DUPRAC, JEAN-ROBERT, mason, court clerk, and seigneurial notary; b. c. 1646, son of Jacques Duprac, master sculptor, and of Françoise Lamoureux; originally from the parish of Saint-Porchère in Poitiers (province of Poitou); buried 30 Aug. 1726 at Beauport.

Duprac arrived in Canada in 1674 at the latest, since, on 6 Jan. 1675, he signed a marriage contract with Marguerite Vachon, daughter of the notary Paul Vachon. On 14 June 1676 Duprac was, a settler at Beauport.” He was a mason by trade, and in 1681 he had only two acres under cultivation and five head of cattle. Like many colonists in New France, artisans by trade and often town-dwellers by birth, he probably had no taste for farm work. He must therefore have welcomed his appointment, on 1 Dec. 1693, as notary in the seigneury of Beauport, replacing Paul Vachon. Although we do not know precisely when, Duprac likewise succeeded his father-in-law as notary and clerk of court for the neighbouring seigneury of Notre-Dame-des-Anges. He continued in practice until 1723.

Duprac had nine children by Marguerite Vachon, who died 24 June 1703 of smallpox; his son Noël, who was baptized 21 Sept. 1681, was eventually to succeed him. As the son-in-law and the father of notaries, and a notary himself, Duprac was no exception in New France, where official charges were often handed down as if they were part of a heritage and somehow belonged to a family’s patrimony.

André Vachon

AJQ, Greffe de J.-R. Duprac, 1693–1723; Greffe de Michel Fillion, 6 janv. 1675; Greffe de Paul Vachon, 14 juin 1716. AQ, NF, Registres de la Prévôté de Québec, 25 janv. 1694. Jug. et délib. Recensement du Canada, 1681 (Sulte). Tanguay, Dictionnaire, I, 217. Jean Langevin, Notes sur les archives de N.-D. de Beauport (2v., Québec, 1860–63). J.-E. Roy, Histoire du notariat, I, 166f., 342, 345.

Cite This Article

André Vachon, “DUPRAC, JEAN-ROBERT,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 2, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed October 2, 2024, https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/duprac_jean_robert_2E.html.

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Permalink:   https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/duprac_jean_robert_2E.html
Author of Article:   André Vachon
Title of Article:   DUPRAC, JEAN-ROBERT
Publication Name:   Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 2
Publisher:   University of Toronto/Université Laval
Year of publication:   1969
Year of revision:   1982
Access Date:   October 2, 2024