Perche-Quebec

a common history

Lever de soleil brumeux entre Fontaine-simon et La Loupe (Paysages du Perche) © 2015 Didier Leplat

Île d'Orleans (Quebec) © 2014 perche-quebec.com

Even if the Percherons represent only 4% of the French immigrants to Canada in the 17th and the 18th centuries, most of the French-Canadians have Percheron blood.

perche-quebec.com describes the adventure of those immigrants to Quebec coming from Perche who were one of the first to settle in Quebec in the 17th century. They had a prolific descent. The families with more than ten children were very frequent.

Through the genealogies of famous descendants of those Percherons Celine Dion, Madonna, Justin Trudeau, Hillary Clinton, Jim Carrey, Queen Camilla, Jack Kerouac, Angelina Jolie, discover the close tie that links Perche and Quebec.

Madonna

Her two maternal grandparents are direct descendants of Julien Fortin

Celine Dion

The Canadian star is a direct descendant of the pioneer Jean Guyon

Justin Trudeau

The Percheron pioneer Zacharie Cloutier is one ancestor of the Prime Minister of Canada

Hillary Clinton

The former First Lady of the United States has several Percheron emigrants in her ancestry

Queen Camilla

Zacharie Cloutier and Jean Guyon are ancestors of Her Majesty The Queen

Ryan Gosling

A descendant of Jean Gagnon and Simon Lereau

Jim Carrey

A descendant of Zacharie Cloutier

Angelina jolie

A descendant of Zacharie Cloutier

Justin Bieber

60 Percheron pioneer ancestors

Stephane Dion

The Canada’s Ambassador to France is a direct descendant of the pioneer Jean Guyon

23 surnames of Percheron pioneers
in the first 100 surnames of Quebec today

A study by the Quebec Institute of Statistics published in 2006 reveals a strong presence of percheron pioneer names in the top 100 surnames in Quebec today, including two in the top three. Tremblay is today the most common surname in Quebec, used by about 81,500 people, all descendants of Pierre Tremblay, the only Tremblay pioneer from France. In the second position, another percheron name, Gagnon, is used by 59,800 Quebecers.

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Tremblay

Museum of French Emigration to Canada

One house, many roots

La Maison de l'Emigration française au Canada (Museum of French Emigration to Canada) is an illustration of the special historical ties between Canada and France. It is located at Tourouvre, in Perche. It opened to the public on October 1st 2006.

Discoveries and research

A place of memory, the museum aims at developing links between the French - whether they are from the Perche or elsewhere - and their descendants from North America, through exhibitions, meetings, genealogical exchanges, cultural events and activities for young people. Visitors will find information of a demographic and genealogical data to reconstruct the history and better understand the social and individual context of French emigrants who have left their country to build a new one.