RAIMBAULT DE PIEDMONT, JOSEPH-CHARLES (he often signed Raimbault junior or sometimes Piedmont), royal notary, clerk of the court of Montreal, and on several occasions acting lieutenant-general, son of the judge Pierre Raimbault and Jeanne-Françoise Simblin; b. 1693 in France, and came to Canada with his parents not later than 1696; d. 17 Dec. 1737 at Montreal.

In January 1727 he received his commission as notary and clerk of the court; his registry contains 1,498 acts, covering the period 30 Jan. 1727 to 10 Dec. 1737. In 1727 Raimbault was also appointed king’s attorney, succeeding his father who became a judge. Although according to Hocquart* he was “an unimpressive fellow,” he “did his job tolerably well.”

In 1732 he was condemned, under pain of a charge of extortion, to reduce his legal fees and to make restitution for any excess payments he had received. Although he resigned his post as chief clerk of court, he was nevertheless appointed acting lieutenant-general in 1733, for the third time.

His estate, included, among other things, “ten books containing the corpus of law and jurisprudence,” possessions valued at 566 livres 12 sols, plus “seven old mended sheets.”

On 30 Nov. 1724 he had married Charlotte Damours. They had no children. Charlotte married again five months after her husband’s death.

Robert Lahaise

AJM, Greffe de C.-J. Porlier, 17 déc. 1737, 16 avril 1738; Greffe de J.-C. Raimbault, 1727–37. “Liste des officiers de justice employez dans les différents tribunaux de la Nouvelle-France (1722),” BRH, XXXV (1929), 111. A. Roy, Inv. greffes not., XXI, 8. P.-G. Roy, Inv. ord. int., I, 219; II, 123, 132. É.-Z. Massicotte, “Les greffiers de Montréal sous le régime français, 1648–1760,” BRH, XXXI (1925), 118; “Les tribunaux et les officiers de justice,” RSTC, 3d ser., X (1916), sect.i, 285, 287, 288. Tanguay, Dictionnaire, VI, 500. Vachon, “Inv. critique des notaires royaux,” RHAF, XI (1957–58), 95.