About Our Gaspé Roots
**Aldo Brochet is co-administrator of this site.**
This site contains genealogy, history, stories and photographs of the early
settlers who arrived, as they would live, by the sea, to begin life in the
birthplace of Canada, the Gaspésie in the province of Quebec. Included are the
histories of the Baker's Hotel family,as well as the settlers of Percé ,
Bonaventure Island, Cape Cove, Newport, the Gaspé Basin and several surrounding
communities. Micmac, French, English, Irish, Scots, Channel Islanders,
American Loyalists, and settlers from many other countries married, creating a
blended mosaic of families, uniquely and richly Gaspésian.
Our family histories are supported by citations from primary sources, family
and tombstone photographs and old letters and documents, many generously
donated by descendants of those who gave us 'Our Gaspé Roots.'
Living person details not shown for privacy reasons
PLEASE REMEMBER TO SIGN THE GUEST BOOK! NEW DATA, MEMORIES, STORIES & PHOTOS ARE ALWAYS
GRATEFULLY RECEIVED!
Baker's Hotel history began in the 1800s, with thousands of folk world
wide either enjoying their stay as tourists or working for the best known of
the Baker family proprietors, my great uncle John Baker. Uncle John owned
Baker's Hotel, Baker's Lodge and the One Ash Inn which my father and his
siblings inherited when Uncle John died in 1930. It is said that one needn't
put the full address for Baker's Hotel when sending an inquiry. It was so well
known that simply addressing your letter to Baker's Hotel in the province of
Québec would be enough for that letter to find its way to the front desk of
the hotel.
The earliest mention of a member of the Baker's Hotel family in Quebec records
is William Baker, born about 1795, who married Susan Baudin, a member of one
of the founding families of the Gaspésie.It was through John Baker, William's
son, and John's wife, Marie Catherine Smith, that the family's history in the
hotel industry began, setting the course for generations of hotel keepers
amongst the Baker family of Gaspé. Our Jessop ancestors also were hoteliers of
note in the region, with Jessop's Hotel at Newport on the Gaspé coast and
George Jessop acting as general manager of the Chateau Frontenac in Québec
city for many years.
Marie Catherine Smith's family traces back through the Maloneys, the Becker
dit Blondins and the Davids, a founding family of Quebec.There has always been
name confusion with Johann Becker (dit Blondin)'s descendants who are named as
Becker, Blondin or Baker in various reports. The naming of ' dit Blondin' as
was used for the early Becker settlers of Percé/Bonaventure Island will serve
as a distinguisher of that family line.
The last name use of all male line descendants of Becker dit Blondin is now
BLONDIN.
There is data as well on several United Empire loyalist families who settled
in Gaspé in the 1700s, including Joseph Tripp, a well known Gaspé Whaling
Captain who descended from Robert Tripp, a Loyalist of Rhode Island.
Additional data has been provided by Aldo Brochet whose studies focus on
documented history of the early settlers of the areas surrounding Percé,
including Bonaventure Island, home of Aldo's ancestors.
To view the Attestation papers (Enrollment Records) of men & women from across Canada
and the US who were born in the Gaspésie and who signed up for WW1, click on each photo
Although several photographs loaned by fellow Gaspesians are linked with data on the
site, there are more to enjoy. Here is the growing collection of shared ancestral
photographs from Gaspé family members.
Baker's Hotel Burns to Ground: http://www.myfamily.com/shares?aid=6xA2qNTWafpR8Lnwuift9A
Many of the photographs and documents shown on this site come from the Baker
family collection, which have been donated to the Gaspé Museum to be part of
the 'Baker Family Fond'.
'This is a ' work in progress ' with additions made as new discoveries are
uncovered.You are cautioned that Census Information is often faulty due to
language difficulties, poor memories at time of census, etc. so census data
should be viewed simply as a means of placing that person in a time frame and
area, and shouldn't necessarily be accepted as complete information.
Data errors may occur, although every effort is made to document and correct
those pointed out to me. Any sharing of new information is appreciated.
Comments, suggestions,and corrections are most welcome. Please sign the guest
book!
**** Thank you, Jim Vibert for sharing your wonderful collection of Tripp
family letters & documents.
**** Thank you, Mario Mimeault, Andy Patterson, Curt Patterson, Martha (Patterson)
Costello, Norma (Morris) Flemming, Fabien Sinnett, Debbie Dee, John LeGarignon and so
many others for sharing your wealth of information on Gaspésians.
****Also a grateful thank you to Jean Pierre Joncas for sharing his knowledge of our Gaspé family
histories.
**** Thank you to Jessop family members, especially Bill Jessop & Frank
Vautier, for sharing photographs, documents and memories, and most importantly, to Rita
Jessop for her warm welcome to the Jessop homestead, great talks and memories she so
willingly shared!
**** A special thank you to Aldo Brochet, who shares my Percé-Île Bonaventure
ancestry, for his wealth of knowledge, flawless data & endless patience!
****A special thank you to Morris Patterson for allowing me to use photographs of
headstones from his CD " Cemeteries of the Gaspé Area." Several Gaspésians
have donated their wonderful photographs for Morris' DVDs. If you want more
information about Morris' DVDs, or if you would like to place an order
Contact Morris
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