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Gillette Banne (c.1636-1672)- her life & trails

Early Life and Background

Gillette Banne (also recorded as Ban, Baune, Bonne) was born around 1636 in Argences, Normandy, in the diocese of Bayeux (arrondissement of Caen, Calvados), France. She was the daughter of Marin Banne and Isabeau (or Isabelle) Boire.[1] Though her early life remains largely undocumented, she would later become notorious in New France through tragic circumstances.

The exact date of her arrival in New France (Canada) is unknown, but records indicate she was present in the colony by 1649.[2]

First Marriage to Marin Chauvin dit Lafortune

Marin Chauvin’s Background

Marin Chauvin dit Lafortune was born on March 16, 1625, in France and baptized at the church of Saint-Médard in Saint-Mard-de-Réno. He was the son of Nicolas Chauvin and Catherine Piedgare. His godparents were Philibert Racheux from Feings and Catherine Piedgare from Saint-Victor.[3] He originated from the locality of Grand Mesnil in the parish of Saint-Médard de Saint-Mard-de-Réno, in the diocese of Séez in the former province of Perche.[4]

On March 8, 1648, Marin signed a work contract with Pierre Juchereau, sieur des Moulineaux, before Choiseau, a notary in Tourouvre. The contract engaged him to work in Canada for Noël Juchereau du Chastellier as a laborer for three years at a wage of 40 livres per year, with 10 livres paid in advance. He departed from La Rochelle, arriving in Quebec later that same year.[5] His modest salary suggests he was an unskilled laborer.[6]

Marriage and Family Life

Gillette married Marin Chauvin dit Lafortune around 1649 in Trois-Rivières, though the exact marriage record has been lost.[7] According to some sources, it’s possible the marriage occurred in France before his departure in 1648, though most evidence suggests they wed in Canada.[8]

The couple had one child:

  • Marie Chauvin, baptized on September 8, 1650, in Trois-Rivières. She later married Rolin Langlois on November 25, 1664, in Trois-Rivières, and after his death, remarried to Jean de Noyon on July 20, 1665, also in Trois-Rivières.[9]

Marin Chauvin died before June 7, 1651, in Trois-Rivières. Following his death, Governor d’Ailleboust granted Gillette a plot of land in Trois-Rivières, measuring one-third of an arpent. The land was located between property owned by Sébastien Dodier on the southwest and the town palisade on the northeast. This grant was made on the condition that Gillette build a house on the property and enclose it with a good fence.[10]

By 1729, Marin Chauvin had 132 descendants through his only daughter Marie.[11]

Second Marriage to Jacques Bertault

Jacques Bertault’s Background

Jacques Bertault was born around 1626 in Les Essars, in the diocese of Luçon, Poitou (now in the arrondissement of La Roche-sur-Yon, Vendée). He was the son of Thomas Bertault, a merchant, and Catherine Coulonne.[12] By trade, he worked as a locksmith, laborer, and mason.[13]

Marriage and Family

On July 27, 1653, Gillette Banne entered into a marriage contract with Jacques Bertault, which was drawn up by notary Séverin Ameau in Trois-Rivières. Neither spouse could sign their name on the document. The contract named the parents of both the bride and groom.[14]

Gillette and Jacques had six children together:

  1. Jacques Bertaut, baptized November 25, 1654, in Trois-Rivières; died before the 1666 census
  2. Marguerite Bertaut, baptized December 21, 1655, in Trois-Rivières; married Denis Véronneau by contract dated January 6, 1668, drawn up by notary Séverin Ameau in Trois-Rivières
  3. Suzanne Bertaud, baptized December 18, 1657, in Trois-Rivières; married Jean Hiesse/Liesse on September 24, 1671, in Trois-Rivières; remarried to Jacques Brunel on November 24, 1677, in Boucherville
  4. Élisabeth (Isabelle) Bertault, born January 22, 1659, baptized January 23 in Trois-Rivières; married Julien Latouche on August 2, 1671, in Trois-Rivières; after his death, remarried to Noël Lorence (Laurence) on November 6, 1673, in Boucherville; married a third time to Jean-Baptiste Pilon dit Lafortune on March 1, 1688, in Repentigny
  5. Jeanne Bertault, born March 26, 1660, baptized March 29 in Trois-Rivières; married Vincent Verdon on September 1, 1680, in Cap-de-la-Madeleine; after his death, remarried to Mathurin Richard dit Dusablon on December 5, 1688, in Boucherville; married a third time to Nicolas Vinet dit Laliberté on August 18, 1698, in Boucherville
  6. Nicolas Bertault, born and baptized February 26, 1662, in Trois-Rivières; believed to have died after 1672[15]

Gillette Banne was confirmed in her Catholic faith on May 22, 1664, in Trois-Rivières.[16]

Census of 1666

In the census of 1666 for Trois-Rivières, the family was recorded as follows:

  • Jacques Bertaut, 40, habitant (settler)
  • Gillette Bonne, 30, his wife
  • Marguerite, 10
  • Suzanne, 8
  • Elizabeth, 7
  • Jeanne, 6
  • Nicolas, 4[17]

The family was not recorded in the census of 1667.

The Tragic Case of Elisabeth Bertault’s Marriage

The most notorious chapter in Gillette Banne’s life began with the marriage of her daughter, Elisabeth Bertault, to Julien Latouche.

A Child Bride

On August 2, 1671, Elisabeth Bertault married Julien Latouche in Trois-Rivières. Elisabeth was only 12 years old at the time, while Julien was 30.[18] The significant age difference and Elisabeth’s extreme youth would later be factors in the tragic events that followed.

Troubled Marriage

The marriage was troubled from the beginning. Julien Latouche struggled as a farmer on his land in Trois-Rivières, often requiring Jacques and Gillette to send food to the couple or have Elisabeth come to eat with them. Historical accounts indicate that Latouche was a heavy drinker, which contributed to both his failure at farming and to his alleged mistreatment of Elisabeth. Sources suggest that he physically abused his young wife, who at one point reportedly told him, “I wish that you would die.”[19]

The Murder and Trial

The Crime

With the apparent knowledge and complicity of their daughter Elisabeth, Gillette Banne and Jacques Bertault first attempted to poison their son-in-law, Julien Latouche. When the poisoning attempt failed, they killed him with blows from a spade. Elisabeth, while not actively participating in the murder, was present during the killing and helped her parents drag the body to the river to dispose of it.[20]

The Trial

The trial began on May 19, 1672, and concluded on June 8, 1672. The case was tried by the criminal court of Québec City, with testimonies from several witnesses including:

  • Jean Gauthier, approximately 22 years old, a resident of Trois-Rivières
  • Louis Petit, about 14 years old
  • Jean Hérou dit Bourgainville, around 18 years old
  • Nicolas Bertault, son of Jacques, about 10 years old[21]

The court proceedings included:

  • The official report by Séverin Ameau, clerk of Trois-Rivières, concerning the circumstances of the crime
  • Information, verifications, and confrontations of the accused and witnesses
  • Interrogations of the accused
  • Confrontation between mother and daughter
  • The requisition of the fiscal prosecutor
  • The opinions of the assessors
  • Records of expenses for the transfer of prisoners
  • Records of costs for the trial by Jean Levasseur, royal bailiff and concierge of the palace
  • Declaration of trial expenses addressed to the lieutenant general[22]

Sentencing and Appeal

On June 8, 1672, the lieutenant civil and criminal of Quebec sentenced Jacques Bertault, Gillette Banne, and their daughter Elisabeth to death for the murder of Julien Latouche.[23]

Jacques and Gillette appealed the sentence to the Sovereign Council (Conseil Souverain). Elisabeth did not appeal her conviction. On June 9, 1672, the Council rejected the appeal, confirming the sentence of death for Jacques and Gillette but modifying some aspects of the punishment.[24]

The final sentence read:

"From Thursday, the ninth of June 1672. The Council assembled, presided over by Messire Daniel de Rémy etc., where attended Messieurs de Tilly, Damours, Tesserie, and Dupont, and the substitute of the attorney general, the sieurs de Bonamour, doctor of medicine, and Roussel, called to supplement the number of judges.

Between Jacques BERTAULT and Gillette BAUNE his wife, appellants of the death sentence rendered against them by the lieutenant general civil and criminal of this city on one part; and the substitute of the attorney general, taking the fact and cause for the fiscal prosecutor of the ordinary jurisdiction of this city, defendant on the other part, and also the said substitute taking the fact and cause for the said fiscal prosecutor also appellant a minima on one part, and Isabelle BERTAULT, daughter of the said Jacques Bertault and Gillette Baune and widow of Julien LaTousche, defendant on the other.

Having seen the sentence which was appealed by which the said Jacques Bertault, Gillette Baune, and Isabelle Bertault are declared duly convicted of having wanted to poison the said Latouche, son-in-law of the said Jacques Bertault and Gillette Baune, and husband of the said Isabelle Bertault, and of having assassinated him, and for reparation condemned to be taken and removed from the prisons of the said jurisdiction by the executioner of high justice, conducted with a rope around the neck and a torch in hand before the door of the parish church of this city, and there the said Bertault bare-headed and in shirt, and the said women naked in shirt to the waist, to ask on their knees pardon of God, of the King, and of justice for the said crimes committed by them, to be then by the said executioner conducted to the scaffold which would be for this effect erected in the large square of this upper city with a St. Andrew’s cross on which the said Bertault would be stretched to have the arms and thighs broken each by a blow of a bar of which he would receive one while alive on the right arm, and the others after having been strangled; and the said Gillette Baune to be hanged and strangled at a gallows which would be erected for this effect in the said place, and the said Isabelle Bertaud to attend the said executions with a rope around the neck and in the same state as stated; after which executions would be the body of the said Bertault put on a wheel at the usual place on Cape Diamond to remain there and serve as an example, and moreover the said Bertault, his wife, and their said daughter to pay one hundred livres in fine to the lords of this country, and expenses, the surplus of their goods remaining acquired and confiscated to whom it shall belong…

…the Council has put and puts to nothing the appeal of the said Jacques Bertault and Gillette Baune, together with that of the said fiscal prosecutor, and by grace in amending, declares the said Jacques Bertault, Gillette Baune, and Isabelle Bertault duly convicted of the cases imposed on them, and for reparation condemns the said Jacques Bertault and Gillette Baune to be drawn from the prisons of this city by the executioner of high justice, conducted before the door of the parish church of this city, with a rope around the neck, a burning torch in hand, namely the said Jacques Bertault naked in shirt, and the said Gillette Baune naked in shirt from the shoulders to the waist, and there on their knees to ask pardon of God and of the King for the crimes committed by them, condemns moreover the said Jacques Bertault to be strangled on the St. Andrew’s cross which will be placed on the scaffold which will be for this effect erected in the large square of the upper city, and then to have the arms and thighs broken each by a blow of a bar; condemns also the said Gillette Baune to be present at the execution of the said Jacques Bertault, as also the said Council condemns the said Gillette Baune to be hanged and strangled at a gallows which will also be for this effect erected in the said place, orders that after the execution of the said Bertault his body will be carried on a wheel on Cape Diamond at the usual place to serve as an example; and ruling on the appeal a minima of the said fiscal prosecutor, having regard to the age of the said Isabelle Bertault, by grace and without consequence condemns the said Bertault to make the said honorable amends in the form and manner as stated, and to attend the execution of the present decree of the persons of the said Jacques Bertault and Gillette Baune her father and mother; condemns moreover the said Bertault, Baune, and Isabelle Bertault jointly and severally to sixty livres of fine applicable one half to the Récollet fathers to pray to God for the repose of the soul of the said Julien Latouche, and to expenses, the surplus of their goods acquired and confiscated to the King; the said Council making remission to Nicolas and Jeanne Bertault, minor children of the said Jacques Bertault and Gillette Baune, of the surplus of the said fine, together with the said confiscation."[25]

Execution

Gillette Banne and Jacques Bertault were executed in Québec City at four o’clock in the afternoon on June 9, 1672.[26] The execution followed the elaborate ritual described in the sentence:

  1. The condemned were taken from prison by the executioner.
  2. They were led with ropes around their necks and burning torches in their hands to the door of the parish church – Jacques naked except for a shirt, and Gillette naked from the shoulders to the waist with only a shirt covering her lower body.
  3. At the church, they knelt and asked forgiveness from God and the King for their crimes.
  4. They were then taken to the scaffold in the town square.
  5. Jacques was strangled on a St. Andrew’s cross (an X-shaped cross), after which his arms and thighs were broken with a bar.
  6. Gillette was forced to witness her husband’s execution before being hanged and strangled herself.
  7. After execution, Jacques’ body was displayed on a wheel at Cape Diamond as a warning to others.

Elisabeth, given her young age of just 13, received a more lenient sentence. She was required to make a public apology, witness the execution of her parents, and contribute to the fine, but was spared execution.[27]

The court ordered that the surplus of the fine and confiscated property be given to the minor children of Jacques and Gillette – Nicolas (10) and Jeanne (12) – after court costs were paid.[28]

Legacy

Despite the tragic end to Gillette Banne’s life, her descendants through her children with both husbands continued to populate New France. Her daughter Marie Chauvin’s line alone had grown to 132 descendants by 1729.[29]

The case of Gillette Banne and Jacques Bertault remains one of the most notorious crimes in early Canadian history, documented in Raymond Boyer’s “Les Crimes et Les Chatiments au Canada Francais Du XVIIe au XXe Siecle” and other historical works.[30]

The story reflects the harsh realities of frontier life in New France, where child marriages were permitted, justice was severe, and family dynamics could take dark turns under the pressures of colonial existence.

Sources

  1. Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec des origines à 1730, René Jetté, avec la collaboration du PRDH, 1983, Presses de l’Université de Montréal, A-J, PDF pg 241 (Chauvin, Marin). ↩︎

  2. Peter J. Gagné, “Before the King’s Daughters: The Filles à Marier, 1634-1662.” ↩︎

  3. Fichier Origine 250030: Marin Chauvin / Lafortune. ↩︎

  4. PREFEN Fiche 12767: Marin Chauvin dit Lafortune. ↩︎

  5. Fichier Origine 250030; Carpin 1999, Annexe D, p. 575. ↩︎

  6. Peter J. Gagné, “Before the King’s Daughters: The Filles à Marier, 1634-1662.” ↩︎

  7. Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec des origines à 1730, René Jetté. ↩︎

  8. PREFEN Fiche 12767; PRDH: Research Programme in Historical Demography. ↩︎

  9. Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1997 – Drouin IGD; Tanguay Vol 1 pg 123 CHA. ↩︎

  10. BAnQ 23 Jun 1668; Peter J. Gagné, “Before the King’s Daughters: The Filles à Marier, 1634-1662.” ↩︎

  11. La Mémoire du Québec, Marin Chauvin. ↩︎

  12. BAnQ Notarial acts index Inventaire des greffes des notaires du régime français, par Pierre Georges Roy et Antoine Roy; 27 Vol + index 1-8 Vol XI pg 52. ↩︎

  13. BANQ Mai-Jun 1672 trial. ↩︎

  14. BAnQ Notarial acts index; Peter J. Gagné, “Before the King’s Daughters: The Filles à Marier, 1634-1662.” ↩︎

  15. Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec des origines à 1730, René Jetté, avec la collaboration du PRDH, 1983, Presses de l’Université de Montréal, A-J, PDF pg 92; Tanguay Vol 1 pg 46 BER; Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1997 – Drouin IGD. ↩︎

  16. Peter J. Gagné, “Before the King’s Daughters: The Filles à Marier, 1634-1662.” ↩︎

  17. Wikisource: Recensements 1666-1667 Censuses selon Benjamin Sulte Histoire des Canadiens-français, Tome 4, chap. 4. ↩︎

  18. Peter J. Gagné, “Before the King’s Daughters: The Filles à Marier, 1634-1662”; BANQ Mai-Jun 1672 trial. ↩︎

  19. Raymond Boyer, “Les Crimes et Les Chatiments au Canada Francais Du XVIIe au XXe Siecle,” pp 106-107. ↩︎

  20. BANQ Mai-Jun 1672 trial; Raymond Boyer, “Les Crimes et Les Chatiments au Canada Francais Du XVIIe au XXe Siecle,” pp 106-107. ↩︎

  21. BANQ Mai-Jun 1672 trial. ↩︎

  22. BANQ Mai-Jun 1672 trial. ↩︎

  23. BANQ 8 Jun 1672 sentence. ↩︎

  24. BANQ 9 Jun 1672 appeal denied. ↩︎

  25. BANQ 9 Jun 1672 appeal denied. ↩︎

  26. BANQ 9 Jun 1672 appeal denied. ↩︎

  27. Raymond Boyer, “Les Crimes et Les Chatiments au Canada Francais Du XVIIe au XXe Siecle,” pp 106-107. ↩︎

  28. BANQ 9 Jun 1672 appeal denied. ↩︎

  29. La Mémoire du Québec, Marin Chauvin. ↩︎

  30. Raymond Boyer, “Les Crimes et Les Chatiments au Canada Francais Du XVIIe au XXe Siecle,” pp 106-107. ↩︎

Gillette Banne’s life reflects the harsh realities and challenges faced by early settlers in New France, marked by resilience and, ultimately, a tragic attempt to protect her family.

For a more in-depth exploration of her life, you might find this video informative:

Gillette Banne- Jacques BertaultDownload

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