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.
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.
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