This jewelled brooch contains a strand of hair from Catherine Élisabeth Geneviève Tarieu de Lanaudière (1779-1784), the daughter of Élisabeth Chapt de Lacorne and Charles-Louis Tarieu de Lanaudière.

At her baptism at the Notre-Dame de Québec parish church, the child’s godfather was Louis Roch de St-Ours, and her godmother was Marie-Catherine Deschambault (1740-1818), baroness of Longueuil, the wife of Mr. William Grant (1744-1807), a squire and lord of Aubert-Gallion.

The little girl was only five years old when she died on January 20, 1784, to the great despair of her parents. The burial record, drawn up on January 21 in the parish registers, indicates Catherine-Geneviève as the child’s first name.

A tiny note placed inside the jewel mentions: “Elle fut aimé [sic]” (“She was loved”).

It is believed that this brooch was given to jeweller Joseph Bergeron, husband of Gabrielle Terreault, 2nd generation of the Bijouterie A. J. Bergeron, founded in 1891 in Trois-Rivières, who preferred to donate it to the museum instead of selling it to an individual.

Donation from Jos. Bergeron
Musée Pierre-Boucher Collection
1983 152 C