Marie-Guillemette Hébert: One of the First Women of New France

Marie-Guillemette Hébert belonged to one of Quebec’s pioneering families. She arrived in New France in 1617 with her family and helped establish one of the most enduring Hébert family lines. If you’re one of her many descendants or are curious about the early settlers of Quebec, follow along as we explore Marie-Guillemette Hébert’s life and legacy.

Early Life

Marie-Guillemette Hebert was born about 1608 in Paris, France. She was the last child of Louis Hebert and Marie Rollet. Her two older siblings were Anne Hébert and Guillaume Hébert.

Marie-Guillemette came from an educated family. Her father, Louis, was an apothecary who received a basic education in grammar, the humanities and Latin before training in medical arts and the properties of plants. He learned how to prepare therapeutic remedies. Marie-Guillemette’s mother, Marie, was well-off. Her father, Jean Rollet, was a gunner for King Henry IV, and Marie was educated at a convent, where she learned to read and write.

Marie-Guillemette would spend the first nine years of her life in Paris. During her early life, her father, Louis Hebert, had already lived in Acadia intermittently between 1606 and 1613.  She grew up hearing stories of beautiful lakes and rivers, forests and medicinal herbs that didn’t exist in Europe. 

Move to New France

Marie-Guillemette moved with her family to the New World on June 14, 1617. Her father, Louis Hebert, had signed a contract with Compagnie des Marchands de Rouen et de Saint-Malo to work in New France for three years. 

When the Hebert family arrived, Quebec was just a trading post run by Samuel de Champlain. Guillaume Couillard de L’Espinay helped the family settle on their small farm and became a close family friend. 

Initially, Canada felt scary and unfamiliar to Guillemette. The Indigenous people she met did not look the way she expected, but, despite her initial fears, they turned out to be kind, welcoming and generous. She quickly made many friends, and the Hebert family home became a social hub. 

Louis Hebert learned herbal medicine from local Indigenous people, who shared their knowledge and brought him plants. He then used that knowledge to treat French settlers in Québec. At times, their home functioned as an informal hospital. 

Marriage to Guillaume Coulliard

Marie-Guillemette married Guillaume Couillard de L’Espinay on August 21, 1621. Their marriage ceremony was performed by Recollect Father Georges and witnessed by Samuel de Champlain and his brother-in-law, Eustache Bouille.  

Couillard had arrived in Kebec in 1613, making him one of the first French settlers to settle permanently in the colony. He was employed as a carpenter and caulker for the Compagnie des Marchands de Rouen et de Saint-Malo.

Hébert and Couillard had 10 children together, including Louise Couillard, Marguerite Couillard, Louis Couillard, Élisabeth Couillard, Marie Couillard, Guillaume Couillard, Magdelaine Couillard, Nicolas Couillart dit Belleroche, Charles Couillard sieur des Islets et de Beaumont and Catherine Gertrude Couillard.

Want to know more about Guillaume Couillard de L’Espinay? Check out Guillaume Couillard de L’Espinay – One of New France’s Pioneers.

Relationship with Samuel de Champlain

Samuel de Champlain had known the Hébert family since the early 1600s. He had met Louis Hébert in Acadia in 1606. Louis had accompanied Champlain on an expedition where they explored the coast up to Cape Cod in search of a potential second settlement.

After establishing Quebec in 1608, Champlain recognized the need for skilled settlers to ensure medical care and agricultural self-sufficiency in the colony. Between 1616 and 1617, he recruited Louis in Paris on behalf of the Compagnie du Canada, and the Hébert family arrived in Quebec in 1617. Louis’s skills were highly valued in the colony, and Champlain and Hébert developed a relationship based on mutual respect

During the British occupation from 1629 to 1632, Rollet and her daughter, Guillemette, took care of Samuel de Champlain’s adoptive Indigenous daughters, Espérance and Charité. She taught them to read and write and took care of their daily needs. They also instructed them in French customs, just in case they would marry one of the male colonists. 

Life in Quebec

Following Marie-Guillemette’s father’s death in 1627, Samuel de Champlain presented her and Couillard with 100 acres of farmland along the St. Charles River and enough seed for their first crops. She also inherited half of her father’s estate upon his death. Because they owned a large amount of land, they needed to employ local labourers to assist with the work.

When privateers led by David, Louis and Thomas Kirke arrived at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in 1629 and demanded the surrender of Quebec, Champlain ordered Marie Guillemette’s husband to go to Tadoussac to repair and then bring a boat back to Quebec to move the unessential people to the Gaspe and then to France. 

Couillard refused, fearing for his family’s safety because of the threat of a Haudenosaunee attack. When Quebec was captured, Marie-Guillette, Guillaume and their children were the only family to stay in Quebec during the British occupation. 

When the colony was returned to the French in 1632, Couillard and Hebert had more than 20 acres of their land cultivated. In 1639, they opened a flour mill. Couillard also donated part of his land for the construction of a church, and he became the parish warden. 

According to entries in the Journal des Jésuites, by 1648, the Couillards had acquired other servants, and with their ten children, their household seemed to be lively and unruly. 

Missionary Work 

Marie-Guillemette, like her mother, was involved in Catholic missionary efforts and often acted as godmother at the baptisms of Indigenous children. She and Couillard also had a slave named Olivier Le Jeune, who was transported from Madagascar by English traders and sold to a French colonist, Olivier Le Baillif. Later, Olivier was given to the Couillard family. The Couilards baptized and educated him, and they gave him his Christian name.

Marie Guillemette’s Legacy

Marie Guillemette died on October 20, 1684, at the age of 69 in Quebec. Her husband had died more than 20 years earlier on March 4, 1663. 

Two of her children, Guillaume Couillard and Nicolas Couillart dit Belleroche, were both murdered by the Iroquois. Guillaume was killed near Tadoussac about the same time that his cousin, Joseph Hébert, was captured in 1661. Around this time, Nicolas was also murdered by the Iroquois. 

During her marriage, Guillemette and her husband owned a large amount of land. They gave some of it to the church in 1652 and to the Hôtel-Dieu in 1655 and 1659. After Cuillard died in 1663, she sold Bishop Laval the land for the “petit séminaire.” This decision created conflict with the younger generation of her family. The prospective heirs began litigation that continued through subsequent generations into the twentieth century. 

Celebrity Descendants

Marie-Guillemette Hébert has several famous and notable descendants who many of you will probably recognize. They include: 

• Céline Dion
• Shania Twain
• Madonna
• Jack Kerouac
• Alex Trebek
• Justin Theroux
• Hillary Clinton
• Ricky Gervais
• Camilla Parker-Bowles
• Alanis Morissette

My Connection to Marie-Guillemette Hébert

I have a couple of connections to Marie-Guillemette through my mother. 

First Lineage

1. Marie Guillemette Hébert (abt. 1608 – 1684) and Guillaume Couillard de L’Espinay (1588 – 1663)
2. Élisabeth Couillard (1631 – 1704) and Jean Guyon (1619 – 1694)
3. Catherine Gertrude Guyon (1660 – 1715) and Denis Belleperche (1651 – 1710)
4. Pierre Belleperche (1699 – 1767) and Marie Anne Campeau (1712 – 1796)
5. Francoise Belleperche (1740 – 1796) and Joseph Gabriel Pouget (1728 – 1801)
6. Susanne Pouget (1776 – 1821) and Pierre Baron (1767 – 1835)
7. Hyacinthe Baron (1806 – abt. 1881) and Marie Josephte ‘Josette’ Joannes dit Debaucamp (1812 – 1881)
8. Marguerite Baron (1832 – 1898) and Eli Bondy (1827 – 1894)
9. Joseph Edward Eli Bondy (1858 – 1944) and Amelia Isabella Brush (1864 – 1935)
10. Pearl Leafy Bondy (1885 – 1966) and Edward Walter Grondin (1886 – 1973) 
11. Walter Grondin (1910 – 1998) and Mary Catherine Higgins (1908 – 1983)
12. Martha Grondin (Born 1950) and Gary Willis (Born 1946) – my parents

Second Lineage

1. Marie Guillemette Hébert (abt. 1608 – 1684) and Guillaume Couillard de L’Espinay (1588 – 1663)
2. Élisabeth Couillard (1631 – 1704) and Jean Guyon (1619 – 1694)
3. Catherine Gertrude Guyon (1660 – 1715) and Denis Belleperche (1651 – 1710)
4. Pierre Belleperche (1699 – 1767) and Marie Anne Campeau (1712 – 1796)
5. Francoise Belleperche (1740 – 1796) and Joseph Gabriel Pouget (1728 – 1801)
6. Charles Pouget (1764 – 1776) and Marie Anne Pageot (1776 – 1864)
7. Florence Pouget (1804 – 1857) and Etienne Meloche (1799 – 1839) 
8. Olive Meloche (1828 – 1916) and Patrice Barron (1822 – 1898)
9. Catherine Barron (1854 – 1939) and Antoine Solomon Renaud (1853 – 1926)
10. Mary Zoé Renaud (1878 – 1935) and Abraham Joseph Higgins (1875 – 1950) 
11. Mary Catherine Higgins (1908 – 1983) and Walter Grondin (1910 – 1998)
12. Martha Grondin (born 1950) and Gary Willis (born 1946) – my parents

Are you interested in the earliest settlers of New France? Check out New France’s Founding Families and Their Fascinating Stories.