Jean Lemire

Biography

Jean Lemire worked with timber, but his responsibilities also extended to representing the inhabitants of Québec city, on the St. Lawrence River in present-day Canada. Originally from Rouen, in Normandy in northern France, he settled in New France and married Louise Marsolet in 1653. She was a daughter of the interpreter and trader Nicolas Marsolet and Marie Le Barbier.

Jean’s carpentry appears in named projects. In 1664 he worked with Paul Chalifour on a house at Coulonge, and that November he prepared an estimate for a presbytery at Québec.

Alongside his trade, Jean served as syndic of Québec’s inhabitants. A syndic acted as their representative and spokesperson before the authorities; the office was more restricted than a modern mayoralty. His swearing-in on March 28, 1667 survives in the records of the Sovereign Council. The same man who negotiated building work thus also occupied a formal position between residents and colonial government.

In January 1684, Jean contracted to work on the enlargement of Québec’s cathedral under Claude Baillif. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography account credits him with a steeple of Batiscan oak intended for the south tower. He died on October 5 that year. How the steeple was assembled, and whether a son completed it, are uncertain. Louise survived him for nearly twenty-eight years, and the property records of her widowhood continue the history of their household.

The burial listing places Jean Lemire at Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Québec, Québec, Capitale-Nationale Region, Québec, Canada.