René-Charles de Breslay (June 1658 – 4 December 1735) was born and educated in France where he spent a number of years as “gentleman in waiting of the privy chamber of the king”. Following this period, he entered the order of Saint-Sulpice and became a

Sulpician 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 ...

in 1689.

Life

Montreal

Breslay came to

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 1694 and was stationed in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, first as a curate and then as a parish priest at Notre-Dame. He became fluent in

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

and in March 1703 moved as parish priest to the Saint-Louis Mission in Sainte-Anne-du-bout-de-l'Ile and succeeded

François-Saturnin Lascaris d'Urfé François-Saturnin Lascaris d'Urfé, S.S. (1641 – June 30, 1701) was a French nobleman and Sulpician priest who became the first resident pastor of the parish of Saint-Louis-du-Haut-de-l'Île (in what is now the town of Baie-D'Urfé) on the Is ...

. This parish was initially located at the western end of

Montreal Island The Island of Montreal (, ) is an island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, which is the site of a number of municipalities, including most of the city of Montreal, and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main island of the Hochelag ...

at Pointe-Caron (he present-day

Baie-d'Urfé Baie-D'Urfé (, ; previously spelled Baie d'Urfé or Baie d'Urfee) is an Greater Montreal, on-island suburb of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is part of the West Island area of the Island of Montreal. As part of the 2002–2006 municipal reorganiz ...

Yacht Club). He was able to establish an Algonquin mission at Île-aux-Tourtres, a project much promoted and planned for by another Sulpician, Michel Barthélemy. Around 1703, Breslay moved the mission from Baie d'Urfé to Isle aux tourtes, for the Nipissing Indians. Around 1712, Breslay got caught in a fierce snowstorm. He fell from his horse, broke his leg on the ice, and lost the horse. Breslay invoked

Saint Anne According to apocrypha, as well as Christianity, Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's Gosp ...

and built a chapel dedicated to her at the westernmost point of Montreal Island next to

Fort Senneville Fort Senneville is one of the outlying forts of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, built by the Canadiens of New France near the Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue in 1671. The property was part of a fief ceded to Dugué de Boisbriant in 1672 by the Sulpicians. A ...

and Tourtes Island (''Île aux Tourtes''). Two years later, the parish was reestablished and took the name Sainte-Anne-du-bout-de-l'Isle."History", City of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue
/ref> He also served the mission church Saint-Joachim de Pointe-Claire. Breslay spent 16 years serving that area during which he was involved in three important events: the establishment of a new parish of St. Anne, his interactions with Governor

Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil (; c. 1643 – 10 October 1725) was a French military officer who served as Governor General of New France (now Canada and U.S. states of the Mississippi Valley) from 1703 to 1725, throughout Queen Anne' ...

regarding the brandy question, and third his assistance to

François Dollier de Casson François Dollier de Casson (1636 – 27 September 1701) was born in Vitré, France, into a wealthy bourgeois and military family. He began his adult life in the army which he left after three years to continue his studies and become a priest. A ...

with the canal project to bypass Sault-Saint-Louis.

Île Saint Jean

Father Breslay went to France in (1719–20) to discuss his missions and the brandy problem. There, he met the Comte de Saint-Pierre who had been granted the lands then known as Île Saint Jean and Breslay was recruited to be the first parish priest on Île Saint Jean (Prince Edward Island), which also involved serving at

Beaubassin Beaubassin was an important Acadian village and trading centre on the Isthmus of Chignecto in what is now Nova Scotia, Canada. The area was a significant place in the geopolitical struggle between the British and French empires. It was establ ...

as a missionary priest to the

Miꞌkmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...

. At the same time, he was made vicar general of the bishopric of Quebec. In 1721 he arrived with another Sulpician, Marie-Anselme de Metivier on Île Saint Jean and together they began the structure of what became the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlottetown. They arrived at

Port-LaJoye Port-LaJoye was founded in 1720 on Île Saint-Jean, now Prince Edward Island. Settlement in the area began with the arrival of an expedition sent by the Comte de Saint-Pierre, who settled West of the Harbour entrance to the site named Port-LaJoye. ...

in early spring and built a small church dedicated to St. John the Evangelist. After two years they handed over the parish on St. John's Island to the Franciscans of

Louisbourg Louisbourg is an unincorporated community and former town in Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. History The harbour had been used by European mariners since at least the 1590s, when it was known as English Port and Havre à l'An ...

. After another voyage to France in 1723, Breslay served as a parish priest at

(

Île Royale The Salvation Islands ( French: ''Îles du Salut'', so called because the missionaries went there to escape plague on the mainland), sometimes mistakenly called the Safety Islands, are a group of small islands of volcanic origin about off the co ...

), and subsequently was appointed to

Annapolis Royal Annapolis Royal is a town in and the county seat of Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Canada. The community, known as Port Royal before 1710, is recognised as having one of the longest histories in North America, preceding the settlements at Plym ...

. A good beginning under Lieutenant-Governor

John Doucett John Doucett (Doucette) (died November 19, 1726) was probably of French descent although he did not speak the language and was likely born in England. He was a career military man and, from 1702 on, received several promotions. He was appointed ...

turned to fleeing from Lieutenant-Governor

Lawrence Armstrong Lawrence Armstrong (1664 – 6 December 1739) was a lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia and acted as a replacement for the governor, Richard Philipps, during his long absences from the colony. Armstrong was born in 1664 in Ireland. Accordin ...

to a

camp. When Governor

Richard Philipps General Richard Philipps ( 1661 – 14 October 1750) was said to have been in the employ of William III as a young man and for his service gained the rank of captain in the British army. He served at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and promo ...

returned to Annapolis in 1729, Breslay was restored to his parish. He retired the next year to France. Breslay contributed significantly to the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

during his various postings. However, he appears to have had frequent conflicts with a variety of colonial authorities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bresley, Rene-Charles de 1658 births 1735 deaths Roman Catholic missionaries in New France French Roman Catholic missionaries Sulpician missionaries