Dans un Petit Village

We arrive at the ' école de la côte des Pères' , the old schoolhouse at 3425 chemin Royal, a short walk just west of the Maison Alexis - Parent at 3525 - 3527 chemin Royal. The 'école de la côte des Pères' is a private residence now but it was once a schoolhouse. In 1844, Queen Victoria awarded a commision to George Louis Lemoine, a priest, and Captain Alexis Georgeville in Beauport. The location bordered on the lands that belonged to the Jesuits at that time, Domaine Notre-Dame-des Anges . Within the year George Louis Lemoine and Captain Alexis Georgeville began construction on the first school in Giffard (Beauport), the school that was to be known as 'école de la côte des Pères'. I should clarify that up to the middle of the twentieth century the Catholic Church controlled and was deeply involved in education, especially at the primary school level. It makes perfect sense that the Jesuits would provide the land for the school commissioned by Queen Vi...

Now that I dealt with the issue of dispensations for consanguinity as it relates to the marriage of Francois Parent and Martine St. Amand i can move on to writing about their lives. Francois Parent was born on May 1, 1842 in Sutton which is in what is now called Georgina township in York county although in 1842 Sutton was part of North Gwillimbury before the two townships were amalgamated. Francois' parents were Simon Parent (1793 - 1874) and Josephte Andre dit St. Amand (1809 - 1891). It is interesting to note that Francois was born just five years after the 1837 rebellion lead by Mackenzie King , the grandfather of one of our most notable prime ministers William Lyon Mackenzie King. I mention this because the rebellion was largely centered North of Toronto in the county of York where Francois was born. It is probably that Francois' father, Simon Parent, would have been living in the North Gwillimbury when the rebellion took place. In the very least, he would have known a...