Looking for information/history on Gerlaise family. I have listing of some descendents. Belgium-Quebec-USA.

Family changed name to: de Gerlaise dit St. Amant around 1700's. Any information on why?

Interested also in finding out about this family's royalty background.

Thank you for any help anyone may have.

Mary Boisselle
Seattle, WA, USA
m.boisselle@verizon.net

The son of Ferdinand de Gerlaise, Jean-Jacquet de Gerlaise, arrived in Québec in the La Fouille company from the Carignan-Salières regiment send by Louis XIV to fight the Iroquois under the Marquis de Tracy. As it was usual when entering a regiment, soldiers took a surname. Jean-Jacquet choose "Saint-Amant", because he was sieur of St-Amant. His sons probably fight later wars and keeped the St-Amant surname. "Dit" means a.k.a.
Please note that in Québec, the name "de Gerlaise" later was transformed in "Desjarlais" which in french (Québec accent) is phonetically about the same.

Hello,
I am part of that line... begining with Ferdinand deGerlaise, Seigneur des Hameteaux and Dorothee Cona. deGerlaise was the original name... that changed during a wedding ceremony.Jean-Francois' boy named Joseph married in 1762 to Marie-Marguerite Hervieux. During the signing of the register the Priest had mispelled the name. He had wrote it Desjarlais. There is no Royalty attached to this name. However, Ferdinand was a Feudal Lord, or landowner in Belgium, that is what the term Seigneur means. A sieur is merely a French form of politness, as with the English use of the term Sir.
Roy

Thank you Roy for this information!

Mary :>)

Hi Patrick,

I am desended from Ferdinand Degerlais. I do not have much information on him and his children. Was Jean Jacques Degerlais his only child?

Joan
notelyjoan@ail.com

Sorry, I typed wrong email. It is notelyjoan@aol.com

Joan

Hi Roy,

I found your post today. Ferdinand is my ancestor, but I do not have any information on him. I know more now, due to your post.

I have my direct line to him, but I do not have information about him except he was born in de Liege, Belgium, 1625. Do you have his wife and Children? only child I have is Jean Jacques, bory 1643 St. Paul, de Liege, Belgium.

Were there more children? Do you know his parents and his brothers and sisters?

Joan Desjarlais
notelyjoan@aol.com

The only child I know of is Jean, the only one that was sent in Canada with the Carignan-Salières regiment in 1665.

However, we can presume that Ferdinand de Gerlaise had at least an older son, since he was a "seigneur" or a landowner, and at the time, the oldest son stayed with the land as he was the one that inherited from the father with the charge of taking care of the rest of the family (and become a "Pater familias"). Younger sons was often sent to the army or something of the kind to augment, for the rest of the family, the patrimony of the family or to marry and start a new family of his own (and discharging the previous family).

You can maybe do research on Ferdinand Jacquet (which was is name, "De Gerlaise" was the land that he owned (meaning "from Gerlaise". Since he could own more than one land, he could be seigneur of more than one place (like "Hannetaux").
However, I guess it will be less easier than following tracks in Quebec where they kept good records, since the Liège area was the site of numerous battles afterwards. For myself, I am still looking but found nothing yet. If you find something, let me know, I will appreciate greatly.

I have much more information on Jean Jacquet de Gerlaise, the first one coming in New-france, who was the first settler in Manereuil Seigneurie (today Louiseville, near Trois-Rivières)and the ancestors of all Desjarlais of North America.

I Hope this helps a little bit!

Patrick