Who Was Marie Rollet?
Marie Rollet was born about 1580 in Paris, France. She was the daughter of Jean Rollet and Anne Cogu, an upper-middle-class family. As part of her upbringing, she studied at a convert, and knew how to read and write (a rare skill for a woman in the 16th century).
On 19-Feb-1601, at the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, she married Louis Hébert. According to the marriage record, this was her second marriage; she was listed in the record as the widow of François Dufeu. No other information regarding this first marriage currently exists.
Marie and Louis had three children, all born in France: Anne, Guillemette and Guillaume. While Louis was away as part of the explorations and settling Acadie, Marie raised their children in Paris.
In 1617, Louis, Marie and their children came to Québec City as part of the early settlement of the city. In doing so, she became the first Frenchwoman to settle in Nouvelle-France and its first female farmer. Upon arrival, she found starvation, sickness, and threats of Indian attack. A year after their arrival, the first marriage solemnized in Canada with the rites of the Church took place: that of their daughter Anne and Étienne Jonquet. Anne died in childbirth the following year; there is no record of the child.
Marie Rollet aided her husband in caring for the sick and shared his interest in the Native Americans, concerning herself especially with the education of their children. In 1627, at the baptism of Chomina’s son, Naneogauchit, which the priests were striving to make an impressive occasion, she feasted a crowd of visiting natives out of her big brewing kettle. Her name appears often as godmother at the baptism of converted First Nations’ people.
Two years after the death of her second husband, Louis Hébert, on 16-May-1629, she married Guillaume Hubou. After seeking Samuel de Champlain’s advice, she and her family remained in Québec during the English occupation and kept alive, among the neighbouring natives, the memory of French friendship. After the return of the French in 1632, her house became the home of Native American girls given to the Jesuits for training. She died in 1649, leaving her husband, her one surviving child, Guillemette Hébert, and a number of grandchildren. She was buried at Québec, 27-May-1649.
The Lineage
As with my lineage to her husband, Louis Hébert, Marie Rollet is my 11*ggm. I can trace back to Marie Rollet four ways. The closest, via my maternal grandfather, is as follows:
- Pauline Robert (Guerin)
- Joseph Henry George Robert (1913-2005)
- Marie Edouardina Berger (Robert) (1895-????)
- Dina Charette (Berger) (1869-????)
- Isaac Charette (1834-????)
- Félicité Isabelle (Choret) (1808-1879)
- Jean Baptiste Isabelle (1766-1830)
- Joseph Isabelle (1714-1802)
- Marie Barbe Prou (Isabel) (1685-1765)
- Jacquette Fournier (Prou) (1659-1736)
- Françoise Hébert (Fournier) (1638-1716)
- Guillaume Hébert (1614-1639)
- Marie Rollet (1575-1627)
Primary Source
The primary source for this post was the Marie Rolet profile on Wikitree, from which I copied most of the narrative.