Marin Boucher

Marin Boucher (1587 or 1589–1671), was a pioneer of early New France and one of the most prolific ancestors of French Canada, being the ancestor of most of the Bouchers of North America, particularly in the Province of Quebec, Northern New Brunswick, Ontario and Western Canada. Estimates of the number of families in Canada and the United States descended from Marin Boucher run as high as 350,000, although most of them do not bear the name Boucher today because Marin's line produced more daughters than sons.

Marin Boucher was born in Mortagne, Perche province, France about 1587 and died on 25 March 1671 in Château-Richer, Canada, New France.

He married twice: (1) to Julienne Baril ( 1574 - 1627) in 1611 and (2) to Perrine Maillet (1604-1687) before 1630. Marin and Julienne had seven children, one of whom traveled to Canada; Marin and Perrine had seven more children, five of whom were born in Canada.

The Bouchers were stonemasons and carpenters, skills which were valuable in the early colony. Because of some work done for Samuel de Champlain, the Founder of the colony, Marin Boucher was deeded Champlain's clothes in his will when he died. He was also a witness in a dispute over stolen property in which his relation Gaspard Boucher was the plaintiff.

Marin Boucher's sister, Jeanne Boucher, married Thomas Hayot (spellings vary: Hayot; Ayot; Ayotte, etc.) who was also an early settler and founder of a distinguished Québec family.

Gaspard Boucher was another close relation who emigrated to New France, believed by some researchers to have been Marin's brother, though more likely his cousin. Gaspard Boucher was father of Pierre Boucher Seigneur of Boucherville, and founder of the parish and township of Boucherville, across the Saint-Laurent River from Montreal. Pierre Boucher became Governor of Trois-Rivières and a Royal Judge, was ennobled, and settled on his seigneurie, where he founded a model seigneurie, village and Parish which is now a suburban satellite of Montreal.

The Bouchers arrived as part of the Percheron immigration movement, consisting of a mix of families and single individual from the region of Perche, at the time part of Maine province, brought over to New France in 1634 to colonize Beauport, a seigneurie granted to Robert Giffard, physician to the colony. Marin Boucher and his son François migrated aboard the ship St-Jehan under the command of Captain Pierre Nesle, which arrived in Quebec on June 4, 1634. His wife and younger children arrived the following year.

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