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Just a detail I picked up when rechecking the 1666-1667 Quebec census: that was ordered by Jean Talon.
I had posted previously that the word armourer did not mean gunsmith in 1600's French culture: but gun and weapon salesman/dealer.
And it turns out that Talon recorded all the professions of the people of the time:
And he seems to support my position:
for he created 2 separate categories:
one for armourer
and
one for gunsmiths
as well, like the rest of French society he had other categories for the sub specialties of weapons as well.
Now in Quebec, which I assume excludes Acadia: there were only 4 armorers listed..........out of roughly 2,400 males
So clearly it was not a common trade in New France.
The only other possibility is that Talon used the word
armourer in the British sense:
the soldier in charge of weapons on board ship.
The reason this is important is because gunsmiths were contracted almost exclusively to the King of France and were not really free to leave the country: as well they were tied into obligations to guilds.........
and as families paid for their sons to learn this trade: they were not usually from the poorest families:
usually merchant families.
Armourers on the hand were dealers: the sons of fairly well off families: educated in math, science, languages
The British armourer just happened to end up with that job: usually one or two per ship........no special family status.
Thus in our search for Pierre: it would help a lot to confirm his true profession.
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