QUESNEVILLE (he sometimes signed Quesnevillé, Quenneville), JEAN, master tailor, royal court officer for the jurisdiction of Montreal, jailer and keeper of the prisons of that town; b. c. 1651, son of Pierre Quesneville, master tailor in the parish of Saint-Nicolas, in the diocese of Rouen, and of Jeanne Saye; d. 23 Aug. 1701 at Montreal.

Quesneville was at first a master tailor at Montreal. He continued to practise this trade along with his judicial functions. He became precentor, then verger, and subsequently was appointed court officer in the bailiff’s court of Montreal in 1681. On 25 July 1690 he became jailer and prison keeper for a period of three years, but continued as court officer. On three occasions, in 1686, 1687, and 1692, he was clerk in the court registry. He was likewise acting judge in 1691, 1692, and 1693. In 1694 he received the position of royal court officer, which he kept until his death in 1701.

On 12 Feb. 1674, at Montreal, he had married Denise Marié, daughter of Pierre Marié, fencing master in the parish of Saint-Sulpice in Paris, and of Jeanne Lord. Ten children were born of this marriage.

Robert Lahaise

AJM, Greffe de Bénigne Basset, 12 janv. 1674. ASSM, tiroir 77, 37 (premiers chefs de Ville-Marie de 1665 à 1676). Jug. et délib., II, 132f. Gagnon, “Noms propres au Canada français,” 156. Massicotte, “Les tribunaux et les officiers de justice,” RSCT, 3d ser., X (1916) sect.i, 273–303. Tanguay, Dictionnaire, I, 504.