9A0. I.

Nordfist had becn establishcd along ihe Rivière»du«Nord—Est (Hilisborough River) a year or two earlier v its church being in the prescrit Scotchfon. Father Perrormel had a presbytère, for in severai instances hc mentions conducting ceremonies theret [n this regard he was probany mon: comfortable than the priests or chaplains al Port-LaJoye who oiteit had to make do with quarters in the arca ot‘ the soldiers' barracks.

in 1755 Father Perronnel performed two baptisms invoiving families front Pointe— de-I'Est. From census records it is known that there wcre a few fishing families living near Pointe de l'Est from about I720 to l752. more specifically at North Lake which the French callcd Tranche Montagne. The register of Saint-Pierre— iiu-Nord indicates that they wcre still therc in 1755 and there is no reason to believe that they were not there right up to I758. Thus Tranche Montagne prcsumably shares with Port-Laloyc and Snint—Picrrc-dihNord the distinction of being places on thc island which had Frcnch rcsidcnts during thc wholc of the Franch rcgime from 1720 to 1758.

Fathcr Pcrronnel kcpt Saint—Louis-du- Nord-Est under his wing until thc arriva] of I‘athcr Pierre Cassict at that parish in 1753. irlowcvcr, Perronncl was forced to rctum to France in 1755 on account of ill health m both physical and mental.4 He was rcplaced by Jean Biscarret who scrvcd until thc British takeover, Father Bisearrct‘s iast cntry being on August 21, I758 four days aftcr Port-LaJoye capitulatcd to British forces. At Port Laloye, on thc other hand, it appcars that thc priest left that parish in May of I758 and entries in the register of that parish cease at that time.

LA PGYÜYC .OÜVIIAÜQ‘

This is no! howcver thc lut enuy in tbc registcr of Sainbi’ierre—du'Nord, On Septembcr 3 and 4, 1758 a buriai and two marriages were conductnd by Fathcr Girard. Curiously, thesc took place, not at Saint»?ierredu—Nord. but at Trois- Rivières, suggesting that by the close of the French regime this former French seulement again had a few settlers. lt bas been said that the priests hurriedly married people that fall, as their embarkment into British transports was imminent. Perhaps this was intcnded to prevent tbe separation of unmarried couples among differcnt transports or somehow conferrcd other advantages which would be beneflcial during the trip or upon arriva! in France. [n any event, these two marriage entries of Girard would suggest that there may be some truth to this legend. There may have been more such marriages, but under the chaotic conditions prevailing, it would not be surprising that they did not get recorded in thc register.

One of the things which is evident frorn the register is that cross—parish marriagcs were not uncommon, suggesting a fair degree of movement of people and social intercourse between parishes. The people of Saint-Pierre-du—Nord appear to have had a significant degree of communication with the parishioners of Malpec, despite the distance separating these two parishes. A considerahle number of baptisms and marn'ages involving settlers of Malpec may be found in the register of Saint-Pierredu— Nord.

Some names stand out as traquent witnesses or godparents at baptisms, marriagcs and funerals, suggesting that these individuals occupied a certain

M“ W " “ï? ÏΑÎEÎÊËÏëfiBÏëËÎäèËäËËÆΗde Marine. 23 déc I755. Rapport de l‘Archivim de la

Province de Québec. l937/38. p. '73.