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Lorenzo Ferrer Maldonado, apocryphal navigator, adventurer (b in Spain; d 1625). In 1601 he submitted to King Philip III of Spain a document about his purported 1588 voyage through the NORTHWEST PASSAGE from east to west.

 De Meurons, Swiss infantry regiment raised 1781; transferred 1795 to the British army. It served in India until October 1806, then moved to England, and was sent to Lower Canada in August 1813.

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.

Leif Newry Fitzroy Crozier, soldier, policeman (b at Newry, Ire 11 June 1846; d in Oklahoma, US 25 Feb 1901). He was appointed an inspector in the North-West Mounted Police in 1873.

Annette, Emilie, Yvonne, Cecile and Marie aroused worldwide attention after their birth at Corbeil, Ontario, to Oliva and Elzire Dionne on 28 May 1934. With only two previous cases on record, they were the only quintuplets to survive for more than a few days. This miracle, plus their baby cuteness, the poverty of their French Canadian parents, and the controversy over their guardianship, made them the sensation of the 1930s.

Sir Martin Frobisher, mariner, privateer, explorer (born ca. 1535 near Wakefield, England; died 22 November 1594 in Plymouth, England).

Adam Dollard Des Ormeaux, soldier (b in France 1635; d at Long Sault May 1660). In late April 1660, 17 Frenchmen with Dollard in command left Montréal to ambush Iroquois hunters returning by the Ottawa River. They were joined by 44 Hurons and Algonquins.

Donald Grant Creighton, historian (b at Toronto 15 July 1902; d at Brooklin, Ont 19 Dec 1979).

​The coureurs de côtes were itinerant traders in 18th-century French Canada.

  James Cook, explorer (b near Marton, Eng 27 Oct 1728; d at Kealakekua Bay, Sandwich Is [Hawaii] 14 Feb 1779). The greatest navigator of his era, he served as master of the Pembroke at the siege of LOUISBOURG (1758) during the SEVEN YEARS' WAR.

Deskaheh (also known as Levi General), Cayuga chief and speaker of the Six Nations Hereditary Council (born on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ontario in 1873; died at the Tuscarora Reservation, New York, on 25 June 1925).

Coureurs des bois were itinerant, unlicenced fur traders from New France. They were known as “wood-runners” to the English on Hudson Bay and “bush-lopers” to the Anglo-Dutch of New York. Unlike voyageurs, who were licensed to transport goods to trading posts, coureurs des bois were considered outlaws of sorts because they did not have permits from colonial authorities. The independent coureurs des bois played an important role in the European exploration of the continent. They were also vital in establishing trading contacts with Indigenous peoples.

Robert Dunsmuir, industrialist, politician (b at Hurlford, Scot 31 Aug 1825; d at Victoria 12 Apr 1889). Dunsmuir was best known as the coal king of British Columbia. He came to Vancouver Island in 1851 and worked as a coal miner

Jacques Duchesneau de La Doussinière et d'Ambault, chevalier, INTENDANT of New France 1675-82 (d at Ambrant, France 1696).

Pierre-Herman Dosquet, Sulpician missionary, 4th bishop of Québec (b at Liège, Belgium 4 Mar 1691; d at Paris, France 4 Mar 1777). After serving with the Sulpicians and priests of the Missions étrangères, Dosquet was named administrator of the diocese of Québec in 1729 and coadjutor bishop in 1730.

Sir Francis Drake, one of history's great seamen and adventurers (b near Tavistock, Eng 1540?; d off Panama 28 Jan 1596). He likely sighted VANCOUVER ISLAND on his voyage around the world (1577-80).

Nicolas Denys, trader, colonial promoter (b at Tours, France 1598; d 1688). A young La Rochelle merchant, Denys sailed for Acadia in 1632 with Isaac de RAZILLY, and spent the next 40 years trying to develop the colony.

Francis Jeffrey Dickens, North-West Mounted Police inspector (b at London, Eng 15 Jan 1844; d at Moline, Ill 11 June 1886), third son of Charles Dickens. In 1864, after numerous unsuccessful career starts, Dickens joined the Bengal Mounted Police in India.

The two went to New York in 1873 to found the Daily Graphic, the first daily paper to use photographic illustrations. Canadian Illustrated News appeared weekly 1869-83.

Peter Warren Dease, fur trader, arctic explorer (b at Mackinac I, Mich 1 Jan 1788; d at Montréal 17 Jan 1863). From age 13 he was engaged in the FUR TRADE, first with the XY Co, then the NORTH WEST CO and finally the HUDSON'S BAY CO.