M. 1 Oct 1634 in Quebec City, New France
Wife: Hélène Desportes
D. 23 Sep 1639 in Quebec City, New France
Guillaume Hébert was part of the first European family to settle in Canada, and he was its youngest member. He was born in Paris to Louis Hébert and Marie Rollet sometime around 1614. His father was away in North America for much of the time during 1606 to 1613, so there was a big gap in age between Guillaume and his two older sisters. The family was said to live near the Louvre when Guillaume was young.
Guillaume’s life was shaped by the relationship his father had with Samuel de Champlain. In 1616, Champlain offered Louis Hébert a large tract of land in return for him to join the new settlement at Quebec. It was decided that the entire family would migrate there with him, and they became the first European family to permanently live there. When they arrived, a stone house was built outside the Quebec compound and land was cleared for them to farm. Given Guillaume’s age, this was probably the only childhood home he remembered. His sisters were almost old enough to be married, so by 1619, he was the only child in the settlement. Besides the Hébert farm, Quebec was primarily a military post and work camp for men who intended to return to France. It wasn't until 1621 that another boy was born there.
Guillaume’s father died in 1627, and shortly after, the English took over Quebec, but the Hébert family decided not to return to France. Besides Guillaume’s married sister, only one other family stayed, plus a handful of single men. Others left Quebec, including the parents of the first European born there, Hélène Desportes. When France regained control of the colony in 1632, Hélène came back, and two years later, she was married to Guillaume. He was a young man of 20 and she was just 14. The wedding took place on October 1, 1634 at a small chapel overlooking the settlement.
Marriage record of Guillaume and Hélène.
After he came of age, Guillaume received a portion of his father’s property on the outskirts of Quebec; the title was shared with his mother and his sisters. Two years later, the governor granted Guillaume 19 acres of his own. This was around the time his first child, Joseph, was born.
Guillaume and Hélène had two more children before he died on September 23, 1639. The cause of his death isn’t known, but he may have contracted smallpox, which was known to have afflicted others in Quebec. After his death, the guardianship of his children was awarded to his sister’s husband, Guillaume Couillard and his wife’s uncle, Abraham Martin.
The inventory of his possessions at the time of his death reveal that Guillaume was living a modest existence. His clothing was listed as “an old gray coat, shoes in two parts, hosiery in need of repair, breeches, a few doublets, two white shirts, five shirts of coarser cloth, two wool hats, and three handkerchiefs.” The rest of the inventory included basic household items, one of which was “a broken mirror.” The possessions were sold to other settlers at a sale a couple months after his death (even the broken mirror), bringing in 367 livres for the benefit of his children. Authorities determined that the house where he lived was “uninhabitable” and his widow Hélène moved into another cottage with the children. She remarried just a few months later and raised a second family. Hélène died in 1675.
Guillaume was a direct ancestor of Celine Dion, Jack Kerouac and Jim Carrey.
Children:
1. Joseph Hébert — B. about Nov 1636, Quebec City, New France; D. 1661, New France; M. Marie-Charlotte Depoitiers (1641-1718), 12 Oct 1660, New France
2. Marie-Françoise Hébert — B. about Jan 1638, Quebec City, New France; D.16 Mar 1716, Montmagny, Quebec; M. Guillaume Fournier (~1620-1699), 20 Nov 1651, Quebec City, New France
3. Angélique Hébert — B. about Aug 1639, Quebec City, New France; D. young
Sources:
Our French-Canadian Ancestors, Gerard Lebel (translated by Thomas J. Laforest), 1990
Hélène’s World: Hélène Desportes of Seventeenth Century Quebec, Susan McNelley, 2014
Champlain’s Dream, David Hackett Fischer, 2008
