ROUER DE VILLERAY ET DE LA CARDONNIÈRE, AUGUSTIN, first seigneur of Rimouski and councillor on the Conseil Souverain; baptized 13 June 1664 at Quebec, son of Louis Rouer* de Villeray, councillor of the Conseil Souverain, and of Catherine Sevestre; d. in the spring of 1711. He bore the name La Cardonnière until the death of his father on 6 Dec. 1700, and subsequently, as the eldest son of the family, he inherited the title of Villeray.

Since his father ranked among the most important members of the colony, Augustin received on 27 April 1684, jointly with his brother Louis Rouer* d’Artigny, the seigneury of Île Verte, having a frontage of two leagues on the St Lawrence River and extending to a depth of two leagues back, together with the islands and islets opposite this shore. The parish of Île Verte is situated today on the site of this seigneury.

On 6 Oct. 1685 Jacques de Meulles wrote a long report to the minister, Seignelay. He requested that the post of special lieutenant on the bench of the provost court of Quebec, “together with a reasonable salary for the said office,” be re-established for the benefit of his protégé Augustin de La Cardonnière. The minister did not see fit to give effect to the intendant’s request.

On 24 April 1688 Brisay de Denonville granted the seigneury of Rimouski to Augustin de la Cardonnière. The latter turned over the domain of Île Verte to his brother Artigny, and became seigneur of Rimouski. This seigneury had a frontage of two leagues on the river and extended to a depth of two leagues inland. To it were added Île Saint-Barnabé, and the adjoining islands and islets.

Augustin Rouer de La Cardonnière remained seigneur of Rimouski until 18 July 1694. On that date he transferred his domain to René Lepage, in exchange for a tract of land that the latter owned at Saint-François on Île d’Orléans. On 29 Oct. 1703 the Conseil Souverain of New France accepted M. de La Cardonnière, who had become M. de Villeray, as one of its members.

Villeray’s burial certificate has not been found, but everything seems to indicate that he died in the spring of 1711. His first wife, whom he had married on 1 Sept. 1689, was Marie-Louise, daughter of Charles Legardeur* de Tilly, who bore him six children; then in 1706 he married Marie-Louise, daughter of François Pollet* de La Combe-Pocatière, by whom he had three children.

Béatrice Chassé