THE LEGAL COMPLAINT OF GABRIEL DE LA FOREST

“THE LEGAL COMPLAINT OF GABRIEL DE LA FOREST” is a late 17th century legal brief, or factum, submitted on behalf of a French Canadian prisoner of war against an English military commander.

GABRIEL TESTARD DE LA FOREST (1661-1697) [1ST COUSIN 9X REMOVED] was a French Canadian military officer. He was born in the city of Montreal, Quebec, which was part of the French colony of New France at the time. His parents were Jacques Testard de La Forest and Marie Pournin.

In the 17th and 18th centuries England and France competed for control of the eastern parts of North America, and GABRIEL TESTARD DE LA FOREST’S legal complaint (called a factum or legal brief) emerged from one of these conflicts.

In the early 17th century, both England and France began to colonize North America. The English settled the eastern seaboard of the United States. Their 1st successful colony was located at Jamestown, Virginia. A later English colony was set up at Plymouth, Massachusetts, by the Calvinist Puritan Pilgrim Fathers.

While the English were colonizing the US, the French were establishing settlements in what are now Maritime Canada and Quebec’s St. Lawrence Valley. The earliest French colonies in Canada were founded by Samuel de Champlain in the 1st decade of the 17th century.

The most important industry in the northern part of North America was the fur trade. French Canadian fur traders, known as coureurs de bois (runners of the woods), pushed deep into the interior of Canada and the US Midwest from bases in Montreal and elsewhere.

In the late 17th century, the English set up the competing Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), which was based on Hudson’s Bay in northern Canada. The headquarters of the HBC was York Factory, in Manitoba at the mouth of Hayes River on the southwestern coast of the bay.

In 1694 a French force led by PIERRE LE MOYNE D’IBERVILLE (1661-1706) [NEPHEW OF THE WIFE OF OUR 9TH GREAT-UNCLE] captured York Factory from the English. Le Moyne was born in Ville-Marie, Montreal, and is remembered in history as the founder of the French colony of Louisiana, which occupied the entire Mississippi River Basin of what is now the central United States.

Le Moyne’s 1694 attack on York Factory was part of King William’s War, the North American theatre of the Nine Years War (1688-97). GABRIEL TESTARD DE LA FOREST took part in Le Moyne’s attack on York Factory. After capturing the English base, the French renamed it “Fort Bourbon”. Le Moyne left Fort Bourbon in 1695, leaving a garrison behind under the command of GABRIEL TESTARD DE LA FOREST. 

In 1696, GABRIEL TESTARD DE LA FOREST’S garrison was attacked by an English fleet led by Captain William Allen. French reinforcements did not arrive in time, and GABRIEL TESTARD DE LA FOREST was forced to surrender to the English. In the surrender agreement, Captain Allen promised that GABRIEL TESTARD DE LA FOREST would be allowed to keep his furs, and would be transported to the French base at Placentia (Plaisance) on Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula. But Captain Allen broke the agreement by confiscating all of the French furs, and transporting GABRIEL TESTARD DE LA FOREST and his garrison to England as prisoners. 

Once he arrived in England, GABRIEL TESTARD DE LA FOREST lodged this legal complaint against Captain Allen for violating the agreed-upon terms of surrender. GABRIEL TESTARD DE LA FOREST died in London in 1697, soon after arriving in England, so he never lived to see his case resolved.

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WE ARE RELATED TO BOTH OF THE FRENCH OFFICERS MENTIONED ABOVE.

GABRIEL TESTARD DE LA FOREST (1661 - 1697) WAS OUR 1ST COUSIN 9X REMOVED

BIRTH 4 AUG 1661 • Montreal, Canada

DEATH 27 AUG 1697 • London, England

PARENTS:

Jacques Testard De La Forest 1631–1663

Marie Pournin 1642–1666

RELATIONSHIP TO ME:

Gabriel Testard De La Forest (1661 - 1697) -- 1st cousin 9x removed

Jacques Testard De La Forest (1631 - 1663) -- Father of Gabriel Testard De La Forest

Jean Testard dit Lafontaine (1612 - 1705) -- Father of Jacques Testard De La Forest

Jeanne Testard (1642 - 1723) -- Daughter of Jean Testard dit Lafontaine

Marie Le Ber (1666 - 1756) -- Daughter of Jeanne Testard

Marie Elisabeth Bourassa (1695 - 1766) -- Daughter of Marie Le Ber

Joseph Pinsonneau (1733 - 1784) -- Son of Marie Elisabeth Bourassa

Gabriel Pinsonneau (1770 - 1807) -- Son of Joseph Pinsonneau (Pinsono)

Gabriel Pinsonneau (aka Gilbert Passino) (1803 - 1877) -- Son of Gabriel Pinsonneau

Lucy Passino (Pinsonneau) (1836 - 1917) -- Daughter of Gabriel Gabriel Pinsonneau (aka Gilbert Passino)

PIERRE LE MOYNE DE LONGUEUIL ET DE CHATEAUGUAY (1661 - 1706) WAS THE NEPHEW OF THE WIFE OF OUR 9TH GREAT-UNCLE

BIRTH 20 JUL 1661 • Montréal, Quebec, Canada

DEATH ABT 1706 • Habana, Ciego de Avila, Cuba

PARENTS:

Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil et de Chateauguay 1626–1685

Catherine Thierry 1640–1690

RELATIONSHIP TO ME:

Pierre Le Moyne de Longueuil et de Chateauguay (1661 - 1706) -- nephew of wife of 9th great-uncle

Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil et de Chateauguay (1626 - 1685) -- Father of Pierre Le Moyne de Longueuil et de Chateauguay

Pierre Le Moyne (1595 - 1658) -- Father of Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil et de Chateauguay

Jeanne Le Moyne (1635 - 1682) -- Daughter of Pierre Le Moyne

Jacques Leber (Lebert) dit Larose (1633 - 1706) -- Husband of Jeanne Le Moyne

Robert LeBer (1601 - 1625) -- Father of Jacques Leber (Lebert) dit Larose

Francois Leber (Lebert) (1626 - 1694) -- Son of Robert LeBer

Marie Le Ber (1666 - 1756) -- Daughter of Francois Leber (Lebert)

Marie Elisabeth Bourassa (1695 - 1766) -- Daughter of Marie Le Ber

Joseph Pinsonneau (1733 - 1784) -- Son of Marie Elisabeth Bourassa

Gabriel Pinsonneau (1770 - 1807) -- Son of Joseph Pinsonneau (Pinsono)

Gabriel Pinsonneau (aka Gilbert Passino) (1803 - 1877) -- Son of Gabriel Pinsonneau

Lucy Passino (Pinsonneau) (1836 - 1917) -- Daughter of Gabriel Gabriel Pinsonneau (aka Gilbert Passino)