Falaise. Le château et le centre-ville. Viault. CC-BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chateau_de_falaise_et_centre.JPG

Of all the people who made history during the New France era, very few of them appear in my genealogical tree. One of them though is Pierre Le Gardeur de Repentigny, from Normandy, France, and director of the Community of inhabitants, who came to Québec circa 1636 with his wife Marie Favery. Their marriage most likely took place around 1630 in La Rochelle. I owe to his grandson Jean-Baptiste—who had a natural child with Marie-Marthe Richaume in 1665—the honour of having a nobleman as my ancestor.

Well, my friends, I now have a list of people with a “de” before their family name! Pierre’s mother was Catherine de Corday. Her maternal grandparents were Pierre de Corday and Marie de Montesson. Fichier Origine mentions a marriage contract dated September 15, 1599, between the father, René Le Gardeur, and Catherine de Corday, in Falaise, Calvados department.

Fichier Origine also reports that Marie Favery, Pierre’s wife, was probably born in Paris around 1613. She died in Québec in 1675, and her husband died at sea in 1648. Her father, Marin, was an attorney in the parliament of Paris. Her mother was Renée Lerouge.

Lerouge… Lerouge…? Being a big fan of the Tintin comic series, I cannot help wondering if she was related to Rackam Le Rouge (Red Rackam) in The Secret of the Unicorn—a genealogist’s favourite!