During the seventeenth century, Bertrand Chesnay was a very important man around the Québec city region and surrounding areas. Father of a very large family, having seven children from his first marriage and eight from his second. He was a very active merchant, a highly respected individual in the community, an entrepreneur, and Lord of the Fief of Lotinville. Trying to put his life story in a few pages would only touch the tip of the iceberg. The name Chesnay signified in the old days that he was the owner of a large area of land that comprised mostly of oak trees or that he lived in an area of oak trees. It's also known throughout Europe that northern France is blessed with an abundance of beautiful oak trees.
The surname of the descendants of our ancestor has changed quite drastically over the centuries, even to point of being unrecognizable. It has changed from Chesnay to Chénay, Chaisne, Chaine, Chesne, Chéné, Cheeney and Chénier. Reasons for the changes vary from being caused by poor handwriting, poor hearing and also illiteracy.
YFFINIAC
Son of Nicolas Chesnay and Catherine Laringue, Bertrand was born under the blue skies of Brittany, France, in the little village of Yffiniac, township of Langueux, district of Saint-Brieuc, department of Cotes-du-Nord, France. It was at the end of the great bay of Saint-Brieuc, in a little cove or inlet called Yffiniac that Bertrand Chesnay lived with the calm of the sea, the regularity of the tides and it's varieties of sea mollusc. From here he often looked out towards the horizon and the unknown that lay beyond.
Because he was well versed in mathematics and could sign his name, (at a time when education was not common) was a good indication that he went to school as a young lad and became an educated man.
What did his father do? It's not known, and we'll have to ignore it for now. Bertrand came to Canada with new ideas and money in his pocket. Being successful in setting up his businesses would also indicate that he came from a wealthy family. He was approximately 30 years old when he came to New France. His first appearance in Québec seems to be prior to 1656 and perhaps around 1650.
FIRST WEDDING
Today, prenuptial agreements are fairly simple, arrangements being carried out any day of the week with the priest. In olden days, prenuptial benedictions were not as simple, marriages normally taking place on Mondays. On Monday 7 Aug 1656, Bertrand Chesnay left his father-in-law's home arm in arm with his thirteen year old spouse. Marie-Madeleine Bélanger, daughter of François Bélanger and Marie Guyon was the second child of the family of twelve.
At the signing of the marriage contract a month Previously on the 8 of Jul, Marie-Madeleine Bélanger's parents had provided her with a trousseau of a measurement of wheaten bread, a cow and a pig.
Her Godparents at her baptism on 15 Feb 1643 were Jean Guitet and Marie-Madeleine Legardeur. Baptizing her was the famous Jesuit father of Italian origin: François J.Bressani. Present at their wedding were, at that time, well to do people such as their uncle Charles Legardeur, Sieur of Tilly, old governor of Trois Rivières, Olivier Letardif and Mace Gravel. Blessing the marriage was the Jesuit father Barthelemi Vimont.
During the next fourteen years, this new household was blessed with seven children:
1. The oldest child, Marie Chesnay, whose godfather was Jean Gloria, was born on 22 September 1658, married Joseph Petit dit Bruneau in Québec on the 16 Sep 1675. They settled in Trois Rivières where they had six children. While there she became Madam of Maskinongé. It was in this area that she died in 1730.
2. Anne, born 13 Nov 1660 only lived about 2 weeks, and was buried in a crypt at Sainte-Anne.
3. Bertrand's first son, Jean, baptised on the 11 of Nov 1661, probably went to the Jesuit college around 1672. All records of him disappeared after the census of 1681.
4. A second female, Anne, born & baptised on 7 Oct 1664, and whose godmother was Anne Martin, was a student at the Ursulines convent. She later married Pierre Lemaître on the 8th Jan 1682 at Trois Rivières. He was the son of François Lemaître and Judith Rigaud. Their twelve children frequently visited Joseph Petit dit Bruneau's home to see their cousins.
5. Their next son, Joseph was born on the 19th Apr 1667 and was confirmed by Mgr de Laval on the 25th May 1681. Unfortunately there are no records of him after his confirmation.
6. Their sixth child was Marguerite who died on the 3rd Feb 1669, just ten days after being born.
7. In the church at Château-Richer, Pierre Caumont forgot to write down the given name of the last child born to the family, who died on the 9th Jan 1670.
And so, looking back at the family members from this marriage it can be determined that
only the females had recorded descendants. However, they did not perpetuate the
Chesnay or Chénay surname. Regrettably there also are no records of their only two sons,
Jean and Joseph.
BUSINESS MAN
Bertrand Chesnay is known to have been in Québec city around 1655 because he bought a house on 4 Apr 1656. It was located near the pier close to the cove or inlet called Cul-de-Sac beside a store owned by the Communauté des Habitants de la Nouvelle-France. Cost of this house is recorded as being 650 livres. It's original measurements were 30 feet long by 22 feet wide and was modified twice. On 14 Sep 1662 its length was enlarged to 58 feet.
On 31 Mar 1657, Bertrand Chesnay bought a piece of land near the village of Château-Richer. It had a 3 acre frontage near the property of Zacharie Cloutier. On the 6th Jan 1661, Bertrand Chesnay ceded his house below Québec city to Étienne Racine and Simon Guyon. This was on condition that they solidly agreed to construct on the new farmland near the Cazeau River a new house. This house would measure 20 x 18 feet, and would have an interior height of 8 1/2 feet to the ceiling beams. There was also to be a chimney having a base of 8 feet.
During this time, Bertrand Chesnay was a merchant in lower Québec city. Did he return to France during the summer of 1663? Maybe!
We do know that the city council gave him a hard time because of the prices he was charging for the merchandises he bought from France.
It was Mar 1664, and transport was very expensive. The authorities wanted to fix a ceiling on transportation costs. Bertrand even paid a fine of 500 pounds. He made a plea in the courts and was given a pardon. This was because he emphasized the superior quality of his merchandise, the way they were displayed and especially his fine blankets.
Bertrand Chesnay Lagarenne owned a small boat that he used to transport mechandise on the St.Lawrence River in the Québec city area. In 1659 he became member of "La Société de traité de Tadoussac , " Society of Tadoussac Treaty.
On 4 Aug 1659 Pierre Le Gaigneur de La Rochelle had received from Chesnay 200
pounds for merchandise received. In 1661, Bertrand sold to the Ste-Anne church "ten
boards of wood for four pounds. " On the 31st Mar 1664 he leased his farmland near
Château-Richer for five years to Jean Baron and Mathurin Tessier. It became clear
therefore that he was a man of upper class stature, a "bourgeois . " The farmers of his
small farm paid him annually a sum of 60 bushels of wheat, 15 bushels of corn and 15
bushels of peas. In return Bertrand Chesnay lent them 2 bulls, 2 cows 1 cart 1 plow and
to help them he advanced them 300 pounds. Bertrand Chesnay had moved up quite well
in the ladder of society. Could he go higher and get there faster?
SEIGNEUR DE LOTINVILLE
Near Beaupré, a portion of land was severed from the Seigneurie Jean de Lauzon on 1 Sep 1652. This land, called a fief west of the Petit Pré River measured 28 arpents, (an arpent is almost an acre).
In 1660, the following people are recorded as tenants on his land: Charles Lefrançois, Romain Trépagnier, Louis de Lamarre dit Gasion, Abraham Fiset, Pierre Tremblay, Rodolphe et Adrien Hayot, Pierre Petit dit Milhomme et Symphorien Rousseau. The Iroquois massacred Jean de Lauzon on 22 Jun 1661 at L'Ile d'Orleans. His widow, Anne Després later remarried Claude Bermen de la Martiniere on 7th Jul 1664. Therefore, because the owner of the Fief was no longer alive his land was up for sale and was offered to the highest bidder. On 30th Aug 1664, Bertrand Chesnay, spouse of Marie-Marguerite Bélanger, bought this land for the sum of 2850 pounds. After his purchase Bertrand Chesnay offered, on the 3 Sep 1664 his faith and loyalty to Charles Aubert de la Chenaye. This was a man of higher importance in society and may have owned a greater part of the lands to which the Fief that Bertrand bought was only a part of. He began in earnest to work the land.
The Manor of Lotinville, situated on the land he just bought near the Petit Pré river was not being looked after properly and began to fall in ruin. On 17 Mar 1665, Bertrand bought 200 boards of wood from Romain Trépanier to begin renovating his "manoir." He then built a barn and a stable to accommodate two bulls he acquired from Mr. LeFrançois.
During that same summer Bertrand lost two of his tenants due to lightning. Killed on the 30th Jun were Antoine Berson, and his brother-in-law, Vincent Vernon.
Up to 1667, Lagarenne seemed to have had a profitable business from his store outlet on his Fief and from his main store in Lower Québec. From here he was able to send and sell many of his moose skins to Europe.
Racine and Guyon for some unknown reason still had not gained possession of the Chesnay house, at the Cul-de-sac. The seigneur of Lotinville did a lot of business with a great multitude of people in the area. He was a man about town. The following people all owed him money: Symphorien Rousseau, René Lavoie, Jean Boutin dit Larose, Elie Godin, Michel Roulois, Louis Houde, Adrien Blanquet, Pierre Roche, Pierre Biron, Louis Couillard, René Cosset, Jacques Anet, Antoine Cassé, Olivier Michel, Jean Guyon, Jacques Goulet, Marin Leclerc, François Hébert, Jean Serreau, Sieur de Saint-Aubin, Jacques Cauchon, etc. In the 1666 census, Lagarenne employed four domestic helpers: Michel Fernel, Robert Sillery, Mathieu de Montmenier and René Beaudet. The next year this number doubled: Philippe Destroismaisons dit Picard, Pierre Richard, Pierre Canada, René Beaudet, Jean Cosset, Nicolas Maheu, François Nault and Pierre Rolland. Élisabeth Guillot, ten year old daughter of Geoffroy Guillot, helped the Madam of the house. On his new land of Lotinville Bertrand Chesnay owned 14 horned animals and 24 arpents of his Fief was cultivated. On his farm at Château Richer, his tenant farmers Jean Baron and Mathurin Tessier declared to the census takers that they also had 10 farm animals and 25 arpents that was all cultivated.
In 1667, Bertrand brought his domestic help to Lotinville and rented his house from lower Québec to Louis Houde, then to the notary Romain Becquet. On the 12 Nov 1668, he provided to the Hôtel-Dieu hospital staff 200 bushels of wheat. From 1668 to 1669 he was churchwarden in the parish of Notre-Dame de Québec.
After a long period of good weather there always seems to be a bad storm. In his case, Bertrand Lagarenne had enjoyed too much prosperity, according to the Sovereign Council, who decided to investigate his trading practices, even though he was a man of great influence. However good luck did shine on him and even though he was investigated for the supposed "clandestine" way that he traded his moose skins to France, nothing came of it. Bertrand had done his work well! After this, we know that Chesnay sold 100 pounds of "petun," tobacco, to Sieur de Lamothe of the Régiment de Carignan.
Seigneur of Lotinville! You crafty devil you, what are you going to do next?
PERSONNAL INVENTORY
All was going too well! After the death of his last child, born in 1670, his wife, Marie-Madeleine Bélanger died on his estate. Unfortunately there are no records found to give us more precise data on this matter.
It was time to clear the air with an inventory of Chesnay's belongings. From 21 Jan 1671 to the end of March, the notaries Fillion and Becquet went through all of Chesnay's personal belongings with a fine tooth comb. Bertrand seemed to have been one of the most fortunate settlers in the new colony. It is estimated that the value of all of his belongings at that time was 24,765 pounds, still, above that 11,709 pounds was owed to him by 124 various people from all around Québec. Fillion, the notary became very confused at the extent of Chesnay's extensive belongings and affairs and Romain Becquet continued the proceedings by himself.
Here are a few special details: At the Chesnay residence/come store there were moose skin/carpets that had been treated with oil, a copper clock with family crest, a little speaker box made of pine, two toothpick holders, a round topped chest made of red leather, a Brittany language dictionary, a mathematics book, a London serge coat for Madame Chesnay, a special cape from Holland, some serge from Rome, some beer, brandy, some tobacco, salmon traps, some fishing lines and nets, and, some pocket knives.
The oldest child, Marie Chesnay, was doing her studies at the Ursuline convent. The three
other children were room and boarding at Château Richer at their grandfather's home, Mr.
Bélanger, despite the relationship that supposedly existed between Bertrand and François.
These difficulties between Bertand and François Bélanger were the results of the way the
estate was being settled after the death of Marie Madeleine Bélanger. At this point in his
life Bertrand Chesnay had reached the pinnacle of power in his career. All sorts of
difficulties began to eat away at his livelihood and his fortunes, questions of ownership,
inheritances, etc.
SECOND MARRIAGE
The inventory of his belongings was still not finished when Bertrand Chesnay signed
another marital contract on 30 Jan 1671 with Élizabeth Aubert. Daughter of Claude Aubert,
Royal Notary, and Jacqueline Lucas, Bertrand provided her with a gift of 1,500 pounds.
Was this a marriage of love or was it a marriage of convenience? She was a young girl of
sixteen, born 22 Feb 1654 at Côte de Beaupré, near Château-Richer. The Reverend
Father Ragueneau had baptised her the following month, the 24 of Mar 1654. On the 4th
Feb 1671 at the Château-Richer church Bertrand Chesnay and Élizabeth Aubert were
united by father Fillion. The marriage was witnessed by Simon and Nicolas Guyon, and
Guillaume Thibault. Their eight children were all baptised at Québec, except the last born.
The manor was located east of the river and therefore was in the Château-Richer parish:
1. Élisabeth Chesnay, born 1 Jan 1672, whose godmother was Geneviève Juchereau, became a student at the Ursuline convent,
2. Charles-Bertrand, born 25 Feb 1673, confirmation at Québec 9 May 1682, stayed at the petit Seminary from 1683 to 1693,
3. Anne, born 22 Jul 1674 studied at the religious college and became a nun at the Congrégation de Notre-Dame,
4. Françoise, born 20 Sep 1675, also studied at the religious college,
5. Marie-Angélique, born 20 Apr 1677 studied at the religious college,
6. Louis, born 27 Aug 1678 also a student at the religious college,
7. Anne-Agnès, born 14 Jul 1681, studied at the religious college,
8. Jean-Baptiste, born 25 Nov 1682 at Château-Richer.
MOST HAD A TRAGIC END
According to René Jetté, Anne Chesnay, born 22 Jul 1674, became a nun at Soeurs de la Congrégation de Notre-Dame and chose her new name as Sainte-Anne. (Profession in 1699). As for Marie-Angélique, she was 13 years old in 1690. Then we lose all traces of her. Jean-Baptiste, born 25 Nov 1682, was the only one to perpetuate the Chesnay name down to his descendants. On 8 Jul 1703, he married Élisabeth Boucher, daughter of Jean and M.-Madeleine Paré, widow of Julien Maufils, at Sainte-Anne du Petit-Cap. They had nine children, five of whom were males. Jean Baptiste was buried at St-Antoine-de-Tilly, on 8 Sep 1731.
ADDENDUM
Since this information was last published I have discovered that Bertrand Chesnay was not the only one to perpetuate the Chesnay surname down to present day descendants.
Further research discovered that Louis Chesnay, Jean-Baptiste's brother married Jeanne
Martin in Port Royal, Acadie, circa 1697. (Source: Histoire et Généalogie des Acadiens
(Port Royal) by Bona Arseneault). It is strongly believed that he and some of their
descendants were in the area during the great deportation of Acadians. Today there are
many who believe that the Chenet/Chenette family name may be connected to this name.
There is still strong research being carried on today to discover more of Louis Chesnay's
descendants.
CRUEL FIRE
It is impossible to know all of the difficulties suffered by Bertrand after the death of his first wife and the attempts by the city council to overregulate his business practices. He was attempting to reorganizing his new life. Like a wounded animal he survived his great hardships and with cunning ability managed to remain above family breakup and financial ruin as best he could. His children were well educated, all going to the best of schools in the area. He was a connoisseur, bourgeois and a man to be reckoned with.
In order to avoid any more harassment from the authorities Bertrand Chesnay decided to go cod fishing off the coast of Gaspé. Bad luck seems to follow bad luck! Fire is very cruel and can rob one of their own dignities. It was 4th of Aug 1682, at 9:30 in the evening, the red fire brigade took over the lower part of Québec city. Fifty-five individuals from surrounding buildings were soon found on the narrow streets with all their belongings lost in the fire. One of the last houses to succumb to the flames of this devastating fire was that of Bertrand Chesnay, Sieur de la Lagarenne. This grand house of his served as his home, a store and a cabaret. On the 16 Aug Bertrand had returned to the dock at Québec with his large fishing boat. Disaster!
(NOTE: Today the foundation is still there. It now forms part of Maison Chevalier which was built by the Master stone mason Pierre Renaud in 1752. It comprised of three former buildings, that of Bertrand Chesnay Sieur de Lagarenne, Frerot and Chevalier himself. Today, the interior houses an exposition of cultural activities)
He and the rest of his family moved to their manor at Lotinville near Château-Richer, where Jean-Baptiste was born approximately 2 1/2 months later.
All these tragedies were too much for the sixty year old Breton to endure. On Wed 16 Jan
1683, he departed this world at Doctor Jean de Mosney's house, at Lower Québec city
after receiving the last rights and sacraments. At the cathedral the libera was sung by the
parish priest and afterwards the procession to the grave site was led by Denis Roberge
and his father-in-law Claude Aubert. A great man had finally entered another kingdom, the
kingdom of God.
CATASTROPHE AT SEA
François Genaple was finishing the Aubert/Chesnay inventory settlement around the 9th Apr 1683. The financial vultures came to his estate to devour the remains of his finances. The inheritors fought among each other for the remains. The widow Chesnay, 29 at the time was left with little to herself except for a two-story house that was built for her on the site that once displayed their precious Québec city house/come store and cabaret.
Sadly, to end all things, on the 5 of April 1690, Lotinville fell like a ripen fruit to a certain individual who was also a very powerful person at the time, namely Seigneur Charles Aubert de la Chesnaye (no relation to Bertrand Chesnay). It then became part of the vast holdings of Monseigneur Laval, the first Bishop of New France. The affairs of Bertrand Chesnay had hardly settled when the lonely Seigneuresse, almost destitute gave herself to Jean-Baptiste Louis Franquelin. He was poor, but a well-educated man. He was a professional cartographer, hydrographer, and a loyal citizen of Québec for the past twelve years. When he married her, he was 30 years old. Three bans were announced in the church and on 4 Feb 1683 at the church of Notre-Dame de Québec Father Bernières blessed their marriage.
Despite great financial difficulties they had a happy married life. This new family filled the void in her life and brought five children into this world: Marie-Jeanne, Geneviève-Marguerite, Marie-Ange, Élisabeth et Marie-Joseph. Mr. Franquelin had made many voyages to France and even thought of immigrating back there with his whole family. During the summer of 1693, he was convinced that his wife Élisabeth would join him. His only son Marie-Joseph was born that year, on 17 Apr. At that time, more so than today, to go and live in France was a dream come true for many settlers in New France. The following children from her first marriage:(Aubert-Chesnay): Élisabeth, Charles-Bertrand, & Anne-Agnès accompanied her on the voyage to France. In addition, Marie-Jeanne Franquelin, 7 yrs old, and Geneviève-Marguerite, 5 yrs old, also accompanied their mother on the trip to France. Meanwhile the three younger children were sent to stay with their aunt, Anne Aubert, wife of the wealthy surgeon Gervais Beaudoin. And so, in the fall of that year, 1693, all departed on the king of France vessel, Corossol. This ship ran into a violent storm near the Sept-Iles area. Here, unfortunately it sank with all of its passengers. Some of the crew members did survive the shipwreck and managed to make it to shore where they were rescued by Indians. They lived through the winter with the Indians until the following spring at which time they made their way back to Québec city to tell everyone what had happened.
A large part of the Chesnays and Franquelins descendants was lost because of this
maritime shipwreck. It's a sad time in our history to remember about this disaster.
NOTE ON THE COROSSOL
Recently Parks Canada have discovered the remains of the Corossol in the St. Lawrence River not far from Sept Isles. They have been able to identify it by one of the canons laying at the bottom of the river. The remains of the ship is basically unidentifiable as all the wooden structure has disintegrated over the centuries. And now, I have been informed that an island near Sept-Iles has been named after Le Corossol.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Collection Nos Ancêtres, volume 12.
Greffe Ameau, 21 octobre 1675.
Greffe Aubert, 9 février 1666; 10 février 1666; 28 février 1668; 3 juillet 1668; 3 juillet 1668 [2]; 13 octobre 1668; 22 mars 1669; 28 juillet 1669.
Greffe Audouart, 31 mars 1657; 4 août 1659; 6 février 1661.
Greffe Basset, 4 juillet 1673; 18 août 1676.
Greffe Becquet, 11 février 1666; 29 octobre 1667; 3 novembre 1667; et 27 autres actes notariés.
Greffe Duquet, 28 octobre 1669; 29 décembre 1673; 4 janvier 1674; et 22 autres actes notariés.
Greffe Fillion, 3 septembre 1661; 3 novembre 1665; 21 janvier 1671; 30 janvier1671.
Greffe Genaple, 9 avril 1683; 5 avril 1690.
Greffe Maugue, 19 juillet 1681; 14 septembre 1681; 23 octobre 1681.
Greffe Rageot, 7 mai 1667; 1 juin 1667; 4 septembre 1668; et 15 autres actes notariés.
Fournier, Marcel, Dictionnaire Biographique des Bretons en Nouvelle-France 1600-1765 [1981], p.51.
Gariépy, Raymond, Les Seigneuries de Beaupré et de l'Ile d'Orléans [1974], pp. 464-622.
Le Fief de Lotinville.
Jetté, René, Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles du Québec [1983] pp. 243-244.
Laberge, Lionel, Histoire du Fief de Lotinville 1652-1690 [1963], 346 pages.
Cet ouvrage de maître est capital pour comprendre l'histoire de Bertrand Chesnay.
Trudel, Marcel, Catalogue des Immigrants 1632-1662 [1983], p 333; Le terrier du Saint-Laurent en 1663 [1973], pp. 41, 132, 133, 140, 141, 537, 548.
Bulletin des Recherches Historiques, vol. 15, p. 49; vol. 20, p. 142; vol. 24, pp. 212-214.
Dictionnaire Biographique du Canada, vol 2, pp. 236-239. J.-B.-L. Franquelin. Jugements et Délibérations du Conseil Souverain de la Nouvelle-France de 1663 à1716, vol 1, pp. 137,142,143,145, 266, 267 et passim; vol 2, pp. 83, 101, passim; vol3. pp. 228, 231.
Mémoires de la Société Généalogique Canadienne-Française, vol. 21, p. 87.
Rapport des Archives du Québec, vol. 45, p. 180.
EXPLANATION OF SURNAMES VARIATIONS
First of all, one must understand that a lot of us are not true descendants of the Chénier surname/family tree. This may sound shocking to some of us but it is true! That is because over the centuries the name has changed from Chesnay to: Chénay, Chainé, Chaisné, Chéné, Cheeney, Chené, Chénier. There are other variations such as Chésné, Chéney etc but these are not as frequent or as prominent. You may ask why has the name changed? Well, for those who are not familiar with genealogy, and there are quite a few, there are two main reasons: verbal and handwriting. Those of the theological profession, that is, priests did all the baptizing and when the records of the names were written the priests would usually write down the names the way it would sound. So misspellings inevitably would creep into almost every parish register. And it became more difficult especially when one moved to a newer location. There, the spelling of the surname was sometimes misspelled by the priests or their aides. In some cases it was possible that the parents were illiterate and could not even give the proper spelling of their surname so it was written down the way it sounded.
Hence, so many variations in our family name. One must also remember that there were no typewriters in the earlier days so the legibility of handwritten names caused many errors.
With the permission of René Chénier, author of "Dictionnaire Généaologique des Familles Chénier-Chainé-Chéné", I have extracted an additional explanation of the variations of the surnames and their geographical migrations:
"........Bertrand's descendants moved to St.Antoine de Tilly, in Lotbinière County; one branch stayed there; one branch moved to the Eastern Townships; one to the Trois Rivières Shawinigan areas and one to the County of Deux Montagnes. The CHENAYS from the Lotbinière County became Chaines, also the ones who moved to the Eastern Townships and those who settled in the Trois Rivières and Shawinigan areas. The Chenays from Deux Montagnes became Chenes. Now, what I cannot understand is, why most of the Chenes became Cheniers. Could it be because of the arrival of Doctor Chenier in St.Benoit or the St.Eustache rebellion of 1837? There were some Cheniers in Oka, Deux Montagnes long before the arrival of Doctor Chenier. One Julien Chenier married Suzanne Raizenne in Oka on the 19th of February 1748. Their son, Hyacinthe, married Cecile Dicaire, also in Oka on the 6th of February 1792.
My great-great-grandfather Charles married Louise Viau also in Oka on the 8th of January 1798. This meaning, of course, that there were Cheniers and Chenes in Deux Montagnes."
Note: Doctor Chénier, Julien Chénier and Hyacinthe Chénier are descendants of Jean
Chénier and Marguerite Bérard and not of Bertrand Chesnay and Elisabeth Aubert.
During the research period that it took me to compile the data for this book a lot of material was acquired from various sources such as:
1. La Société de généalogie de L'Outaouais;
2. The Hull municipal library;
3. La Société Franco-Ontarienne d'Histoire et de généalogie;
4. The National Archives of Canada in Ottawa;
5. Jetté, René. Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec. Montréal, Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 1983. 1176 p.
6. Tanguay, Cyprien. Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes. Québec, E. Sénécal, 1871. 7 v.
7. Drouin, Institut. Dictionnaire national des Canadiens français. 1606-1760. Montréal, l'Institut, 1965. 3 v.
8. Material was extracted from Répertoires of births, marriages and deaths from many parishes in the provinces of Québec and Ontario.
9. LaBerge, Lionel. Histoire du Fief de Lotinville 1652-1690. L'Ange-Gardien, 1963.
10. Lebel, Gérard. Bertrand Chenay dit Lagarenne. In: Revue Sainte-Anne de Beaupré, May 1987, p. 231-234.
A large portion of material has been extracted from a book by René Chénier entitled: Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles CHENIER-CHAINE-CHENE.
This publication has been a source of inspiration for me in this massive undertaking.
Finally I would like to thank all of those who have helped me over the years by providing me with some of the material necessary to produce this book.
I must mention Alfred Côme André Chénier, my first cousin who has helped me over the years to ensure some of the information was correct, un beau merci André.
The world is not made of perfectionists and I do not profess to be one, as a hobbyist in genealogy I have enjoyed the numerous days and years it has taken me to produce this endeavour in my family tree and of finding as many descendants of Bertrand Chesnay as I possibly could.
Though the process to gather all the descendants of Bertrand Chesnay is still incomplete, it will, in genealogical terms never be finished.
Therefore, I would invite all those who may have corrections, comments or additions to this volume to please contact me at:
Ron Chenier
26 Golder's Green Lane,
Nepean, Ont.
K2J 5C1
Phone: (613)-823-6093
Email: ronchenier@rogers.com