A Community of Individuals: Household Connections in the Making of Montréal, 1642-1763

Abstract

To explore the diverse connections that shaped Montréal, this project traces the familial and economic networks created by three generations of four French families, each involved in distinct enterprises that were emblematic of Montréal society: the fur trade, the military, French colonial governance, and monastic life. Together, these enterprises influenced the ever-changing character of Montréal. Each chapter examines one household - that of Ignace Gamelin Jr., a merchant; Luc de La Corne, a decorated soldier; Governor Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil; and Marguerite Dufrost de Lajemmerais (d’Youville), the founder of the Sisters of Charity (Grey Nuns) (1737) in Montréal - in order to examine how these different and frequently overlapping enterprises could shape or create opportunities for the diverse members of each household in Montréal and beyond. The members of the four households under study included direct kin and unrelated peoples of European, Indigenous, and African descent, of different socio-economic, occupational, ethnic, and gendered backgrounds. I study the representatives of each occupation to show the different opportunities afforded to household members to interact with others and to participate in varying administrative, commercial, and social activities. Although the context and type of relations differed, including the fact that some were based on unequal legal and social relations or gender and ethnic boundaries, the networks that each family formed illustrate the different ways by which Montréal was connected to the broader North American continent and the Atlantic World.