Marie Lorgueil
The Project
In 1654, a young French woman named Marie d'Orgueil crossed the Atlantic Ocean to begin a new life in New France. She told colonial officials she was 16 years old. She was actually 20.
This strategic deception—and its discovery through rigorous genealogical research—opens a window into the life of an extraordinary ordinary woman. From her 1634 baptism in Bordeaux, France, to her 1700 burial near Montreal, and continuing through her children's legal lives until 1738, we have assembled more than 50 documents—anchored to a full family reconstruction—that trace Marie's complete life and the family that outlived her.
This documentary biography applies BCG (Board for Certification of Genealogists) standards to transform genealogical research into narrative history. Each episode examines a phase of Marie's life—and her family's later story—through the lens of primary source evidence, demonstrating how systematic research can recover complete lives from the archival record while being honest about where the record falls silent.
Marie Lorgueil was not famous. She held no office and wrote no books. But her fully documented life offers a rare, near-continuous view of an ordinary seventeenth-century woman—immigrant, wife, mother, widow—recovered end to end. And across two generations, her family turned to the colonial courts again and again, leaving a legal record unusually rich for people of their station.
Marie's Life & Legacy at a Glance
- 1634 Born in Bordeaux, France, to Pierre d'Orgueil and Marie Bruelle
- 1654 Immigrated to New France; married Toussaint Hunault at Notre-Dame de Montréal
- 1655–76 Bore 10 children over 21 years; most lived to adulthood, a strong survival record for the era
- 1666 Enumerated in the Royal Census with her husband and children
- 1690 Widowed when her husband was killed by a Marine officer, Dumont de Blaignac
- 1690 Ceded the family's right to sue his killer to a merchant for 520 livres—strategic survival
- 1700 Died near Montreal (Varennes) at approximately age 66
- 1738 Franoise, near 70, sought legal separation from her husband—family's legal life continued
The Episodes
How One Deed Documents a Widow’s Legal Standing
The episodes tell Marie’s story. The case study shows the work behind it.
At the heart of the series is a single notarial act of 1690—the deed by which Marie Lorgueil sold the right to sue her husband’s killer. The companion case study reads that document phrase by phrase, applies the Board for Certification of Genealogists’ proof standard, and makes the argument the narrative only gestures at: that colonial law recognized a habitant widow’s legal standing against a nobleman, even as it ensured she could not win.
View the Primary Sources
See the actual documents that tell Marie's story—baptism records, marriage registers, census pages, murder case documents, and court records spanning more than a century of the family's history.
Explore the Document GalleryMethodology
This documentary biography applies the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) as defined by the Board for Certification of Genealogists. Each episode includes:
Part I: The Narrative — Readable storytelling for general audiences, presenting Marie's life as continuous history rather than disconnected facts.
Part II: Evidence Analysis — Systematic evaluation of primary sources following GPS requirements: exhaustive research, complete citations, evidence analysis, conflict resolution, and sound conclusions.
Part III: Source Citations — Complete documentation sufficient for independent verification, including repository information, collection identifiers, and access details.
Documentary Evidence Gallery — Each episode includes images of primary source documents with transcriptions, translations, and analytical notes.
This hybrid structure separates storytelling from scholarship while keeping both accessible. Readers can engage with Marie's story at whatever level of detail they prefer.
Research Credits
Gilles Brassard — Located Marie's baptism record in Archives Bordeaux Métropole (January 2023), correcting a 4-year age error that would have distorted her entire chronology.
Peter Gagne — Research compilation providing early leads to the 1690 cession, legal case references, and other primary sources, since verified against the original notarial acts.
Generations of Quebec genealogists — Indexing, transcription, and digitization work that made these records accessible.
Storyline Genealogy — Documentary biography research, writing, and BCG-compliant evidence analysis.
Want This Level of Research for Your Family?
Storyline Genealogy specializes in transforming genealogical research into compelling family narratives. From Irish and French-Canadian heritage to Philippine ancestry, we bring the same documentary rigor to every project.
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