November 22, 2010:

Hi,
 
I was wondering if viewing the records for St Mary's RC Church (Bayswater) was something that any of you had 
fairly easy access to?  I am in Australia and it is a bit hard to follow up on some things. I am trying to 
find out any Villeneuve entries in the log that might give me some idea of who Henry Villeneuve b. about 
1833-34 might be or any other interesting Villeneuve info.  Appreciate any ideas you might have.
 
Regards,
Tanya
____________________________

Hi Tanya;
 
I wasn't able to find any sign of your Henry Villeneuve in St Mary's Bayswater records.  It would help if you gave 
us a little more information such the name of his wife if you know that, or that of any of his childrten.  
You must know more than what you wrote since you know his approximate birth date.  I have at least three Ottawa area 
Henry or Honoré Villeneuve's in my files. 
 
Frank Watters
____________________________

Good morning, Tanya and Frank:
 
Here is a Henry Villeneuve in the records of St. Philip’s RC Church at Richmond (now part of the City of Ottawa).
However, these records are from before St. Mary’s at Bayswater was built.
 
12 December 1858 
Baptism of Isaac, born 10 June last of the lawful marriage of Henry Villeneuve and Eliza Chapman (Chapman’s Mills). 
The sponsors were William and Esther Dempsey. 

5 July  1861
Baptism of William Henry, born 6th January last of the lawful marriage of Henry Villeneuve and Elizabeth Chapman.
The sponsors were Elias Villeneuve and Sophia Villeneuve. 

There was also another early Villeneuve family at St. Philip`s Church. Benoni Villeneuve and  Matilda Dubreuille had this 
record of a baptism in 1847: 

6 September 1847 
Baptism of Joseph, born the 8th August same year, legitimate son of Benoni Villeneuve and of Matilda Dubreuille. 
The sponsors were Henry Barbeau and Adelphine Barbeau. 

I think that there may also be information in the records of the two St. Patricks churches. St. Patrick`s at Fallowfield
is not far from the church at Richmond.

Also, the folks who moved into the Bayswater area performed their church functions at St. Patrick`s downtown, before 
St. Mary`s was built, I think. 

... Al Lewis
___________________________

Thanks to Frank for the following in-depth research regarding the Villeneuve and Dubruille ancestors:

Hi Tanya;
 
I'm convinced that Henry was the son of Vincent Benoni Villeneuve and Mathilde/Matilda Dubreuil.
 
This is a complicated file and there is still a faint possibility that what I'm going to write is not correct because 
we are missing the Villeneuve-Chapman marriage - I think it was in an Anglican Church in or near Ottawa since 
Elizabeth was Church of England).  Don't know if those records still exist.  Al Lewis might know.
 
Below is what I had.  I updated some of it over the last week, and spent many more hours searching, but some census 
data are missing - don't know what happened to one of the couples (Henry's father and his second wife) as you'll 
see later.  I spent more time on other ramifications.
 
The Villeneuve family is related through my Whalen family, one of my grgrandmother's nieces having married a Villeneuve  
(Margaret Peggy Whalen' niece.  Peggy was married to Peter Watters my grgrandfather) and thru the Teevens family 
(my grandfather Watters' twin sister Mary Elizabeth Watters was married to a Teevens).
 
One of he earliest Villeneuve's in the Ottawa area was Benoni Villeneuve.  By coincidence, Benoni was also related to me 
through the Cholet / Cholette family as his grandmother was a Cholet.  My maternal grgrandmother was Marie Cholet from 
St-Polycarpe - same first ancestor. 
 
Benoni Villeneuve married Margaret Dubreuil in Notre Dame, Ottawa on 18 July 1836.  They were both from Bytown.  
The parents were not listed, but the witnesses were Anthony, Joseph and LaRose (sic) Dubreuil.  They were siblings 
of Margaret whose baptismal name was Mathilde and which was the name recorded at the baptisms of her children.  
 
The Villeneuve-Dubreuil couple had five children:
Honoré Villeneuve, born on 26 May 1837;
Marie-Philomène Villeneuve, born on 17 February 1839;
Edmond Villeneuve, born about 1843-1846;
Sophia Villeneuve, born on 8 August 1846, and;
Elizabeth Villeneuve born on 31 March 1850.
 
Honoré was baptised in Notre Dame, Ottawa; Marie-Philomène in Rigaud, Qc.; Edmond's baptism is missing;  Sophia and Elizabeth 
were baptised in St Phillip's, Richmond,  where the couple seem to have moved between 1839 and 1846.  Edmond always gave 
his date of birth as 1846 so I think he may have been named Alfred as will be seen later.
 
On 27 April 1852, Benoni. widower of Matilda Dubreuil, married Henriette Madore, d/o Francois Madore & Henriette Richer 
(Louveteau-dit-Richer).  Thus Mathilde/Matilda Dubreuil must have died between 31 March 1850, when Eliabeth was born, 
and 27 April 1852 when Benoni married Henriette Madore.
 
I checked the 1851 (1852) census for them in Carleton County (and then subsequently without identifying a location) and 
could not find Benoni nor any fo the children except Honoré who was enumerated as Henry, age 16, born in Lower Canada , 
living with his uncle Louis Dubrule/Dubreuil, his mother's brother, in Nepean,  (Louis Dubrule/Dubreuil was married to 
Ellen O'Connell).  Henriette Madore, 15, was still with her parents, also in Nepean.  I'm surprised I couldn't find any 
of the children, other than "Henry".  Even though Henry was baptised in Notre Dame, Ottawa, he was listed as being born 
in Lower Canada in the 1851 censuis.  So he might have been born in the Province of Quebec and baptised in Ottawa.  That 
has to be Honoré, as it was logical that if his mother was dead, and his father not yet remarried, that the childen might 
have been placed with relatives.  
 
In the 1861 census, I couldn't find Henry Villeneuve nor Sophia Villeneuve, but I did find the following children:
Alfred Villeneuve, 18, and Philomene Villeneuve, 23, both born in Upper Canada, both living with Alex. (sic) Lauzon, 
50, yrs old, born in Lower Canada, and his wife Margaret, age 69, also born in Lower Canada.  Alex. should really be 
Calixte Lauzon but he changed his name to Alex as Calixte may have been difficult to be understood in an English 
environment..  Calixte, born about 1800 in Terrebonne, Terrebonne County, Qc. married Marguerite Leduc, widow of 
Benoni Régis Villeneuve in Rigaud on June 23 1833.   Calixte was the witness at Benoni Villeneuve's wedding with 
Henriette Madore. 
 
I think Alfred must be the same as Edmond.  There is no record of an Alfred Villeneuve being born about 1845-1846 
in either Ontario or Quebec. 
 
Elizabeth Villeneuve, recorded as Isabel Villeneuve, age 11, born in Upper Canada (Elizabeth and Isabel were often 
interchanged at different church events) was living with the Toussaint & Hyppolite Langlois dit Traversy couple, 
both 62 yrs old, born in St Eustache.  I know this is the same Elziabeth as the one born to Benoni and Matilda 
Dubreuil because when Elizabeth Villeneuve, d/o Benoni & Matilda Dubreuil  married Jean Boudrias in Notre Dame, 
Ottawa on 25 April 1870, Toussaint was a witness at her wedding.  
 
No sign either of Benoni and Henriette Madore at any cenuses.  Disappeared completely.  I checked the US census records 
as well under all possible variants of Villeneuve, including Newton and Villemure/Villemaire.  But Henriette Madore, 
widow Vincent Villeneuve showed up in Ottawa in 1905 when she married the Elias Estay charactor.  Again, coincidence, 
this Estay character married Mary Ann Bernash, widow of John Albert (my grandmother's brother) in St Jean Baptiste, Ottawa.  
 
But that Madore-Estay wedding showed that Benoni was really Vincent Benoni and that he was indeed the son of Benoni 
Régis Villeneuve and Marguerite Leduc.  I found his baptism in Rigaud.  Until then I wasn't so sure.  And that 
showed that Algfred and Philomene Villeneuve were living with thei grandmother and her second husband, Alex Calixte Lauzon.
 
Here's what I have on the Villeuve-Dubreuil children, siblings of Honoré/Henry:
Edmond Villeneuve married Anna Teevens in St Michael's church, Fitzroy Harbour on 15 May 1871.  He was married under the 
name Newton, and his parents were listed as William Newton and Matilda Dubris;
Sophia Villeneuve married Felix Martin-Bérubé in Notre Dame Ottawa on 11 July 1864, present were Joseph Beadoin & Octave 
Villeneuve (don't what happened to this couple after that);
Elizabeth Villeneuve married Jean Baudrias, also in Notre Dame, Ottawa on 25 April 1870 in the presence of Toussaint Travery 
& Alice O'Calaghan / O'Callahan.  That couple later moved to St-André-Avellin across the Ottawa River.
.
There are a lot of missing data in relation to this Villeneuve family;  
What happened to Vincent Benoni (as I now have him) and Henriette Madore between 1851 and 1905?  I found one child for this 
couple Marie Mathilde born in Ottawa on 4 February 1855, bapt. on Notre Dame church on 14 Fenruary 1855 with Andre 
Lecours and Lucie Roi as sponsors. Nothing on her later.
What happened to PhilomeneVilleneuve, born in 1839?   
In connection with the Henry Villeneuve-Elizabeth Chapman couple, there are three children for whom we don't have baptisms 
(the dates are taken off census data so could be out a little:
Sarah Mathilda, born about 1863-1864 (she married Hubert Tapp from the Gaspé in SJBO in 1887)
John Alfred, born about 1865, and;
Walter, born about 1866 - died in Fallowfield and was buried there in 1885.
 
As mentioned before, the Villeneuve-Madore family was not found anywhere in Ontario in the 1861 census.  Were they missed?  
Or did they move away for a short spell.  Since Elizabeth's parents were in Bruce County by then, I checked there as well.  
No sign of them.  
 
Let me know what you think. 
 
... Frank
P.S.  Not letting any stone unturned I have now discovered that Benoni Villeneuve probably died between 1855 and 1871 and 
that Henriette Madore and her daughter Marie Mathilde were probably living with Elias Estay by 1871.  Elias married Henriette 
in 1905 becuse his legal wife died in 1902.  The early death of Benoni, maybe even between 1855 and 1861, would explain 
why he never showed up at any of his children's weddings. 
__________________________

November 23, 2010:

Hi Al;
 
Ironically, just after I sent you and Tanya my email yesterday, I found that Benoni, shoemaker, and Henriette Madore had 
moved to the Pembroke area and that Marie Mathilde born in 1855 died in February 1858 (funeral in St Columbkill) and 
that they baptised another Marie Mathilde the following June 27, 1858, born on the 23rd.  But before that, they 
baptised Joseph Telesphore on 16 November 1856, born on 22 October 1855.  nothing after that.
 
But I still can't find the family in the 1861 census.
 
So it's apparent that Benoni left the young children he had with Matilda Dubreuil with relatives and friends either before 
or shortly after he married Madore.
 
There are quite a few Dubreuil's recorded in R.C. churches in and around Ottawa.  That name was originally Dubrule, but 
changed over the years to Dubreuil.  In some instances, even in the Quebec parishes, we find the name written Dubrulle, 
or Dubrule, or Dubreuil in connection with the same family, and by the same parish priest. Also it was anglicized in some
cases to Dubroy. 
 
I subscribe to the Drouin Collection through Ancestry.com, also to the PRDH and BMS2000.  It saves a lot of gas and parking 
as I don't have to go the Quebec Archives in Montreal as often as I used to.   Unfortunately, Drouin only has two pages for 
Corkery (1837) and doen't have Renfrew in its collection.  I might find more about Benoni in Renfrew. 
 
... Frank
_________________________________

Hi Al,
 
When I go to the bytown website I see some info that I am still not sure about.  It says that William "Henry" Villeneuve married 
Elizabeth Chapman and that Antoine and Isabelle are Henry's parents.  Do you know where does this info comes from?
 
... Tanya 
_________________________________

Hi Tanya and Frank:
 
The statement that “Antoine and Isabelle are Henry’s parents” comes from our Chapman page at www.bytown.net/chapmanjerard.htm 
and was supplied by Joy Carroll, a researcher of the Chapman and Villeneuve families.
I don’t know where she got that information, possibly info that was passed down through the family. Allen Craig, 
another contributor to our web site has sent in some family history of the Dubreuil family (see the June 16, 2009 
entry on our Patrick Dervin web page at www.bytown.net/dervin.htm). 
 
There are many interlocking connections among the descendants of the pioneer families in this area, and persons 
researching their own family, often discover connections to other local families, back in the 1800’s.
If you use the search engine at the bottom of each page to search for your surname of interest, you will see some of 
these interconnections. In general, in the original records, Roman Catholic families are easier to trace in the 1800’s 
than are Protestant families, especially Anglicans. The Anglicans do not allow their records to be microfilmed.
 
Frank is a very strong contributor to our web site. He is more familiar with sources for all these records than 
most of the researchers I know.
 
In Canada, we have a terrific resource called “the Drouin Collection” which was a major project of a man from Quebec, 
to microfilm all the French Canadian parishes in Quebec and Eastern Ontario. Fortunately for us, the Drouin Collection 
also covered some local RC Churches where the French-speaking families comprized a small number of French families, but
they included all of the English-speaking (mostly Irish) families as well. 
For example,most of the Ottawa area families have been microfilmed, and some of these churches had only a 
half-dozen French-speaking parishioners. Over time, most of these families became connected by marriage – 
French and English (and to a lesser extent, the Catholic and Protestant families). 
 
The Drouin collection is accessible at www.ancestry.com (you need a subscription – available for free at many libraries world-wide).
 
About 5 years ago, a librarian from Connecticut undertook to record all of the records for some specific 
churches which were attended by her ancestors, between about 1830 and 1900. She gave me a copy of her 
resulting work but asked me not to distribute it. It is her life’s work. However, she gave me permission 
to do look-ups in these registers, one of which is from St. Philip’s in Richmond.
 
Now, one of the other early churches was St. Michael’s at Corkery, about a fifteen minute drive today 
from St. Philip’s. This was the centre of an early Irish Catholic settlement in 1823 led by Peter Robinson. 

Frank, I have the records of this church on the web at www.bytown.net/huntdeat.htm (deaths which also includes the death of 
a Joseph Villeneuve in 1850). Births are at www.bytown.net/huntbirt.htm and marriages 
are at www.bytown.net/huntmarr.htm). Over the years, many of the families from both churches 
became inter-married, French and Irish Catholics. I met with the priest at this church about 8 years ago – he had just 
returned from a trip to Rome where he had shaken the hand of the Pope. He offered those Huntley records for our use 
for family histories on the internet.
 
Hope this answers some of your questions, Tanya.
 
My web site can be a bit messy due to all these interconnections. 
 
I have started a web page for your Villeneuve ancestors (www.bytown.net/villeneuve.htm)  and will add to it over the next 
few days, including the church records of Laura Chapman at St. Philip’s.
 
... Al


November 28, 2010:

Thanks to Tanya for this wonderful picture.
"This photograph is one of Andrew Milo (my grandfather) on left in front row.  
David Villeneuve his father is second in the back row.  Have other names if you need them."



Hi Al, 
This one is of David Villeneuve (third in back row and his brothers).  There is some confusion 
over the exact order of people in this picture.




 December 10, 2010:

Villeneuve - Chapman - Dubroy (Dubreuil) Connection

Here are the references to the Villeneuve and Chapmans in the records of St. Philip's Church at Richmond:
Source: Ellen Paul's Transcription 

28 May 1851 
Baptism of Charles, 1 April, legitimate son of Moyses Dubrueille and of Laury Chapman (Chapman's Mills). 
The sponsors were Charles Dubrulle and Mary O'Connell.

12 February 1853
Baptism of Albert, aged 4 mos., son of Moyses Dubreulle and Laurie Chapman. 
The sponsors were Thomas O'Grady and Henrietta Charlebois.

12 December 1858 
Baptism of Isaac, born 10 June last of the lawful marriage of Henry Villeneuve and Eliza Chapman 
The sponsors were William and Esther Dempsey.