Search for "New France"

Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry, military engineer (born 3 October 1682 in Toulon, France; died 23 March 1756 in Quebec City, QC). Chaussegros de Léry contributed to the development of New France by fortifying the colony’s towns, namely Quebec and Montreal. His relief maps of Quebec and Montreal are still regarded as accurate models of these cities. Some consider Chaussegros de Léry the father of the first truly Canadian architecture. (See also Architectural History: The French Colonial Regime.)

Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin, cartographer, royal hydrographer, teacher of navigation (b at Saint-Michel de Villebernin, France 1651; d in France after 1712). The first official cartographer in Canada, Franquelin drew some 50 richly illustrated manuscript maps of New France between 1674 and 1708.

Jean-François Gaultier, king's physician, naturalist (b at La Croix-Avranchin, France 6 Oct 1708; d at Québec C 10 July 1756). Appointed king's physician of New France, he arrived in Québec in 1742. There he took over M.

Michel Sarrazin, surgeon, physician, naturalist (b at Nuits-sous-Beaune, France 5 Sept 1659; d at Québec C 8 Sept 1734). He came to New France in 1685 and the following year was appointed surgeon-major to the colonial regular troops. He later studied medicine in France for 3 years and returned to Québec in 1697 as king's physician.

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.

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).

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.

Pehr Kalm, botanist (b in Sweden 6 Mar 1716; d in Finland 16 Nov 1779). Kalm was educated in Finland and Sweden. He met the leading European naturalist, Linnaeus, in 1741, and under his influence became an expert on botanical applications to agriculture.

Eugène Bourgeau, botanical collector (b at Brizon, France 20 Apr 1813; d at Paris, France Feb 1877). His interest in plants began early and as a young man he attracted the interest of the director of the Botanical Gardens at Lyons, where he learned the rudiments of botany.

André Michaux, botanist, explorer (b near Versailles, France 8 Mar 1746; d on Madagascar 11 Oct 1803?). He compiled the first North American flora which includes many plants collected in Lower Canada in 1792.

Charles Philippe Leblond, anatomist, cell biologist (born at Lille, France 5 Feb 1910; died at Montréal, 10 Apr 2007).

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

Charlotte Edith Anderson Monture (often known simply as Edith Monture), Mohawk First World War veteran, registered nurse, (born 10 April 1890 on Six Nations reserve near Brantford, ON; died 3 April 1996 in Ohsweken, ON). Edith was the first Indigenous woman to become a registered nurse in Canada and to gain the right to vote in a Canadian federal election. She was also the first Indigenous woman from Canada to serve in the United States military. Edith broke barriers for Indigenous women in the armed forces and with regards to federal voting rights. A street (Edith Monture Avenue) and park (Edith Monture Park) are named after her in Brantford, Ontario.

Alexander Thomas Cameron, biochemist (b at London, Eng 1882; d at Winnipeg 25 Sept 1947). Educated in chemistry at University of Edinburgh, Cameron came to University of Manitoba as lecturer of physiology and remained there (except for WWI service in France) until his death.

Claude Baillif dit Regnault, masonry builder, architect (b c1635; d at sea, early 1699). The Séminaire de Québec hired Baillif as a stonecutter at La Rochelle, France, in May 1675.

William Arthur Steel, radio pioneer (b 3 Nov 1890; d at Ottawa 28 Nov 1968).

John Clarence Webster, physician, historian, nationalist (b at Shediac, NB 21 Oct 1863; d there 16 Mar 1950). Educated in Shediac and at Mount Allison and Edinburgh universities, from 1890 to 1896 he was an assistant instructor at Edinburgh and Berlin.

Richard Edward Taylor, CC, physicist, educator (born 2 November 1929 in Medicine Hat, Alberta; died 22 February 2018 in Stanford, California).

Wallace Rupert Turnbull (Rupert), aeronautical engineer (born 16 October 1870 in Saint John, NB; died 26 November 1954 in Saint John, NB). Turnbull is credited with building Canada’s first wind tunnel in Rothesay, NB. He is also recognized for designing the first successful variable-pitch propeller, which he patented in 1922. (See also Aviation.)