With the death of Charles’ newborn child Marie-Therese, he and his wife Marie-Jeanne Giroux faced an unknown future. The union that was intended to be the continuation of a growing family and possibly good fortune continued to struggle. The six children from Charles’ previous marriage remained. His only son, Jean-Charles was now 17 years old entering 1754 while his youngest daughter, Marie, would turn 8 in June.
Shortly before Marie’s 8th birthday, a 22-year-old Lieutenant Colonel George Washington ambushed a small French force in what is today part of southwestern Pennsylvania. Washington was sent to protect the construction of a fort in the area and it was one of several conflicts that arose when the American colonists impinged upon land claimed by the French in the Ohio River Valley. The French were competing for this location and had begun building what would become Fort Duquesne. Unlike previous conflicts that started in Europe and bled over onto the Colonies this conflict started in America and spread into a full-blown battle of empires.
However, the conflict did not immediately affect Quebec and stayed on the periphery of the French holdings in America where they had laid a vast claim but scarcely had the people to retain their claims compared to the thirteen British colonies. In Quebec it seemed business as usual. And why not? Britain and England seemed to be constantly at war. As John J. Miller and Mark Molesky claimed “France was always preparing for its next conflict with Britain.”[1] Thus, we see the 46-year-old Charles still busy trying to improve his land holdings in July 1754.
In the record of land concessions in the seigneurie of Gauderville, there is a record of Charles, who is identified as an “habitant dela Nouvelle Laurette (Lorette)” being granted a concession 2 arpents wide and 30 arpents deep in the village of Saint Joachim in the Seigneurie of Gauderville. For this he would pay cens et rentes of “cinq livres deux sols En argent monnais de France.” He was also required to clear un arpent of woods each year for three years as well as being required to serve three days of labor for the lord, “trois Journeé de Courvée” to help build a grain mill. (pour aider a batire un moulin a bled).[2]
A mere four months later Charles is granted another concession “located on the coast of Dupuy Saint-Claude in the seigneury of Saint-Gabriel, by the Reverend Jesuit Fathers.” Here Charles is identified as the “son of Louis Renaud, resident of the seigneury of Saint-Gabriel.”[3] This concession was one and a half arpents wide and forty arpents deep. His land was bounded by the land of Louis Joseph Jobin and Jean Martel. It came with the usual conditions to pay various forms of rents, some in money or in some instances chickens.[4] Charles was also required to use the Jesuits grinding mill for wheat or pay a fee if he wanted to have it ground elsewhere.
The following year, 1755, the ongoing war between France and England took a stark turn as the British expelled 10,000 “Acadiens” from Nova Scotia. Though there had been previous instances of the British seizing portions of Quebec and other French possessions in North America, these were usually short lived or negotiated away once the hostilities ended. However, this conflict seemed headed into a more existential direction.
Unfortunately, there is no documentary evidence to indicate what Charles was up to at this time. It is not until late 1756 that he reappears in the public record because of a dispute with Pierre Verret “fils”. Charles requested the bailiff of the seigneurie of Notre-Dame-des-Anges serve a summons to Verret to appear due to Verret’s actions to break a fence to create a hunting path. Verret was refusing to pay the fine of 12 livres and to repair the fence.[5]
The trail once again grows cold but the drum beat of war surely could be heard in Quebec even if the French believed the difficulties of navigating the St. Lawrence River would prevent the British from making a serious assault on Quebec. In his book, Death or Victory, Dan Snow recounts the efforts of James Cook to overcome this challenge. When the British took Fort Louisbourg in 1758, Cook used some captured remnants of French charts, his own data gathered from around the shore of New Brunswick, to collaborate with a Dutch engineer Samuel Holland on board the Pembroke to produce charts with the hopes of a successful navigation of the St. Lawrence. In early June of 1759 the British fleet left Halifax and cautiously made their way toward Quebec. In less than a week, the first British ship had made it through and dropped its anchor on the eastern tip of the Île d’Orléans.[6]
By mid-September, the British had done the unthinkable and captured Quebec. However, it was by no means a given and many books have been written on the subject. Snow’s book focuses on the two men in charge of the British and French forces, Major General James Wolfe for the British and the Marquis de Montcalm for the French. Snow’s portrayal captures the pessimistic views and frustrations of both leaders who were similarly expecting failure. Montcalm’s view was captured in one of his letters shortly after his arrival in Quebec, “’I fear not to tell you, My Lord, that our arrangements here are somewhat tardy … whether strong or weak, we shall fight somewhere or other, and perhaps be fortunate.’” Both leaders perished in the decisive battle of the Plains of Abraham.[7]
Snow’s account makes several observations worth noting. There was conflict within the ranks of the French forces which were a combination of Canadiens, Native American allies, and French regular army. The Canadiens and Native Americans were eager to fight and were impatient with Montcalm’s method of war that was honed on the battlefields of Europe which were much different than the guerilla tactics preferred by the Canadiens and Native Americans. The residents of La Nouvelle France were not viewed as the same as the continental French by Montcalm and certainly not by James Wolfe who considered their behavior in the battles as barbaric.[8]
It is easy to imagine that a war fought with muskets by Generals in powdered wigs must have been relatively tame compared to the massive devastation we see in modern warfare. However, the war had a profound effect on the lives of the residents. There were defenses that needed to be built. The countryside was scoured for produce and livestock to provision the army. Women, children, and older males were evacuated from surrounding farms to the city of Quebec. Farms were to be abandoned and livestock removed to avoid provisioning the British in the event the French defenses did not hold. The habitants were not always compliant. They were not always prepared to follow orders. They had to be threatened with arrest.[9] By 1759, there were real concerns that supply ships from France could not get through. According to Snow, “Canada had been jolted by a series of poor harvests, partly caused by inclement weather and partly by the absence of the farmers who had been called into the colony’s militia and sent to distant frontiers.”[10]Charles turned 50 years old in 1758. It is not known if he was an evacuee or if he was serving in the defense of the city. Where was his eldest child and only son, Jean-Charles, who was 22 years old in 1758? Every Canadian man was required to serve in the militia.[11] The Governor General Vaudreuil instructed Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry who was responsible for improving the fortifications and defenses of Quebec, that “anyone capable of bearing arms was to be included, ‘none must be left from 15 years upwards’.”[12] It seems highly likely that Jean-Charles took part in the defense of the colony.
On September 13, 1759, the British defeated the French on the Plains of Abraham. Quebec surrendered 5 days later with the signing of the Articles of Capitulation.[13] The British would subsequently take Montreal in 1760. However, it was not an easy time for the British either. The Winter following their success in Quebec was desperate. The cold and scurvy claimed the lives of many soldiers. A French counter offensive in April of 1760 did some damage as well to the British effort but with the return of British ships once the St. Lawrence became navigable with the melting of the ice in the Spring, the French had no hope of reconquering Quebec.[14]
On 8 September 1760, the French and British agreed on another set of articles of capitulation. The agreement was signed by Vaudreuil, the Governor General of New France[15]and Jeffrey Amherst who was the Commander in Chief of the British Forces and namesake of the town of Amherstburg a location of significance in subsequent generations of the Renaud family.[16]
The articles lay out in 55 detailed provisions all the various interests and concerns such as instructions for dealing with the French regular army soldiers, the French elites, the sick and wounded, and provisions if Quebec were to return to French control after the formal Treaty is signed which was certainly a possibility. One of the more significant articles (Article 27) preserved the free exercise of the Catholic religion for the French Canadians. Article 34 preserved the seigneurial system and Article 42 retained the custom of Paris as the law of the land in Quebec. Article 47 preserved slavery.
These Articles of Capitulation would remain in force until the signing of the formal treaty on 10 February 1763. While the Articles focused on the details of the battle in Canada, the Treaty of Paris 1763 dealt with the War in its entirety of which the conflict over possession of Quebec was just one aspect. The cession of Canada is covered in a mere four short paragraphs marking the end of La Nouvelle France. What was once a great dream of Champlain’s and the ambitions of many others was negotiated away, apparently of less value than continental concerns characterized by Voltaire’s dismissal of Acadia as “a few acres of snow.” The French Crown appears to have been more interest in retaining their “sugar colony” Guadeloupe. A portion of British public opinion seemed to agree and would have rather retained possession of the sugar producing colonies instead of Canada so this was hardly a bad trade for France. However, the transfer of La Nouvelle France to Britain was a blow to France and a real issue for the habitants.[17] It was not just the disruption of their lives, the abandonment of houses and farms threatened by the presence of the British but the psychological devastation. The regular French Army would return to the continent, while the habitants would largely remain behind. As Snow so poignantly describes the scene in the city of Quebec during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham:
“Quebec’s western walls had been lined with onlookers during the battle. The townspeople watched helplessly as the future of their homeland was decided. They could see wounded men writhing on the ground and many other bodies who would move no more. Among them were friends, husbands, and relatives.”[18]
The nuns that were staffing the General Hospital tending to the wounded described the scene as one of ‘terror and confusion.’[19]
We do not know specifically what happened to Charles and his family during the period after the fighting ceased. However, since the British allowed much of the governing systems to remain in place, the routines returned. Thus in 1765, two years after the formal end of the war, Charles reappears in the public record in his role as the guardian for the children of his brother Jacques who died on 26 March 1759 just shy of his 40th birthday and just 6 months before the fall of Quebec to the British. Was Jacques killed in battle or did he die from disease resulting from the conflict? We do not know.[20]
Jacques’ wife, Barbe Morand survived, and was present at the hearings that were held and documented in May and June of 1765. There seems to have been a concern that the widow Morand was using whatever wealth of the estate without regard for their children. The couple did not have an easy life. They had nine children of which only three survived past infancy. Louis was the eldest, not yet 14 at the time. Jacques was 12 and Marie-Jeanne was 10.
The 14 pages document the confirmation of Charles Renaud, who was 57 years old at the time, and Augustin Vesina as the primary and secondary guardians as well as the discussion of the interests of the children in the sale of some land. It would have been Charles and Augustin’s responsibility to ensure the interests of the children were protected. These hearings were family affairs and not carried out without community involvement. For example, among those invited to attend were Charles’ brother Jean, Charles’ brothers-in-law Ignace Cliché and Jean Garnaud as well as many cousins and friends.
The documentary trail goes cold again. Over the next few years while Britain was trying to integrate the former French North American colonies trouble was brewing to the south. Since Britain saw the Seven Years War as a defense of their American colonies, the British crown imposed a series of taxes to raise money to pay for the war which did not sit well with the American colonists. One of the most important was the Quebec Act which sought to gain the loyalty of the former French colonists. Previously the English sought to assimilate the French speaking residents of Quebec. They believed that British immigration to the area would increase and Quebec would become part of British culture and strengthen the ties to the British Crown but that was not happening. The Protestant British had to rely on the cooperation of the Catholic French to govern. While British criminal law was introduced, French property and civil law was retained in Quebec.
The local officials, Governor James Murray and his successor Guy Carleton advocated for an accommodationist position with the residents of Quebec. The British were also concerned that Quebec would join forces with the American colonists against the Crown. Murray and Carleton’s advocacy was codified in the Quebec Act which went into effect on May 1 1775.
There were several important provisions among the most contentious was the expansion of the borders of Quebec beyond the St. Lawrence River Valley to include among other areas, what would become Southern Ontario. The expansion of Quebec as well as the provisions to prevent land speculation from the Thirteen Colonies by creating Indian only territory aggravated the rising tensions with the American Colonists. However, this also created the opportunity for the Renaud family to ultimately migrate from Quebec to Ontario.[21]
Charles lived through the subsequent American Revolution and his son Jean-Charles did as well though Jean-Charles took advantage of the expansion of Quebec and relocated to what would become Southern Ontario by the time of the Revolution.
By the 1780s Charles was in his 70s but still active making deals. First making a land purchase from Francois Pepin on June 26, 1782 and then selling land to Charles Handi on September 23, 1789. Finally on March 3,1790, Charles died. At the time, he was said to be 85 years old. However, he was 82 years old.[22]
There are some mentions of three actions post humus in 1790. A cession from Pierre Legare (fils) to Charles on May 3rd and two sales, one from Jean Baptiste Bedard Arpenteur to Charles on August 4th and Pierre Legare (fils) to Charles on August 12, 1790. Either there was another Charles Renaud or these sales had already taken place but had not been documented. Unfortunately, we do not have the documents to understand the details of these transactions, only entries in the index of a notary.
In any event, Charles had lived an incredible life of over 8 decades. He saw La Nouvelle France at its height and at its nadir during the Seven Years War. He survived personal tragedies and outlived both of his wives and several of his children. His only surviving son moved to another part of the country which had not happened since his grandfather Guillaume had left France at an early age one hundred and thirty years earlier. With Charles’ burial the torch had been passed to Jean-Charles to lead La Ligne into the 19th Century.
[1] Miller, John J. and Molesky, Mark, Our Oldest Enemy: A History of America’s Disastrous Relationship with France. Doubleday: New York (2004), p. 40.
[2] Seigneurie de Gaudarville et seigneurie de Fossambault - Registre des titres de concessions 1654-1758
[2025/04/06] BAnQ Québec Collection Seigneuries 03Q, P240, D92 https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/archives/52327/4751987?docref=WLB1bTpvaCPD74f-fFBgIg
[3] From <https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/archives/52327/3151790> Acte de concession d'une terre située à la côte Dupuy Saint-Claude dans la seigneurie Saint-Gabriel, par les Révérends Pères Jésuites à Charles Renaud, fils de Louis Renaud, habitant de la seigneurie Saint-Gabriel, par-devant André Genest, notaire des seigneuries des Jésuites.
[4] The term used is capon which is a male chicken that has had its sex organs removed and has been specially fattened up to be eaten. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/capon 11/24/24.
[5] This document is illegible due to fading and poor penmanship. The details are derived from the archivist summary. Manuscript, Déclaration de André Genest, huissier de la juridiction de Notre-Dame-des-Anges, résidant en la côte Saint-Martin de la paroisse de Charlesbourg en la seigneurie Saint-Gabriel, à l'effet qu'il a remis une assignation à comparaître à Pierre Verret fils, habitant de ladite paroisse, le premier jeudi après la Saint-Martin à la suite de la requête de Charles Renaud, habitant à Charlesbourg près de la Nouvelle-Lorette en le fief Saint-Gabriel, ledit Verret n'ayant pas respecté l'ordonnance interdisant de briser des clôtures pour s'ouvrir un passage pour la chasse et qui refuse de payer l'amende de 12 livres ainsi que les réparations des dommages qu'il a causes. 27 octobre 1756 [2024/11/28] BAnQ Québec Collection Pièces judiciaires et notariales 03Q, TL5, D3154-5 https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/archives/52327/3351816
[6] Snow, Dan, Death or Victory: The Battle of Quebec and the Birth of Empire. Harper Press: London (2009), pp 81-94.
[7] Montcalm did not relish the task given to him as he viewed Canada as a backwater and uncivilized. Montcalm quote is quoted in Snow p. 60.
[8] Snow, see p. 215 for one example of Montcalm’s view on the Canadiens where he is quoted as writing ‘they are all crazy, and, because I have to deal with them, soon, I will not be any wiser than them.’ Part of Montcalm’s pessimism stemmed from his inability to get the Canadiens and Natives to understand that this was a full-scale war and not something that could be solved through raiding parties. See pp 46-50. Wolfe’s view is exemplified on p. 177.
[9] Snow pg. 62. Many others were evacuated to Trois-Rivieres and Montreal. See page 74.
[10] Snow p. 59.
[11] Snow, p. 64.
[12] Quoted in Snow p. 62. Vaudreuil did not care for Montcalm and the two were often at odds with one another regarding the French war effort. W. J. Eccles, “RIGAUD DE VAUDREUIL DE CAVAGNIAL, PIERRE DE, Marquis de VAUDREUIL,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 4, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed March 23, 2025, https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/rigaud_de_vaudreuil_de_cavagnial_pierre_de_4E.html. De Léry refers to Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry who was responsible for improving the fortifications and defenses of Quebec. F. J. Thorpe, “CHAUSSEGROS DE LÉRY, GASPARD-JOSEPH (Joseph-Gaspard) (1721-97),” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 4, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed March 23, 2025, https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/chaussegros_de_lery_gaspard_joseph_1721_97_4E.html.
[13] The Articles are available at https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3267381. Charles Saunders and Charles Townshend signed on behalf of the British while De Ramsay signed for the French.
[14] Snow pp 414-416.
[15] http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/rigaud_de_vaudreuil_de_cavagnial_pierre_de_4E.html
[16] The Articles of Capitulation are available https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2563928?docpos=27&docsearchtextmode=phrase&docsearchtext=PROCLAMATION
[17] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_(1763) and https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-Paris-1763.
[18] Snow, p. 384.
[19] Snow, p. 384.
[20] https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/archives/52327/3399139?docref=L4xmhQUX5GD7EYdOmtL94w> Acte d'autorisation à Charles Renaud tuteur des héritiers mineurs afin de gérer la succession de feu Jacques Renaud, de la Jeune-Lorette, et de feue Marie-Barbe Morant (Morand).
[21] https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/quebec-act
[22] See line 26 https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3778123?docref=ZhsFF6nWHmV2pyw-UO1yaQ and entry 274 https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3778381?docref=VTE1lfOIY76k2TS79Vnj9A
Charles’ inhumation is available https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1091/images/d13p_31000343?pId=14953925. Institut Généalogique Drouin; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Drouin Collection; Author: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967. Ancestry.com. 2008 Provo, UT, USA