Roy Ancestry – France to Canada (Part 5)

Nicolas (Le)Roy Family Tree

Nicolas Roy (1661-1727) and Madeleine LeBlond (1665-1722)

Nicolas Roy was born on March 24, 1661 at St. Remy, Diocese of Rouen, Dieppe, Normandy, France. He was the second of 10 children of Nicolas LeRoy (1639-1690) and Jeanne Lelièvre (1640-1728).. Nicolas was just a baby when he came to Canada with his parents and grandmother. 

Map of Dieppe, Normandy, France

The 1667 census of Montmorency (reproduced below), Quebec lists the seven Roy family members. At that time, Nicolas was only 6 years old. In 1670, when Nicolas was 9 years old, a younger sister and brother (Anne and Jean) died in a house fire. His father passed away in 1690 at the age of 50 but his mother outlived him, passing away in 1728 at the age of 88 years.

Montmorency, Quebec Census 1667

Nicolas Roy married Marie-Madeleine Leblond on November 18, 1686 at St Famille, Ile d'Orleans in Quebec, Canada (Note: The hand-written church marriage registration is available online in French). Madeleine was born on December 17, 1665, in Quebec City, Quebec to Marguerite Leclerc (1640-1705) and Nicolas Leblond (1637-1677). At that time, her father was 28 and her mother was 25. She was the second oldest of 10 children, 3 girls and 7 boys. She died on February 4, 1722, in St Vallier, Quebec, at the age of 56, and was buried there (her profile is shown below). They had been married for 35 years.

Nicolas and Madeleine had 10 children, five boys and five girls, in 20 years. The Quebec PRDH genealogy record of their family and the related family tree (see below) show that two of their children died as infants. With the birth of their son Etienne (Stephen), the family name "LeRoy" was shortened to Roy, at the turn of the 18th century.

The above profile of Nicolas indicates that, after the death of his wife in 1722, he married a second time to Marie-Renée Rivière on April 18, 1723, in Quebec City, Quebec. Nicolas was 62 years old and his new wife was 25 years old with a daughter from another relationship. He died less than four years later on February 4, 1727, in St. Vallier, Quebec, at the age of 65, and was buried there. The legacy of Nicolas Roy and his family is reviewed in the next story of this series.