The Lady of Beauport

Marie Regnouard (1610-1665)

Marie Regnouard (also seen as Renouard) was born on September 8, 1599 in St. Aubin, Tourouvre, Mortagne, France; the daughter of Charles Renouard and Jacqueline Michel.

On February 12, 1628; she married Robert Giffard; an apothecary, who had spent several years in the New World as a physician for Samuel Champlain at Kebec.

Soon after their wedding, the couple set sail with a fleet bound for the colony, only to be captured by the Kirke Brothers and forced back home.  Undaunted, her husband applied for a seigneury as soon as they were offered by the Company of 100 Associates, after the Quebec post was returned.

When they arrived at their new home in Beauport, the seigneury given to Robert; Marie was five months pregnant with two young children in tow.  They had a comfortable home built, surrounded by family and friends, and Robert began a prosperous settlement, establishing fifty families before his death in 1668. It was a volatile time with harsh weather and the constant threat of Iroquois raids, but the people of Beauport banded together for a common defense.  In the early years when there were few public buildings, the Giffard home was used for weddings and social gatherings; and often served as a make-shift hospital or refuge at times of war.

Marie Regnouard and Robert Giffard had seven children, five of them born in Quebec:  Marie-Francoise married Jean Juchereau and had seven children;  Charles returned to France in 1646; Francoise, the child born soon after their arrival, died in 1657 at Beauport; Marie-Therse married Nicolas Juchereau and had twelve children; Louise died in 1656 without being married; and Joseph married Marie-Therese Nau.

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