Search for "New France"

Louis Jolliet, explorer, cartographer, king’s hydrographer, fur trader, seigneur, organist, teacher (baptized 21 September 1645 in Québec City; died between 4 May and 18 Oct 1700 likely near Île d'Anticosti).

Joseph Lewis, alias Levi Johnston, also Lewes and Louis, fur trader (born c. 1772–73 in Manchester, New Hampshire; died 1820 in Saskatchewan District). Joseph Lewis was a Black fur trader, originally from the United States, who participated in the fur industry’s early expansion into the Canadian Northwest in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He is one of very few Black people involved in the fur trade whose name was documented in existing texts. Joseph Lewis is further notable for being the first Black person in present-day Saskatchewan, as well as, in all likelihood, Alberta.

George Gleig, soldier, chronicler of the War of 1812 (b 20 Apr 1796 at Stirling, Scotland; d 9 Jul 1888).

Their expedition had some success, but the colony was abandoned in 1607 after the revocation of its trading monopoly.

Isaac Jogues, Jesuit missionary, martyr (b at Orléans, France 10 Jan 1607; d at Auriesville, NY 18 Oct 1646). Jogues entered the Society of Jesus in 1624. Sent to the Canadian missions in 1636, he was captured and tortured

Henri de Tonty, explorer, voyageur (b 1649 or 1650; d at Ft Louis-de-la-Louisiane Sept 1704). He was the son of Lorenzo de Tonty, inventor of the "tontine" system of life annuity.

Jean-Baptiste de La Croix de Chevrières de Saint-Vallier, second bishop of Québec, founder of the Hôpital Général at Québec (b at Grenoble, France 14 Nov 1653; d at Québec City 26 Dec 1727). Saint-Vallier was bishop of Québec 1688-1727.

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.

Brother XII (Brother Twelve) was one of Canada’s most notorious cult leaders. A mystic figure who dreamed of transforming humanity, he left behind a failed utopia and deep mystery.

Henry Louis Norwest, Cree sniper during the First World War (born 1884 in Fort Saskatchewan, North-West Territories [present-day Alberta]; died 8 August 1918 in Amiens, France). While serving overseas, Henry Norwest was credited with 115 confirmed kills and received a Military Medal and Bar for his exploits on the battlefield.

Pierre Maillard, priest of the Séminaire des missions étrangères, missionary (b in the diocese of Chartres, France c 1710; d at Halifax 12 Aug 1762). Missionary to the MICMAC, Maillard was a brilliant linguist who perfected a system of written symbols for the Micmac language.

Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck of Ballytrammon, governor general of British North America, captain general and governor of British North America from 1861 to 1867 and governor general of Canada from 1867 to 1868 (born 10 October 1819 in Templemore, County Tipperary, Ireland; died 29 November 1894 in Charleville, Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland). Monck supported Confederation and became the first governor general of the Dominion of Canada.

The crew took off on its 13th sortie on 12 June 1944 to bomb a German supply line at Cambrai, France. Just after midnight, they were fired on by a German JU-88 fighter, sustaining heavy damage. The pilot ordered the crew to bail out.

Frederick Philipse Robinson, British army officer, military figure in the WAR OF 1812 (b Sept 1763, New York, US; d Sussex, England, 1 Jan 1852). Frederick Robinson was born in the British Province of New York.

Archibald McNab, 17th chief of Clan Macnab (b in Perthshire, Scot c 1781; d at Lannion, France 12 Aug 1860). McNab came to Upper Canada in 1822 to flee his creditors in Scotland. His settlement scheme was approved Nov 1823 and he was given land on the Madawaska River.

Françoise-Marie de Saint-Étienne de La Tour, née Jacquelin, Acadian heroine (b in France 1602; d at Ft La Tour [NB] 1645). Civil war raged in Acadia in 1640 when she married Charles de Saint-Étienne de LA TOUR, one of 2 claimants to the colony's governorship.

Richard Philipps, governor of Nova Scotia 1717-49 (b in Pembrokeshire, Wales c 1661; d at London, Eng 14 Oct 1750). Although he spent little time in Nova Scotia (1720-22, 1729-31), his dealings with the Acadians in 1730 had a strong effect on subsequent events.

Besides chaperoning girls sent from France as brides for settlers (Filles du Roi), she recruited French and Canadian girls as teachers, organized a boarding school for girls in Montréal, a school for Indigenous girls on the Sulpician reserve of La Montagne, and a domestic arts school.

The Marco Polo was a sailing ship of 1625 tons launched in April 1851 from the building yard of James Smith, Courtney Bay, Saint John, New Brunswick. She was the most famous ship built in New Brunswick, cutting a week off