| Notes |
- Aka 'Barbier dite LeBarbier'. Her parents were Henri LeBarbier, a middle-class merchant ('bourgeois et marchand') from Rouen, and Marie Le Villain. She was baptized at the former Saint-Candé-le-Vieux church in Rouen, which was torn down in 1796 during the Revolution.
Paternal grandparents were Martin Lebarbier & Marthe Lefebvre, who were married in May 1574. Her maternal grandparents were Michel Le Villain & Marguerite Traboullet (aka Trabauillard), who were married on February 9, 1580. Both couples were from Rouen. (Fichier Origine)
She married Nicolas Marsolet in Rouen on 23 April 1637 and immigrated to Canada with him the same year. He was 50, she was 17. 10 children are documented (familysearch.org); at least 6 survived to adulthood:
1. Marie-Marguerite (1638–1711) md Mathieu D'Amours
2. Louise (1640–1712) md Jean Lemire
3. Joseph (1642–)
4. Geneviève (1644–1702) md Michel Guyon
5. Marie-Madeleine (1646–1734) md François Guyon
6. Louis (1648–)
7. Jean, 'Sieur de Bellechasse' (1651–1715) md 1. Marguerite Couture; 2. Marie-Anne Bolduc
8. Anne (1653–)
9. Élisabeth (1655–1666)
10. Marie (1657–1677)
In 1681, age 61, Marie married Denis Lemaitre/LeMaistre, 62, widower of Anne Desjardins. He was a tailor from St. Eustache, Paris. Denis died on 19 April, 1690 at the Hotel-Dieu de Quebec.
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BIO of NICOLAS MARSOLET
Following is an edited version of a bio posted by André Vachon on Familysearch.org. Many thanks to André for this interesting history. Additional details are from Wikipedia & a footnote taken from the Tanguay Collection, image 117, on ancestrylibrary.ca.
Over the years NICOLAS MARSOLET dit SAINT-AIGNAN worked as an interpreter, clerk in the fur trade, ship's master, trader, and lastly, a seigneur (land-owner). He came from the Rouen area.
The exact origin of his 'dit' name, St-Agnan or St Aignan, is unknown. However there is a section of Rouen called Mont-Saint-Aignan, which was a separate commune at the time. He may have lived in this commune.
He was born either in 1587, if the burial record is correct or in 1601, per the 1666 census. It is not clear when he arrived in Quebec. Records from 1629 written by Samuel de Champlain, the founder of the colony, can be interpreted to mean that Nicolas migrated to Quebec around 1613. A footnote in the Tanguay Collection states definitively that he arrived with Champlain in 1613 but his age is not precisely known. If this is correct then a birth in 1601 would place his age at about 12, which would be too young to migrate alone. So he was likely born ca 1587. This date is also supported by his age (50) at his marriage in 1637.
In his early days in Quebec Nicolas was primarily employed in the fur trade and as an interpreter of the Montagnais and Algonquian languages. He divided his time between travelling to the various trading posts at Tadoussac, Québec & Trois-Rivières, and living among the Algonquian people in their villages near the Ottawa River.
Nicolas appears to have shared the inveterate distrust felt by the majority of the fur-traders toward the missionaries and French settlers, because he disliked the impact they had on the indigenous people, who were suppliers to the fur trade.
His activities often put him at odds with the colony's religious and administrative officials. His behavior while living among the Algonquian people was viewed as licentious by church officials. Champlain himself criticized Marsolet, accusing him of remaining "without religion, eating meat on Friday and Saturday," indulging himself "in unrestrained debauchery and libertinism". He was especially criticized of having "betrayed their King and sold their country" by doing business with English privateers led by Sir David Kirke, an adventurer, colonizer and governor of parts of Newfoundland, mainly around the Avalon Peninsula.
During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), the Kirke brothers blockaded Quebec City, preventing French ships from delivering much needed food & supplies, causing widespread starvation. Kirke demanded a French surrender. Having no alternative, Champlain surrendered in July 1629. Many of the French colonists returned to France but Marsolet remained behind and continued to do business with the British privateers. Tanguay states that later, Marsolet claimed that he was forced by Kirke to remain with them. Champlain negotiated the return of Quebec to France in 1632.
On a side note, as a consolation for his loss, Kirke was knighted by the Crown in 1633. A favourite of Charles I of England, Kirke's downfall came during the English Civil War. He is believed to have died in prison.
European settlement in the colony and conversion of indigenous people to christianity continued to expand. Perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, Nicolas settled down and began to acquire several land grants and estates. In 1637 he married Marie Barbier/Le Barbier. By 1643 his reputation had begun to change and he was spoken of as a valued collaborator of the missionaries.
However, he continued to have difficult relations with the merchant class, particularly with a company called the 'Compagnie des habitants', which held the monopoly in the fur trade between Quebec and France from 1645 – 1650. The company obtained its start-up capital by borrowing from banks (mostly in France), at very high interest rates. It was run by merchants who were among the elite families of the colony and who lived extravagant lifestyles funded largely from this borrowed money.
Nicolas preferred to conduct his fur-trading business independently instead of going through the monopoly held by the Compagnie, thereby antagonizing its officers. For his part, Nicolas disapproved of their extravagance and incited a protest movement against them, which was swiftly suppressed by the governor. Ultimately in 1663 the Compagnie failed and its accumulated debt had to be repaid by the colony over several years.
Perhaps because of his total involvement in the lucrative fur trade and related activities, Nicolas took scant interest in exploiting his numerous land grants, only some of which were brought under cultivation. The rest were left uncleared and uninhabited. He died on 15 May 1677.
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1619 - 1688 (68 years)
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