Bechervaise Family History

The earliest recording of the Béchervaise name is that of Colinus of St. Laurent 1331- first member of the family appearing in Jersey records.

A fairly complete listing of the male branch of the family brings us to the late 18th century where we find Phillippe Béchervaise as being a sea captain in the employ of Charles Robins at Paspebiac. In 1786 We have a letter to him written by Charles Robin, telling him where to take the fish in Portugal, and who to contact etc. He is recorded as being a particularly valuable employee as he could “do sums”. This Phillippe (for there were many as the eldest son always carried the same name for at least eight generations),was captain of the first Robin Ship built at Paspebiac , the “IF” launched in 1794 and also the “Truth” launched in 1796.

He was married in Jersey to Marie Gasnier in 1786 and they had one son, Phillippe, born in1787 who is the ancestor of all our Gaspe family. After being widowed for a time he contracted a second marriage, to Catherine Giffard which produced a second son named Jean later changed to John born in St. Aubin, Jersey. John is the common ancestor to all branches of the English and Australian families and is notable for a number of books he wrote “Thirty six years of seafaring life” by an old quartermaster, which tells of his maritime experiences from being captured by pirates, spending a winter in Newfoundland with the natives and ending up in debtors prison followed by a lifetime in the British Navy and ”A Farewell”. His books are recognized as the authorative resource on the British Navy between 1820 and 1840 . In his work he speaks of how he envies his half-brother Phillippe who has found a good stable job being apprenticed to a ship builder in Newfoundland.(that was the term used to describe all the east coast of what is now Canada) In May of 1803 his mother arraigned his passage to the Port of Boston from where his father sailed a ship, of which he was part owner, to ports in the Carribbean . There he learned that his father’s ship was expected back in August. He waited around Boston until his father returned and eventually saw him for the second and last time in his life.

Philippe served out his apprenticeship and stayed on to work for his employer, became foreman and when his employer, James Day, retired , took over the business. He was,obviously still in Paspébiac in 1808 (see letter from his father) He is recorded as having started a large shipbuilding facility in Gaspe by 1820. In 1821 a major forest fire threatened his installation and the “Olive Branch” a three masted Brig which was, on the stocks . It was only by a great effort from the community that the ship and the accompanying jobs were saved from the disaster. (Gaspesie – hiver 2007-Disasters of the century)

We are fortunate for the education system which allowed our ancestors to communicate with each other in those earlier years when most others of their countrymen could not. For this reason and being associated with sea captains they could arrange for letters to be carried and delivered personally. Such is the case with our father and son Philippe. In April 1808,while still working in Paspébiac, the father had learned from other sea captains that the son was intending to return from Gaspe to Jersey and so he sent him a letter advising him not to do so as it was a time of war and that he might have to be on the run. The letters are written in the “Jerrry” language and contain a lot of first hand personal information about the Paspebiac community. As sons sometimes do, he did not follow his fathers advice but returned to Jersey , got arrested and spent ten years in a prisoner of war camp in France before getting back to Gaspe. The oral record tells us that before leaving Gaspe he saw a young infant girl, Margaret Coffin, who was still in the cradle, and he stated that he would be back to marry her.

In 1812 Phillippe , the father, was master of the “Amazon” a Jersey ship anchored in the port of Messina, Sicily when the crew was struck by the fever.

All but two of the ships crew succumbed to the disease including the master. When the sad news reached Jersey friends and associates made a large, ornately carved marble slab to be placed in the harbour in their memory. The Sicilians deemed that they were infidels and refused to allow the placement of the memento. His will was prothonotized shortly afterwards and records that his eldest son , our ancestor, Phillippe was in prison camp in France at the time and so was represented by another attorney.

By the 1820’s our ancestor is back in Gaspe and has established himself in Wakeham on a large parcel of land which he farms and where he has his business. The shipyard must have done well for there are a number of large ships in the registry which were built there including the 376 ton Barque “Annabella”, the largest to have ever been built in the Gaspe region. In 1824 Phillippe and Margaret Coffin procured a license and were married. Between then and 1852 they produced fourteen children, the first in 1825 being a son who was named---Philip.

Following is a list of ships registered as having built by Phillippe at Gaspe:

            1821 –Olive Branch* 124 ton Brig

            1827-   Annabella*     376 ton Barque

            1834 - Breeze             67 ton Schooner

            1840 - Perserverance 69 ton Schooner

            * indicates that they were square rigged vessels.

The Bechervaise name appears on a number of sites around the world:

Jersey Island: “ La rue Bechervaise” the road from Mont Remon to St.Matthieu, St. Peter.

            Tasmania: Bechervaise Plateau

            Antartica: Mount Bechervaise a 7,750 ft.mountain

            England:   Eric Bechervaise Hall at the Harrow Green Branch Library,   Leytonstone

            Gaspe:      Mont Bechervaise the local ski hill in Wakeham

            Gaspe:       Mont Bechervaise a mountain between Gaspe and Murdochville

Gaspe:       rue Bechervaise- a road linking Wakeham and L’anse aux Cousins- now largely unused but which at one time was the major passage way to the north coast of the Gaspe.

Gaspe:    Bechervaise Brook

The Origins of the Bechervaise Family in Gaspe