Our Beaulieu family originated from the Hudon-dit-Beaulieu line in France (more information regarding the origins of the family name will be added later). Our farthest reaching known ancestor was Jean Hudon-dit Beaulieu, born1622 Notre Dame de Chemille, Angers, France, died 1650 Notre Dame de Chemille, Angers, France. He married Francoise Durand, who was born 1624 Notre Dame de Chemille, Angers, France. They had one known son, Pierre Hudon-dit-Beaulieu, born 1648 in Notre Dame de Chemille, Angers, France, and died 23 Apr 1710, in Riviere Ouelle, Kamouraska Co., Quebec. He married 13 Jul 1676, at Ville de Quebec, Quebec to Marie Gobeil, daughter of Jean Gobeil and Jeanne Guiet. Marie was born 25 Jan 1655, at St. Andre Niort, Poitiers, Poitou, France, and she died 25 Nov 1736, at Riviere Ouelle, Kamouraska Co., Quebec. Our family descends from Pierre and Marie.


Notes for Jean Hudon dit Beaulieu:

The principal variation to HUDON is BEAULIEU. However, following variations of both names are BOLIA, DEHUDON, DESHUDONS, DEUDON, GOURDEAU, HEUDON, HOUDON and UDON. Descendants of Jean Hudon will use the name BEAULIEU as far as my record keeping is concerned. In unidentified records the birth place of both Jean and Francoise is Notre Dame, De Chemille, France, whereas the family was to have originated from Beaulieu, in the province of Anjou, France.


Dictionnaire Genealogique des Familles Canadiennes, by Cyprien Tanguay: vol. 1, pg. 312, Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties by Reginald L. Olivier: pg. 165.

The Beaulieu Families

Beaulieu is more of a surname than a patronym. It evokes the land and countryside, a place where the living was easy. For the Beaulieu family, like the Martins, the Lefebvres, and the Gauthiers, there are many lines of descent, no doubt because they were touched by the beauty of the countryside in New France and chose to keep their impression alive with the name they passed down to their descendants. Cyprien Tanguay lists the patronyms that, at one time or another, were coupled with this surname: Albert, Diers, Dufresne, Hudon, Lebel, Martin dit Montpellier, Palmier, Philippe de Beaulieu, and Thomas. He could have added to these the Goudreaus and other families who dropped the surname for their original patronym. The most extensive lines of the Beaulieus descend from the Martin, Hudon, and Thomas families.

Benjamin Suilte has identified Antoine Martin as a soldier and cobbler. Originally from Montpellier, in Languedoc, he was born on an unknown date, to Jean Martin and Isabelle Cost? In 1646, he was living in the region of Quebec, where his level of education and flair for business brought him to the ranks of its first settlers and administrators. His name appeared for the first time in the religious registries when he married Marie-Denyse Sevestre, daughter of Charles Sevestre and Marie Pichon. The young woman, who was 14 years old at the time, was born in France and was only about two or three when she crossed the Atlantic. Research conducted by Marielle Laroche-Montpetit reveals that the Martins dit Montpellier lived in Quebec, on the Grande-All? After 1649, they also acquired a piece of land located in Cap Rouge. In this particularly dangerous settlement, the habitants had to follow definite rules in order to survive. April 19, 1654, found them at a meeting in Fort Saint-Louis, promising to follow the orders of their commander, the cobbler Antoine Martin dit Montpellier. He was awarded the responsibility of determining fines and confiscations, authorizing arrivals and departures, and certain business transactions, by the Pinel, Blondeau, Archambault, Gauthier, Boisverdun, BOUCHER, and Mezeray families. As of May 1, 1654, the residents were obliged to abide by the law of community of interests. Antoine Martin dit Montpellier, also surnamed Beaulieu, died on May 11, 1659. He was buried that same day in the Notre-Dame de Quebec church, next to his father-in-law.

The summer had not yet come to a close and Marie-Denyse, who had brought four children into the world, was preparing to marry again. Before notary Guillaume Audouart, on July 20, she promised to marry Philippe Nepveu, the son of Pasquier Nepveu and Philippe Haudebrand, who were originally from Chartres, in the Orleans region. The young woman's second husband passed his name down to 11 children, in addition to the well-known Buttes-Neveu, in Quebec. The couple's life together was not always happy, judging by the text of the last document signed by Marie-Denyse, who disowned her husband, from whom she was, voluntarily and by mutual consent, living a separate and financially independent life.Signed on March 6, 1694, six years prior to her death, the will was contested and overruled on May 2, 1701. One line of the Martin family is related, through Marie-Denyse, to one line of the Beaulieu family, and both are related to the Neveu family. The descendants of Antoine Martin dropped the surname Montpellier.

Pierre Hudon, the ancestor of the Hudon families and one of the Beaulieu lines, was born around 1648 in Notre-Dame de Chemill?in Anjou. He was the son of Jean Hudon and Francoise Durand. This ancestor had the glory of being a member of the Carignan Regiment companies. In fact, two Beaulieus were enrolled in 1668 and, the name of baker Pierre Hudon was found on a list dated two years earlier of non-resident volunteers living in Quebec. Pierre Hudon dit Beaulieu would settle in the Bouteillerie seigneury, at Riviere-Ouelle, which he left temporarily in July 1676 to find a wife in Quebec. He was engaged to Marie, the daughter of Jean Gobeil and Jeanne Guillet, on July 12, and their wedding was celebrated the next day. Together, the couple had 11 children. In 1690, Pierre Hudon dit Beaulieu and his eldest sons played a part in the defeat of the Phips attack at Riviere-Ouelle. Pierre Hudon died in 1710, and his wife in 1736. Their numerous descendants go by the names of Hudon and Beaulieu.

A third line of the Beaulieu family put down roots in Acadia. According to Yvonne Corbeil-Beaulieu, Claude Thomas, who was baptized in Lannion, Brittany, on March 9, 1654, was the son of Martin Thomas and Francoise Hend? Second in a family of at least 12 children, he may have been a fisherman or a sailor. In 1689, he was living in Placentia, on the island of Newfoundland, where he married Madeleine Seau, daughter of Francois Seau and Marie Aubert. Madeleine Seau's mother, Marie, was the widow of Jean Diers and had another child named Pierre. Pierre Diers, writes Madame Corbeil-Beaulieu, was raised by his father-in-law and often used the name Beaulieu. His descendants would bear the name Beaulieu and lived mainly in the counties of Bellechasse and Dorchester. Because of the ongoing conflict between England and France, the children of Claude Thomas dit Beaulieu and Madeleine Seau left Acadia after the Treaty of Utrecht was signed in 1713. Pierre Diers was the first to move to Quebec, where he signed a marriage contract on December 22, 1713.

Fourteen years later, in July 1727, a document certifying Marie-Anne Thomas' engagement to Georges Mabille, tells us that his parents lived in Brest, in Brittany. Two years later, in January, the double marriage of Louis and Francois Thomas dit Beaulieu to the sisters Jeanne and Madeleine Labrecque indicates that the parents had gone back to live in Quebec. On April 16, 1729, Claude Thomas dit Beaulieu died suddenly. Four of the five children born of his marriage to Madeleine Seau married, and of these four, Louis would be the only one to have children and keep the name Beaulieu. As for Madeleine Seau, she is, oddly enough, the ancestor of two branches of the Beaulieu family through her son Pierre Diers.

Information taken from (Civilizations.ca), Our Ancestors of European Origin: Genealogy and Family History, January 5, 2003 - web site http://collections.civilisations.ca/gene/indexe.html.
Text by Helene-Andree Bizier.


Notes for Francoise Durand:

Dictionnaire Genealogique des Familles Canadiennes, by Cyprien Tanguay: vol. 1, pg. 312.
Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties by Reginald L. Olivier: pg. 165.

In unidentified records the birth place of both Jean and Francoise is Notre Dame, De Chemille, France whereas the family was to have originated from Beaulieu, in the province of Anjour, France.


 

if you would like to select another Surname or a KarensKorner site.