Search for ""

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.

Sir Frederic (also Frederick) Bowker Terrington Carter, prime minister of Newfoundland 1865–78, lawyer, politician, judge (born 12 February 1819 in St. John's, NF; died 1 March 1900 in St. John’s).

After the failed Rebellion of 1837 in Upper Canada, its leader, William Lyon Mackenzie, retreated to Navy Island, in the Niagara River, accompanied by some 200 followers. The Caroline, an American ship based at Fort Schlosser in New York State, was chartered to bring supplies to the rebels. On 29 December 1837, a force of the Upper Canada militia led by Commander Andrew Drew of the Royal Navy found the Caroline moored at Schlosser. In the quick skirmish that followed, an American was killed. The Caroline, set on fire and adrift, capsized before reaching the falls and sank. The incident aggravated the already tense relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States.

Edward Cornwallis, founder of Halifax in 1749, governor of Nova Scotia from 1749-52, military leader and governor of Gibraltar from 1762-76, (born 22 February 1713 in London, England; died 23 January 1776 in Gibraltar).

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.

Pierre-François-Xavier de Charlevoix, Jesuit historian (b at Saint-Quentin, France 24 or 29 Oct 1682; d at La Flèche, France 1 Feb 1761). Author of the first comprehensive history of NEW FRANCE, Charlevoix taught at

William Eppes (Epps) Cormack, merchant, explorer, naturalist (b at St John's 5 May 1796; d at New Westminster, BC 30 Apr 1868).

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

Laurence Coughlan, missionary (b at Drummersnave, Ire; d in London, Eng 1784?). Ordained a Church of England priest in 1765, Coughlan sailed to Newfoundland that same year under the auspices of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.

In 1782-83 he was commander in chief at New York, which he refused to evacuate until the LOYALIST refugees had been sent to safety, and he urged their reception in Québec and Nova Scotia. Influenced by William SMITH, he unsuccessfully proposed while in England a single governor general for BNA.

Étienne Brûlé, explorer, interpreter (b probably at Champigny-sur-Marne, France c 1592; d in Huronia c June 1633). Brûlé was the first Frenchman to live among the Indigenous people.

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.

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).