Though his family had Irish roots, they were fully established in French Canadian society by the time of his birth and were distantly related to Marguerite d'Youville.
[2] Two years later, he married, according to the local custom, a Métis Cree girl Miyo Nipiy (also known as Susanna Pas de Nom), step-daughter of an influential chief.
Though he had repudiated his first family, he continued to support them, even after they left Montreal and moved to Saint Boniface, Manitoba, where Susanna lived in the Grey Nuns' convent.
His territory increased over time and within six years included Mingan, Quebec,[2] but Julia, by then the mother of two children, longed to return to Montreal.
[2][4] Connolly asked for leave and the company, hoping to push him into retirement offered a post at Fort Albany on James Bay, which they felt certain Julia would reject as unsuitable.