Jacques-René Gaultier de Varennes

Jacques-René Gaultier de Varennes
DeVarennes
Born	1677-10-02 New France
Died	1757-07-27 Montreal, New France
Occupation	Officer in colonial regular troops; fur trader
Father	René Gaultier de Varennes
Mother	Marie Boucher
Partner	Marie-Jeanne Le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène
Siblings	Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de la Vérendrye

Jacques-René Gaultier de Varennes (baptized (1677-10-02)2 October 1677 – 27 July 1757(1757-07-27) (aged 79)), also known as DeVarennes, was an officer in the colonial regular troops of New France who served as commandant at Kaministiquia (present-day Thunder Bay) from 1726 to 1729.

Early life and military career

Born into a prominent colonial family on 2 October 1677, Jacques-René was the son of René Gaultier de Varennes, governor of Trois-Rivières, and Marie Boucher. He began his military service as a cadet at the age of thirteen, taking part in the defence of Quebec against the English fleet under William Phips in 1690.

He served through the War of the League of Augsburg and the War of the Spanish Succession, receiving his commission as ensign in 1704 and promotion to lieutenant in 1710.

A breach-of-promise dispute preceded his marriage. In 1709, Jacques-René had pledged to wed Marie-Marguerite-Renée Robinau de Bécancour, under a penalty of 6,000 livres if he withdrew. When he retracted the promise, citing his parents' refusal of consent, Pierre Robinau de Bécancour obtained a court order against him. Jacques-René appealed to the Conseil Supérieur in 1712, arguing the engagement had not been mutual; the court reduced the penalty to 3,000 livres. A few days after that ruling he married Marie-Jeanne Le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène, daughter of Jacques Le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène, on 7 August 1712.

With the death of his elder brother Louis Gaultier de Varennes in 1706 or 1707, Jacques-René became the eldest son and assumed responsibility for supporting his widowed mother, three widowed sisters, and their children. The family's seigneurial holdings were modest in income.

Command at Kaministiquia

In 1726, Charles Le Moyne, Baron de Longueuil, who was then serving as interim governor of New France and was Jacques-René's wife's uncle, appointed him commandant at Kaministiquia — the French post at the head of Lake Superior that stood on the site of present-day Thunder Bay, Ontario. Jacques-René held this posting for three years, exploiting the fur trade there by entering into partnerships with Montreal merchants between 1726 and 1728 and borrowing money to finance the enterprise.

In 1727, his younger brother Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye joined the Kaministiquia commercial partnership, an association that launched La Vérendrye's celebrated career of western exploration.

In 1728, at the age of fifty-one, Jacques-René took part in his final military campaign, joining the expedition under Constant Le Marchand de Lignery against the Fox Nation.

Later career and disgrace

After returning to the Montreal garrison, Jacques-René was promoted to captain in 1736, a rank conferred in recognition of a distinguished service record that was praised for moral conduct and loyalty to the crown.

His career unravelled in 1743. Serving as captain of the guard in Montreal, he refused to provide troops when the court ushers requested military assistance to arrest his brother-in-law Timothy Sullivan (known in French records as Timothée Silvain), the king's physician, in a suit brought by Jacques-Joseph Guiton de Monrepos, lieutenant general of Montreal. Monrepos had made himself widely unpopular through his aggressive claims to ceremonial honours, and the Montreal officer corps broadly resented him. Jacques-René's refusal drew support from many of his fellow officers.

The family's relationship with Sullivan had long been strained — the Gaultier de Varennes family had opposed his marriage to Marie-Renée Gaultier de Varennes and in 1738 had commenced a legal separation proceeding against him on account of his mistreatment of his wife. In 1743 Jacques-René may have acted out of family solidarity as much as professional grievance. Gilles Hocquart, the intendant, thought Monrepos had shown poor judgment in pursuing a man with such influential connections.

The minister of marine, Maurepas, decided to use the case as an example to curb what he viewed as habitual insubordination among Canadian officers. Despite intercessions by Governor Beauharnois, Intendant Hocquart, and Bishop Henri-Marie Dubreil de Pontbriand, Jacques-René was dismissed and stripped of his commission. Under the subsequent governor, La Jonquière, and a new minister, Rouillé, his attempts to be reinstated failed. He spent the remaining years of his life in poverty, dwelling on the disgrace that had, in his own words, reduced him "to the level of ordinary individuals in the colony."

Death

Jacques-René Gaultier de Varennes died on 27 July 1757 in Montreal and was buried the following day. His wife Marie-Jeanne Le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène survived him by only ten days.

Their son Jean-Hippolyte Gaultier de Varennes (born 7 September 1717) later married Charlotte-Louise-Angélique Sarrazin in 1746 and perished in the shipwreck of the Auguste on 15 November 1761 while en route to France. Their son René Gaultier de Varennes (born 27 April 1720) served as an ensign at Île Royale from 1750 to 1757 and was wounded at the Battle of Sainte-Foy, dying of his wounds on 29 April 1760.

External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography