Search for "New France"

Ange Duquesne de Menneville Duquesne, Marquis, naval officer, governor general of New France 1752-55 (b at Toulon, France c 1700; d at Antony, France 17 Sept 1778). He joined the navy as a boy and saw action in the War of the Austrian Succession.

 Jacques de Meulles, chevalier, INTENDANT of New France 1682-86 (d at Orléans, France May 1703). De Meulles, despite explicit instructions, was embroiled in confrontation with Governor LA BARRE throughout his term.

Claude-Thomas Dupuy, lawyer, intendant of NEW FRANCE 1725-28 (b at Paris, France 10 Dec 1678; d near Rennes, France 15 Sept 1738). From a bourgeois family Dupuy became a lawyer in the parlement of Paris and in 1720 purchased the office of maître des requêtes.

Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière, Marquis de La Galissonière, naval officer, commandant general of New France (b at Rochefort, France 10 Nov 1693; d at Montereau, France 26 Oct 1756). He was born into a powerful family and rose to lieutenant-general of the French naval forces.

Antoine-Denis Raudot, intendant of New France, 1705-10 (b 1679; d at Versailles, France 28 July 1737). He had begun a career in the ministry of marine when he and his father Jacques Raudot were jointly appointed intendant.

Daniel de Rémy de Courcelle, governor of New France 1665-72 (b in France 1626; d there 24 Oct 1698). Courcelle, a nobleman and a military officer, arrived at Québec "breathing nothing but war" and determined to defeat the powerful Iroquois Confederacy.

Intendant of New France, office created in 1663 when Louis XIV established a system of colonial government, including a Gouverneur and Sovereign council.

Samuel de Champlain, cartographer, explorer, colonial administrator, author (born circa 1567 in Brouage, France; died 25 December 1635 in Quebec City). Known as the “Father of New France,” Samuel de Champlain played a major role in establishing New France from 1603 to 1635. He is also credited with founding Quebec City in 1608. He explored the Atlantic coastline (in Acadia), the Canadian interior and the Great Lakes region. He also helped found French colonies in Acadia and at Trois-Rivières, and he established friendly relations and alliances with many First Nations, including the Montagnais, the Huron, the Odawa and the Nipissing. For many years, he was the chief person responsible for administrating the colony of New France. Champlain published four books as well as several maps of North America. His works are the only written account of New France at the beginning of the 17th century.

Pierre de Voyer d'Argenson, governor of New France 1658-61 (bap in France 19 Nov 1625; d there 1709?). There was an Iroquois attack the day following Governor d'Argenson's arrival at Québec, and negotiations with and defence against these powerful enemies were his major preoccupations.

Marie-Madeleine de Gruel de La Peltrie, née Chauvigny, patron of Ursuline nuns in New France (b at Alençon, France 1603; d at Québec C 18 Nov 1671). Born into the aristocracy, widowed at 22, Mme de La Peltrie

Médard Chouart Des Groseilliers, explorer, fur trader (bap at Charly-sur-Marne, France 31 July 1618; d at New France 1696?). A man of courage who valued personal freedom and initiative, Des Groseilliers opened Lakes Michigan and Superior to the fur trade and Jesuit missionaries.

Jacques-René de Brisay Denonville, Marquis de, governor general of New France, 1685-89 (b at Denonville, France 10 Dec 1637; d there 22 Sept 1710). He arrived at Québec 1 August 1685 at a dangerous point in the colony's conflict with the IROQUOIS and English.

Philippe de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, Marquis de Vaudreuil, governor general of New France 1703-25 (b probably near Revel, France c 1643; d at Québec C 10 Oct 1725). Vaudreuil served in the French army with the Mousquetaires from 1672 and distinguished himself in campaigns in Flanders.

Claude de Ramezay, (born 15 June 1659 in La Gesse, France; died 31 July 1724 in Quebec City). Claude de Ramezay came to New France as an officer in the troupes de la marine. He served as governor of Trois-Rivières (1690–99), commander of Canadian troops (1699–1704), governor of Montreal (1704–24), and as acting governor general of New France (1714–16). Throughout his time in New France, he pursued fur trade and lumber interests. He is also remembered for his home, Château Ramezay. Built in 1705, it is now a museum and one of Montreal’s landmark historical buildings.

Jacques Cartier, navigator (born between 7 June and 23 December 1491 in Saint-Malo, France; died 1 September 1557 in Saint-Malo, France). From 1534 to 1542, Cartier led three maritime expeditions to the interior of the Gulf of the St. Lawrence River. During these expeditions, he explored, but more importantly accurately mapped for the first time the interior of the river, from the Gulf to Montreal (see also History of Cartography in Canada). For this navigational prowess, Cartier is still considered by many as the founder of “Canada.” At the time, however, this term described only the region immediately surrounding Quebec. Cartier’s upstream navigation of the St. Lawrence River in the 16th century ultimately led to France occupying this part of North America.

Abraham Ulrikab (born 29 January 1845 in Hebron, Labrador; died 13 January 1881 in Paris, France) was one of eight Labrador Inuit to die from smallpox while travelling through Europe as part of an ethnographic show (now called human zoos). In 2011, his skeleton, along with that of four other Inuit, was uncovered in the reserves of the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (National Museum of Natural History) in Paris. The Nunatsiavut government (See Labrador Inuit) is studying the possibility of having them repatriated.

Louis d'Ailleboust de Coulonge et d'Argentenay, governor of New France 1648-51 (b at Ancy-le-Franc, France 1612?; d at Montréal May 1660). He was a nobleman and military engineer who sailed in 1643 to play a leading role in the newly established Catholic outpost of Ville-Marie (Montréal).

Jacques Raudot, intendant of New France, 1705-11 (b 1638; d at Paris, France 20 Feb 1728). He was related to the powerful Pontchartrain family and had had a distinguished legal career when he and his son Antoine-Denis Raudot were jointly appointed to the intendancy (with only Jacques salaried).

Louis-Hector de Callière, governor general of New France 1699-1703 (b at Thorigny-sur-Vire, France 12 Nov 1648; d at Québec 26 May 1703). From the Norman nobility and aided by a brother who was private secretary to Louis XIV, Callière impressed his superiors as an able commander at Montréal 1684-98.

Marie-Madeleine Jarret de Verchères (born 3 March 1678 in Verchères, Quebec; died August 1747 in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade, Quebec). Madeleine de Verchères is best known for her role in the defence of Fort Verchères in New France in 1692. She is remembered as a military heroine, and her image became part of efforts to recruit Canadian women for wartime work during the First and Second World Wars.