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François Le Ber
Circa 1622 — 19 May 1694

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François Le Ber came from the Pîtres area near Rouen in Normandy, in northern France. Born around 1622, he was established in the Montréal area of New France, in present-day Québec, Canada, by about 1660. The ship and date of his Atlantic crossing remain unknown.

He married Jeanne Testard at Montréal on December 2, 1662. Their family included a daughter, Marie Le Ber. Records identify François and his brother Jacques with Montréal’s citizen militia in 1663. Québec heritage records also associate François with a farmhouse at Pointe-Saint-Charles, southwest of old Montréal, purchased with neighboring land by Marguerite Bourgeoys in 1668.

François was a farmer and landholder at La Prairie, across the St. Lawrence River from Montréal in present-day Québec, Canada. A historical-society study of the inventory made after his death documents the community property he had held with Jeanne Testard.

The inventory brings the household’s work into view through its possessions: two plough oxen, three cows, a cart and the iron fittings of a plough, along with augers, files and cutting tools. Indoors were pewter dishes, hemp sheets, a locking fir chest and an old silver cup. These goods belonged to the couple's shared estate.

The estate included rural concessions and a small village house built of timber, with plank floors, a thatched roof and a chimney made with earth and chopped straw. The inventory was prepared in 1698, after François’s death in 1694; its contents describe the estate at that later date.

The two La Prairie properties were valued together at 2,800 French livres in the 1698 inventory. François had died on May 19, 1694.

Life events

Circa 1660 — migration — Established in the Montréal region after leaving Normandy; exact voyage date and ship unresolved. — Montréal — Quebec — Canada
1662-12-02 — marriage — Married Jeanne Testard. — Montréal — Quebec — Canada
1663 — militia_service — Member of Montréal citizen militia with brother Jacques. — Montréal — Quebec — Canada
1668 — property_transfer — Farm house and neighboring land associated with François Le Ber were purchased by Marguerite Bourgeoys. — Pointe-Saint-Charles (Montréal) — Quebec — Canada
1673 — land_concession — Received a La Prairie concession recorded in the later estate inventory. — La Prairie — Quebec — Canada
Between 1673 and 1694 — geographic_association — Concessions and later household — La Prairie. — La Prairie — Quebec — Canada
1694-05-19 — death — Probable death — La Prairie. — La Prairie — Quebec — Canada
1698 — estate_inventory — The 1698 posthumous inventory documented land, livestock, tools, household goods and property values belonging to the marital community of François Le Ber and Jeanne Testard. Recorded items included two plough oxen, three cows, a cart, plough fittings, pewter dishes, hemp sheets, a locking fir chest and an old silver cup. The small village house had timber walls, plank floors, a thatched roof and a chimney of earth and chopped straw. — La Prairie — Quebec — Canada
geographic_association — Origin — Pistre (Pîtres), diocese of Rouen, France. — Pistre (Pîtres), diocese of Rouen, France — Eure — France
geographic_association — Settlement, marriage and militia — Montréal. — Montréal — Quebec — Canada

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