GUILLOUET D’ORVILLIERS, RÉMY, officer who served in Canada and as governor of French Guiana; b. c. 1633, son of Jean Guillouet, a lawyer in the parlement, and of Marguerite Gascoing. m. 1666, at La Rochelle, France, Anne-Marie Le Febvre, the legitimized daughter of Joseph-Antoine Le Febvre* de La Barre, the future governor general of New France; d. 19 Aug. 1713 at Cayenne (French Guiana).

In 1651 Rémy Guillouet d’Orvilliers was an ensign in the Régiment de Conti; he was promoted captain in 1657 and was then transferred to the Régiment de Poitou. In 1667 he was in command of the five companies of this unit that were detached to the West Indies, with his headquarters on St Kitts Island. In 1669 he returned to France to serve in the Régiment d’Harcourt. He went to Canada in 1682 as captain of the guards of his father-in-law, Governor General Le Febvre de La Barre, and took part in the campaign against the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee), commanding the rearguard. In 1685 Governor Jacques-René de Brisay de Denonville appointed him commander of Fort Frontenac (Cataracoui), replacing François Dauphin de La Forest, who was to “go to the Illinois on business for M. de La Salle [Cavelier*].” Guillouet took part in the 1687 expedition against the Seneca, then returned to Fort Frontenac, where he was rejoined by his son Claude. In 1688 he went back to France.

His conduct was judged favourably by his superiors, and Father Pierre-François-Xavier de Charlevoix* would write: “M. d’Orvilliers, commandant of the post at Cataracoui, was one of the officers in the colony on whose prudence, ability, and steadfastness the governors general of New France relied the most.”

D’Orvilliers continued his career in Guiana, where he was appointed a captain on 13 Jan. 1689 and king’s lieutenant on 18 Aug. 1690. In 1694 he spent some time in France, and on several occasions in 1697 and in the period 1700–1, he took over command during the absence of Governor de Férolles [La Ville]. The latter reproached him for his lack of order but recognized his ability. In 1698 d’Orvilliers was appointed governor of Saint Christopher Island (Saint Kitts and Nevis), then, on 9 March 1706, he was made governor of Guiana. He was an engaged governor, though his actions sometimes provoked controversy. No doubt relying upon his experience in Canada, he endeavoured to improve relations with the Indigenous people by, in his mind, safeguarding their freedom, giving them grants of land, settling them in villages near Cayenne, and sending them Jesuit missionaries. In 1711, without notifying the proper authorities, he allegedly captured Maroons to enslave them. He also assigned several officers to the task of exploring the interior of the country, which was virtually unknown to the French at that time, and he fought against Portuguese claims in the region of the Oyapock River.

The Jesuit Father Thomas Gouyé, procurator of the missions in South America, praised Rémy Guillouet d’Orvilliers; the commissary, Paul d’Albon [Lefèvre], likewise declared that he possessed many good qualities, despite his impetuous nature. Minister of Marine Pontchartrain [Phélypeaux], probably annoyed by d’Orvilliers’ stormy differences with the king’s lieutenant Pierre de Morthon de Grandval, rebuked him on several occasions for governing too harshly. D’Orvilliers, who was made a knight of the order of Saint-Louis on 28 July 1705, left one son, Claude, who succeeded him as governor of Guiana after having served with him in Canada.

Étienne Taillemite