OUR ANCESTOR FRANCOIS NAU
IN NEW FRANCE (1666 - 1676)
On 11 August 1666, the sailing ship Le Saint-Jean-Baptiste anchored opposite Quebec at the mouth of the Saint-Charles River.
François Nau disembarked and left immediately by canoe for the Manor of Lotinville with his master Bertrand Chesnay de la Garenne. There was no road and no bridge over the Montmorency River. Having reached Ange-Gardien, he had to paddle up the Petit-Pré River, also called Lotinville River, up to the embankment in front of the Manor of the Seigneur de Lotinville.
It is here, at the Manor, that Francois became a servant or hired hand with eight other colleagues. They contributed to making the domain one of the most beautiful of the Beaupré region. The domain measured 6 arpents (350 meters or 1200 feet) wide. Bernard Chestnay was one of the most prosperous bourgeois of the colony.
The second farm to the east belonged to the Jobidon Family. Marguerite, who was only 5 years old when François arrived, would become his wife. She was fifteen when they married at Château-Richer on 20 July 1676.