Individual Details

François Bourque (Bourg) Birth Date: c. 1688 – 1698 Death Date: January 17, 1771

The Odyssey of François Bourque: An Acadian StoryEarly Life in Colonial Acadie (c. 1688–1716)

The story of François Bourque (spelled Bourg in historic French records) begins in the vibrant French-culture colony of Acadie (present-day Nova Scotia) during the late 17th century. Born to Martin Bourg and Marie Potet, François grew up in a frontier region shaped by generations of French settlers who had carved out self-sustaining agricultural communities along the Bay of Fundy.

Historical censuses from Port-Royal record François as a child growing up on his family's farm alongside seven siblings. As young Acadians reached adulthood, many moved eastward along the Minas Basin. François relocated to Cobequid (modern-day Masstown near Truro, Nova Scotia), where he established himself in the fertile agricultural settlement.
Marriage and Family Life in Cobequid (1717–1750s)

In 1717, François married Madeleine Hébert, the daughter of Michel Hébert and Isabelle Pellerin from Grand-Pré. Together, François and Madeleine raised a large family in Cobequid, farming the diked marshlands and living quietly as French-speaking Roman Catholic British subjects under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht.

During this era, genealogists note that several individuals with the name "François Bourg" lived in the same regions of Acadie. This François Bourg—husband of Madeleine Hébert—is specifically distinguished from a contemporary cousin of the same name who married Marguerite Hébert.

Escaping the Great Upheaval to Île Saint-Jean (1750–1758)

As imperial tensions between France and Great Britain escalated into the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War), the British government enforced the Grand Dérangement (the Great Upheaval) beginning in 1755, systematically deporting Acadians from their ancestral homelands.

To escape the British raids that destroyed Cobequid, François, Madeleine, and their children fled across the Strait of Canso to Île Saint-Jean (present-day Prince Edward Island), a French territory that served as a refuge for thousands of displaced Acadians. The family settled temporarily around Gaspereau, hoping to ride out the conflict.

The Tragic Atlantic Crossing and Loss at Sea (1758–1759)

In July 1758, the British captured the French fortress at Louisbourg, sealing the fate of Île Saint-Jean. British forces rounded up over 3,000 Acadians on the island for forced deportation back to Europe.

François, his wife Madeleine, and several of their adolescent and young adult children were forced aboard overcrowded British transport ships bound for France. The crossing during the winter of 1758–1759 proved catastrophic, marked by disease, shipwrecks, and harsh storms.

While anchored in the roadstead off Saint-Malo, Brittany, Madeleine Hébert succumbed to illness and died at sea ("décédée en rade"). On January 23, 1759, the surviving children—including Anselme (age 22), Alain (age 17), and Luce Perpétue (age 15)—disembarked at Saint-Malo, traumatized and orphaned from the voyage.

Detention, Loss, and Final Years in France (1759–1771)

François Bourg, approximately 70 years old at the time of the voyage, survived the dangerous crossing but arrived in France in a severely weakened state. He was admitted to the hospital at Saint-Malo for treatment alongside hundreds of other sick Acadian refugees. While some official passenger lists omitted his name on arrival due to his immediate transfer to medical care, local French records document that he spent his remaining years living as an exile in Brittany until his death on January 17, 1771.

The Second Migration and Louisiana Legacy (1785)

While François spent his final years in France, his surviving descendants became part of the next chapter of Acadian history. After 26 difficult years of exile in France, many Acadians accepted an offer from the Spanish Crown in 1785 to resettle in Spanish Colonial Louisiana.

Boarding seven transport ships arranged for the voyage, François's children and grandchildren—often referred to historically as the "Second Group" of Louisiana Acadian immigrants—settled along Bayou Lafourche in present-day Assumption, Lafourche, and Terrebonne Parishes. It was this group that built the enduring foundations of South Louisiana's Cajun culture.

References and Sources

•Breaux, Clarence T. (1992). The Ancestry of Certain Breaux, Broussard, Louviere, Barras, Bonin, Provost and Guilbeau Families of Louisiana, Acadie, Quebec and France (Privately published, Entry #374).
• Rieder, Milton P., & Rieder, Norma Gaudet (1973). The Acadians in France, 1762–1776 (Vol. III: "The Archives of the Port of St. Malo", p. 22).
○ Acadiensis: The Deportation of the Acadians from Ile St.-Jean, 1758
• Brasseaux, Carl A. (1987). The Founding of New Acadia: The Beginnings of Acadian Life in Louisiana, 1765–1803. Louisiana State University Press, pp. 55–57.
○ The Founding of New Acadia on Goodreads
• Arsenault, Bona (1988). Histoire et Généalogie des Acadiens (Vol. 4: Évangéline et Gabarus, p. 1477).
• WikiTree Acadian Project Profiles:
○ WikiTree Profile for François Bourg (c. 1688 – c. 1759/1771)
○ Acadians in Gray: Genealogical Notes on Acadian Families

Birth	1698	Beaubassin, Acadie (Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada)
Christen	1698	Beaubassin, Cumberland, Nouvelle-Ecosse, Canada
Marriage	18 Nov 1721	Beaubassin, Nova Scotia, Canada - Catherine Cormier
Marriage	1733	Port-Royal, Acadie (Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, Canada) - Marie Blondin Béliveau
Death	17 Jan 1771	Bécancour, Nicolet, Quebec, Canada
Burial	18 Jan 1771	Bécancour, Nicolet, Quebec, Canada
Related2Me.ca	2 Aug 2026	https://related2me.ca/2026/08/03/francois-bourque-bourg-c-1688-1698-to-january-17-1771/
Alt name		Francois Bourque

Spouse

Marie Blondin Béliveau (1703 - 1758)

Spouse	Catherine Cormier (1700 - 1730)
Child	François Bourque (1723 - 1808)

Father	Michel Bourg I (1666 - 1721)
Mother	Élisabeth Melanson (1673 - 1724)