Roi/Roy etc. Family Tree based on Independent Sources Rene Marie Louis Perrine Gillaume Marie Jean Francoise 13X Great Grandparents Boileau I Soussac Proulx Gascoing Quantin Lerbertiere Bougrault Argouges 1525- 1525- 1525- 1525- 1535- 1535- 1520-? 1515-? 12X Great Grandparents Rene Marie Andre Marguerite Boileau II Proulx Quantin Bougrault 1545- 1545- 1555- 1555- Rene Marthe Leonard Jeanne 11X Great Grandparents Boileau III Quantin Ferrand Portabise 1574-1644 1575- 1600- 1600- Rene Nova Scotia Archives: Joachine 10X Great Grandparents Nobility Boileau IV Seigneur de Pezamancodis Ferrand 1611- Burial 1705 1620- Nobility Rene Anne Jean Marguerite 9X Great Bergeron Dagaut or Serreau de Boileau Grandparents d’Amboise Dugas St-Aubin 1638-1705 1643-1700 1646-1710 1621-1705 Barthelemy Genevieve 8X Great Jean Roy Marie Dubois Bergeron Serreau de Grandparents 1651-1665 1665-? d’Ambroise St-Aubin Acadians 1663-1736 1667-1739 Jean Francois 7X Great Nova Scotia Marie Archives: Roy dit Josephe 1736 Census of Grandparents Marriage 1717 Laliberte Bergeron Point St. Anne 1692-1748 1697-1740 Nova Scotia Archives: Baptism Francois Roy Marguerite 1739 Census of 6X Great 1718-1763 Godereau Point St. Anne Grandparents 1720-1771 Marguerite 5X Great Alexis Roy Jeanson Grandparents 1745-1817 1749-1802 4X Great Isabelle Richard Joseph Roi Grandparents 1787-1867 1776-1842 3X Great Joseph Boucher Charlotte Roi (Roy) Grandparents 1800-1852 1812-1870 Julius Boucher Marie Denise Farly 2X Great Grandparents 1844-1926 1847-1935 Cousins Joseph Ambroise Marie Julia Farly 1X Great Grandparents Boucher 1879-1955 1865-1926 Gen 3 - Grandmother Valerie Marie Boucher Boerjan 1900-1995 - 1 - Our Noble Ancestry Background Amboise is one of the first settlements on the Loire River in France and is located in the Loire Valley, 35 kms from Tours and 250 kms southwest of Paris. Today a small market town, it was once home of the French royal court. It is famous for its royal castles. Many noteable people lived at Amboise, such as Charles VIII, King of France, born in 1470. Louis XI lived there as well. In 1516, Francois I invited the famous painter, Leonardo de Vinci, to stay there. The Château at Amboise was home to Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots, for much of her early life, as she was raised there at the French court of Henry II. She arrived in France from Scotland in 1548, aged 6, via the French king's favourite palace at Saint Germain en Laye near Paris, and remained in France until 1561, when she returned to her homeland as Queen. Our 9X paternal Great Grandparents, Rene Bergeron d’Amboise (1643), and Anne Dagaut (1646), were born in France. Rene was born at Chapelle, Florentine, Amboise. Anne was born at Tours, Indre-et-Loire. Chapelle, Florentine - 2 - Tours Also, our 9X maternal Great Grandparents, Jean Serreau de St-Aubin (1621) and Marguerite Boileau (1638), were also born in France, Jean at Loudun, Poitou-Charentes, France, and Marguerite at Orches, Poitou, France. The area south of Loudun is the place of origin of a significant portion of the Acadians, one of the early founding people of New France in Canada. Both the Bergerons and Serreaus were from noble families in France who had fallen on hard times. Porte du Martray in Loudun Orches, Poitou, France - 3 - History of the Amboises In the late 900s, Gelduin, the Lord of Saumur, moved from Saumur, between Angers and Tours, to a new chateau at Chaumont-sur-Loire, just upriver from Amboise. His son was the first to be called d'Amboise, supposedly after he incorporated the town of Amboise into his estates. The first seigneur of Amboise was an Angevin loyalist, Lisois I, living about the same time as Gelduin. Lisois' son married Denise de Chaumont, possibly the daughter or granddaughter of Gelduin, resulting in a long line of the d'Amboise family centered in both Amboise and Chaumont. They were nominally loyal to the Counts of Anjou, one of whom inherited the English throne, Henry II, and founded the Plantagenet dynasty in that country. It was at Chaumont that Henry II met for the last time with Archbishop Thomas à Becket, who was murdered shortly afterwards in his cathedral at Canterbury. The chateau at Chaumont was razed to the ground not long after. The Amboise clan grew in strength and stature throughout the ages. They married well, and inherited a number of other seigneuries and a chateau. They also rebuilt their original home. At least one of these Lords of Amboise (Seigneurs d'Amboise) died in one of the battles of the Hundred Years War. House of Amboise The family split in two, one line centered at Amboise, the other at Chaumont. In 1460, seven years after the end of the Hundred Years War, Pierre d'Amboise had 17 children, one of whom he named George. Some of George’s siblings became famous in French history. King Louis XI of France (1461-83) (he has a big nose) inherited a medieval realm and developed it into a national monarchy that lasted until the French Revolution of 1789. A new merchant class grew, which sheltered the growing bourgeoisie, and held the lords in check. The nobles did not care for the centralization of power that Louis XI was forging and in 1465 a number of them rebelled "for the good of the people." Pierre d'Amboise, who had fought for his country with Jeanne d'Arc at Orleans, participated in the rebellion. Louis regained control and took the chateau at - 4 - Chaumont away from d'Amboise, razed it to the ground, then returned the land to the family. However, the d'Amboise family was powerful enough not to simply accept this. Pierre began rebuilding his chateau the next year, and the work was continued by a son, Charles, and his grandson, Charles II. Of Pierre d'Amboise's 17 children, two sons (including Georges) became cardinals in the Catholic Church. Another was an architect and builder. A number of others were counselors to various kings. For being "petite noblesse" or minor aristocracy, this was a very influential family. At this time, the king owned the lands around the town of Amboise. He began the planning and building of a great chateau on a rocky spur of land jutting into the Loire River. It was designed to guard the bridgehead and the small town. The French King, Charles VIII (1483-98), was born at Amboise in 1470. It was he who built the Chapel of St. Hubert, originally as part of the chateau. He also had a big nose. Louis XII (1498-1515) continued building the structure at Amboise, and was responsible for building the Louis XII wing, six large double casements connected by a balcony of ironworks. He also continued the big nose. By now Georges d'Amboise, son of Pierre, was Georges, Cardinal d'Amboise. He became one of the most reliable advisors to Louis XII, and the king turned over many functions to him. In fact, when people asked the king to do something, he would reply: "Laissez faire à Georges" (Let George do it)! Francis I (1515-1547) continued work on the great chateau at Amboise. During his reign, Leonardo da Vinci finally came to live in France; he died at Amboise (at the Clos Lucé manor) as a guest of the king in 1519. Francis is supposedly buried in the Chapel of St-Hubert. He also continued the tradition of the big nose, although he looks very different from his forebears (almost Asian). - 5 - Eventually the great Amboise family had "four main branches" which consisted of the family at Amboise itself, those at Chaumont-sur-Loire (Pierre's and Georges' family), the famous branch at Bussy and another branch at Aubijoux. Sometime in the early 1500s, after the chateau of Chaumont was completed, the Amboise family lost their home for the final time. At that time, all of society was changing and the aristocracy was suffering a number of reversals The next century and a half were filled with wars, religious civil wars, and rebellions. During the French Wars of Religion, Catholics and Calvinists (the Huguenots or French Protestants) fought each other through eight civil wars from 1561 to 1598. During these terrible times a mass execution was carried out at the chateau of Amboise in 1560, after which the royal family rarely used the place. A horrible massacre again occurred on St. Bartholomew's Night (1572). The Valois dynasty in France ended, with the throne reverting to the Bourbon family (1594). Aside from massive political and religious movements, this period also saw economic influences the world had never seen before. The influx of gold and silver from the Americas changed everything. Significant amounts of silver, although worth less than gold, had reached Europe. For the first time in history, smaller, less valuable silver coins gave common people the chance to earn and save money. Common people with spendable cash caused unbelievable social change: the middle class (called the bourgeoisie in France) was born. All of this had a grave effect on the aristocracy. Tax structures were changing and peasants were leaving the land for cities, jobs, and a chance to live a better life. The aristocracy was suddenly unable to raise the money they had once collected from the peasants who worked on their land. The cost of horses, carriages, good cloth (not the woolens worn by the peasants), the great variety of foods, good wine, and all the necessary servants was tremendous. Between the new - 6 - economic phenomenon called inflation and their reduced income, it became extremely difficult for the nobles to run a chateau or a mansion in a manner that was expected.