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BAUDRY (Beaudry), dit Des Butes (Desbutes), GUILLAUME, gunsmith, gold- and silversmith; b. 2 Oct. 1657 at Quebec; d. 1732 at Trois-Rivières.

        On 13 July 1682 Guillaume Baudry married Jeanne Soullard, who was “fifteen to sixteen years old,” an armourer’s daughter, at Quebec. He subsequently settled at Trois-Rivières. On 4 March 1689 and 14 Jan. 1693 he received two grants of fiefs from René Robinau* de Bécancour. The Baudrys had 15 children, one of whom, Jean-Baptiste, who exercised the craft of gunsmith, was among the original inhabitants of Detroit.

        Only one piece of craftsmanship by Guillaume Baudry has been recorded. It was he who engraved the lead plaque for the cornerstone of the Recollet church at Trois-Rivières; on 11 July 1710 Antoine-Denis Raudot came to lay it officially. In 1713 this church was the object of a royal gratuity of 500 livres.

        On 18 Feb. 1726 Baudry was summoned to court by the surgeon Alavoine*, who claimed 1714 livres from him, but Baudry was successful in having the account appraised by the Quebec doctor’ Sarrazin.

        Guillaume Baudry, dit Des Butes, was buried on 26 Feb. 1732 at Trois-Rivières.

Maurice Carrier

AJTR, Greffe de Séverin Ameau, 17 sept. 1680, 4 mars 1689, 14 janv., 24 août 1693; Registres d’état civil de Notre-Dame-de-la-Conception, 26 fév. 1732. Tanguay, Dictionnaire, I, 310. Jouve, Les Franciscains et le Canada: aux Trois-Rivières, 95–96, 146. Télesphore Saint-Pierre, Histoire des Canadiens du Michigan et du comté d’Essex, Ontario (Montréal, 1895), 157.

Artisans, Arts and Entertainment

North America, North America -- Canada, North America -- Canada -- Quebec, North America -- Canada -- Quebec -- Trois-Rivières/Eastern Townships