Antoine Daunay.

From Poitou, France.

Antoine was the son of Louis Daunay and Jeanne Gavette. His father was a laborer in the small village of Bessay, near Luçon in Poitou. Baptism records for some of their children were found in église Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Bessay.

To Trois-Rivières, Québec.

Antoine too was a laborer and at age 23 he signed a contract on 17 June 1661 to work for Médard Chouart des Groseilliers des Trois Rivières for three years. Trois-Rivières is located about halfway between Québec City and Montréal. The terms of these agreements were usually vague, requiring the young men to perform "whatever tasks were necessary". This typically would involve farm or other manual work, for these indentured workers were not apprentices learning a trade. But Chouart was an entrepeneur. He was in France in 1661 to seek support for a ship to travel to Hudson Bay to engage in the fur trade. Though he never did get the funding he wanted, Chouart may have enlisted our ancestor for this venture.

After the contract was satisfied, the men were free to establish their own homestead and marry. Antoine's obligation ended in 1664. He was found in the Trois-Riviéres census in 1666 amongst the non-marier or unmarried men. In this record he claimed to be 25, which would have made him somewhat younger at the time of the contract, closer to 20 when he left France. Along with Denis Vérignonneau he leased a farm from Marguerite Hayet, wife of Mèdard Chouart. Living in the same town were our ancestors Louis Robert and Marie Bourgery.

Marriage.

Marie Richard, daughter of Pierre Richard and Anne Masson, was baptized 15 February 1650 in Saint-Laurent church in Nogent-sur-Seine, Champagne. She along with our ancestors Marie Angelier and Barbe Menard were among the filles du roi who arrived on le Saint-Jean-Baptiste on 30 June 1669. The 300–ton ship, about 100 feet long, came out of Dieppe then went to La Rochelle before embarking on its six week journey across the Atlantic. There were 164 passengers of which 149 were young women under the eye of Madame Bourdon. Eleven mares and one stallion destined for some of the larger property owners shared the space below in the small wooden vessel. The ships would often stop first in Québec and then proceed to Montréal.

Boucherville.

Antoine made his way upriver in 1667 with Pierre Boucher as the latter established his seigneurie aptly named Boucherville on the south side of the Saint-Lawrence. His stake established, Antoine crossed that river to head into Montréal where he met Marie. They signed a contract before the notaire René Remy on 24 August 1669 and were married soon after.

Aged 40 in the 1681 census at the Seigneurie de Boucherville, Anthoine Daune, owned one vache and had cultivated seven arpens of land. Marie Richard was 34 and they had five children at the time: Marie, 11; Anne, 10; Denise, 8; our ancestor PIERRE, 5 and Anthoine, 3. Four more children were added in later years.

At least of two of his sons, Pierre and Antoine, would participate in the fur trade. Antoine Daunay dit Fresnière went out with his brother-in-law François Robert on 28 July 1704.

Both Antoine Daunay and Marie Richard died in Boucherville. Antoine was 66 at his death on 13 December 1707 and Marie was 63 when she died six years later on 19 March 1713.

View the family on the Boucherville Map, next, then on that page choose Pierre Daunay and Marguerite Robert from the menu on the right.