Marguerite de La Rocque – Marooned on an island in 1541

Marguerite de La Rocque was a French noblewoman whose birth date remains unknown, but she was recorded in 1536 attesting to a declaration of fealty and homage for the lands she owned.

She was a co-seigneuries of Pontpoint along with her relative Jean-François de La Rocque de Roberval, which was the French version of being a lord in the 16th century. Their exact relationship remains unclear, but it is generally believed Roberval was either her uncle or the two of them were cousins.

In 1541 Roberval was promoted to Lieutenant General of New France and set sail for the new world, accompanied by the young and still single Marguerite. Along the voyage Roberval found Marguerite to be in an intimate relationship with one of the other passengers, and possibly due to either his strict religious beliefs or his attempt to kill her to inherit her half of their shared title, he decided to maroon her on an island.

The ship was on its way to what is now known as Quebec, and after sighting the “isle of Demons” he decided to leave Marguerite, along with her lover and their very annoyed handmaid on the island.

There are 2 different versions of how this went down, with the first being that her lover was marooned alone and Marguerite opted to join him, but the other version tells of how she was put there and he jumped over the side and swam to her on the island.

Her lover has been intentionally unidentified which indicates he was probably someone of lower birth, and therefore remains anonymous to prevent any embarrassment to the noble de La Rocque family.

The timeline of what happened next remains unclear as no one kept any records and they were there for so long that they lost track of the days. It is clear that Marguerite was not pregnant when she was put on the island, but still gave birth while marooned there.

The baby, her lover, and the handmaid all died at some point though it isn’t specified how, probably due to some kind of disease or starvation. Marguerite alone managed to survive, claiming to have hunted animals and foraged off the few edible plants growing there.

When she was marooned she was left with some equipment and some initial supplies, but most importantly a rifle. Due to the time she was left there it would only have been a matchlock rifle, which was terribly inaccurate but still more than capable of taking down large game. It’s thought she survived after the gunpowder ran out by a combination of fishing and setting small game traps, but none of this has been specified.

The amount of time she spent on the island seems unclear, but estimates put it at no less than 2 years and no more than 5. Eventually, she was rescued by fishermen passing through the area, and upon return to France, her story made her an instant celebrity across the country.

The isle of demons is believed to be what is today known as Caribou Island off of Saint Paul’s River. She lived out the rest of her days in a Chateau in Nontron while working as a schoolmistress, with her death date and place of burial remaining unknown.