He was born in Rivière-du-Loup, in the Province of Lower Canada (now Quebec), on 23 July 1823, the son of Charles Taché, a merchant, and Louise-Henriette de Labroquerie, a descendant of the famed explorers Louis Jolliet and Gaultier de Varennes. When his father died in January 1826, the Widow Taché was forced to return to her family home in Boucherville. The young Alexandre was raised there under the care of his uncle, in a home where the arts, study and the Catholic faith were part of the daily fabric of life.