Robert Giffard de MoncelMoncel is the name place one km south of Autheil, (c. 1587 – 14 June 1668) was a Perche-based

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

and apothecary who became

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...

's first colonizing

seigneur ''Seigneur'' is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. A seigneur refers to the person or collective who owned a ''seigneurie'' (or ...

Initial voyages

As a naval surgeon, Giffard made several voyages to

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the 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 one of the thirtee ...

between 1621 and 1627. He maintained a cabin called la Canardière at the mouth of the Petite or Sainte-Croix or, now, Saint-Charles rivers on the côte (shore) de Beauport east of Québec. On a return voyage in 1628, he was captured by the English adventurer Sir David Kirke and lost considerable equipment for colonization. Giffard returned to France. Kirke later captured and held Quebec until its return to the French in 1632.

Percheron immigration movement

In the three decades of the 17th century starting in 1634, Robert Giffard spearheaded the

Percheron The Percheron is a breed of draft horse that originated in the Huisne river valley in western France, part of the former Perche province from which the breed takes its name. Usually gray or black in color, Percherons are well muscled, and k ...

immigration movement that recruited more than 300 tradesmen and workers, many of whom settled in Canada, New France. In so doing, Giffard working closed with the Juchereau brothers, Noël, Jean and their half-brother Pierre, with origins in Perche's

Tourouvre Tourouvre () is a former commune in the Orne department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Tourouvre au Perche. The first photovoltaic road in the world was under construction in Tourouvre in Novem ...

hamlet. The Juchereau brothers were thus between 1646 and 1651 responsible for forty-one engagement contracts destined for Canada that were largely executed by the Tourouvre-based Choiseau notaries. The Percheron Immigration movement is noteworthy as ancient Perche province provided a lopsidedly, disproportionally large number of New France pioneers and descendants compared to the rest immigrants from France.

From colonizing seigneur to nobility

On 15 January 1634, Giffard was granted one of New France's the first ''seigneuries'' and he returned to the colony accompanied by his wife and two children. The colony - with

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fre ...

still as

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

- was continuing to experience a lack of immigration. Giffard's grant of a league of land along the Beauport and Montmorency rivers was in exchange for his commitment to bring other settlers. His recruitment efforts in ancient

Perche Perche () (French: ''le Perche'') is a former province of France, known historically for its forests and, for the past two centuries, for the Percheron draft horse breed. Until the French Revolution, Perche was bounded by four ancient territorie ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

, yielded other well-known pioneers including: Jean Guyon du Boisson,

Zacharie Cloutier Zacharie Cloutier (c. 1590 – September 17, 1677) was a French carpenter who immigrated to New France in 1634 in the first wave of the Percheron immigration from the former province of Perche, to an area that is today part of Quebec, Canada ...

, Henri Pinguet, Noël Langlois,

Noël Juchereau Noël Juchereau, Sieur des Chatelets (30 August 1593 – c. 31 July 1648) was an early pioneer in New France (now Québec, Canada), and a member of the Company of One Hundred Associates since in formation in 1627. Origins Juchereau was baptis ...

and

Marin Boucher Marin Boucher (1587 or 1589–1671), was a pioneer of early New France and one of the most prolific ancestors of French Canada, being the ancestor of most of the Bouchers of North America, particularly in the Province of Quebec, Northern New Brunswi ...

from ancient Perche province. In 1636, the marriage contract for Robert Drouin and Cloutier's daughter Anne was signed in Giffard's house, at one time the oldest house in Canada. This is the earliest marriage contract in Canada's archives. In 1637, he was involved in a conflict with the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

near

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

. By 1640, he became the first doctor of the ''

Hôtel-Dieu de Québec The Hotel-Dieu de Québec is a teaching hospital located in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, and affiliated with Université Laval's medical school. It is part of the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec (CHUQ), a network of five teaching hosp ...

''the first hospital in Canada and in North America north of Mexicoan apothecary and even “doctor in ordinary” to the king, a purely honorary but prestigious title. In 1645, Giffard helped found the newly established trading company, the ''Communauté des Habitants'', which was open to all inhabitants in principle but which only the wealthiest colonists could join in practice. Severely dissatisfied, he went with

Paul de Chomedey Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve (15 February 1612 9 September 1676) was a French military officer and the founder of Fort Ville-Marie (modern day Montreal) in New France (Province of Quebec, Canada). Early life Maisonneuve was born in ...

the following year back to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

to convince the Crown officials to disband his fellow directors of the company, which they did, replacing them with a regulatory council in

. In 1646, Giffard obtained an explicit order from the governor of the colony,

Charles de Montmagny Charles Jacques Huault de Montmagny (c. 1583 to 1599 – 4 July 1657) was governor of New France from 1636 to 1648. He was the first person to bear the title of Governor of New France and succeeded Samuel de Champlain, who governed the colony ...

, that ended a nine-year dispute with Guyon and Cloutier in Giffard's favour. Since their arrival in the colony, the two tenants had refused to provide ''foi et hommage'' (fealty and homage) to Giffard, as was his right as seigneur. This was an early case of New World resistance to Old World systems of governance. Refusing to accept him as their superior, they did not stake their lands or pay him annual taxes. Such cases of ''censitaire refractoriness'' filled the time of the courts for the duration of the seigneurial system, both during the French regime and under the English. By 1658, his service was recognized by the granting of two more seigneuries, being named to the king's new council of Quebec, and becoming one of Canada's few citizens to be

ennobled Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

. Giffard died in Beauport on 14 June 1668. The Bishop officiated his funeral and his tomb is within the hospital.

Legacy

In 1912, a neighbourhood of

Beauport, Quebec Beauport is a borough of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada on the Saint Lawrence River. Beauport is a northeastern suburb of Quebec City. Manufacturers include paint, construction materials, printers, and hospital supplies. Food transportation is impo ...

was named after Giffard and he is commemorated by a monument there. In 1935,

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

named a street Robert-Giffard Avenue. In 1976, the provincial mental health hospital took the name the Centre hospitalier Robert Giffard, continuing an association with mental health. In 1845, Giffard's manor house begins being used as an asylum accommodating 23 mental health patients.

Notes

References

* *Bélanger, Claude; Bélanger, Damien-Claude
Québec History
Marianopolis University-sponsored website *Binet, Réjean (hivers 2016).
Robert Giffard : les engagés de 1634
, Revue de la Société de généagolie de Québec , www.sgq.qc.ca, ''L'Ancêtre'', vol. 42, no. 313, pp. 98–112 * *Drolet, Yves (2009)
Tables généalogiques de la noblesse Québecois du XVIIe au XIXe siècle
* *
History
Centre hospitalier Robert Giffard *Fichier Origine 241768
Giffard, Robert
*Jetté, René (1983). Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec. Des origines à 1730. Montréal, Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal. xxx-1180 pages *Lesperance, Jerry (December 2002)

Vermont French-Canadian Genealogical Society *La Mémoire du Québec
Giffard de Moncel et de Beauport (Robert)
*La Mémoire du Québec
Beauport (ancienne municipalité)
*Montréal, Ville de
Repertoire historique des toponymes Montréalais, avenue Robert-GiffardNos Origines 5223
* * *
PRDH Pioneer 35641
* *Provost, Honorius (1966, 2016). �

», dans DBC / DCB, vol. 1, ULaval / UofToronto, accessed 23 March 2018 *Rameau, Edme; 1859
La France aux colonies études sur le développement de la race française hors de l'Europe
*de Romanet, Vte; Tournouer, M. H. (1905)
''Chronique et correspondance de la province du Perche et des Percherons du Canada''
published by L. Fournier, France *Québec, Ville de, Histoire de raconter
Les premières familles de la paroisse de Beauport
*Québec, Ville de, fiche de toponymie
Fargy, parc du
*________________, fiche de toponymie
Perche, avenue
*________________, fiche de toponymie
Robert-Giffard, avenue
*________________, fiche de toponymie
Renouard, avenueToponomie
Ville de Québec
CHUQ - L’Hôtel-Dieu de QuébecPlaque commémorative de Robert Giffard

University of Laval A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

website
Portrait of the Seigneur of Beauport
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Robert Giffard's manor house, seigneury of Beauport
Canadian Museum of Civilization *Sulte, Benjamin (1918)
''Études éparses et inédites de Benjamin Sulte : volume 1''
*Trépanier, Paul (hiver 1988). �
Beauport (pdf)
», �
Beauport (En ligne)
», ''Continuité'', N^o. 38, pp. 49–55, URI