Guiet

also Guyet

Paul Guiet and his wife Marie Dourion lived in the village of Échiré (near Niort, in Poitou) at the turn of the seventeenth century; they were probably married in 1600. Their son Pierre was born there a year or two later, and at the time of his marriage (January 21, 1632) he was serving as a police sergeant in Échiré. His wife was Gabrielle Roquier or Rocquier (daughter of Guillaume and of Françoise Desmiers, about whom we know nothing further).

Their four children, three baptized in the church of Nôtre Dame in Échiré, were: Jeanne (baprized November 15, 1632); Pierre (1634); Renée (1641) and André (1645, baptized at nearby St-Maxire).

Jeanne Guiet married Jean Gobeil on April 14, 1654 in Niort and accompanied him to Nouvelle-France in 1665 (see Gobeil for their descendants). She died at St-Laurent on the Île d'Orléans on or just after April 27, 1689.

Échiré is now famous across France for its butter. There is a 'butter festival' at the ruined chateau each year (see above). Échiré is also the purported birthplace of a Cotter ancestor, the amphibious fairy Mélusine (see Lusignan).