Suzanne Betfer (Bedfer, Bedford, Botfaite) was born in England, probably at Gloucester, about 1629, the daughter of Gilbert Bedford and Anne Bonne.¹ She was the widow of the merchant Jean Serne when she came to New France.
She arrived at Québec in 1649 and married Mathieu Hubou dit Deslongschamps there on 28 September 1649.² Their marriage contract was executed 25 August 1649 before the notary Audouart; Suzanne did not sign the document.¹
Mathieu Hubou, a master armorer, had been baptized 5 March 1626 in the parish of Saint-André at Mesnil-Durand in Normandy, the son of Nicolas Hubou and Madeleine Moulin. He was in Canada by 1641, when he is recorded at Sillery.¹
The parish registers of Québec record the baptisms of their children:
- Athanase, baptized 20 November 1650
- Mathieu, baptized 11 August 1652
- Jean, baptized 9 August 1654
- Geneviève, baptized 18 April 1656
- Anne, baptized 8 August 1658
- Jacques, baptized 2 May 1660
- Nicolas, baptized 22 July 1662
- Charles, baptized 9 September 1664³
Suzanne Betfer was confirmed at Québec on 10 August 1659 at about thirty years of age.¹
After an interval of fourteen years, she gave birth to a daughter, Madeleine, baptized 16 January 1678 at Pointe-aux-Trembles and buried there on 8 February 1678.³ Her son Athanase died between the 1667 and 1681 censuses.¹
Mathieu Hubou dit Deslongschamps served as procureur fiscal for the seigneury of Montréal from 3 April 1677 until 23 February 1678. He died at Lachine on 31 October 1678 and was buried 2 November at Pointe-aux-Trembles.³
Suzanne Betfer died at Lachine between 25 November 1688 and 29 May 1694.¹
Her life in New France is documented in the parish registers and notarial records of Québec, Pointe-aux-Trembles, and Montréal from the time of her marriage in 1649 until her death in the last decade of the seventeenth century.
Sources
- Peter J. Gagné, Before the King’s Daughters: The Filles à marier, 1634–1662 (Pawtucket, RI: Quintin Publications, 2002), 63, Suzanne Betfer.
- Québec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1637–1935, marriage contract of Suzanne Betfer and Mathieu Hubou dit Deslongschamps, 25 Aug 1649, notary Guillaume Audouart.
- Québec (Canada), Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), marriage of Suzanne Betfer and Mathieu Hubou dit Deslongschamps, 28 Sept 1649, Québec; baptisms and burials of their children; burial of Mathieu Hubou, 2 Nov 1678, Pointe-aux-Trembles.
- Cyprien Tanguay, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes depuis la fondation de la colonie jusqu’à nos jours, s.v. “Hubou.”
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