|     home
                                                  

Jean Baptiste Beauchamp

Jean Beauchamp and his brother Jacques arrived in New France at the beginning of the second half of the 17th century and settled in Montreal. They were the progenitors of the Bauchamp, Bochant, Bauchant, and Beauchamp in Canada and the United States. Jean was known as "the small" Beauchamp and Jacques as "the big" Beauchamp. Probably distinguishing between the younger and older. Jean was born May 8, 1644 the son of Michel Deschamps, alias Beauchamp and Marie Roullet. He was born in Notre-Dame de cogne, town of la Rochelle in the province of l'Aunis, France. Jacques was born July 8, 1635 and married Marie Dardenne Oct 28, 1658 in France. When Jean came to New France with his brother and sister-in-law he was only 14.

The first record of him in New France is a marriage certificate November 23, 1666. That day he married Jeanne Loisel. She is the daughter of Louis Loisel and Marguerite Charlot. She is also the first girl of the white race to be baptised in Montreal. She also had the distinction of being the pupil in the school of Sister Marguerite Bourgeoys the founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame. She signed her marriage contact from here.

In the 1681 colonists census it is recorded "Jean Beauchamp, 43 years, Jeanne Loisel, his wife 34 years, their children Marie 12, Francoise 10, Jean 5, Pierre 2, 1 rifle, 3 animals with horns, 9 arpents in value". Four more children will be born to Jean and Jeanne.

On 27 January 1693, he receives from the priest and the parish trustees of
Pointe-aux-Trembles a plot of thirty-five feet in frontage by seventy feet in depth on Rue Saint-Jean, and, on the following 4 March, the landlords of the Isle of Montreal grant him, at the
same location, on Rue Saint-Francois, a plot of twenty-six feet by nineteen feet.
(Thirty-five feet in frontage by seventy feet in depth may not seem like a big plot of land. Neither does twenty-six by nineteen feet. But it seems clear that the two plots are contiguous (at the same place), and together they amount tto 3244 square feet, or three quarters (0.75) of an
acre. In the city, that's a substantial piece of real estate!)

Not long thereafter, on 8 February 1693, his brother Jacques dies, and Jean is called to act
as administrator on behalf of his nephews, for the distribution of his brother's estate.

January 21, 1700 " ill at home, sitted on a chair, but in good spirits" Jean settles his debts
before dying with Pierre Lamoureux de Saint-Germain, including 769 pounds, 4 properties, 4 money debts. It is true to say that the pioneer Jean Beauchamp was in debt all his life to his priest, his neighbours and everyone else but he pays all his debts. He then dictates his will to the notary Adhemar. He has a requiem mass and gives 200 pounds to Father Chaigneau who
must do with it what he has told him secretly. He died at Pointe-aux-Trembles on May 4, 1700.

The notary Cusson drew up an inventory of his goods on January 5, 1701. His widow survived him by a few years and was buried in Montreal on October 4, 1708.