Process: Noël Legault dit Deslauriers

The first Legault on Quebec soil was Noël Legault dit Deslauriers, born in 1674. A soldier originally from Irvillac, in Brittany, he immigrated to New-France and debarked in Montreal. He married the widow Marie Besnard on the 18th of November 1698. On the 22nd of June 1701, Legault left the army and bought 120 acres of land bordering the Saint-Pierre river. The family soon settled on land in the parish of Lachine with their nine sons and five daughters. Legault died in Pointe-Claire on the 10th of April, 1747.

It is speculated that Noël Legault received the name "des lauriers" (to be crowned with laurel) during his army service for his courage or bravery. The word "gault" meant woods or forest in old French; "Legault" probably described a dweller by the woods. Placenames that derive from the surname "Legault" still remain in France: Le Gault-la-Forêt (Marne), Le Gault-du-Perche (Loir-et-Cher) and Le Gault-Saint-Denis (Eure-et-Loire).

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