Guillaume Fournier was born between 1619 and 1626 in Coulmer, Argenton,
Normandy,
France (one source says between 1619 and 1623, another says between 1622 and 1626).
He was "Co-Seigneur de la paroisse de St. Charles", which some interpret to mean he was "Lord", "Squire", or "Nobleman" of the parish of St. Charles, Quebec.
He may have been considered as nobility by the King and residents of Quebec although this seems unlikely.
Guillaume Fournier married Françoise Hébert (b 1638; d 1716) on
November 20, 1651 in the town of Quebec.
They had fourteen children (twelve in the town of Quebec and two in St. Thomas, Montmagny, Quebec).
Françoise Hébert was the grand-daughter of Louis Hébert (b 1575; d 1627) who
is generally considered to have been the first Acadian farmer.
He is considered to be one of the founders of the parish of St. Thomas, Montmagny, Quebec (one of his children was the first child baptized in the parish).
Trivia: his donation of some land to the parish earned him the privilege of his own pew in the parish church, a privilege which is still enjoyed by his descendants today.
He seems to have been fairly difficult to get along with as records indicate that he launched a number of lawsuits (including multiple suits against the same person and suits against close relatives).
He seems to have been on the losing end of practically all of the lawsuits.
Guillaume Fournier died on October 24, 1699 in St. Thomas, Montmagny, Quebec.
Bias alert: I'm a descendant of Guillaume Fournier, his wife and their daughter Françoise Fournier.
Sources
- the web page "Guillaume Fournier B. ABT 1623 D. 10 24 1699" located at
http://www.genealogy.org/~bminnick/p3444.html (last accessed 2002/10/08)
- "Nos Familles" (a family tree of the Paradis, Fortier and Boulet families prepared as a Centennial Year project for Canada's 100th birthday (1967)); no author/editor on the document (apparently primarily the work of someone on the Paradis side); unpublished