AK'S Genealogy Research: Youtube Histories Provide Inspiration

Being a caregiver for my Mom has restricted me to the house lately. I've spent my down time here at home watching history based YouTube videos which led me to do more genealogy research. Events and names mentioned sparked a new round of research. The History of Canada series gave me the most inspiration. The History of Scotland series also led me to some additional research. Episode 6 of The History of Scotland mentioned the Scottish Covenants signed by 60 percent of Scotland's population. I found a Scottish Convenant index at Ancestry.com. David and Jean Forgie, who were signers of the Covenant, could be relations of my Forgey family?. This episode was so interesting. I had no idea that the early Presbyterians were so radical. Government by law was a positive idea introduced in the Convenant. Otherwise the Presbyterian radicals were a jihadist style group advocating a holy war.

The French Canadians were a much more docile group in general. Not advocating over throw of the King, or Catholic church they were not religious militants. According to what I've been reading about the early settlers they did not leave for religious or political reasons. Most of the early settlers were young men looking for adventure, and hoping to advance themselves economically. Others were looking to escape justice, and creditors.

The name Boucher, mentioned in the History of Canada, struck me as a familiar name. Pierre Boucher was featured as a very influential person in early Quebec. His father was Gaspar Boucher. I got out my pedigree charts and found a Marin Boucher, he was thought to be a relative of Gaspar, and appears in a court case with him. Pierre Boucher started out his career in Huronia as a servant to the Jesuits who were Missionaries to the Native Americans living there. He later became an interpreter, and a Governor of Trois Rivieres after he concluded a peace treaty with the Iroqouis. He went to France in 1661 to represent Quebec, and request aid to fight the Native Americans. This was a very successful trip. Louis XIV provided the needed aid, and the crown took control of Quebec making it a French colony governed by French officials. Boucher was made a Noble by Louis XIV. Pierre Boucher also wrote a book on the Flora and Fauna of Canada.
Another outcome of Pierre Boucher's trip to France was a commitment by the King to send eligible females to the Colony. He would pay for wards of the state to go to Canada to in order to marry, and increase the population in the Colony. These women were called Filles du Roy. After watching this portion of the documentary I got out my French Canadian research folder and looked up my potential Filles du Roy. They all seem to come from St. Sulpice Parish in Paris. I'll have to do some research to see why? So far I have found 3 Filles du Roy in my family tree. They were Elisabeth Aubert, Catherine Clerice, and Anne Perrault. Elisabeth Aubert had her own dowry of 200 livre, and also received a 50 livre dowry from the King. I may have more of these women in my family tree? I'll have to do more research.
Catherine Clerice's husband, Jacques Lussier also came from Paris. His parish church was the beautiful Gothic St-Eustache.

The research I began on Elisabeth Aubert's husband, Aubin Lambert, led me to an interesting discovery. I had known that many of the Canadian settlers came from the same region of France. I did not know that many came from one particular church parish Saint-Aubin de Touvourvre in the Perche region of France. The earliest baptism I could find record of on the web was the 1598 baptism of Marguerite Gagnon. Aubin Lambert was baptized there in 1632. Another ancestor Robert Giguire was baptized there in 1616. Nicolas Rivard may also be an ancestor? I have not been able to get a exact date as to when the Church was built. Someone had posted that it was built in the later half of the 15th Century? I plan on going to France some day and will definitely visit the Church which is 150 miles from Paris.
Another fact that came to light while researching is that Robert Giguere's wife, Aimee Milville's father was from Switzerland. Pierre Milville was born in 1602 in Fribourg, Switzerland. So it sounds like he and Abraham Martin may not have been French (Martin was likely Scottish).