de Ste-Marie de Galice, diocèse de Burgos, Espagne

from http://www.robidou.org/3/miscellaneous1.htm

THE FIRST ROBIDOU, LE PREMIERE ROBIDOU

Not much is known of our ancestor, Andre Robidou dit L’Espagnol, but we do know that in the 1666 census of Quebec, or New France, as it was known then, he lists his age as “26 years” and his birthplace as Burgos, Spain. His father was Maunel or Emmanuel Robidou and his mother Catherine Alve or Alue. His occupation was listed as “matelot” or sailor. The previous census of Quebec was so badly taken, Andre was missed entirely. Though we do not have a specific date for his birth, it is estimated he was born sometime around 1640 or later. Unfortunately, many attempts have been made to locate his birth record in Burgos, but nothing has been found to date.

In 1667 he contracted for a marriage to Jeanne Denote, a “fille de Roi” and they were married June 07, 1667 in Quebec. They had five children: Romaine, b. July 11, 1669, Marguerite, b. November 10, 1671, Jeanne, b. September 20, 1673, Guillaume, b. November 28, 1675, and Joseph, b. January 15, 1678. After his marriage, Andre settled in LaPrairie., Quebec. He was employed by Eustache Lambert, a prominent land owner.

All of Andre’s descendants can be traced from three of his children, Jeanne, Guillaume and Joseph. The harshness of life in a new country is no more evident than in the the tragic story of Jeanne and Andre’s life. We do not know the reason, but Andre died at the age of 35 years, April 1, 1678 and was buried in Montreal. His death is recorded in the parish register as the fifth entry for the year 1678, and states simply “A este entterre Andre, dit L’espagnol, notlhabitant de laprairie de la Magdelgne, age de trente cinq ans ou environ prei chez Monsieur Fomblanch, Chirugine” (The first day of April 1678, Andre., called the Spaniard, a resident of LaPrairie de Madelaine, age 35 years approximately, is being laid out at Mister Fomblanch, Surgeon) At the time of his death, his youngest son, Joseph, was three months old. With no recourse but to re-marry to provide for her family, the oldest child of which was nine, Jeanne married Jacques Suprenant on August 16, 1678., and became the founding mother of not one, but two of Canada’s largest families.

All Robidoux’s, regardless of the spelling, are descendants of Andre, and we know this because history records his surname as being unique in the records of arrivals in New France. Today, the Robidoux family can be found all over Canada and the United States, and numbers In the thousands.