Jean Taché (b. 1698 – April 18, 1768) was a Canadian merchant and trader. He made his first trip to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

in 1727 to deal in furs and engage in other business activities. By 1730, he had become a permanent resident of the colony and was successful as a merchant and trader. He was also a militia captain in the government of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

. France's surrender of the colony of Quebec in 1763 curtailed his business activities. Under the new British rule, he was one of the first Canadians to be called as members of the Grand Jury for the district of Quebec. In 1768, he received a commission as a

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...

but died shortly after. He had at least 10 children, and his descendants contributed to

French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

society during the 19th century. On August 27, 1742, Taché married Marie-Anne Jolliet de Mingan, granddaughter of the explorer

Louis Jolliet Louis Jolliet (September 21, 1645after May 1700) was a French-Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America. In 1673, Jolliet and Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit Catholic priest and missionary, were the first non-Natives to explore ...

and Jean-Baptiste Jolliet de Mingan. He is the grandfather of

Étienne-Paschal Taché Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché (5 September 1795 – 30 July 1865) was a Canadian doctor, politician, and Father of Confederation. Life Born in St. Thomas, Lower Canada, in 1795, the third son of Charles Taché and Geneviève Michon, Tach ...

, known as one of the

Fathers of Confederation The Fathers of Confederation are the 36 people who attended at least one of the Charlottetown Conference of 1864 (23 attendees), the Quebec Conference of 1864 (33 attendees), and the London Conference of 1866 (16 attendees), preceding Canadia ...

, and

Jean-Baptiste Taché Jean-Baptiste Taché (June 11, 1786 – August 22, 1849) was a notary and political figure in Lower Canada. He represented Cornwallis from 1820 to 1824 and Rimouski from 1834 until the suspension of the constitution in 1838 in the Legislat ...

. Other descendants include writer

Joseph-Charles Taché Joseph-Charles Taché, (December 24, 1820 – April 16, 1894) was a member of the Taché family, a nephew of Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché. He was a student at the Petit Séminaire de Québec and followed this by a study of medicine, receiving hi ...

References

Further reading