Search for "New France"

(Marie Marguerite Aline) France Dion. Soprano, teacher, born Québec City 16 May 1929; died Boucherville 2 Jul 2011.

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.

Pierre Dubois Davaugour, Baron, governor of New France 1661-63 (d fighting the Turks on the border of Croatia 24 July 1664). Davaugour was the last governor to serve the COMPAGNIE DES CENT-ASSOCIÉS.

Gustave Lanctot, OC, archivist, historian (born 5 July 1883 in Saint-Constant, QC; died 2 February 1975 in Montreal, QC). Gustave Lanctot was an eminent historian who specialized in the history of New France. He served as Dominion Archivist from 1937 to 1948.

Christian religious communities are groups of people who have chosen to devote their lives to the work of their respective churches. The first Christian religious communities in what is now Canada were established in New France. In the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS), 22,102,745 Canadians identified as Christian. The majority of that number, 12,810,705 people, identify as Catholic.

Winifred (Estella) Bambrick. Harpist, novelist, b Ottawa 21 Feb 1892, d Montreal 11 Apr 1969. She grew up in Ottawa and Chelsea, Que, and made her debut as a harpist at the Aeolian Hall, New York, 22 Oct 1913. The New York Times reviewer praised her 'decided virtuosity' and 'vigor of style'.

Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, governor of Louisiana (bap at Montréal 23 Feb 1680; d at Paris, France 7 Mar 1767). Louisiana was New France's offshoot and the Canadian Le Moyne family were its godparents.

Pierre Mercure, composer, producer, bassoonist, administrator (b at Montréal 21 Feb 1927; d accidentally near Avallon, France 29 Jan 1966). Mercure, always seeking a new, multimedia language, learned French music and became an orchestrator with Claude CHAMPAGNE.

A wintering partner (also "winterer") was an inland trader and shareholder, most notably in the North West Company. The wintering partner system evolved in New France, where fur merchants divided their profits with associates conducting the trade.

The practice of slavery was introduced by colonists in New France in the early 1600s. The practice was continued after the British took control of New France in 1760 (see British North America.) For about two hundred years, thousands of Indigenous and Black African people were bought, sold, traded and inherited like property in early Canada. Slavery was abolished (made illegal) throughout British North America in 1834.

(This article is a plain-language summary of slavery in Canada. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry on Black Enslavement in Canada.)

François-Gaston, Duc de Lévis, French army officer (born 20 August 1719 near Limoux, France; died 26 November 1787 in Arras, France). Born into an impoverished branch of the French nobility, he rose through the military hierarchy thanks to his family connections, his sangfroid and his bravery on the battlefield. Deployed to New France during the Seven Years’ War, he was named second-in-command to Marquis Louis-Joseph de Montcalm. On 28 April 1760, he won the Battle of Ste-Foy against the British garrison in Quebec City commanded by James Murray.

François Dollier de Casson, explorer, superior of the Sulpicians in New France (1670-74, 1678-1701), seigneur of Montréal, vicar general, historian (b in the château of Casson-sur-l'Erdre in Lower Brittany 1636; d at Montréal 27 Sept 1701).

Alice Jones, writer (b at Halifax 26 Aug 1853; d at Menton, France 27 Feb 1933). Developing international themes and the "New Woman" figure in her novels, Jones counterpointed the superficiality of European life against the vitality of Canadian society and character.

Adam Dollard des Ormeaux, soldier, French colonist (born 23 July 1635 in France; died in May 1660 near Carillon, in New France). Adam Dollard des Ormeaux was the garrison commander in Ville-Marie­. He led a group of French fighters and their Algonquin and Huron-Wendat allies against the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) at the battle of Long Sault. Adam Dollard des Ormeaux has long been considered both a hero and a martyr who sacrified himself in the defence of Ville-Marie. Recent studies, however, have cast doubt on how heroic his conduct actually was.

The Ursulines are a Roman Catholic female religious order devoted to girls’ education. The order has been in Canada since Ursuline nun Marie de l’Incarnation arrived in New France in 1639. Although initially focused on education and missionary work with Indigenous girls, the Ursulines gradually shifted their vocation toward educating French Canadian girls. With geographic and membership expansion from the 18th to the 20th century, the Ursulines established themselves as a major force in girls’ education, especially in Quebec. The Ursulines opened the first monastery in New France and the first school for girls in North America (see Ursuline Monastery).

Nancy Louise Huston, novelist, essayist (b at Calgary, Alta, 16 Sep 1953). Nancy Huston grew up in Calgary and Wilton, New Hampshire. In 1973, after attending Sarah Lawrence College, she moved to France, where she studied at the Université de Paris under Roland Barthes.

Arthur Romano. Saxophonist, clarinetist, oboist, english hornist, teacher, b Naples 23 Mar 1914, naturalized Canadian, d Montreal 16 Jan 1964. He studied with his father, Giulio, with Alfred Gallodoro in New York, and with Marcel Mule in France, and at first played in cabarets.

Voyageurs were independent contractors, workers or minor partners in companies involved in the fur trade. They were licensed to transport goods to trading posts and were usually forbidden to do any trading of their own. The fur trade changed over the years, as did the groups of men working in it. In the 17th century, voyageurs were often coureurs des bois — unlicensed traders responsible for delivering trade goods from suppliers to Indigenous peoples. The implementation of the trading licence system in 1681 set voyageurs apart from coureurs des bois, who were then considered outlaws of sorts. Today, the word voyageur, like the term coureur des bois, evokes the romantic image of men canoeing across the continent in search of furs. Their life was full of perilous adventure, gruelling work and cheerful camaraderie.

Paul Mascarene, born Jean-Paul, military officer, colonial administrator (b in Languedoc, France 1684/85; d at Boston, Mass 22 Jan 1760). A Huguenot émigré, Mascarene served throughout New England and Atlantic Canada 1710-40 as a military engineer and fluent negotiator with the Acadians and Indians.

After the governor of New France punished them for this expedition, the partners went to Boston to arrange a voyage to Hudson Bay. In 1665 they sailed to England, where their plan of bypassing the St Lawrence R to reach the interior fur-producing region found backers.