Louis Badaillac dit La Plante.

Catherine de Lalore, From Londres.

French colonies were found in Africa, Asia and the Americas during the reign of Louis XIV, le Roi Soleil (the Sun King), King of France. Though the French never settled Québec as aggressively as the British did in their holdings along North America's Eastern seaboard, the King did see the value of the Canadian frontier and sent a regiment of soldiers to help defend the lucrative fur trade. When their mission was complete, the men were offered land to remain in the New World. As a further inducement the King sponsored the dowries and transportation costs of hundreds of young women to marry the Canadiens and hopefully raise large French families.

It is somewhat unusual however that Catherine de Lalore from England would have been eligible. Her parents were Charles de Lalore (or Lawlor) and Catherine Després. Records indicate Catherine was born in London around 1654, a town ravaged in 1665 by the Great Plague. The bubonic plague killed about a quarter of the city's population. It may have prompted her family's reconnection to France.

Her father had passed away by the time she crossed the Atlantic as a fille du roi  30 July 1671 aboard le Prince Maurice. She was part of a group of 86 young women who had been rounded up Mme. Bourdon to help populate the colony.

Her dowry of goods worth about 350 livres, coupled with the royal endowment of 50 livres, were noted in the cancellation of her first marriage contract to Louis Lavallee on 17 October 1671. Women had a little more power over the choice of their mates in the colony than they did in Europe, and soon after she chose our ancestor, Louis Badaillac dit Laplante.

From Soldier to Fur Trader.

Louis Badaillac dit Laplante, of Périgueux, came to the country in 1655 as a soldier in the company of Froment in the Carignan regiment along with our ancestor Bernard Deniger, sailing on the Joyeux (or Vieux) Siméon. He was discharged in 1667 and opted to take advantage of the opportunity to remain in Québec.

Colonists were expected to practice Roman Catholicism so Louis reaffirmed his faith at his confirmation on 20 May 1668 at fort de Chambly. Further, he joined la Confrérie du scapulaire de Mont-Carmel, in devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, vowing to seek her help on a path of faith, hope and love.

He and Catherine married around 1672. Though he established his farm in Sorel at the mouth of the Richelieu river, Louis sought his fortune trading for furs in the lands around the Great Lakes. The work would take him away for months at a time. The trade was profitable and his sons Louis and Gilles followed in his footsteps when they grew older.

Hats made from felted beaver fur were much prized in European fashion circles. For years he traded with Amerindiens, who dubbed him “Saguenon”. [note: Though this name is widely reported in abstracts of the era, the meaning in this application is unclear.]

The family appears in the 1681 census in Sorel.  Louis was 37 years old, Catherine Lalore, 24. Their children included Catherine 8, Marie 6, Anne 3½, and Louis 1. He owned 1 fusil, and had 4 bêtes à cornes (horned beasts like oxen). Eight arpents of their land was being worked.

Our ancestor, Claire, was born about 1686 in Sorel. Louis Badaillac and Catherine de Lalore both died before the marriage of their daughter Therese which occurred in 1705. Claire married two years later.