Search for ""

Françoise-Marie de Saint-Étienne de La Tour, née Jacquelin, Acadian heroine (b in France 1602; d at Ft La Tour [NB] 1645). Civil war raged in Acadia in 1640 when she married Charles de Saint-Étienne de LA TOUR, one of 2 claimants to the colony's governorship.

Maquinna, or Mukwina, meaning "possessor of pebbles,"was a Nootka chief (fl1778-95?). Maquinna was the ranking leader of the Moachat group of Nootka Sound Indigenous people on the west coast of Vancouver Island during the early years of European contact.

The Marco Polo was a sailing ship of 1625 tons launched in April 1851 from the building yard of James Smith, Courtney Bay, Saint John, New Brunswick. She was the most famous ship built in New Brunswick, cutting a week off

Alejandro Malaspina, explorer (b at Mulazzo, Italy 5 Nov 1754; d at Pontremoli, Italy 9 Apr 1810). Born to an illustrious but impoverished family, Malaspina entered the Spanish naval service. In 1784 he sailed around the world in the frigate Astrea.

Robert Monckton, British army officer (b in Yorkshire, Eng 24 June 1726; d at London, Eng 21 May 1782). Monckton arrived in Nova Scotia in 1752 and took part in the establishment of LUNENBURG in 1753.

Elizabeth McDougall, née Boyd, frontier woman (b in Grey County, Canada W 1853; d at Calgary 31 Mar 1941). McDougall is less known for her own activities than for aiding her Methodist missionary husband John MCDOUGALL.

Robert Machray, Church of England priest, bishop (b at Aberdeen, Scot 17 May 1831; d at Winnipeg 9 Mar 1904). Educated at King's College, Aberdeen, and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, he received prizes in mathematics, philosophy and divinity.

James McKay, Manitoba Métis politician, interpreter, guide, fur trader, Hudson’s Bay Company clerk and postmaster (born 5 February 1828 in Edmonton House, Alberta; died 2 December 1879 at St. James, Manitoba). A member of the Council of Assiniboia (1868–69), James McKay played a moderating role during the Red River Rebellion. He also served Manitoba as president of the Executive Council, Speaker of the Legislative Council and Minister of Agriculture, and was on the Council of the North-West Territories from 1873–75. Fluent in various Indigenous languages, McKay helped negotiate Treaties 1, 2 and 3 in the early 1870s. As a treaty commissioner for Treaties 5 and 6, he added provisions to help Indigenous peoples with medical supplies in the event of an epidemic, with famine relief and with their new life on reserves. McKay’s life and career exemplified attempts by Métis leaders, both in commerce and politics, to adapt to rapid changes after Confederation.  

Samuel Lount, blacksmith, politician, rebel (b at Cattawissa, Pa 24 Sept 1791; d at Toronto 12 Apr 1838). Variously employed after settling south of Lake Simcoe, Upper Canada, in 1815, Lount was best known as a blacksmith.

Charles Theophilus Metcalfe, first Baron, governor general of British North America 1843-45 (b at Calcutta, India 30 Jan 1785; d at Malshanger, Hampshire, Eng 5 Sept 1846).

Archibald McNab, 17th chief of Clan Macnab (b in Perthshire, Scot c 1781; d at Lannion, France 12 Aug 1860). McNab came to Upper Canada in 1822 to flee his creditors in Scotland. His settlement scheme was approved Nov 1823 and he was given land on the Madawaska River.

Robert McDowall, pioneer Presbyterian minister (b at Balston Spa, near Albany, NY 25 July 1768; d at Fredericksburgh, Canada West 3 Aug 1841). In 1790 the Dutch Reformed Church sent McDowall as a missionary to what is now southern Ontario.

Richard George McConnell, geologist, explorer (b at Chatham, Canada E 26 Mar 1857; d at Ottawa 1 Apr 1942). In 1879 he graduated from McGill and began working for the GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA in Québec.

In 1896 he joined the short-lived Tupper government as minister of the interior. After the courts overturned his election, he became leader of the Manitoba Conservatives and led them to victory in 1899.

Military supremacy did not solve the problem of how to bring real social and economic stability to the colony for d'Aulnay. After his accidental death by drowning in 1650, Acadia lapsed again into internal strife.

William McIntosh, fur trader (b at Grand Rapids, US 1784; d 16 Feb 1842). By 1816 a wintering partner in the North West Company, he had previously been positioned at Lesser Slave Lake (1803) in the Peace River country (1805) and at Fort Vermilion (1815).

Charles Huault de Montmagny, called Onontio by Indigenous people, governor of New France (b in France c 1583; d on Île St-Christophe, W Indies c 1653).

Augustin de Saffray de Mézy, governor of New France (d at Québec C 6 May 1665). De Mézy was chosen first governor of New France under direct royal rule 1663-65. The colonial administration was reorganized on his arrival and the Sovereign Council established.

Sheridan Lawrence, pioneer, farmer, rancher (b at South Stukely, Que 8 April 1870; d at Peace River, Alta 1 February 1952).