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Nicolas Leroy & Jeanne Lelièvre : Norman Pioneers in New France

Discover the story of Nicolas Leroy and Jeanne Lelièvre, 17th-century Norman immigrants who shaped their future in New France. From their origins in Dieppe and Honfleur to their lives in Quebec, immerse yourself in the captivating story of their courage and resilience.

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 Nicolas Leroy & Jeanne Lelièvre

Norman Pioneers in New France

 

Nicolas Leroy, son of Louis Leroy and Anne Lemaistre, was baptized on May 25, 1639, in the parish of Saint-Remy in Dieppe, Normandie, France. Located in norther France, the coastal commune of Dieppe is now part of the Seine-Maritime department and has a population of approximately 30,000 residents, known as Dieppois. Historically, Dieppe has been an important port, particularly recognized for its contributions to the 16th-century French school of cartography.    

1639 baptism of Nicolas Leroy (Archives de la Seine-Maritime)

During the Second World War, Dieppe was the site of a pivotal event for Canada known as the Dieppe Raid on August 19, 1942. This operation involved predominantly Canadian forces aiming to seize and hold the port for a short period, gather intelligence, and challenge German defenses. The raid resulted in heavy casualties, with over 900 Canadian soldiers killed and nearly 2,000 taken prisoner. Despite its tragic outcome, the lessons learned from the raid were instrumental in planning subsequent Allied amphibious assaults, including the D-Day landings in Normandy.

 

Location of Dieppe in France (Mapcarta)

 

17th-Century Dieppe

Profile of the town of Dieppe, 1650 engraving by I. Sylvestre (Bibliothèque nationale de France)

“Diepe, a famous seaport on the northern coast of the province of Normandy,” 1650 (Bibliothèque nationale de France)

Dieppe, 1649 print by Matthäus Merian (Bibliothèque nationale de France)

1634 baptism of Jeanne Lelièvre (Archives du Calvados)

Jeanne Lelièvre, daughter of Guillaume Lelièvre and Judith Riquier (or Riquet), was baptized on March 22, 1634, in the parish of Saint-Léonard in Honfleur, Normandie, France. Jeanne was born out of wedlock, with the term batarde (bastard) noted in the margin of the baptismal record. 

The term bâtarde in Jeanne’s baptismal record reflects the Catholic Church’s historical practice of recording the legitimacy of children, as it had legal and societal implications at the time. While the label indicated that Jeanne was born out of wedlock, the Church prioritized the child’s spiritual well-being, ensuring baptism regardless of parental circumstances. This classification primarily served legal purposes, such as inheritance rights, rather than moral judgment.

Located approximately 100 kilometres southwest of Dieppe, Honfleur is now part of the Calvados department. It is a port town situated on the south bank of the Seine estuary. As of 2022, Honfleur had a population of about 6,700.

 Honfleur has long been a source of inspiration for painters, particularly during the 19th century. Its cobblestone streets, vibrant harbour lined with colourful boats, and distinct light reflecting off the Seine estuary captivated artists seeking to capture the interplay of nature and human activity. The town became a hub for the Impressionist movement, attracting renowned figures such as Claude Monet and Eugène Boudin, who was born in Honfleur and is often credited with introducing Monet to plein air painting.

"The Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Honfleur," 1864 oil painting by Claude Monet depicting the church where Jeanne was baptized (Wikimedia Commons)

Postcard of the Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce in Honfleur (Geneanet)

The chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, where Jeanne was baptized, was built between 1600 and 1615 by the inhabitants and sailors of Honfleur on the site of an earlier chapel that had been lost in a landslide. This primitive chapel had been founded before the year 1023 by Richard II, then Duke of Normandy, to fulfil a vow he had made during a storm in which he had almost perished. The chapel was listed as a French historic monument in 1938.

Honfleur, 1657 engraving by Jacques Gomboust (Bibliothèque municipale du Havre)

The old port of Honfleur, circa 1788 engraving by Le Gouaz and Ozanne (Bibliothèque nationale de France)

Marriage and Children

Around 1658, 18-year-old Nicolas Leroy married 23-year-old Jeanne Lelièvre in Dieppe. Although several sources online cite specific dates, the marriage record has not been located.

Nicolas and Jeanne had two sons in France, both baptized in the parish of Saint-Rémy in Dieppe:

i.     Louis (1658–1705)

ii.    Nicolas (1661–1727)

A New Home in New France

Jeanne’s father, Guillaume Lelièvre, missed the birth of his two grandsons, as he had left France by 1656 and settled in Canada, then part of the French colony of New France. 

Shortly after the birth of their son Nicolas, Nicolas and Jeanne made the fateful decision to join Guillaume in Canada. To finance their ocean passage, Nicolas secured a 50-livre loan from Dieppe merchant Jean Gloria. In June 1661, the Leroy family boarded a ship commanded by Laurent Poulet, whose name has since been lost to time, departing from the port of La Rochelle. They arrived in Québec on August 22, 1661.   

 

The port of La Rochelle in 2023 (© The French-Canadian Genealogist)

 

Nicolas and Jeanne had at least eight more children after arriving in Canada:

iii.     Noël (ca. 1662–1731)

iv.    Marie Jeanne (1664–1751)

v.  Guillaume (ca. 1666–1743)

vi.  Anne (1668–1670)

vii.    Jean (1669–1670)

viii.  Élisabeth “Isabelle” (1671–?)

ix. Jean (1674–1742)

x. Jean Baptiste (1678– 1743)

 

On June 8, 1664, Nicolas received a land concession in the seigneurie of Beaupré from Guillemette Hébert. The plot measured two arpents of frontage along the St. Lawrence River by a league and a half in depth. It was bordered by the properties of René Brisson and Jacques Marette, as well as unoccupied land. In exchange for the concession, Nicolas agreed to pay Hébert 12 deniers in cens per arpent of frontage and 20 sols in rente annually, along with three live capons, on the feast day of Sain-Martin. He also committed to grinding his grain at the seigneurie’s mill.

Once the family settled on the land, Nicolas constructed a cabin. The Leroy family owned this property until 1679. The land was located east of the Montmorency Falls and west of L'Ange-Gardien, in an area now known as Boischatel.  

Montmorency River, circa 1820 engraving by an unknown artist (Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec)

In 1666, a census was conducted in New France. Nicolas and Jeanne were recorded living in the côte of Beaupré with their four children and a domestic servant named Jean Brière, who also worked as a baker. Nicolas’s occupation was listed as poigneur, likely an occupation related to fishing.

1666 census of New France for the Leroy family (Library and Archives Canada)

A year later, in the 1667 census, Nicolas and Jeanne were still living in Beaupré with their five children. At that time, Nicolas owned four head of livestock and had seven arpents of cleared land.

1667 census of New France for the Leroy family (Library and Archives Canada)

Hardships and Heartache

In 1669, the Leroy family faced the first of several heartbreaking tragedies. Their daughter Marie Jeanne was attacked and sexually assaulted by a man named Jacques Nourry, a 29-year-old neighbour. Nicolas and Jeanne pursued justice for their daughter through the courts. On August 19, a verdict was delivered:

 

“The Sovereign Council has declared that the said Jacques Nourry is duly convicted of having raped the said Marie Leroy, and in reparation does condemn him to be hanged and strangled on a gallows, then his body dragged through the street after his head has been severed and placed on a post, plus three hundred livres in civil reparations to the said Marie Roy, to have her treated and help her get married, plus one hundred livres in damages– one third to go to the hospital and the other two thirds to the needs of the Council and to the costs of the trial, the remainder of his property to be acquired and confiscated to the high justice seigneur of Beaupré.

 

Nourry was executed the same day at 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

1669 sentence of Jacques Nourry (Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec)

Despite the hardships she had endured, Marie Jeanne was able to rebuild her life. She married ten years later, in 1679. She and her first husband, Jean Gaudreau, had three children. After his death, she remarried Jean Fournier and had another ten children.

Just a year after Marie Jeanne's attack, tragedy struck the Leroy family again. On July 6, 1670, two-year-old Anne and eight-month-old Jean perished in a house fire. Both children were buried inside the parish church of L’Ange-Gardien. While the location of the fire is unknown, it was likely at the family home.

Possibly haunted by the memories of these tragedies, Nicolas and Jeanne decided to leave their homestead in the seigneurie of Beaupré. Sometime between 1674 and 1676, they relocated to the seigneurie of La Durantaye.

By 1676, Nicolas was established as a resident and farmer in the seigneurie of La Durantaye. In the summer of 1677, notary Romain Becquet drafted a four-year farm lease between Nicolas and seigneur Olivier Morel for land in the seigneurie. The lease included a house, a barn, a stable, a garden, and the surrounding land where Nicolas and his family had been living since the previous summer. The agreement also granted Nicolas fishing and hunting rights. In exchange, Nicolas committed to providing his seigneur with 20 minots of wheat, six minots of peas, and four capons annually. He also agreed to continue farming the land, maintain all buildings and fences, and make any necessary repairs. However, the contract was never completed or signed, and it ends abruptly in the notarial records.     

In 1679, the Leroy family severed their ties with the land in the côte de Beaupré for good. On March 30, 1679, Nicolas and Jeanne sold their land and house to their former neighbours, Jacques Marette and René Brisson, for the sum of 500 livres. Notably, Nicolas was able to sign the document.  

In 1681, another census was conducted in New France. Nicolas and Jeanne were enumerated in the seigneurie of La Durantaye, living with their four children. Nicolas owned one gun, eight head of cattle, and 20 arpents of cleared land. Their sons Louis and Nicolas lived nearby, with their households listed next in the census. 

1681 census of New France for the Leroy family (Library and Archives Canada)

The last document mentioning Nicolas’s name is a farm and land lease dated February 16, 1686, between Nicolas and Françoise Duquet, the wife of seigneur Olivier Morel. Nicolas is described as “her farmer” and a resident of La Durantaye. The five-year lease, a continuation of a previous agreement, included two cows. Nicolas agreed to provide his seigneur with 15 minots of wheat, 20 pounds of butter, and half the yields from each cow annually.

Nicolas’s signature in 1686 (FamilySearch)

Deaths of Nicolas and Jeanne

Nicolas Leroy passed away around the age of 48, sometime between the signing of the lease in 1686 and November 3, 1688, when he is referred to as deceased in a notarial document involving two of his sons. His burial record has not been found.

After her husband’s death, Jeanne married her second husband, François Molinet dit Tourangeau. The wedding took place on February 8, 1695, in the parish of Saint-Étienne in Beaumont. Jeanne was 60 years old and the widow of Nicolas Leroy, while François was approximately 43. François passed away at the Hôtel-Dieu Hospital in Québec on June 12, 1702, and was buried the same day. Given the speed of his burial, François was likely a victim of the smallpox epidemic that devastated the colony in 1702 and 1703.

On October 22, 1707, Jeanne sold a piece of land and a house in the seigneurie of La Durantaye to Martin Leblanc for 600 livres. The land measured three arpents wide by forty arpents deep. Jeanne was unable to sign her name on the deed.  

Artificial intelligence image created by the author with Dall-E (Jan 2025)

Jeanne Lelièvre lived for another two decades, passing away at the age of 93. She was “found dead sitting in her chair, having received the holy viaticum as a precaution eight days earlier.” Jeanne was buried on January 11, 1728, in the parish cemetery of Saint-Philippe-et-Saint-Jacques in Saint-Vallier, with “all of the parish attending her burial.” The original record no longer exists.

 
Nicolas Leroy & Jeanne Lelièvre (article in PDF format)
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