Louis Prud'homme (1611–1671) is remembered both as the first militia captain of Montreal and the founder of the first commercial brewery in
New France
New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, 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 Kingdom of Great Br ...
in 1650.
Establishment in Ville-Marie
Prud'homme was one of the original settlers in
Fort Ville-Marie
Fort Ville-Marie was a French fortress and settlement established in May 1642 by a company of French settlers, led by Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve, on the Island of Montreal in the Saint Lawrence River at the confluence of the Ottawa River, ...
(now Montreal), arriving in 1641 in the mission led by
Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve, receiving thirty acres of land outside the fort in October 1650. In November 1650 Prud’homme married Roberte Gadoys (1621–1716), daughter of
Pierre Gadoys, recognized as the first farmer of Montreal. Also in 1650 Prud'homme established the first commercial brewery in New France, located outside the fortification of
Fort Ville-Marie
Fort Ville-Marie was a French fortress and settlement established in May 1642 by a company of French settlers, led by Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve, on the Island of Montreal in the Saint Lawrence River at the confluence of the Ottawa River, ...
. The brewery survived, in a wood building, survived multiple attempts by the
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
to burn it down. Prud'homme received further grants of land in 1654, 1662, and 1666.
Involvement in Civic Affairs
Prud'homme's original land grant adjoined that of Michel Chauvin, just outside the fort. Earlier in 1650, Prud'homme discovered on a trip to France that Chauvin was a
bigamist, having married Louise Delisle on 10 August 1637 in
Ste-Suzanne, Mayenne, France and subsequently Anne Archambault, daughter of
Jacques Archambault, on 27 July 1647 in Paroisse Notre Dame,
Québec
Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...
, a celebration Prud'homme had attended. Prud'homme informed Governor
Chomedy of this fact, which led to Chauvin's banishment from Ville-Marie and the annulment of his marriage to Anne Archambault.
In 1657, priests from the
Society of Saint-Sulpice
The Society of Priests of Saint-Sulpice (; PSS), also known as the Sulpicians, is a society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men, named after the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, where it was founded. The members of the Society add the ...
- known as "the Sulpicians", took over in Ville-Marie from the
Jesuits
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
. Prud’homme was elected as one of the first three churchwardens of the parish of Notre-Dame. In 1663, he is recorded as a corporal of a section in the newly constituted militia of the Holy Family. In 1664 he and four other colonists were elected as police magistrates, but the authorities of New France refused to confirm the results of the election as they viewed the police court as too democratic.
Family
Prud'homme had seven children;
* Francois-Xavier Prud'homme (1652–1741);
* Paul Prud'homme (1654–1681);
* Marguerite Prud'homme (1656–1725);
* Pierre Prud'homme (1658–1703);
* Catherine Prud'homme (1661–1736);
* Elisabeth Prud'homme (1663–1744);
* Jeanne Prud'homme (1667–?);.
1666 census of New France
/ref>
See also
* History of Montreal
Montreal was established in 1642 in what is now the province of Quebec, Canada. At the time of European contact the area was inhabited by the St. Lawrence Iroquoians, a discrete and distinct group of Iroquoian-speaking indigenous people. They spo ...
* Beer in Canada
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prudhomme, Louis
1611 births
1671 deaths
Colonists of Fort Ville-Marie
People from Seine-et-Marne
Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)