My 2019 French ChallengeAZ in 100 Words—or More | T for Thériault

Honoré Thériault is the lucky guy who married Marie Fouquet in Saint-Servan in 1760. I wrote before that after having children in Pleudihen-sur-Rance, in Brittany, France, they left for Saint-Jacques-de-l’Achigan.

It was not Honoré’s first marriage though, as a daughter, Claire Gabrielle Thériault, was born from the marriage of Honoré and Isabelle Bugeaud and baptized on April 16, 1755, in Port-Lajoye, Isle Saint-Jean. The record indicates that Honoré and Isabelle were from l’Anse-aux-Morts. Although no marriage records have been found, they probably wed in 1754. Tragically, after the deportation, when Honoré arrived in Saint-Malo via Cherbourg on February 24, 1759, he is a widower. His wife and daughter—and possibly other children—died at sea.

The 1752 Census gives us a portrait of Honoré’s family residing at l’Anse-aux-Morts before the deportation. Honoré’s parents, Charles Thériault and Marie-Angélique Doirion, were married at Saint-Charles-des-Mines Church in Grand-Pré on October 3, 1718. A testimony made by his sister Anastasie after the deportation while she was in Belle-Île-en-Mer in France suggests that she was born in Cobequid, near Bassin des Mines, in Acadia. It is possible that the family was first in Cobequid and later moved to l’Anse-aux-Morts.

The 1752 Census lists the following children:

  • Anne, 25
  • Honoré, 22
  • Charles, 22
  • Marie, 18
  • Jean, 15
  • Joseph, 12

Evidence shows there are at least two other children, i.e. Anastasie, 32 (she was married in 1738) and Madeleine, 23 (she was married in 1751).

Anastasie’s testimony sheds light on two tragic events: the capture of their father Charles in Louisbourg—most likely with the rest of the family—and his dying at sea in 1758.

I will continue investigating about this family, but I already know that at least two of Honoré’s siblings died in Montcalm County, Quebec. Honoré passed away in 1801, and his wife, in 1823. I bet you guessed it. In Saint-Jacques-de-l’Achigan, of course!