Bédard and Whélan families

Sorting the Bédard family into generational folders should enable me to now pull the other pertinent registrations from Ancestry or FamilySearch. I have accumulated a lot of the records but probably have as much again to download and save to files. The Bédard family lines include both sons of the emigrant Isaac Bédard and Marie Girard. Isaac and Marie were married 20 Mar 1644 in Chapelle Sainte-Marguerite, LaRochelle, Charente-Maritime, France. I do not have a baptism for Isaac (circa 1616 at St Sulpice de Paris, France) or Marie Girard said to have been baptized 16 Feb 1623 at Chapelle Sainte Marguerite, LaRochelle and the daughter of Simon Girard and Françoise Giraudet. This family is recorded as Generation I although they did emigrate to New France it is their son Isaac that I have placed in Generation 1although Isaac and Marie do not quite fit the criteria (were not married in New France), but they arrived in 1660 (father and son) where Jacques and Isaac were master carpenters with their wives and children arriving by 1663. Generation 2 of this family was also born in France Jacques was baptized 18 Dec 1644 at Chapelle Sainte Marguerite, LaRochelle and Louis 25 Feb 1655 as well. I would like to acquire the records for LaRochelle (these records I have from King's Daughters and Founding Mothers: The Filles du Roi 1663-1673 and written by Peter J Gagné) and will work away at that but moving forward Jacques married Elizabeth (Isabelle) Doucinet 4 Oct 1666 in Notre-Dame, Ville du Québec and Louis married Marie Madeleine Huppé. Elizabeth Doucinet was a Fille du Roi. I need to learn more about Marie Madeleine Huppé. I have not yet found the marriage registration for this couple. These two sons are both in Generation 2. Generation 3 has two sets of Bédard records for the two sons Charles François (son of Jacques) and Bernard (son of Louis). Generation 4 has the daughter of Bernard - Madeleine Marie who married Jean Pierre Villeneuve 23 Nov 1744 at Charlesbourg and this line then moves to the Villeneuve folder but Charles Joseph (son of  Charles François) continues the Bédard line down. I shall have to see how well this works out but it appears to be a good way to look at the ancestral lines. The Legacy file will maintain the links between the families when I produce an ahnantafel chart showing the generations back for each level. The next time that I work on the Bédard family I shall start with Generation 12 and insert the relevant documentation which is the marriage of our son in law and daughter. Then I can ensure that the line back is correct although it also matches the published information on this family. It is more a matter of collecting the relevant documents - this family is readily traced back to the founding Bédard family.

I also sorted out the folders for the Whélan family and this is one of my brick walls. I know that Charles Alexandre Bédard married Marie Emélie Whélan 29 Jul 1863 at Eglise St Jean Baptiste, Québec. Her parents were listed as Jean Thomas Whelan and Emilie Fournier dite Larose. Both Charles, his father Pierre and Jean Thomas were all carpenters (all three men signed the marriage register). The marriage of Jean Thomas Whelan and Emilie Fournier dite Larose took place 13 Jan 1835 at Notre-Dame, Québec with the priest recording the names as Thomas Welland and Emilie Fournier dite Larose. Thomas Welland (painter) was the son of Thomas Welland and Elizabeth Pépin dite Lachance and Emilie Fournier dite Larose daughter of Jean Baptiste Fournier dit Larose and Elizabeth Labbé. Linking these families apears to be quite straightforward. On the 1871 census Thomas Whélan and Emilie Whélan are still at Quebec city and he is a carpenter (they have seven children listed (Emélie married in 1863) and lists his Origin as Français. My next research day I will concentrate on Thomas and see what I can discover about him. Tanguay lists only one entry for an alternative spelling of this name - Edouard Wehenlan and very scant information which appears to be a second wife Suzanne Power born at Ballobrican, Ireland. World Connect offers four trees for this family none of which provide any further information. The website Généalogie du Québec et de l'Acadie does not have this particular set of information and once I am convinced that I have sufficient proof I will add the information. Ancestry offers four trees for this line but none go back before Thomas Welland (Whelan) and Elizabeth Pépin dite Lachance.