VIENNAY-PACHOT (Vieney-Pachot), FRANÇOIS, seigneur, merchant, director of the Compagnie du Nord, and militia captain; baptized 11 Nov. 1634 at Bourg-d’Oisans (Isère), son of Claude Viennay-Pachot and Laurence Gay; d. 2 Sept. 1698 at Quebec.

As soon as François Viennay-Pachot arrived in New France, probably before 1679, he opened a store in the Lower Town of Quebec. At that time he must have had the status of a hawker – a hawker could not trade with indigenous people or open a store at Montreal or Trois-Rivières between 15 June and 15 August – since on 24 April 1681 he presented a petition to the Conseil Souverain, in which he claimed the enjoyment of the privileges possessed by the other merchants. The Council acceded to his request. On 27 March 1684 he acquired a site in the Lower Town from the Quebec seminary, and then a second site on 4 Jan. 1686.

On 7 Jan. 1689 he obtained the Rivière-Mitis seigneury, which had an area of one square league, where he intended to pursue cod- and seal-fishing, his primary concern. With several partners, he obtained “permission to fish for cod, whale, seal, porpoise and others that there may be in the St. Lawrence Gulf and River” on 14 April 1689. Seven years later, on 8 March, he signed an agreement with Marie Couillard [see Byssot] with respect to fishing and hunting throughout the whole extent of the Mingan islands. Furthermore, his name appeared among those of the directors of the Compagnie du Nord, in 1690.

Twice married, François Viennay-Pachot died on 2 Sept. 1698 at Quebec. He contracted marriage with Jeanne Arramy on 15 Aug. 1655 at La Rochelle; she died on 13 Sept. 1678. Secondly, he wedded Charlotte-Françoise Juchereau* de Saint-Denis, daughter of Nicolas Juchereau de Saint-Denis, whom he married in the parish of Notre-Dame-de-Miséricorde-de-Beauport on 17 Dec. 1680, and they had 16 children. She later married François Dauphin* de La Forest, calling herself Comtesse de Saint-Laurent in right of Saint-Laurent countship, which she bought from François Berthelot on 25 Feb. 1702. This transaction involved her in disputes with Berthelot which have become famous.

Jean Hamelin