Michel Boudreau, who was born in La Rochelle, St. Jean Cougner Parish, France around 1600 and who settled in Acadia during the 1630s, is the ancestor of the Acadian family of that name.

He was probably recruited by Gov. Charles d'Aulnay since he was present at the baptism of the governor's daughter, Marie d'Aulnay, on Sept. 21, 1639, in his capacity as First Trustee of Port-Royal.

He was also one of the signatories of an attestation favorable to d'Aulnay's works in 1687.

At the Port-Royal census of 1671, he was 71 years old and the father of a family of 11 children, three of whom were married. He had married Michelle Aucoin in France. In 1686, he was lieutenant general and judge of the Port-Royal tribunal. His son Charles settled at Pisiguit and Claude at Grand-Pre, while Jean and Michel went to Beaubassin. His other sons stayed at Port-Royal, including Abraham, who was a navigator and merchant. He traded with Boston on his shallop, the Marie.

In January 1693, Commander de Villebon sent him on a mission to Boston where he was to make discreet inquiries about the state of affairs there and to report to him. He seems to have acquitted himself of his mission with success.

Following in the footsteps of Abraham, several descendants of Michel Boudreau and Michelle Aucion became navigators.

In 1755, the Boudreau family was a large one and established in several communities in Acadia. This family was deported in several places in North America and in Europe. Several can be found in different New England colonies, including Massachusetts, Philadelphia, Connecticut and Louisiana.

Many were thrown in prisons in southern England (Bristol and Southampton in particular), and were later transported to France after the Treaty of Paris, in 1763.

These families were established at Belle-Isle-en-Mer, Cherbourg and Saint-Malo in Northern France.

Several of those families found a way of returning to Acadia. Among them, the family of Germain Boudreau who was one of the pioneers of Cheticamp in Cape Breton.

Several Boudreau families living at Beaubassin, Ile Saint-Jean and Cape Breton were able to escape the Deportation and found refuge in Quebec. They are to be found in different communities but notably in the Nicolet, Repentigny and Deschambault areas.

Others made their way to the Iles-de-la-Madeleine and at Petit Degrat on Cape Breton.

Several families settled in New Brunswick in the Memramcook - Saint Anselme area, in Caraquet and in Petit-Rocher.

The family of Pierre Boudreau and Madeleine Melanson from Port-Royal established itself at Memramcook. Their son, Isaac Boudreau, became the captain of a company of Acadians who supported the American War of Independence. Another of his sons settled at Inkerman in the northern part of the province.

Joseph Boudreau, son of Anselme and Marguerite Gaudet of Beaubassin, found refuge at Rrestigouche on Chaleur Bay where he married Jeanne Hache in 1761. He later lived during a few years on Miscou before settling in Caraquet. He died at Nipisiguit in 1797.

However, he is not the sole ancestor of that family in Petit-Rocher since another Boudreau, Joseph-Athanase, who had lived for several years at Deschambault, Que., also settled in Petit-Rocher at the close of the 18th century.

The latter was a miller and is the ancestor of the Boudreau of Beresford.