Daignault dit Laprise

also sometimes "Dagneau" and "Daniau" and "Daigneault"

This family, sometimes difficult to trace because of the various spellings and the large number of descendants in Québec, originated in Poitou. The earliest known ancestor, Jean Daigneault, was born in Deux-Sèvres (the local chateau, called 'Tennessus,' is pictured above) in 1610. He married Renée Brunet (parents unknown) before 1637, and before they emigrated; their son Jean Daignault dit Laprise was born in Poitou in that year. He married Marie-Louise Michaud at Québec City in September 1670 (children: Marguerite, Marie-Françoise, Jacques); after her death (1686) he married Françoise Rondeau (daughter of Pierre Rondeau and Cathérine Verrier) and had one more son, François. Jean died at La Durantaye, Bellechasse, in January 1709.

This François married Marie-Madeleine Françoise Rousseau at Cap-Michon in February 1725. They had at least two children: a second François, and Jean-Baptiste, born about 1730 (married twice, in 1753 and 1775; many descendants). François married Geneviève, daughter of Pierre-Noël Morin and Thérèse Pelletier, in January 1748; they were the parents of a third François, born about 1750 and married Véronique, daughter of Joseph Gaudreau and Ursule Chouinard at Montmagny in March 1775. They produced yet a fourth François who married his cousin Julie Gaudreau, daughter of Jean-Baptiste Gaudreau and Claire Dupont, in July 1804 at Cap St-Ignace. They were the parents of Esther Daignault, who married Louis Jean and was the paternal grandmother of Marie Eva Jean Martin.