Search for "New France"

Michel (Marc) Gervais. Conductor, b McLennan, northern Alberta, 25 Ap 1955; B MUS (Alberta) 1978.

Charles Albanel, Jesuit priest, missionary and explorer (b in Auvergne, France c 1616; d at Sault Ste Marie 11 Jan 1696).

Charles (-Désiré-Joseph) Wugk (not Waugh) Sabatier. Pianist, composer, teacher, b Tourcoing, France, 1 Dec 1819, d Montreal 22 Aug 1862.

Timothy Findley, OC, O Ont, writer, actor, playwright (born 30 October 1930 in Toronto; died 20 June 2002 in Brignoles, France).

Jean Nicollet de Belleborne, interpreter, explorer (born c. 1598 in Cherbourg, France; died 27 Oct 1642 in Sillery, QC).

Robert Charbonneau, journalist, writer (b at Montréal 3 Feb 1911; d at St-Jovite, Qué 26 June 1967). Because of Charbonneau's work, French Canadian literature, particularly the novel, underwent a profound transformation.

Jean-Pierre Pinson. Musicologist, teacher, flutist, b Orléans, France, 12 Dec 1943; L LITT (Poitiers) 1967; Certificate in musicology (Poitiers) 1977, MA musicology (Montreal) 1977, PH D musicology (Montreal) 1981.

Hortense Gordon, painter (born 24 November 1886 in Hamilton, ON; died 6 November 1961 in Hamilton). Hortense Gordon was one of two female founding members of the Ontario-based group of abstract artists known as Painters Eleven.

Marie-Joseph Angélique (born circa 1705 in Madeira, Portugal; died 21 June 1734 in Montréal, QC). Angélique was an enslaved Black woman owned by Thérèse de Couagne de Francheville in Montréal. In 1734, she was charged with arson after a fire leveled Montréal’s merchants' quarter. It was alleged that Angélique committed the act while attempting to flee her bondage. She was convicted, tortured and hanged. While it remains unknown whether or not she set the fire, Angélique’s story has come to symbolize Black resistance and freedom.

Pierre Dugua de Mons (or Du Gua de Monts), colonizer, explorer, trader (born c. 1558 in Royan, France; died 22 February 1628 near Fléac-sur-Seugne, France). Pierre Dugua de Mons oversaw the founding of Port Royal, in Acadia (present-day Annapolis Royal), and Quebec City, Quebec. These two places were the first successful French settlements in North America. At a time of significant religious tension in France, there were few people involved in that kingdom’s exploration and settlement of North America that better represent the social, political and religious context of the early 17th century. Both Samuel de Champlain and Mathieu Da Costa, who are better known from this period, were de Mons’s employees and acted under his direction. De Mons’s legacy has been overshadowed by Champlain in part because Champlain wrote extensively about his work, whereas de Mons did not. In addition, in some of Champlain’s writings he replaced de Mons with himself.

François de Laval, first bishop of Québec (born François-Xavier de Montmorency-Laval de Montigny on 30 April 1623 in Montigny-sur-Avre, France; died 6 May 1708 in Québec).

Claude Chauchetière, Jesuit missionary, painter (b at St-Porchaire-de-Poitiers, France 7 Sept 1645; d at Québec City 17 Apr 1709).

Sir John Cunningham McLennan, KBE, FRS, FRSC, physicist (born 14 April 1867 in Ingersoll, ON; died 9 October 1935 in Paris, France).

Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, Comte de Bougainville, soldier, sailor (born 12 November 1729 in Paris, France; died 20 August 1811).

French is one of Canada’s two official languages. Although every province in Canada has people whose mother tongue is French, Québec is the only province where speakers of French are in the majority. In 2011, 7,054,975 people in Canada (21 per cent of the country’s population) had French as their mother tongue.

Jacques Marquette, Jesuit priest, missionary, explorer (b at Laon, France 10 June 1637; d at the mouth of a river later called the Père Marquette R, Mich 18 May 1675).

Blue Rodeo, a rock group, was formed in 1984 by high school friends and songwriters Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor. After playing as the high-energy pop group the HiFi's and the New York-based Fly to France, Cuddy and Keelor returned to Toronto and recruited self-taught jazz pianist Bobby Wiseman, bass guitarist Bazil Donovan, and drummer Cleave Anderson. Beginning in clubs along their hometown's Queen Street, Blue Rodeo delivered a melodic blend of folk, rock and country marked by Beatle-esque harmonies.

"It’s hard to forget. In dreams I keep on coming back. Some nights even now, I dream at night. I mean, it’s a long time ago that this war is over. But I still dream sometimes."

See below for Mr. Vicaire's entire testimony.

Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

Tales of swashbuckling pirates have captured audiences from around the globe for centuries. Among them is the story of Eric Cobham and his wife Maria Lindsay. Legend has it that the couple established a base in St. George’s Bay, Newfoundland, from which they attacked ships in the Gulf of St. Lawrence from 1740 to 1760. The couple is then said to have moved to France where they lived in a lavish estate. Cobham became a magistrate and judge while still occasionally committing acts of piracy. Lindsay died under mysterious circumstances and Cobham died in 1780 after allegedly dictating the story of his exploits. However, his memoirs were lost and therefore, the adventures of Cobham and Lindsay can’t be proven. This has led some experts to contend that the couple are nothing more than characters in a pirate tale.

Richard Verreau (Verreault). Tenor, b Château-Richer, near Québec City, 1 Jan 1926, d 6 Jul 2005. Verreau began singing in his parish church. After winning a Québec Symphony Orchestra competition for young artists he decided in 1945 to enter Laval University.