1

The Industries Desjardins factory
12 February 2007
Saint-André de Kamouraska (Québec), Canada

Credits:
Photographer : Luc St-Amand

2

To talk about the industrial history of the MRC of Kamouraska without talking about Charles-Alfred Roy, known as Desjardins, is absolutely impossible. He left his mark on the region in a way that is still visible today. Despite many difficulties resulting from fluctuations in the market and the skill of certain owners, the company he founded in Pointe-Sèche in 1865, and then moved to Saint-André two years later, is still in operation. It continues to produce farm machinery at the beginning of the 21st century.

3

View of a building, formerly part of the Industries Desjardins
12 February 2007
Saint-André de Kamouraska (Québec), Canada

Credits:
Photographer : Luc St-Amand

4

View from the back of buildings of the Industries Desjardins
12 February 2007
Saint-André de Kamouraska (Québec), Canada

Credits:
Photographer : Luc St-Amand

5

View of the outside of the Industries Desjardins
12 February 2007
Saint-André de Kamouraska (Québec), Canada

Credits:
Photographer : Luc St-Amand

6

Reservoirs manufactured by the Industries Desjardins
12 February 2007
Saint-André de Kamouraska (Québec), Canada

Credits:
Photographer : Luc St-Amand

7

Reservoirs manufactured by the Industries Desjardins (2)
12 February 2007
Saint-André de Kamouraska (Québec), Canada

Credits:
Photographer : Luc St-Amand

8

View of the outside of the Domaine des Pèlerins
Around 2005
Saint-André de Kamouraska (Québec), Canada

Credits:
The Collection of the Domaine des Pèlerins
Photographer: Noémie Darisse

9

View of the front of the Domaine des Pèlerins
September 2003
Saint-André de Kamouraska (Québec), Canada

Credits:
The Collection of the Domaine des Pèlerins
Photographer: Jérôme F. Bouchard

10

However, the effects of his presence were not limited to the industrial sector. In the community, he made possible the creation of the Home, which, although ravaged by flames in November 1992, was able to rise from its ashes and take on a new form. With the departure of the Sisters in 1993, the community of Saint-André worked to establish the Domaine des Pèlerins that includes the Résidence Desjardins, the CLSC, the municipal offices and community rooms. Without the determination and the generous contributions of Charles-Alfred at the beginning of the 20th century, this complex, that continues to be part of Saint-André, would never have come into being.

11

The Roy family, known as Desjardins, in front of the home of Charles-Alfred Roy, known as Desjardins
Around 1950
Saint-André de Kamouraska (Québec), Canada

Credits:
The Collection of the Musée régional de Kamouraska
The Desjardins Family Private Collection
Photographer: Unknown
N.A.C. P2006.260

12

The family spirit, which was so important for Charles-Alfred Roy, known as Desjardins, lives on. Even today, the members of this family still feel a deep attachment to the region and to their patriarch. In spite of the distances that sometimes separate the descendants of this exceptional man, strong family ties still bind them.

Their attachment to their patriarch is evidenced by their pride in his actions and by their desire to make his story known. In particular, the Musée régional de Kamouraska has at its disposal, to illustrate the life of the Desjardins family, an important private collection of objects and photos (most of which were taken by Charles-Alfred's daughter Éva), which forms the iconographic basis of this virtual exhibition. The Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent and the Centre d'archives de la Côte-du-Sud et du Collège de Sainte-Anne are also repositories for items that once belonged to the rich regional industrialist.

13

Éva Roy, known as Desjardins, with her camera, in front of the home of Charles-Alfred Roy, known as
1890 - 1910
Saint-André de Kamouraska (Québec), Canada

Credits:
The Hélène Fillion Martin Collection
Photographer: Unknown
The Collection of the Musée régional de Kamouraska

14

Gilbert Darisse, first violin of the Orchestre symphonique de Québec
Around 1945
Québec (Québec), Canada

Credits:
The Collection of the Musée régional de Kamouraska
The Desjardins Family Private Collection
Photographer: Canadian Pacific Railway
N.A.C. P2005.201