Norman Canadian

Norman Canadians are Canadians who can be either French speaking or English speaking depending from which part of Normandy they came from, either the Channel Islands, or Upper Normandy or Lower Normandy.

Normans were originally Norwegian Vikings and Danish Vikings that settled Normandy in 911 AD.^[1] It could be said that their ancestors were the first Europeans to discover North America in 1000 AD.

Other Normans came to Canada from countries that they had immigrated to after the Edit de Nantes had been revoked in 1685. Hundreds of thousands immigrated to Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, South Africa, and the British colonies.^[2]

The first settlers to Canada came from Normandy. Example: On July 23, 1632, 300 colonists heading to Canada departed from Dieppe. They brought with them their own culture and Norman language. Subsequently, those that followed would also speak their language.

Their houses would also reflect the way they built them in Normandy. Norman roofs are still seen today in many homes in Canada.

Famous Norman Canadians

One famous Norman that came to Canada was Charles le Moyne de Longueuil et de Châteauguay, from Dieppe, Normandy. He had fourteen children. Two of them began very famous, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, who founded Louisiana and the cities of Mobile and Biloxi, and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, who founded New Orleans.^[3]

Another famous Norman was Robert Cavelier de LaSalle, who claimed Louisiana for the King of France, and who established many forts in the Illinois country. He came from Rouen, the capital city of Normandy.^[4]

Pierre Boucher came to Canada with his father in 1635 from Lower Normandy, and later became Governor of Trois-Rivières. He was the first Canadian settler to be ennobled by King Louis XIV. He died at his seigniory in Boucherville, which was named in his honour.^[5]

Jean Brebeuf was born in Condé-sur-Vire, Normandy. He came to Canada in 1625 as a missionary. He went to live with the Hurons and learned their customs and language. He was the first to write a grammar and dictionary in the Huron language. He is Canada's "first serious ethnographer." He also became a valuable source of Canadian history.^[6]

Julien Dubuque was a Norman Canadian from the area of Champlain, Quebec, who arrived near what now is known as Dubuque, Iowa, which was named after him. He was one of the first white men to settle in the area in 1788. His Great Grandfather was Jean Dubuc from Rouen, Normandy.

Wilfrid-Étienne Brunet founded the first Brunet pharmacy in 1855 in Quebec City, the largest one at the time. The Brunet pharmacies are now owned by Metro, and have 124 pharmacies in the province of Québec.^[7]

Charles Robin formed a firm which developed fishing grounds off Cape Breton Island and the Gaspé region. He was born in Saint Brélade, Jersey in 1743.

Christian Cardell Corbet 20th-21st century portrait painter and sculptor known for his portraits of celebrity subjects such as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Dame Jane Goodall, Margaret Atwood, Sir Winston Churchill and many others. Descends from Vale, Guernsey, Channel Islands.^[8]

Norman Canadian Last Names

Asselin, Bacon, Béland, Bélanger, Boisseau, Bonhomme, Boucher, Bourdon, Brassard, Brière, Brunelle, Brunet, Campagnat (the name is not Norman but Auvergnat), Carpentier, Chevalier, Corbet, Couture, Croteau, Delisle, Demers, Deschamps, Dubuque, Duclos, Faure (the name is not Norman, but Occitan, corresponding to Norman Lefebvre or Lefebure), Fontaine, Fortin, Fiset, Godbout, Grenier, Groult, Guèvermont, Hébert, Hus, Jarry, Labrecque, Lamarre, Lamy, Langlois, Larchevêque, Larue, Lasalle (the name is not Norman but Gascon), Lauzon (the name is not Norman but Occitan and maybe Angevin), Laviolette (the name is a Canadian creation), Lebrun, Leclair, Lecompte, Lefèbvre, Lelièvre, Lemoyne, Lessard, Levasseur, Loiselle, Martel, Moisan, Morel, Paquet, Paquin, Pelletier, Petit, Picard, Poulin, Primeau, Quevillon, Racine, Rainville, Roussel, Routhier, Saint-Aubin, Sénéchal, Simon, Therrien, Thiboutot, Trépanier, Vaillancourt.^[9]

Norman Toponymy in Canada

Cities and villages with endings coming from the Norman language:

• Among other things, the name Québec is not from Norman etymology. The name "Québec", which comes from the Algonquin word kébec meaning "where the river narrows", originally referred to the area around Quebec City where the Saint Lawrence River narrows to a cliff-lined gap.
• beuf or but or bot , from both / buth (cabane, barraque, village) (cf. English booth Norse and Danish bod ) : Brébeuf
• fleur, from floth or old English flēot (coastal river, river's mouth) or old English flod : Honfleur
• -ville, from Old French "farm", Modern French "town", "city" : Beauceville, Belleville, Bernierville, Berthierville, Blainville, Brockville, Bromptonville, Cazaville, Chesterville, Cowansville, Deauville, Daveluyville, Drummondville, Huntsville, Iberville, Johnville, Laurierville, Lennoxville, Martinville, Napierville, Norbertville, Pierreville, Plessisville, Princeville, Robertsonville, Sawyerville, Victoriaville, Waterville, Wolfville,

See also

• Norman Toponymy

References

1. ^ World History, Sanborn & Co., 1952.
2. ^ World History, Sanborn & Co., 1952.
3. ^ Canada-Québec Synthèse Historique, Montréal, (1977) pp 115, 135, 145.
4. ^ Canada-Québec Synthèse Historique, Montréal, (1977) pp 108-109.
5. ^ Canada-Québec Synthèse Historique, Montréal, (1977) pp 86-87.
6. ^ The Canadian Enclyclopedia, Hurtig Publishers Ltd., Edmonton, Alberta, (1988) p 267.
7. ^ http://www.metro.ca/corpo/profil-corpo/pharmaceutique.fr.html.
8. ^ Canadian Who's Who, University of Toronto Press. Toronto, Ontario (2010) p 119.
9. ^ Canada-Québec Synthèse Historique, Montréal, (1977) pp 11.