Nearly 40 years ago, I visited Belle-Île-en-Mer in Brittany, France, where I remember having learned that some Acadians were deported to France and settled on this island.

So when I found out that my 4G-grandmother Mathurine Terriot was born in Pleudihen-sur-Rance, in Côtes-d’Armor, Brittany, I may—no doubt—have been excited, but not surprised.

I was excited because never did I expect I would have access to her baptismal record from Notre-Dame Church in Pleudihen-sur-Rance—an event that after all occurred as far back as November 12, 1762! The church register also includes the baptismal records for several of her siblings from 1761 to 1774. Her parents were married in nearby Saint-Servan in 1760.

After 1774, Mathurine and her family left France to head to Québec. The whereabouts of the family are known because of her marriage to my 4G-grandfather, Jean-Baptiste Richard, in Saint-Jacques-de-l’Achigan, Montcalm County, in Québec on February 9, 1778.

Of all my Acadian ancestors, Mathurine is the only one who was born in France while in exile before settling for good in Québec.