Robert Giffard (abt. 1587 - 1668)

Born about 1587 in Autheuil, Perche, France

Husband of Marie Renouard — married about 1628 in Mortagne, Perche, France [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 14 Apr 1668 at about age 81 in Québec, Canada, Nouvelle-France

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Biography

Robert Giffard migrated from France to New France.

Robert Giffard a vécu
au Canada, Nouvelle-France.

Robert GIFFARD (~1587 -1668) [Carpin #3]^[1][2]

Les familles Giffard, Juchereau et Pinguet au Perche

Born in Autheil in the diocese of Chartres in ancient Perche province,^[3] the son of Guillaume Giffard and Louise Viron, Robert Giffard was a French surgeon and apothecary who became a respected colonist and entrepreneur and eventually a nobleman of New France. In 1634, he was granted the seigneurie de Beauport, New-France's fourth seigneurie.^[4] The seigneurie, east of Québec bordered the St-Lawrence, Notre-Dame de Beauport and Montmorency rivers. Giffard formed an enduring alliance with the two wealthy Tourouvre-born Juchereau brothers, Noël, sieur de Châtelets, a Compagnie des Cent-Associés member as was Giffard,^[5] and Jean, sieur de More, to recruit Percherons to colonize Québec.

Giffard made several voyages starting in 1621 on which he served as naval surgeon. Practicing medicine for fur traders, he in 1627 built a cabin at Canardière on the Beauport River, likely used to hunt and fish.^[6]

Canardière

Timeline

1608 Upon his parents' death, Giffard lived with his priest step-brother Noël Pinguet. Champlain settles in Québec's « abitation ».

1615, 1619 Having completed his studies and reached majority, Giffard opened an apothecary shop in Tourouvre, then ran another shop in Mortagne. Giffard may have become a friend of Louis Hébert when they studied together.

1621 – 1627 Giffard was hired as surgeon to cross the Atlantic on a Compagnie de Guillaume de Caen ship. He built a cabin at Canardière on côte de Beauport. He returned home around 1626. Giffard's friend Noël Juchereau, was is a member of the Compagnie des Cent-Associés was founded in 1627. On 24 mars 1627, Giffard was hired anew as surgeon on a Compagnie de Montmorency ship crossing the Atlantic. Incurring heavy financial losses in this apparent first colonization effort, he is made prisoner following an English attack on the French convoy in open seas off Tadoussac, and finds his way home.

1625 - Arrival of Jesuits at Québec.

1628 Feb 12 Giffard signed a marriage contact with Marie Regnouard in Mortagne, the marriage no doubt following soon after. Giffard returns to Canada in the spring hoping to start implementation his colonization aspirations. The ship on which Giffard is travelling is intercepted by the the English. Giffard incurs heavy lossed and is forced to return to France.

1629-1631 - Québec is held by the English.

1632 With the signing of the Saint-Germain-en-Laye treaty, England returned Canada to France and the next year, working closely with the Juchereau brothers, Jean et Noël, the Compagnie des Cent-Associés resumed colonization efforts.

1634 Jan 15 In compensation for his 1627 losses, the Compagned granted Giffard the concession for the seigneurie de Beauport, Québec's first colonization seigneurie, which prevents him from trading in furs and pelts anywhere in Québec. The seigneurie's border was extended north on March 31, 1653, which was given to his son Joseph on October 19, 1663.

1634 March to June The Percheron Immigration movement was launched with the sailing of a convoy of four ships on which Giffard was accompanied by his wife, his two children (Marie-Françoise et Charles), Noël Juchereau and more than two dozen prospective New France colonists including Jean Guyon, master-mason; Zacharie Cloutier, master-carpenter; Robert Drouin, tile maker; Xainte Dupont; Mathurine Robin; and Gaspard Boucher;^[7] Nicole Lemaire; Marin Boucher; and Julienne Baril.^[8][9][10]

1632-1637 Percheron immigrants to Canada were in 2nd rank lagging behind that of Normand immigrants.

1637 Giffard was among those who fought to defeat the Iroquois near Trois-Rivères.

1640 Giffard became Hôtel-Dieu de Québec's first doctor and 'doctor in ordinary' to the king.

1641 Population of Nouvelle-France - about 300.

1643-1647 Percheron immigrants to Canada were in first rank ahead of the rank of Normand immigrants no doubt due to a visit at the time to Perche of Robert Giffard and Jean Juchereau.

1643 Jean Juchereau, sieur de More, first came to Canada.

1645 Giffard was a churchwarden in the parish of Québec. On 6 March, he founded the Communauté des Habitants, a society for trade with the Indians. Giffard's daughter Marie-Françoise married Jean Juchereau's son Jean, sieur de La Ferté.

1647 Seventeen French settlers arrived in Québec from Tourouvre and vicinity. Governor Montmagny granted the Juchereau brothers Jean and Noël the seigneurie de Maur west of Québec.

11 Apr 1647 The Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France / Compagnie des Cent-Associés granted Giffard the concession for the seigneurie de St-Gabriel of which he gave a) one quarter to the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec's Augustines (later the fief of Saint-Ignace) as a dowry when his daughter Marie-Françoise Giffard dite Marie de St-Ignace joins the order becoming Canada's first nun, and, b) three-quarters to the Jésuites on November 2, 1667.

1648-1652 Percheron immigrants to Canada were nearly the same in rank compared to Norman immigrants.

1648 Noël Juchereau drowned. Giffard became a member of the Conseil de Québec.

1649 Giffard's daughter Marie-Thérèse married Jean Juchereau's son Nicolas, sieur de Saint-Denis.

1653, Nov 15 Giffard was granted the concession for the seigneurie de Mille-Vaches, which is given to his son Joseph on October 19, 1663.

1658 Louis XIV signed letters of nobility in Giffard's favors, one of the few residents of Canada to have been so granted.

1663 It is estimated that the Giffard family owned one seventh of the colony's land, a relatively small proportion of which was arable. The population of la Nouvelle-France - 2 500. Louis XIV dissolves la Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France.

1666 The 1666 census enumeration for Beauport included at least 29 households and 184 persons, Giffard's own family being enumerated as follows - "Robert Giffart [sic], escuyer [gentleman], 79, seigneur de Beauport; Marie Renouard, 67, sa femme [his wife]; Joseph Giffard, escuyer, 21, seigneur de Fargy; Michel Thérèse Nau, 23, sa femme; Paul Hue, 25, domestique engagé [hired domestic]; Jean Langlois, 24, menuisier [carpenter]; Pierre du Mesnil, 30, domestique; Jean Chainbre, 23, meunier [miller], domestique."^[11][12]

1667 In the 1667 census enumeration for [Côte de Beauport, Notre-Dame-des-Anges et autres lieux, Giffard's own family is enumerated as shown in page 49 of Collections Canada's online copy or as follows - "Robert Giffard, escuyer, seigneur de Beauport, 80; Marie Renouard, sa femme, 68; Joseph Giffard, escuyer, seigreur [sic] de Fargy, 23; Michelle Thérèse Nau, sa femme, 25; 19 bestiaux [cattle], 80 arpents en valeur [68 acres of land under cultivation]."^[13]

1668 Giffard died on 14 April 1668 in his manor at Beauport and was buried two days later in Québec.^[14]

1672 Population of la Nouvelle-France - 6 700.

1705, 31 December Robert Giffard's body is transported to Beauport and interred there.^[15]

It is thought that the close to 300 Percherons^[16] who immigrated to Québec in the seventeenth century now have 1,500,000 descendants in Canada alone.

Il avait 144 descendants en 1729.^[17]

Enfants / Children

Union avec / with Marie Renouard:^[18][19][17]

Sources

1. ↑ Carpin 1999, Annexe D, p. 571
2. ↑ Numbered #3 in Carpin's list and in the list that can be see at the Percheron Immigration Category.
3. ↑ Géographie historique et moderne du lieu de naissance:
   • Autheuil est depuis le 1^e janvier 2016 connue comme la nouvelle commune française de Tourouvre-au-Perche (INSEE 61190) située dans le département de l'Orne en région Normandie. Cette nouvelle commune regroupe les anciennes communes d'Autheuil, Bivilliers, Bresolettes, Bubertré, Champs, Lignerolles, La Poterie-au-Perche, Prépotin, Randonnai et Tourouvre qui deviennent des communes déléguées.
   • Date et lieu de naissance selon PRDH: Date - v 158. Lieu - autheuil, ev. chartres, perche (ar. mortagne, orne)
4. ↑ Rameau 1859, 2e partie, pp. 14-15: The other nine seigneuries granted up to 1637 being:

   - 1st and 2nd, by 1626 - Notre-Dame des Anges and St-Joseph de l’Épinay, to the Jésuites and to Louis Hébert, respectively;

   - 3rd and 5th, 1633 and 1634 - Rivière du Loup and Trois-Rivières, to sieur le Chasseur and to the Jésuites, respectively;

   - 6st, 7th and 8th, 1636 – Île d’Orléans, Lauzon and côte de Beaupré, to sieurs Castillon, Simon Lemaître and Cheffaut de la Regnardière, respectively;

   - 9th and 10th, 1637 - Ste-Croix and le Noraye, to the Ursulines and to sieur Jean Bourdon, respectively.

5. ↑ Sulte 1918, « Beauport vs. Québec », p. 42
6. ↑ Wikipedia: Robert Giffard
7. ↑ PREFEN Fiche 12356, Départ: « Gaspard Boucher et sa famille auraient fait le voyage de France à Québec sur le navire du Capitaine de Ville d'après un document de 1638. »
8. ↑ Charbonneau 1970, p. 11: ". . . au moins 33 d'entre eux accompagnaient Giffard au printemps de 1634 . . ."
9. ↑ Carpin 1999, Annexe D, p. 571: Selon Carpin, l'année du départ est assurée.
10. ↑ Lesperance 2002 citant Jetté 1983, p. 494: "GIFFORD, Robert (Surgeon, Doctor, Apothecary), with wife Marie RENOUARD & daughter Marie-Francois departed Mortagne in 1634."
11. ↑ Senécal, « État Général des Habitants du Canada en 1666 »
12. ↑ Recensement de la Nouvelle-France en 1666 conducted by Jean Talon first Intendant of Nouvelle-France
13. ↑ Senécal, « Recensement de 1667 en Nouvelle-France »
14. ↑ Sépulture/Burial - FamilySearch
15. ↑ de Romanet 1905, p. 64
16. ↑ Charbonneau 1970, p. 11: ". . . il y a eut probablement près de 300 . . . entre 1608 et 1700."
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1} La Mémoire du Québec- Giffard de Moncel et de Beauport (Robert)
18. ↑ Généalogie Québec 61167
19. ↑ Drolet 2009, p. 84
20. ↑ Ville de Québec, fiche de toponymie 218991

• « 1666, État Général des Habitants du Canada en », compilé par Senécal, Senécal, Jean-Guy; Sep 27, 1998, compilation OCR de trois documents Word disponible en ligne, ses documents se référant principalement au Tome IV & V, Chapitre IV du livre Histoire des Canadiens-Française de Benjamin Sulte, édition 1977.
• « 1667 en Nouvelle-France, Recensement de  », compilé par Senécal
• A Point in History: Percheron Immigration
• Association Perche-Canada, Giffard et les colons percherons : Chronique d'une épopée
• Bélanger, Claude; Bélanger, Damien-Claude; Québec History, Marianopolis University-sponsored website
• Binet, Réjean (hivers 2016). "Robert Giffard : les engagés de 1634", Revue de la Société de généagolie de Québec | www.sgq.qc.ca, L'Ancêtre, vol. 42, no. 313, pp. 98-112
• Carpin, Gervais (1999). Le Reseau du Canada: Étude du mode migratoire de la France vers Ie Nouvelle-France (1628-1662)
• Drolet, Yves (2009). Tables généalogiques de la noblesse Québecois du XVIIe au XIXe siècle
• Ganivet, Michel (2013, juin 8). « Nouveaux regards sur l'Émigration percheronne au XVIIe siècle », Congrès de France-Canada à Bellême, Partie de Cahiers Percherons N° 197 (01/01/2014)
• Charbonneau, Hubert (1970). Tourouvre-au-Perche aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles: Étude de démographie historique - Cahier No 55, see specially pp. 11-18 - 'L'Émigration Percheronne au Canada'
• Fichier Origine 241768; Robert Giffard
• Généalogie Québec 61167 - Robert Giffart, seigneur de Beauport (1587 - 1668)
• Jetté, René (1983). Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec. Des origines à 1730. Montréal, Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal. xxx-1180 pages
• Lesperance, Jerry (December 2002). Le Perche, Vermont French-Canadian Genealogical Society
• La Mémoire du Québec, Giffard de Moncel et de Beauport (Robert)
• La Mémoire du Québec, Beauport (ancienne municipalité)
• Montagne, Françoise (1965), Tourouvre et les Juchereau –Un chapitre de l’émigration percheronne au Canada, Contribution No 13, Société canadienne de Généalogie (Québec) / Association Perche-Canada, 191 pages. Voir *Montagne, Françoise (1965), Tourouvre et les Juchereau –Un chapitre de l’émigration percheronne au Canada, Contribution No 13, Société canadienne de Généalogie (Québec) / Association Perche-Canada, 191 pages. Voir Chapitre I : Tourouvre et les Juchereau, pp. 1-16.
• Montréal, Ville de; Repertoire historique des toponymes Montréalais, avenue Robert-Giffard
• Nos Origines 5223 - Robert Giffard
• Association Perche-Canada, Muséales de Tourouvre, Exposition, Perche & Canada, Quatre Siècles d'Histoire
• perche-quebec.com. Percheron immigration movement
• PRDH Family 130
• PRDH Pioneer 35641 -Robert Giffard de Beauport
• PREFEN Fiche 8117, Notice Complémentaire - Robert Giffard
• PREFEN Fiche 12356 - Gaspard Boucher
• Provost, Honorius (1966, 2016). « Giffard de Moncel, Robert », dans DBC / DCB, vol. 1, ULaval / UofToronto
• Québec, Ville de, Histoire de raconter, Les premières familles de la paroisse de Beauport
• Québec, Ville de, fiche de toponymie. Fargy, parc du
• ________________, fiche de toponymie. Perche, avenue
• ________________, fiche de toponymie. Robert-Giffard, avenue
• ________________, fiche de toponymie. Renouard, avenue
• Rameau, Edme; 1859, La France aux colonies études sur le développement de la race française hors de l'Europe
• de Romanet, Vte; Tournouer, M. H. (1905), Chronique et correspondance de la province du Perche et des Percherons du Canada, published by L. Fournier, France
• Sulte, Benjamin (1918). Études éparses et inédites de Benjamin Sulte : volume 1
• Trépanier, Paul (hiver 1988). « Beauport (pdf) », « Beauport (En ligne) », Continuité, N^o. 38, pp. 49-55, URI
• Plaque commémorative de Robert Giffard, Université Laval website
• Beauport (Wikipedia article)