Robert-Mathieu / Mathieu Choret

Biography

Mathieu Choret, also recorded as Chauré, crossed the Atlantic more than once before establishing a family near Québec city, on the St. Lawrence River in present-day Canada. He came from La Rochelle, a port on France’s Atlantic coast, and was a son of Mathieu Chauré and Jeanne Serre. The migrant repertory first places him in New France in 1645, employed as a servant of the Jesuits.

By February 1647 he was back in La Rochelle. He and Sébastienne Veillon arranged their marriage before the notary Teuleron on February 26 and married at Sainte-Marguerite on March 4. Their subsequent household was established in the Beauport area, now part of Québec city.

His connection with the Jesuits continued beyond his initial employment. A notarial index records a land concession to Mathieu dated March 6, 1649 in Laurent Bermen’s register. A separate description identifies the Jesuits as grantors and places the holding in Notre-Dame-des-Anges.

Mathieu and Sébastienne had seven recorded children, including Robert, Joseph, Jeanne, Ignace and Jean, as well as two sons named Pierre. Mathieu died at Québec city’s Hôtel-Dieu hospital on March 27, 1664 and was buried the following day. His death ended a colonial life that had taken him from Jesuit service to marriage and a landholding household.

The burial listing places Robert-Mathieu / Mathieu Choret at Cimetière Hopital Hotel Dieu du Precieux Sang - (1661–1857), Québec, Capitale-Nationale Region, Québec, Canada.