Descendants of Jean-Baptiste Briand
Introducing a new project on the descendants of Jean-Baptiste Briand 1681-1761: Descendants_of_Jean-Baptiste_Briand
Here listed is the on-going list of descendants of: Jean-Baptiste Briand.
From, The Family Briand dit Sansregret by Susan L. Pombrio
My ancestor, Jean-Baptiste Briand Dit Sansregret, was born over 300 years ago in France, on February 12, 1681, the son of Jean-Baptiste Briand and Marie-Anne Labrande. I do not know the year that he arrived in New France, since there is no record of ship passengers during that time period. However, it is believed that he disembarked around 1717 in Québec City.
After the war (1701-1714) of the Spanish Succession many peasants rioted in the streets, "the value of gold went up, that of agricultural and manufacturing products down, incomes shrank, commerce slowed and poverty worsened" (Bernier 32). The life of a peasant in France was hard and some looked to New France for a better life. Jean-Baptiste most likely set sail in the early spring from the port of La Rochelle. He was originally from the parish of Nanteuil, diocese of Angouleme, France; which today is noted for salt marshes and the production of mussels and oysters. Prior to the war, only a few vessels visited Quebec per year, but these were prosperous times for the colony, and by the early 1700s as many as twenty-five ships arrived (Zoltvany 174).
Compagnies Franches de la Marine
There are numerous men who established themselves in New France who were part of the military, but NOT part of the Carignan-Salières regiment. They were part of the Compagnies Franches de la Marine, ie soldiers assigned to a ship, in modern day parlance, marines. Per this document, there were 28 such companies assigned to New France, comprised of about 50 men each. They were here long after the Carignan-Salières regiment went back to Europe. Jean-Baptiste Briand was one of these men he was in cie de Repentigny: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Marine_Companies_to_New_France
“He enlisted as a soldier in one of the marine companies and was sent to New France to protect the town of Montreal against the attacks of the Iroquois. He found himself in the Repentigny company, under the orders of Sieur de Repentigny, and was stationed at ... Repentigny. Although the official reason for the presence of the troops was the defense of Montreal, the real reason was especially to guarantee the accessibility of furs in New France ... Let's not forget that at the time the Iroquois were in strategic alliances with the Dutch and the English. The so-called Dutchmen and English armed the Iroquois, who attacked the inhabitants of New France as well as the tribes who traded with them and brought back their booty, consisting mostly of furs, to the English and the Dutch. The war that the troops (like that of my ancestor) led was mainly an economic war. The fur trade, which was so lucrative for some affluent goods of the time, was not to fall into the hands of the English or the Dutch” (Félix Benoit).
(Note: Corrected text translated from Félix Benoit, each marine company was 50 men, hardly a regiment.)