Christine (de Lotbinière) Joly (1810-1887)

Julie-Christine (Chartier de Lotbinière) Joly, Seigneuresse de Lotbinière

In 1829, from her father's three seigneuries Julie and her husband chose to inherit the Seigneury of Lotbiniere, comprised of 366,151-acres. Their marriage contract stipulated that Julie was the legal owner while her husband could "enjoy the honorific rights" to the seigneury. Lotbiniere was considerably larger than the others chosen by her elder sisters, but in comparison it was considerably less developed. However, its value would increase through its vast supply of raw timber, cutting circa 35,000 logs a year with ease. In 1832, Lotbiniere was described as "well stocked with fine elm, ash, maple, beech, plane, wild cherry, and other timber: the banks of the river du Chene, Huron and Boisclere produce pine of first rate growth". In Quebec, the old feudal seigneurial system was abolished in 1854. Much of the family's seigneury was redistributed and officially they were no longer entitled to call themselves "seigneurs" but they were still left with 110,000-acres of the seigneury which in 1857 was valued at £200,000 ($800,000).   

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Contributed by Mark Meredith on 07/10/2018 and last updated on 29/03/2023.
Patrician Liberal: The Public and Private Life of Sir Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbiniere (2013), by John Little