Marin Boucher: Pioneer and Founding Settler of New France

Marin Boucher was one of Quebec’s early French Canadian pioneers. A skilled mason and farmer, he helped establish the colony’s first settlements at Beauport and Château-Richer and went on to have hundreds of thousands of descendants. He is also one of my French Canadian ancestors. Join me as I explore his life and legacy among the founding families of New France.

Early Life and Marriages

Marin Boucher was born around 1587 in Mortagne-au-Perche, Perche, France. His parents are unknown, but he had a sister named Jeanne Boucher. By trade, Boucher was a mason.

Boucher married twice. His first wife was Julienne Baril. They were married on February 7, 1611, in Saint-Langis, Perche, France. They had six children: Nicole Boucher, Jehan Boucher, Louise Boucher, François Boucher, Étiennette Boucher, Charlotte Boucher and Marie Boucher. Julienne died in 1627. 

Around 1628, Boucher married Perrine Mallet in Saint-Langis, Perche. They had seven children together: Marin Boucher, Jean Galleran Boucher, Françoise Boucher, Pierre Boucher, Madeleine Boucher, Marie Boucher and Guillaume Boucher. Two of their children were born in Perche, France, while the rest were born in New France. 

In January 1633, Marin Boucher and Perrine Mallet bought a piece of land near La Barre in Perche. Around this time, they sold a house they owned in Mortagne, on Saint-Jean Street, to Jean Guyon, who also went on to become one of New France’s founding families.

Arrival in Quebec

Marin Boucher and his wife, Parrine Mallett, along with his son François Boucher, emigrated to New France in 1634, arriving in Quebec on June 4, 1634. He sold his farm in Mortagne, Perche, before leaving. Boucher was recruited by Robert Giffard de Moncel, a surgeon, chemist and founder of Beauport. He and his wife travelled with four other founding members of New France, including Jean Guyon, Noël Langlois and Zacharie Cloutier. 

Upon his arrival in New France, Boucher settled on a lot along the Saint-Charles River, on land that had formerly belonged to the Récollet Fathers. According to Tanguay, Marin Boucher is considered the founder of Rivière-Saint-Charles.

Boucher had to return the land to the Recollets in 1670, when they came back to Quebec and insisted it still belonged to them.

Life in Beauport

Boucher and his family initially settled in Beauport, where he continued to work as a stonemason and also became a farmer. He was involved in several construction projects, including building Robert Giffard’s home. Together with his brother-in-law, Thomas Hayot, he farmed land owned by the Jesuits.

Although Boucher arrived in 1634, he first appears in the records in 1636, at the baptism of his daughter Françoise in Québec.

Marin and his brother-in-law were among the first to farm Jesuit land in Beauport. Their partnership ended in 1646, when Hayot kept the original farm and Boucher took a neighbouring plot next to Olivier Le Tardif.

Move to Château-Richer

Marin Boucher and his family eventually settled along the Beaupré coast. By 1655, Marin and his wife, Perrine Mallet, were recorded as living in Château-Richer, where their daughter Madeleine married Louis Houde that same year at the family home.

In the 1666 census, Marin was listed as 77 years old, with the occupations of mason and habitant (farmer). The record also notes that he owned additional land on Île d’Orléans. A year later, the 1667 census described him as an 80-year-old mason and farmer with eight cattle and twenty arpents under cultivation.

Over the course of his life, Marin accumulated a considerable amount of property, much of which he transferred to his children between 1665 and 1670.

Marin Boucher died on March 29, 1671, and was buried in the cemetery at Château-Richer. His widow, Perrine Mallet, lived until 1687.

Relationship with Samuel de Champlain

Many historians believe Marin Boucher was a friend of Samuel de Champlain. Upon his arrival in New France, Boucher and several others are said to have stayed in the Habitation with Champlain. He reportedly carried out some masonry work for the explorer, and upon Champlain’s death in 1635, Boucher was mentioned in his will and bequeathed some of the founder of Quebec’s clothing. Champlain wrote, “Thus, with his permission, I give to Marin, mason, living near the house of the Recollet Fathers, the last suit that I had made from material which I got at the store.”

Legacy and Celebrity Descendants

Marin Boucher’s descendants are numerous, with the surname variations including Boucherville, Desrosiers, Dubois, St. Martin and the anglicized form Bushey. By 1729, he already had 1,454 descendants. By 1800, he ranked third in Quebec in terms of the number of married descendants, and today it’s estimated that as many as 350,000 people across Canada and the United States can trace their lineage back to him.

Some of Boucher’s many descendants are famous. Here are a few well-known names who descend from the French-Canadian pioneer:

• Angelina Jolie
• Justin Bieber
• Céline Dion
• Madonna
• Avril Lavigne
• Jack Kerouac
• Alex Trebek
• Chris Pratt
• Justin Theroux
• Rick Gervais
• Nathan Fillion
• Alanis Morissette
• Anna Paquin
• Beyoncé Knowles

My Connection to Marin Boucher 

I have only one connection so far to Marin Boucher through my mother. 

1. Marin Boucher (abt. 1587 – 1671) and Julienne Baril (1589 – 1627)
2. François Boucher (1617 – bef. 1678) and Florence Gareman (abt. 1629 – bef. 1689)
3. Marie Boucher (1652 – 1713) and Antoine Chaudillon (1641 – 1707)
4. Marie Chodillon (1674) and Jean Chaperon (1668 – 1730)  
5. Suzanne Chaperon (1697 – 1748) and François Simon (1693 – 1743) 
6. Madeleine Simon (1725 – 1788) and Pierre Jacques (1710 – 1777) 
7. Marie-Anne Jacques (1754 – 1822) and Joseph Grondin (1742 – 1815) 
8. Charles Grondin (1780 – bef. 1818) and Francoise Beneteau (1775 – 1812) 
9. Charles Grondin (1807 – 1881) and Susanne Renaud) (1811 – 1893)
10. Charles Alexander Grondin (1853 – 1922) and Elizabeth Metivier (1860 – 1931)
11. Edward Walter Grondin (1886 – 1973) and Pearl Leafy Bondy (1885 – 1966)
12. Walter Grondin (1910 – 1998) and Mary Catherine Higgins (1908 – 1983)
13. Martha Grondin (Born 1950) and Gary Willis (Born 1946) – my parents

Do you want to know more about the earliest settlers of New France? Check out New France’s Founding Families and Their Fascinating Stories.