The Hébert monument was inaugurated in 1918 on the 300th anniversary of the arrival of Louis Hébert and his family in Québec. Louis Hébert, Marie Rollet and Guillaume Couillard are commemorated on the same monument because they constitute the first family to be established in New France. Marie Rollet was the wife of Louis Hébert, and Guillaume Couillard was married to Marie Guillemette their second daughter.
Louis Hébert being the first colonist to cultivate the land to sustain a living for his family off the land. This earned him the title as first colonist of New France. His original farm was located at current the site of the basilica of Quebec, the seminary and the streets of Hébert and Couillard. After repeated unsuccessful attempts to be settled in Acadia, it wasn't until 1617 that he arrived in Quebec with his family. It was his friend, Samuel de Champlain who convinces him to come to settle here with his wife and his three children.
Marie Rollet remained in New France after the untimely death of her husband Louis Hébert in 1627 and after the settlement fell in the hands of the Kirke brothers. She remained in Quebec making New France her homeland to continue teaching the young Amerindian children in order to prepare them for baptism within the catholic religion.
This plaque is located on the Hébert monument listing those families designated as the first colonist in the city of Québec. View the plaque's inscription listing the ancestral families who appear in our genealogy.