Bourgois History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France

The early French language of the northwestern region known as Brittany (French: Bretagne) is the soil from which the many generations of the Bourgois family have grown. The name Bourgois was given to a member of the family who was a person known as a "freeman". The name Bourgois is derived from the French word "bourgeois", which in medieval times was used to refer to the "free-men" of a town. "Free-men" were those whose status was between the noble classes and the serfs, who were obligated to work the feudal estates of the lords.

Early Origins of the Bourgois family

The surname Bourgois was first found in Brittany, where the family first originated and maintained their status as one of the more distinguished families of the region.

Several family members figured amongst the nobles of Trégnier en 1437. The Lords of Auteville, Heauville, and Gruchy were all ennobled in 1507. The family prospered and branched out into other regions such as Quimperlé, receiving its title of nobility in 1711.

The family name of Bourgeois was later found in the sub-prefecture of Brest as well as in the region of Poitou where several members held the position of principal county magistrate. The patronymic Le Bourgeois was also registered in Normandy, giving its name to four prominent families that were ennobled in 1666 and in 1671. 1

Jacques Bourgeois, born in 1618, was a French surgeon that settled in the New World in the 17th century. He arrived in Acadia aboard the ship Aulnay in the year of 1642. A year after arriving in Canada he married Jeanne Trahan at Port-Royal in 1643. Jacques worked as a military doctor and is regarded as the founder of Beaubassin, originally an Acadian village that is now located in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. 2

Early History of the Bourgois family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bourgois research. Another 163 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1541, 1550, 1557, 1561, 1620, 1663, 1676, 1700, 1708, 1711, 1713, 1715, 1716, 1750, 1808, 1809, 1810, 1811, 1851, 1857, 1920, 1927 and 1945 are included under the topic Early Bourgois History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bourgois Spelling Variations

Changes of spelling have occurred in most surnames. The earliest explanation is that during the early development of the French language, names were not yet fixed in spelling. Usually a person gave his version of his name, phonetically, to a scribe, a priest, or a recorder. This depended on accent, and local accents frequently changed the spelling of a name. Some variables were adopted by different branches of the family name. Hence, there are some spelling variations of the name Bourgois, including Bourgeois, Bourgois, Bourgeoys, Bourgeot, Le Bourgeois, de Bourgeois, Bourjois, Bourgès, Bourgeix and many more.

Early Notables of the Bourgois family

Notable amongst this name at this time was Louis Bourgeois, a French writer on the theory of music, born in Paris in the beginning of the 16th century. He followed Calvin in 1541 to Geneva, where he was cantor of one of the churches, but quarrelled with the presbytery, who would not allow him to introduce a harmonised version of the Psalms in public worship. He threw up his post, and returned in 1557 to Paris, where he was still living in 1561, but after that date all trace of him is lost. His great work is 'Le droict chemin de...
Another 162 words (12 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bourgois Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bourgois Ranking

In France, the name Bourgois is the 1,248^th most popular surname with an estimated 4,507 people with that name. 3

Bourgois migration to the United States +

Approximately 110 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 people in Quebec. France gave land incentives for 2,000 migrants during the next decade. Early marriage was desperately encouraged amongst the immigrants. The fur trade attracted migrants, both noble and commoner. 15,000 explorers left Montreal in the late 17th and 18th centuries. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. Migration to New France (Quebec) continued from France until it fell in 1759. In the year 1675 the Acadian presence in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island had reached 500. In 1755, 10,000 French Acadians refused to take an oath of allegiance to England and were deported to Louisiana. The French founded Lower Canada, thus becoming one of the two great founding nations of Canada. The distinguished family name Bourgois has made significant contributions to the culture, arts, sciences and religion of France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Bourgois were

Bourgois Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Pierre Bourgois, who arrived in South Carolina in 1763 with his wife, Anne Aucoin
Rose Bourgois, 12, who settled in South Carolina in 1763
Abel Bourgois, who arrived in Connecticut in 1763 4
Catherine Bourgois, who landed in South Carolina in 1763 4
Charles Bourgois, who arrived in South Carolina in 1763 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bourgois migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Bourgois Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

E. Bourgois, aged 40, a gardener, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Woodlark" in 1874

Contemporary Notables of the name Bourgois (post 1700) +

Anna B. Bourgois, American politician, Independent Candidate for U.S. Senator from North Dakota, 1982, 1986 5

Citations +

Hozier, Charles D, and Antoine Bachelin-Delforenne. État présent De La Noblesse française (1883-1887): Contenant Le Distionnaire De La Noblesse Contemporaine Et Larmorial général De France, Dapres Les Manuscrits De Ch. D Hozier. Librairie Des Bibliophiles, 1884. Print.
Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 29) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html