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HACHÉ-GALLANT, MICHEL (the name was originally Larché; the forms Haché, dit Gallant, Galan, and Galand also appear), settler in Acadia and Île Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island), founder of the Haché and the Gallant families of the Maritimes; b. c. 1663, d. 1737.

Michel Haché-Gallant’s origins are obscure. He is probably the son of Pierre Larché, originally of the parish of Saint-Pierre in Montdidier, bishopric of Beauvais, and of Adrienne Langlois. Pierre Larché had died by 1668, and Michel was raised in Trois-Rivières at the home of Jacques Leneuf* de La Poterie, father of Michel Leneuf de La Vallière, senior. The latter seems to have taken Michel Larché with him to Acadia to his seigneury of Beaubassin. Rameau de Saint-Père writes of La Vallière and his seigneury, “among the indentured employees, we find . . . an active and intelligent young man named Haché Galand, who was [La Vallière’s] business representative, serjeant-at-arms, and confidential agent.” In 1690 Michel Haché married Anne Cormier; they had 12 children, 7 boys and 5 girls. At the time of his marriage he was described as militia captain of the Beaubassin shore.

After the loss of Port-Royal (Annapolis Royal, N.S.) to the English under Francis Nicholson in 1710 and the subsequent cession of Acadia to England by the treaty of Utrecht in 1713, a number of Acadians moved to the nearby French possessions of Île Royale (Cape Breton Island) and Île Saint-Jean. Michel Haché was among these; in 1720 he moved with his family to Île Saint-Jean and settled at Port La Joie (near Charlottetown), a settlement which had just been founded. He was named port captain of Port La Joie about that time, and he and his wife were among the most respected settlers there.

Michel Haché-Gallant went through the ice at the mouth of the Rivière du Nord (North River) and was drowned on 10 April 1737. His body was recovered on 17 July and he was buried in the cemetery of Port La Joie the same day.

Patrice Gallant