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Hénault Families in
Québec (1620 - 1821)
Special
collaboration: Stephen
Charles Eno
The following is a summary
of all unrelated Énaud, Hénault, and Hunault men who have been identified as
having established a family in New France and Québec from the earliest days to
about 1825.
Although the family names
Énaud, Hénault, and Hunault have different origins, their identical, or very
similar, pronunciation has led to confusion and substitution of one for the
other from the earliest days of New France. The spellings used below represent
conventional spellings that have been used by the more common sources and
reference books. In practice, over 50 variant spellings of the name have
appeared in actual records.
According to Canada411,
Hénault is by far the most common spelling used by descendents of all of these
families today, followed distantly by Haineault, Héneault, Hainault, Hunault,
and Esnault. The spelling Eno is rare in Canada, but is more common in the
United States, where it may be confused with descendents of the British Eno
family which settled in Connecticut in the 1600s.
In terms of numbers, the
descendents of Jacques Énaud dit Canada and of Toussaint Hunault dit Deschamps
are by far the most numerous Hénaults today, followed distantly by the
descendents of Louis Hénault dit Champagne. If you have an Hénault line in your
recent ancestry, you are almost certainly descended from Jacques, Toussaint, or
possibly Louis, but descent from several other Hénault/Hunault families is
possible, especially through female lines.
The Immigrants
1.
Jacques
Énaud dit Canada (parents
unknown), origins in France unknown, & Marie LeRoux (parents unknown), of Rouen,
Normandie, m. ca.1667, location unknown but probably Sorel or Fort Chambly;
children: 1 son
Jacques and Marie's descendents
have inherited the dit names Canada, Delorme, Fresnière, and Portneuf. Jacques
and Marie had two grandsons named Pierre, each with a different dit name, Pierre
Hénault dit Delorme and Pierre Hénault dit Fresnière, thus founding the two
major branches of the Hénault dit Canada family, the Delorme branch and the
Fresnière branch. In addition, a minor branch of the Delorme branch, the
Portneuf branch, was founded by one of Pierre dit Delorme's sons, Jean-Baptiste
Hénault dit Portneuf.
Almost all of Jacques'
descendents eventually abandoned their inherited dit names and use some
variation of Hénault today. There are two exceptions. Two Hénault-Delorme men
who migrated to the Manitoba region in the early 1800s and their descendents
eventually dropped the use of Hénault and have continued to use only the surname
Delorme to this day. In addition, several Hénault-Fresnière men migrated to the
Georgian Bay area of Ontario where the family dit name Canada became corrupted
and transformed to Cada > Cadat > Cadot > Cadeau, the latter being the name by
which most of their descendents are known today.
Jacques and Marie
established their family in Berthier County. The family expanded throughout
Berthier Co., Joliette Co., and western Maskinongé Co. In the 1800s, members
began to migrate south into the counties along both sides of the Richelieu River
(Napierville, St. Jean, Yamaska, Iberville, St. Hyacinthe). Eventually, some
families moved into northern New York (Clinton and Franklin Counties) and
throughout New England. Many of the New York families either returned to Québec
or moved on to New England. Some of the New England families also moved back to
Québec.
Of those families that
returned to Québec, many settled in the Eastern Townships. If you are searching
for your Hénault ancestors in the Eastern Townships and you can't seem to find
marriage or birth records for them in the latter half of the 1800's, try
searching for the marriage or birth in the parishes of northern New York,
Vermont, or New Hampshire. If you're stuck in New England and can't seem to find
a connection directly back to Québec, try the northern New York counties.
Note that, at present, all
Hénault, Héneault, and Eno families in New England that we have been able to
trace back to Québec are members of the Hénault dit Canada family.
2.
Toussaint Hunault dit Deschamps
(Nicolas & Marie Benoist), of St. Pierre des Champs, Beauvais, Picardie, & Marie
Lorgueil (Pierre & Marie Bruyère), of Cognac, Saintes, Saintonge, m. 23 Nov
1654, Notre Dame de Montréal; children: 6 sons, 4 daughters
Toussaint and Marie's
descendents have inherited the dit name Deschamps and they have tended to use
this dit name, either in combination with the family name or alone, more
frequently than the other Hénault families have used their dit names.
Because they had six sons, three
of whom lived to adulthood and married, descendents of this couple form the
largest group of Hénaults today, somewhat larger than the descendents of Jacques
Énaud. However, note that many of Toussaint's descendents have abandoned their
original family name and are known by the name Deschamps today.
The family established
itself in Montreal. It expanded throughout the island, into the surrounding
islands and into the counties north of Montréal (L'Assomption, Terrebonne,
Deux-Montagnes) and south and west along both banks of the St. Laurence and
Ottawa Rivers into western Québec, Ontario, western NY state, and the Detroit
region.
3.
Michel
Énaud dit Botté (Yves & Jeanne
Galiot), of La Ferrière, Vannes, Bretagne, & Geneviève Macré (Jean & Barbe
Landry), of Villaines sous Bois, Viarmes, Montmorency, Île de France, m. 8 Aug
1662; Notre Dame de Québec; children: 2 sons, 4 daughters
Michel and Genevieve's two male
children did not live to maturity and, consequently, did not pass on the Énaud
name. Some people may be able to trace their ancestry to this couple through two
surviving daughters, one of whom married into the prolific Chabot family.
4.
Philippe
Énaud dit Barbocant
(Philippe & Marguerite Pineau), of Saumur, Anjou, & unknown amérindienne, m. ca.
1676, location unknown; children: 4 of unknown sex
Philippe established his family
on the Baie des Chaleurs, near the present Bathurst, New Brunswick. When
Philippe died sometime after the 1709 census, his Native American wife and their
four children apparently abandoned their farm and returned to her native
village. Nothing further is known about them.
5.
Jacques
Énaud dit Beaufrère (Jacques
& Catherine Lefebvre), of St. Eustache, Paris, & Marie-Thérèse Lefebvre-Ladouceur
(Pierre & Marie Marcot), of Québec, m. 21 Oct 1725, Notre Dame de Québec;
children: 2 sons, 6 daughters
Little is known of this family;
only two generations have been traced in Québec. Their first two children were
born in Québec City; their later children were born in Montréal, where they may
have become confused with the descendents of Toussaint Hunault. Apparently only
one son lived to adulthood but no additional information is known at present.
6.
Louis Hénault dit Champagne (Jean &
Madeleine Lefebvre), of Rheims, Champagne, & Anne Germain-Magny (Jean-Baptiste &
Marie-Catherine Baribeau), of Québec, m. 16 Jun 1749, Batiscan; children: 1 son,
1 daughter
This family established itself in
the Batiscan area and remained largely in Champlain Co. until the 1900's. By
that time many members had dropped the Hénault name and were going by the
Champagne dit name. This is the smallest of the Hénault families with known male
descendents today, but if you have traced your Hénault ancestry back to
Champlain Co., then you are most probably descended from Louis and his wife.
7.
Martin Hénault (Charles & Louise
Laurent), of St. Jacques de Hautpas, Paris, & Marie-Catherine
Charpentier-Bellegarde (Claude & Madeleine Mirault), of Québec, m. 9 Feb 1756,
Notre Dame de Québec; children: 4 sons, 4 daughters
Little is known of this family;
only three generations have been traced in Québec thusfar. Martin established
his family on Ile Dupas in Berthier Co., so they may have become confused with
the many Hénault-Canada families in the area. One son married at Pointe Claire
(Montréal) and had two sons of his own before 1799. One son died an infant and
the whereabouts of the other two sons remains unknown. Ancestry appears to be
possible.
8.
Jean-Baptiste Hunault
(Maurice & Jeanne Leborgne), of Ruca, diocese of St. Brieuc, Bretagne, & (1)
Marie-Anne Saucier (Joseph & Marie-Madeleine Boucher) widow of Joseph Gauthier,
of Québec, m. 7 Jan 1761, Rivière du Loup; children: 1 son, 4 daughters; (2)
Angélique Gauthier (Jacques & Madeleine Miville), of Québec, m. 14 Jan 1793, St.
Laurent (Montréal); children: 1 daughter
This family established
itself in Terrebonne and later Montréal. Their only son died at age 29 in
Montréal, apparently without having been married. Ancestry through several of
the daughters is possible.
9.
François Hénault (Jean & Marie
Lemaire), of Château Gontier, Anjou, & Desanges Beaudry (Pierre &
Marie-Marguerite Casavant-Ladebauche), of Québec, m. 23 Jan 1821, St. Jean-Baptiste,
Rouville Co.; children: 2 daughters
François' only known children
were two daughters who married in Laprairie. Ancestry may be possible through
them.
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