Bouchez History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

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• France

Early Origins of the Bouchez family

Early History of the Bouchez family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bouchez research. Another 227 words (16 lines of text) covering the years 1100, 1304, 1506, 1551, 1622, 1635, 1644, 1670, 1703, 1717, 1770, 1787, 1788, 1789, 1806, 1820, 1844, 1861 and 1868 are included under the topic Early Bouchez History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bouchez Spelling Variations

Throughout the course of history most surnames have undergone changes for many reasons. During the early development of the French language, a son and father may not have chosen to spell their name the same way. Many are simple spelling changes by a person who gave his name, phonetically, to a scribe, priest, or recorder. Many names held prefixes or suffixes which became optional as they passed through the centuries, or were adopted by different branches to signify either a political or religious adherence. Hence, we have many spelling variations of this name, Bouchez some of which are Boucher, Bouche, Bouchez, Bouchais, Bouchay, le Boucher, de Boucher and many more.

Early Notables of the Bouchez family

Notable amongst the family at this time was Jean Boucher, Rector of the University and Vicar of St-Benoît, French naturalist; and Pierre Boucher de Boucherville (1622-1717) who went to Canada from France in 1635 with his father; at the age of 18, he entered the services of the Jesuits and spent 4 years with the Huron missions at Georgian Bay (see Sainte-Marie among the Hurons). He was the first Canadian settler to be ennobled by King Louis XIV and died at his eponymous Boucherville, New France at the age of 95. Alexandre Jean Boucher, was a well-known French violinist, was born...
Another 115 words (8 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bouchez Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bouchez Ranking

In France, the name Bouchez is the 806^th most popular surname with an estimated 6,262 people with that name. 4

Migration of the Bouchez family

French settlers came early to North American, following in the wake of the explorers, and creating New France. Quebec City, founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain is said to have been the first American site founded as a permanent settlement, rather than as just a commercial outpost. But emigration was slow, in 1643, 109 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 French people in Quebec, and by 1663, when the region was officially made The Royal Colony of New France, by Louis XIV, there still only around 500 settlers. Over 2,000 would arrive during the next decade. Early marriage was desperately encouraged amongst the immigrants. Youths of 18 took fourteen-year-old girls for their wives. The fur trade was developed and attracted immigrants, both noble and commoner from France. By 1675, there were around 7000 French in the colony, and by that same year 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. Despite the loss of the Colony to England, the French people flourished in Lower Canada. Among settlers to North America of the Bouchez surname were Andrew Boucher settled in Virginia in 1650; Jerreard Boucher settled in Barbados with his servants in 1680; Elizabeth Boucher settled in Rappahannock, Virginia, in 1728.