Noel Doiron (abt. 1684 - 1758)

Born about 1684 in Port-Royal, Acadie, Nouvelle-France

Husband of Marie Henry — married about 1705 in Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Descendants

Died 13 Dec 1758 at about age 74 in At sea

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Biography

Noël Doiron, the "father of Ile St. Jean," was born in Port-Royal, Acadie, Nouvelle-France (now Port Annapolis, Nova Scotia, Canada) in 1684^[1] to Jean Doiron and Marie-Anne Canol.

In 1686, at Port Royal, Noel, aged 2, was living with his parents, Jean DOUARON [sic], aged 37, and Marianne [sic] CANOL, aged 35, and his six siblings: Abraham, aged 14, Charles, aged 12, Jean, aged 8, Philippes [sic], aged 4, Pierre, aged 6, and Jeanne, aged 8. The family owned 1 gun, 7 cattle, and 10 sheep.^[2]

He and Marie Henry, native of Mines, daughter of Robert Henry and Marie Magdelaine Gaudin, habitants of the parish of Mines, were among the 45 Acadians captured in a retaliatory raid of Grand Pré, Pisiguit, and Beaubassin by Benjamin Church in 1704 and taken hostage to Boston; their first child was born in Boston, Massachusetts. They returned home on 18 September 1706, and their child was baptized three days later; they were married three days after that.^[1] The marriage took place 24 September 1706 at Port-Royal.^[3][4]

Known children:

1. Louis Mathieu Doiron (1706-c.1758)
2. Marie Magdeleine Doiron (1707-c.1758)
3. Marguerite Doiron (c.1709-)
4. Paul Doiron (1710-c.1758)
5. Pierre Doiron (c.1711-/1746)
6. Francois Doiron (c.1713-c.1758)
7. Joseph Doiron (c.1715-c.1758)
8. Marguerite Doiron (c.1720-1759)

Around 1750, they decided to settle on Isle Saint-Jean (in present-day Prince Edward Island). In 1752, Noël, aged 70, and Marie, aged 72, were recorded on the La Roque census at Pointe Prime, Isle Saint-Jean. Their grandson, Jean-Baptiste, was living with them. They were residing next to their sons, François and Joseph, and their families.^[5]

"In the summer of 1758, the fortress of Louisbourg on Isle Royale was attacked by British troops. The French capitulated, thereby forfeiting Isle Saint-Jean as well. Soldiers were sent to the island with orders to deport the inhabitants to France. Some 3000 Islanders were successfully rounded up and crowded on ships that set sail for Europe later in the fall. For the Acadians, it was a disaster. 1500 of them managed to escape deportation by fleeing to the Bay of Chaleurs region and to Quebec, where many died of sickness and hunger. Of those deported to France, more than half drowned or died by disease or illness during the voyage, and many others died in the months following their arrival in France."^[6]

In 1758, the family was put aboard the Duke William, bound for France. The ship sprang a leak shortly after departure. According to a written account by the ship's captain, William Nichols, an "old leader of the Acadians of La Pointe Prime", not named but believed to be Doiron,^[7] requested that he and his crew "endeavor to save their own lives in their boats and leave them [the Acadians] to their fate, as it was impossible the boats could carry all. Two lifeboats were on board and these were lowered into the North Atlantic, carrying only the captain, his crew, and the parish priest. Captain Nichols later recorded that during the departure, Doiron reprimanded a fellow Acadian for trying to board a lifeboat while abandoning his wife and children."^[1]

The ship sank on 13 December 1758, taking the lives of Noël and his family and many members of the extended Doiron family. ^[7][8] More than 350 lives were lost. Among the Acadian passengers, only four men survived and reached Falmouth, England. ^[9][10][1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Wikipedia contributors, "Noël Doiron," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=No%C3%ABl_Doiron&oldid=932886119 (accessed April 19, 2021).
2. ↑ Tim Hebert, Transcription of the 1686 Acadian Census, at Port-Royal, Acadie 1686 Census Transcribed. The original census can be found at Acadian Census microfilm C-2572 of the National Archives of Canada “Acadie Recensements 1671 – 1752,” Images 15-60;

   at Port Royal: Jean DOUARON 37, Marianne CANOL 35; children: Abraham 14, Charles 12, Jean 8, Philippes 4, Pierre 6, Jeanne 8, Noel 2; 1 gun, 7 cattle, 1 sheep. In the 1686 census at Port Royal, Doiron was listed as Douaron, Marie-Anne was listed as Marianne, and Philippe was listed as Philippes.

3. ↑ Library and Archives Canada, Fonds de la paroisse catholique Saint-Jean-Baptiste (Port-Royal, N.-É.)-1870 C-1870 (image 123) https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c1870/123?r=0&s=5
4. ↑ An Acadian Parish Remembered: The Registers of St. Jean-Baptiste, Annapolis Royal, 1702-1755, Noel Douairon and Marie Henry marriage, RG 1, vol. 26 p. 279 https://novascotia.ca/archives/acadian/archives.asp?ID=1213
5. ↑ Report Concerning Canadian Archives for the Year 1905, Volume II (Ottawa: Printed by S.E.Dawson, 1905), 1752 La Roque Census, p. 120, image 270. A transcription of the original census, in French, can be found at Census Transcription of Original Record “Recensement de l'Isle Royal et de Isle Saint-Jean ” p. 447, Image 451

   Noël Douaron, ploughman, native of l'Acadie, aged 70, has been in the country for 26 months. Married to Marie Henry, a native of l'Acadie, aged 72. They have with them Jean Baptiste Douaron, their grandson, native of l'Acadie, aged 17. And in stock were two cows with their calves. The land upon which they are settled is situated as in the preceding cases. It was given to them verbally by Monsieur de Bonnaventure. On it, they have made a clearing for the sowing of twelve bushels of grain in the coming spring.

6. ↑ Arsenault, Georges, "The Acadians Of Prince Edward Island." [online] Acadian Home. Available at: http://www.acadian-home.org/Georges-Arsenault-pen.html Accessed 4 June 2020.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} White, Stephen A., Patrice Gallant, and Hector-J Hébert. Dictionnaire Généalogique Des Familles Acadiennes. Moncton, N.-B.: Centre D'études Acadiennes, Université De Moncton, 1999, Print. p. 520-521

   Nous comptons Noël Doiron, son épouse, cinq de leurs enfants, plus de trente de leurs petits-enfants parmi les familles acadiennes de l'île St-Jean disparues sans aucune trace après 1758. Après une étude approfondie du sujet, nous sommes porté à croire que Noël Doiron était le vieux chef des Acadiens de La Pointe Prime mentionné (mais pas nommé) dans le récit du capitaine Nicholls concernant le naufrage du Duke William (SHA vol II, p. 291). Selon ce récit, le vieux chef et toute sa famille ont péri lorsque le vaisseau a sombré en mer (voir ibid p. 286-299) (Google translation: Noël Doiron, his wife, five of their children, and more than thirty of their grandchildren were among the Acadian families of Île St-Jean who disappeared without a trace after 1758. After an in-depth study, we are led to believe that Noël Doiron was the old leader of the Acadians of La Pointe Prime mentioned (but not named) in Captain Nicholls' account of the sinking of the Duke William (SHA vol. II, p. 291). According to this account, the old leader and all his family perished when the vessel sank at sea (see ibid., p. 286-299))

8. ↑ Clarence J. d'Entremont, "The Sinking of the Duke William and of the Violet Taking Acadians Into Exile", Musée des Acadiens des Pubnicos, published in Yarmouth Vanguard, Tuesday, April 3, 1990, https://www.museeacadien.ca/post/66-the-sinking-of-the-duke-william-and-of-the-violet-taking-the-acadians-into-exile
9. ↑ Paul Delaney, Chronologie des déportations et migrations des Acadiens (1755-1816). Les Cahiers de la Société historique acadienne, vol. 36, nos. 2-3, septembre 2005, p. 52-86. https://societehistoriqueacadienne.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/3602_total.pdf
   Translation at Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home Translation: "The Chronology of Deportations and Migrations of the Acadians 1755-1816."
10. ↑ Wikipedia:Duke William (ship)

See also:

• http://www.nosorigines.qc.ca/GenealogieQuebec.aspx?:genealogy=Doiron_Noel&pid=86750&lng=en Nos origines
• S. Scott and T. Scott, "Noel Doiron and the East Hants Acadians" Archived 2011-07-02 at the Wayback Machine, Journal of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society, Vol. 11, 2008