Jean Testard and Anne Godefroy.


Origins in Normandie.

Jean Testard sieur de la Fontaine was born about 1612 and he lived in Rouen, Normandie, France where he was member of the bourgeois, or merchant class. He married Anne Godefroy on 3 February 1630 in Lintot (about 37 miles from Rouen) at the Protestant temple.

Three of their daughters' marriage records were found in the Protestant church in the Rouen suburb of Le Grand-Quevilly: Perrette, 40, married Salomon Lormier 21 December 1677, Anne, 32, married Daniel Cantais 11 November 1680 and Marie, 24, married Jean Cantais on 31 March 1669. But their other three children would seek their fortune abroad.

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Foothold in the New World.

Anne Godefroy's brothers earned fame and fortune in the New World, but one, Thomas Godefroy, de Normanville died at the hands of the Iroquois. Her husband travelled to Quebec to settle Thomas' estate in the summer of 1652. It may have planted the seed for their own children to leave France.

Their oldest, Jacques Testard de Laforest was a captain in the Troupes de la Marine. He arrived in Canada in 1653 and earned notice from the King for his valor. He married Marie Pournin on 24 November 1659. By 1660 he had established himself as a merchant in Montréal.

Charles Testard de Folleville came that year. He was confirmed in the Catholic Church on 24 August 1660, and married Anne Lemarque on 8 February 1666. The couple lived on rue Saint-Paul where he was a cabaretier.

Her older sisters were unmarried, which may have led Jeanne to believe her options in France were bleak. With two brothers well established in the colony, our 20 year old ancestor Jeanne Testard joined the ranks of les Filles à marier and made the trip to a new land in 1662 to find her life mate.