Following the St. Germain-en-Laye Treaty of March 29, 1632, it was by order of Cardinal Richelieu (Minister of State to King Louis XIII), that Commander Isaac de Razilly came to re-occupy the colony; so, too, did Germain Doucet (Sieur de La Verdure), the progenitor of this author's family, accompany him. Sailing from France on July 4, 1632, they arrived with a variety of livestock, seeds, tools, implements, arms, munitions, and other supplies, at La Have (LaHève), located at the mouth of the La Have River in present day Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, on September 8. In keeping with the forced Deportation of the French Acadian people, the family of Joseph Doucet and Anne Surette were exiled from Port Royal, to Massachusetts, on December 4, 1755. After a few weeks in Boston, they were assigned to the town of Gloucester in County Essex. Less than ten years later, Joseph is listed on a petition, to the Governor of Massachusetts, dated August 24, 1763, seeking permission, together with one hundred seventy-nine families, to return to Old France, which was not to be. Several years later, a second attempt was made. On February 8, 1766, one hundred forty-seven families (a total of eight hundred ninety souls), including Joseph Doucet, asked for permission to leave Massachusetts, in order to return to Canada; as before, they were unable to leave. It was during the following year, 1767, that the Acadians petitioned Governor Franklin of Nova Scotia for land on which to settle. As they were Roman Catholic, they could not be granted land. The Governor, however, allotted them land, along the shore of Baie Sainte-Marie (today known as St. Mary's Bay) on December 23, 1767. Joseph Doucet spent the first winter at Annapolis Royal (formerly Port Royal, his original home). With land surveyed in 1768, the township of Clare was laid out along Baie Sainte-Marie. Joseph Doucet settled near what is today called Church Point. The records show that, after completing the necessary requirements, he was granted title to Lot 58 (103 acres), in the township of Clare, on May 18, 1775, living there for the rest of his life, as both fisherman and farmer. Several of his sons, namely Joseph, Charles, Jean Magloire and Michel, settled further south in Yarmouth County, the area of this author's roots.
About the Author: Michele Doucette holds a Master's Degree in Literacy Education from Mount Saint Vincent University (Halifax, Nova Scotia). A native of Truro, Nova Scotia, she has been living on the west coast of Newfoundland since 1985. Having spent 20 years compiling, validating and sourcing information, as well as collecting pertinent documents, she has meticulously taken the time to piece her genealogy together, generation by generation. Complete with detailed narrative reports, consanguinity charts, scanned copies of certificates and up-to-date DNA testing information; the book also contains both a kinship list as well as a marriage list for quick referencing.