occupation: Pierre Aguerre Cadet, Louis Algrain, Pierre Ally, Pierre André dit Lafontaine, Jacques Aubuchon, Pierre Babin dit Lacroix, François Baillargeon, André Baudin dit Sansrémission, Jacques Bausang, Pierre Beaudry, Raphaël Beauvais, Louis Bellefeuille, Urbain Bellorget, Philippe Benoît, François Bergeron dit Lajeunesse, Jean Bernard dit Beausoleil, Jean-Baptiste Bernard dit Jolicoeur, Joseph Béland, François Bergnac dit Lafleur, Pierre Berthelot, Jacques Bezeau, Jean-Baptiste Bizet, Nicolas Blain, Nicolas Boissy, Joseph Bonnet, Guillaume Boucher, Joseph Bouret, François Brébion dit Sanscartier, Jacques Brisard, William Brown, Jean Bureau, Pierre Bu(i)sson dit Subtil, Duncan Campbell, Jean Cachelièvre, Étienne Campion dit Labonté, Alexander Cairns, Maurice Cardin, Léonard Casnin dit Desgranges, Mathieu Castagnet, Thomas Chapman, Gabriel Chartier, Charles Chauveau, Jacques Cheval dit Saint-Jacques, Louis Clermont, Antoine Clopin, Claude Collet, Pierre Côté, Louis Coursolles, Pierre Cousin, Jean Crétot dit Lespérance, Michel Cureux dit Saint-Germain, Jean Pierre d'Aubigny, Anselme Damphousse, Louis Damphousse, Jean Daniau dit Laprise, Louis Enouil dit Lanoix, Charles David, François Delard, Jean Deliasse, Julien Delière dit Bonvouloir, Jean Denis, Pierre Depoix dit Parisien, François Delard, Joseph De(s)barras, François Desboeufs, Jean Dessein dit St-Pierre, Joseph Dessaint dit St-Pierre, Pierre Drapeau, Jean Dubuc, Nicolas Duchesne, Joseph Dubois, Claude Dudevoir, Luc Dufresne, Simon Dufresne, Joseph Étienne dit Durivage, Benjamin Fagnant, Étienne Ferrière, Thomas Fichet, Robert Foucher dit Saint-Aubin, Joseph Fournier, John Franks, Pierre Gagné, Jean Ga(s)tin dit Saint-Jean, Louis Gatte dit Bellefleur, Jean-Baptiste Gaudreault, Jean Gaufreteau dit L'Épée, Joseph Gauthier dit Saint-Germain, François Georget dit Tranquille, Joachim Girard, Louis Gobert, John Gordon, Charles Gouin, André Goupille, Pierre Guénet, Charles Guérard, Simon Guillory, André Guy, Édouard Houle, Jean-Baptiste Huberdeau dit Lafrance, Joseph Huot, François Janis, Jacques Joignet dit Lafrance, Louis Judon, Louis Juselin dit Condé, Léonard Jusseaume, Louis Justin dit Condé, Jean Laberge, Jean-Baptiste Lacoudray, Jean LaBranche dit Laflamme, François Maurice Lafantaisie, Séraphin L'Huissier, Jean LaFerre, Denis Lafontaine, Pierre Lamothe, Étienne Land(e)ron, Charles Langelier, François Laperche, Jacques Larcher, Jean Laroche, Jean-Baptiste Larcher, René Leboeuf, Jean-Baptiste Leclerc, Julien Leclerc, Antoine Lecomte, Jean-Baptiste Lecocq dit Saint-Onge, Edmond Lefebvre, François Lefebvre, Jean Lefebvre, Pierre Lefebvre, François Lemieux, François Lemoine dit Bourguignon, Jacques Lepage dit Roy, Louis Leroux dit Lachaussée, Simon Lescot, Michel-Eustache Letellier, Antoine Letellier dit Lespérance, Jean Levasseur, Pierre Lourdin dit Galand, Séraphin Lussier, Pierre Maillou, Jean Mailloux, Joseph Malouin, Jean Marchand, Pierre Marcheteau dit Desnoyers, Joseph-Étienne Martel, Joseph Martineau, Jean Mathieu dit Laramée, Daniel McCart(h)y, Daniel McDonald, Duncan Mckenzie, Alexandre Meneu, Joseph Méthot, Gilles Monier, Jean Moran, Marin Moreau dit Laporte, Pierre Nadon dit Letourneau, Isaac Nafrechou, Jean Noël, Jacques Nolin, Laurent Normandin dit Sauvage, Théodore Panneton, Jean-Baptiste Paré, René Patry, Alexis Peloquin, Jean Petit dit Lamarche, Pierre Petit(ot) dit Desmarais, François Picard dit Laroche, Jacques-Charles Pinguet Montigny, Jean Charles Pol(a)ingre, Louis Prat, Miles Prentice, Louis Prévost dit Dix-Sept, Charles Rancourt, Pierre Rebel, John Reid, Jean-Baptiste Renaud, Antoine Ritchot, Guillaume Robidoux, Jean Robin, Jean Robitaille, Jean Robin, Pierre Robin, David Ross, Michel Rouillard, Jean-Baptiste Roy dit Desjardins, Pierce Ryan, Joseph-Alexandre Sabatté, Jacques Sachet, Jacques Samson, Jean Samson, Jean Sargnat dit Lafond, William Sedgwick, Jean Simon, Pierre Simon, Jean Simonet, John Simpson, Pierre Souvigny, Jean-Baptiste Tétrau, Jean Tourangeau, Charles Trépanier, Antoine Vallée, John Vanderheyden, Antoine Varambouville, Nicolas Vernière, Antoine Vidal, Robert Voyer, James Woods

Sources:

• Stéphane Tessier, "Auberges et cabarets en Nouvelle-France" (http://www.stephanetessier.ca/aubergesetcabaretsenNouvelle-France.htm).

• “Daily Life : Entertainment”, Canadian Museum of History, Virtual Museum of New France (https://www.historymuseum.ca/virtual-museum-of-new-france/daily-life/entertainment/), original research by Gilles Proulx, Ph.D.