Gilles Lauzon

Who was Gilles Lauzon?

Gilles Lauzon was a talented French coppersmith and a member of “le grande recrue”, a group of roughly 100 Frenchman recruited to populate the colony of New France. Today nearly 20,000 people can trace their ancestry to his lineage. The spelling of the surname has been modified by several branches of the family and currently includes Lozen, Lozon, Louzon, Lozo, Loso, and Lauson. He was born in the parish of Saint-Julien in the city of Caen, today the principal town in the department of Calvados, located at the confluence of the Orne and Odon Rivers

Le Grande Recrue originally left on the Saint-Nicolas de Nantes, under the command of Captain Pierre Lebesson. After 350 leagues at sea, it was necessary to turn back. Water seeped into the hold and threatened to spoil all the provisions. Paul de Chomedey placed the passengers on an island before docking at Saint Nazaire. They had to find another ship, transport the baggage and the supplies, to replace that which was missing, and to feed all the passengers while waiting. This was at the expense of the Compagnie de Montreal. The replacement ship Sainte-Marguerite set sail on 20 July 1653 and arrived in Quebec on 22 September 1653. There was much illness aboard ship and eight passengers died at sea due to illness.