"Laurent de Soly, nephew of King Ferdinand VI of Spain, was born in Spain in 1721, near the French border. He married Marie Deligni about the time of King Ferdinand's
accession (1746), but she died shortly afterward. [Note: They married in 1770 not 1746.]
Laurent was banished from the country when he disagreed with the new policies of the King, one of the Bourbons, described as "anxious-minded and weakly" but who,nevertheless, instigated a period of reform in Spain and started the country on a career of prosperity.
Laurent went to Canada, settled at St. Charles du Richelieu, Quebec, where he married Marie Clemence Guiette, a native [in 1771]. A son, Pierre, was born in 1784. Pierre
married and had fourteen children, among them Marguerite de Soly. In 1760 the King died, and Laurent, who would have been welcomed by the new King, Charles III, was persuaded by his wife not to return.
The name Soly is Spanish and refers to the sun. There is a parish in the Asturias region of Spain called Solis (Corvera). It is not near the French border. Variations of the name are Saulie, Sauly, Solly, Soli and de Solis. It was a surprise to learn of his four other marriages and many children.Laurent's wife burned the deed to the baronial estate when he attempted to return, twenty years later, at the instance (sic) of a French priest, to claim his lands. [note: This wife would have been our ancestor Marie Clemence Guiette. [I have always loved this part about burning the deed.] In St. Charles du Richelieu, both Laurent and Pierre were known as 'L'Espagnol.'"
Here are the facts that we have so far with the help of Stephen A. White, author of Genealogy Dictionary of Acadian Families:
Laurent came to Nova Scotia, Canada (Ft. Louisbourg) before December 1744. According to the 1752 Ill Royale Census, he originated from Spain. No records have so far been located to confirm or deny that claim of origin. Laurent was part of a Swiss regiment (Karrer) station at Ft. Louisbourg, Acadia, Canada.
Laurent Soly, his first wife, Jeanne Lécuyer, and their four children were deported from île Royale to France in the fall of 1758. The youngest of their children, Rose-Françoise, died shortly after their arrival at La Rochelle [France]. The family then went to Rochefort, where Jeanne Lécuyer herself died on August 10, 1759. She was buried in the cemetery of St-Louis parish there the following day.
We do not know what became of the three other children from Laurent Soly's first marriage. They may all have died young, like their little two-year-old sister, as their names do not appear on the lists of refugees from île Royale at La Rochelle in 1761 or 1762. It might also be that they were placed with relatives, while their father returned to North America. There is nothing that might suggest that they went back to New France with him.
As a widower, Laurent Soly was free to remarry Théodose Girouard in 1760, (the young widow of Pierre Arseneault). No record of Théodose Girouard's death has been found. It appears that she must have died soon after her second marriage. There were no children of this marriage.
Laurent Soly and his first wife, Jeanne-Françoise Lécuyer, had four children:
1. Antoine-Thomas, born about 1750
2. Laurent, born about 1752
3. Marie-Françoise, born in Louisbourg 1754
4. Rose-Françoise, born in Louisbourg 1756; buried St-Nicolas de La Rochelle, France 1758
Laurent Soly's third marriage is to Marie-Charlotte Guyon (Dion) in 1765. She died in 1769. They had two children who both died young:
5. Marie-Charlotte, born Québec Nov. 1765; died Québec 1769, aged 4 years.
6. Marie, born Québec Sept. 1768; died Chambly Feb. 1774, aged 5 years.
6. Marie, born Québec Sept. 1768; died Chambly Feb. 1774, aged 5 years.
Laurent Soly and his fourth wife, Marie Déligny, had twin boys who died at birth. She died a week later.
7 and 8. Unbaptized twin sons, buried St-Charles-sur-Richelieu on March 26, 1771.
Laurent Soly's fifth marriage was to Marie-Clémence Guillet dit Saint-Mars in 1771. At least seven children were born to this marriage:
9. Marie-Clémence, born Chambly April 1772; buried Chambly December 1774
10. Laurent, born Chambly 1773; buried Chambly 1773, aged 1 month
11. Josèphe-Clémence, born Kamouraska November 1775
12. Marie-Euphrosine, born Kamouraska April 1777
13. Marie-Angélique, no baptismal record found, but probably 1779
14. Marie-Rosalie, born Kamouraska March 1781
15. Pierre Laurent, born Kamouraska June 1784
Laurent Soly moved back to St-Charles-sur-Richelieu around 1785, and he died there at the beginning of 1786. He left a thirty-five-year-old widow with at least four, and possibly five, of their young children, and perhaps as many as three adult children from an earlier marriage. Our ancestor, Pierre Laurent, was the youngest and was only 12 when he lost his father. Laurent outlived four other wives, and at least seven (and possibly as many as eleven) of his fifteen children. No one can say that he had lived a life free of troubles considering his living through the last siege of Louisbourg, his deportation in 1758 as well as his presence at the Battle of Restigouche in 1760.
No record of his "royal" birth has yet been found. We continue to look for his birth record and expect to find it in the future when more Spanish records come available. I did find a Dona Isabel de Solis, Queen of Granada. Hmm . . . [See map of Laurent Soly's travels]
No comments:
Post a Comment