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

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

and

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is an Early Modern English, archaic English term for a medicine, medical professional who formulates and dispenses ''materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons and patients. The modern terms ''pharmacist'' and, in Brit ...

who became

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 ...

's first colonizing

seigneur A seigneur () or lord 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. The seigneur owned a seigneurie, seigneury, or lordship—a form of ...

Initial voyages

As a

naval surgeon A naval surgeon, or less commonly ship's doctor, is the person responsible for the health of the ship's company aboard a warship. The term appears often in reference to Royal Navy's medical personnel during the Age of Sail. Ancient uses Specialis ...

, Giffard made several voyages to

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, 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, ...

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 Sir David Kirke ( – ) was an English privateer and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of Newfoundland from 1638 to 1651. He is best known for capturing Québec from the French in 1629 during the Anglo-French War. A favourite o ...

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 horse breed, 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 (horse), gray or black (horse), black in col ...

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 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 (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...

still as Governor of New France, Governor - 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 Provinces of France, province of France, known historically for its forests and, for the past two centuries, for the Percheron draft horse, draft horse breed. Until the French Revolution, Perche was ...

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

, 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, Canad ...

, Henri Pinguet, Noël Langlois, Noël Juchereau and Marin Boucher 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 ( ), 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 ...

near

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located 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 ...

''the first hospital in Canada and in North America north of Mexicoan

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 the following year back to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to convince the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

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. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. Th ...

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

Quebec City Quebec City 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 Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

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 Québec

Plaque commémorative de Robert Giffard
University of Laval website
Portrait of the Seigneur of Beauport

Canadian Museum of Civilization The Canadian Museum of History () is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of Canada, as well as support related res ...

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