Guillaume COUILLARD DE L'ESPINAY
Biography

ON AUGUST 26, 1621, Guillaume Couillard de Lespinay married in Quebec, Guillemette daughter of Louis Hébert. They had ten children, whose numerous descendants make him appear in the genealogy of almost every old Quebec family. He arrived in New France in 1613, 4 years before Louis Hébert. Couillard was therefore one of the first established inhabitants in the colony. After the death of Louis Hébert in 1627, Couillard raised him up in the culture of his lands, having inherited half of the heritage by his wife. In the same year, Champlain again granted Couillard, in his personal capacity, "one hundred arpents of land to desert and seed" on the banks of the Saint-Charles River. This colon had nearly 20 arpents in cultivation starting in 1632 and a flour mill in 1639. He had been the first to use the plow in the spring of 1628. In 1643, he was making lime for the Company of Hundred Associates. At the capture of Quebec in 1629, Guillaume Couillard's family was one of the few families who agreed to live with the occupants. After the return of the French, in 1632, Couillard continued to devote himself to the colony and to the general esteem; he participated in the defense against the Iroquois, frequently led ships between Quebec and Tadoussac, became marguillier of the parish, after giving part of his site for church reconstruction. Under the administration of Governor Jean de Lauson, he was enslaved by the king in December 1654, "in favor of services rendered to the country of Canada." Guillaume Couillard died in his home, on March 4, 1663, and was buried the next day in the chapel of Hotel-Dieu, in recognition of donations made by him to this institution. Three years later, his widow sold her house and a good part of her land to Mgr de Laval for the establishment of the Seminary in Quebec.

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