Wagonner
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Le Voiturier | The Wagonner
The voiturier, or wagonner, was a carrier of goods by means of horses, carts or even a stagecoach. More often than not, he was the owner of his vehicle.
Under the French regime and its civil code, the wagonner had to ensure that any goods he transported were accompanied by a waybill. This document set out the details of the goods transported, the identity of the carrier transporting them, the conditions under which they must be transported, the identity of the sender of the goods and the identity of the consignee.
The voiturier was also called a roulier. Derived from this occupation, the surnames Roulier, Rouiller and Rouillier still exist in Canada today.
A Typical Moving Scene in Montreal (source: "Une scène typique de déménagement à Montréal", digital image of a drawing by A.S. Brodeur, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, http://numerique.banq.qc.ca).
Known persons who had the occupation of master wagonner: Pierre Leclaire
Known persons who had the occupation of wagonner: Jean-Baptiste Bau dit Lalouette, Joseph Beaudoin, Hercules Bellemare, Pierre Bezeau, Étienne Bleau, Paul Brossard, Urbain Brossard, François Brunet dit Belhumeur, Jean-Baptiste Bureau, Joseph Bureau dit Sansoucy, Jean Baptiste Cavelier, Jean-Baptiste Dasylva dit Portugais, Pierre Deschamps, Jean-Baptiste Dorion, Joseph Girard, François Girard dit Breton, Bonnet Giraudet, Jean Goneau dit Lacouture, Joseph Guyon, Jean Harnel dit Reneaud/Arnould, Charles Laberge, Pierre LeBoeuf dit Boutet, Adrien Legris dit Lépine, François Letartre, Charles Petitclerc, François Picard, François Piquet, Pierre Pitalier dit Lamarine, Charles Poupard dit Lafleur, Norbert Robert, François Robitaille, Pierre Rousset, Guillaume Roy, Joseph Roy, Pierre Sasseville, Jean Sedillot dit Montreuil, Octave Tailfair, Jean-Baptiste Thomas dit Bigaouette, Noël Toupin, Jean Trudel, Nicolas Trudel, Pierre Vivier
Source: Alfred Franklin, Dictionnaire historique des arts, métiers et professions exercés dans Paris depuis le treizième siècle (Paris, H. Welter, 1906), 624.