| July 3, 1608 |
Samuel de Champlain comes ashore at Quebec and settles for the winter with 22 men. He builds log buildings. Only 8 of the 22 men will survive the winter. He is in Quebec to trade with the Indians. He writes in his journal "I searched for a good place for our habitation, but I could not find one more convenient or better situated than the point of Quebec." Source; Eccles, page 22 |
| 1614 | Champlain returns to France and asks for missionaires to come to the settlement to convert the Indians. |
| June 1615 | Four missionaires arrive. |
| 1625 |
Champlain is appointed Lieutenant Governor of the colony and the Jesuits arrive to assist the missionaires. They begin to build a church at Quebec City. Urbain Tessier dit Lavigne is born in Anjou, Tours, France. |
| 1627 | Cardinal Richelieu reorganizes New France and sends settlers. To promote Christianity he bars the Hugenots and they join with the English to revolt. |
| 1628 | The English and Hugenots capture the first ships from France with supplies headed to the colony. They take over Quebec from Champlain. |
| 1629 | Champlain returns to France to find that the capture of Quebec was done during a time of peace. It will be returned to France. |
| 1632 |
The English hand Quebec back to the French and a ship of 40 men, 3 Jesuit Priests and supplies were sent from France to help rebuild the colony. Father le Jeune wrote about the colony "The English, who came to this country to plunder and not to build up, not only burned a greater part of the detached buildings... but also all of that poor settlement of which nothing now is to be seen..." Source;Eccles, page 30 |
| 1633 |
Champlain returns to New France as Lieutenant and begins trading with the Algonquins again and begins the Feudal System to settle New France. The seigneury was a plot of land granted by the King to settlers. The Sieur of the seigneury was responsible for building a mill and living on their land. They also had to settle tenants (also known as censitaires) to clear and farm the land. If either man failed to do his duty for the seigneury he lost the rights to his land. |
| 1634 | Champlain builds a Fort at Trois River to keep an eye on the English. |
| 1635 |
December 25, 1635 Samuel de Champlain dies at the age of 68 years. The Jesuits found the first College and it would have over 20 students by 1640. |
| 1636 |
France sends Charles Huault de Montmagny, Knight of Malta as the new Governor of New France. He brought more settlers with him and granted more seigneuries. Marie Archambault, future wife of Urbain Tessier dit Lavigne is born in Dompierre-sur-Mer, Aunis, France and baptized on February 24, 1636. |
| 1639 | Arrival of 3 Ursuline Nuns and 3 Nursing Sisters who found Hotel-Dieu-de-Quebec. The hospital still stands on this site today. |
| 1640 |
The population of the colony stands at 240 people. Andre Robidou was born in Santa-Maria-in- Galica, Spain. |
| 1641 |
Seventy people set out to establish a post at Montreal. Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve was in charge of the group and Jeanne Mance went to care for the sick. It would become known as Ville Marie. It is believed the Urbain Tessier dit Lavigne was one of the men in this party who went with Paul de Chomedey. Pierre Ferre is born about this time in Siene-Martine, Rouen, France. |
| May 18, 1642 | The first Mass is celebrated at Montreal. |
| 1643 | Pierre Roy dit Saint-Lambert born on October 23, 1643, Saint-Michel-le-Cloucq, La Rochelle, France. |
| 1644 | The Iroquois had been trading with the Dutch and were now in possesion of guns. The raids on the French settlements were frequent and horrific. The French were prisioners of their Forts and many people lost their lives to the raids. |
| 1645 |
Jeanne Mance founds Hotel-Dieu-de Montreal. The "Community of the Habitants of New France" was formed to take over the fur trade business and have more control of their economy. Louis DeLisle was born and baptised in Dompierre-en-Bray, France. He was born after the death of his father. Jeanne Denot was born in Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, Paris, France. Claude Larcheveque comes to Canada and marries Marie Simon on February 6, 1645 in Quebec City. |
| 1648 |
Louise Desgranges is born in France. Urbain Tessier dit Lavigne accepts a land grant and builds a house. He then goes back to Quebec and on September 28, 1648 marries Marie Archambault. Her family is one that has come from France to settle the land and she is only 13 years old. Jacques Larcheveque son of Claude Larcheveque & Marie Simon was born on February 15, 1648 in Quebec City, Quebec. |
| 1649 |
Montreal continues to be under constant attack by the Iroquois. Urbain Tessier and his young bride Marie have their first child, Charles on July 18, 1649. He would be one of 16 children. Marie Lasnon is born in Sien-Martine, Rouen, France. |
| 1651 | A raid by the Iroquois in May burn down Urbain Tessier's home. On July 18th of the same year Urbain Tessier shows great courage in defending his fellow settlers. Urbain is in the thick of defending Ville Marie against the attacks from the Iroquois. |
| 1652 | Urbain Tessier is granted a large plot of land in what is now called Place d'Armes near the Basilica Notre Dame. |
| 1653 |
Maisonneuve brings 100 more volunteers to help in the war against the Iroquois to Montreal. On November 11, 1653 a peace treaty was finally reached with the Iroquois. The Iroquois themselves under attack by surrounding tribes. Urbain granted about 500 livres from Maisonneuve for settling in Ville Marie. |
| 1654 | Fur trading with the Ottawa Indians begins. |
| 1657 |
More colonists begin to arrive from France and more land grants are given. The Iroquois begin attacking again, angered over the trading between the French and the Ottawa Indians. Catherine Ducharme is born in Paris, France about this time. |
| 1661 |
King Louis XIV is now in power. The colony pleaded for troops to be sent to help with the attacks by the Iroquois. Urbain Tessier is captured by the Iroquois on March 24, 1661 and taken from his family. |
| 1662 |
Urbain Tessier is released by the Iroquois after 17 months of captivity and returns to his family. Clement Leriger de la Plante is born in France. |
| 1663 |
New France becomes a "royal province of France under the absolute rule of the King".Eccles, page 47 February 5, 1663, St. Lawrence River area experiences an earthquake. |
| 1664 | Marie Agnes Jeanne Roy was born on October 23, 1664, daughter of Jean Roy and Francois Bois. |
| 1665 |
Viceroy de Tracy and Intendent Jean Talon arrive bringing with them over 400 settlers but more important the Carignan Regiment and the Fille du Roi as well as supplies. Father le Mercier wrote "On July 16, a ship arrived from Le Havre bringing horses, which the King planned to establish in the country,...Our savages have never seen horses before, and stood admiring them, wondering that the French moose, for that is how they call them, should be so gentle and so easy for men to handle." Sourcs; Canada A Peoples History, Volume 1, page 82 Jacques Triolet (The name would later become Theoret) born about this time in France. |
| 1666 |
Viceroy de Tracy decides to attack the Iroquois villages in January. For the next two years the Carignan fight the Iroquois until they agreed once again to a peace treaty. Jean Talon's job was to marry the Fille du Roi off and encourage population growth. He did so by banning bachelors from leaving the colony until all Fille du Roi were married. Men married before the age of 20 and girls before the age of 16 were given a 20 livres dowry. Couples with 10 children or more were given 3-4 hundred livre a year (the beginning of what came to be called "The baby bonus"). The Carignan Soldiers along with settlers who had volunteered led by de Courcelle ventured into the country. Not used to the Canadian winters they had a rough track through the country. The Marquis de Salieres writes "When I wanted to find out what condition our soldiers were in for this enterprise, I saw that everything was badly arranged, the soldiers have no snowshoes, very few axes, one cover, no hooks, having only one pair of socks. Seeing everything that was lacking, I told the captain that it would be a miracle if they did anything worthwhile." Canada a Peoples History, Volume 1, page 80 Captain de Monteil writes about this tremendous undertaking "During this expedition which we undertook in the month of January, we lost four hundred men, who literally froze to death while marching, and then dropped to the ground. We had expected to make a surprise attack on an enemy village, but we did not succeed because our guides froze to death along the way." Source; Canada a Peoples History, Volume 1, page 80 Andre Robidou, a sailor, comes to New France as a servant for Eustache Lambert. He adds "dit L'Espagnol" to his last name. He must have wanted to be sure he was not seen as French. Jeanne Denot leaves France for New France as a Fille du Roi. Pierre Ferre is listed in the 1666 Census as a Sailor. Pierre Roy dit Saint-Lambert is listed as a servant of Jacques Le Ber at Montreal. |
| 1667 |
Louis DeLisle gets his first piece of property. Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol marries Jeanne Denot, a Fille du roi, on June 7, 1667 at Quebec City. Marie Lasnon arrives in New France as a Fille du Roi. |
| 1668 | Simon Argencourt dit Drouillard was born on November 10, 1668 in France. |
| 1669 |
October 15, 1669 Louis DeLisle marries Louise Desgranges a Fille du Roi. Eleven months later, November 15, 1670, their first child Antoine was born in Neuville. Louise Desgranges leaves for New France as a Fille du Roi. Andre and Jeanne Robidou dit L'Espagnol have their first child. Marie Romaine born July 11, 1669 in Quebec City. Jacques Larcheveque marries Fille du Roi Madeleine LeGuay on June 3, 1669 in Quebec City, Quebec. |
| 1670 | Antoine DeLisle, first son of Louis and Louise DeLisle is born on November 15, 1670. |
| 1671 |
Talons plan for marrying the Fille du Roi apparently worked because in this year there were 700 children baptized. The economy of New France was also becoming a success under Talon including exporting and ship building. Jean Talon writes to the King of France "The girls sent over last year are married and almost all are pregnant or have had a children, which is proof of the fertility of this land." Source; Canada A Peoples History, Volume 1, page 84 Hope for the success of populating New France is felt everywhere. Father le Mercier writes If things continue the way they have for the last two years, Canada will be unrecognizable, and we will see our forests turning into cities and provinces that one day may resemble those of France." Source; Canada A Peoples History, Volume 1, page 84 Andre and his family are now settled in Laprairie where Andre and Jeanne raise 5 children. Catherine Ducharme arrives in New France as a Fille du Roi. |
| 1670's | The emergence of the "coureurs des bois", men who would go deep into the forest to trap beaver and other fur. The area they travelled was known as the Pays d'en Haut, an area around the Great Lakes. |
| 1672 |
The population of the colony now reached 6700 from a dismal 2500 just 10 years earlier. The colonists are now prospering and living well for their time. Although the war with the Iroquois continued backed by the English through the 1680's. Pierre Roy dit Saint-Lambert and Catherine Ducharme marry on January 12, 1672 in Montreal. Joseph Nicolas was born, son of Jacques Larcheveque & Madeleine LeGuay on may 15, 1672 in Quebec. |
| 1678 |
On January 13, 1678, Andre and Jeanne welcome their 5th child, Joseph, into the New World but Andre would not see Joseph's first birthday as he dies just less than 3 months later on April 1, 1678. On August 16th Jeanne remarries to Jacques Surprenant dit Sanssoucy, a Carignan Soldier with the Contrecoeur Company. They will have 8 children from this marriage. |
| 1681 |
Marguerite Ferre born on March 7, 1681, daughter of Pierre Ferre and Marie Lasnon. Marie Roy dit Saint-Lambert daughter of Pierre Roy and Catherine Ducharme is born on May 25, 1681 in Laprairie, Quebec. |
| 1685 | Arrival of Sister Marie de l'Incarnation. Louise DeLisle buys another plot of land ajoining what he already owns. Clement Leriger de la Plante arrives on August 1, 1685 as part of the Troupe de la Marine (his death certificate shows that he became a lieutenant). |
| 1689 |
The Lachine Massacre-A very much debated subject as far as numbers are concerned however the fact remains that on August 5, 1689 the Iroquois attacked Lachine killing men, women and children and capturing many others. They burned the settlement to the ground. War between France and England had broken and the colonies of both countries in the New World suffered inhumane acts of war and suffered many losses. It took until 1701 before peace settled for a while in the New World. After a very difficult but prosperous life, Urbain Tessier dit Lavigne dies on March 20, 1689 at Montreal. |
| 1692 | Jeanne Denot dies in January of 1692. |
| 1693 | Louis DeLisle dies on September 10, 1693. |
| 1696 |
Louis XIV orders the western trading post to be closed. The market for fur in Europe was declining. Antoine DeLisle, eldest son of Louis was married one year by now to Marie Catherine Faucher dit St. Maurice and had his first son Louis Joseph. |
| 1698 | Simon Argencourt dit Drouillard marries Marguerite Ferre on November 25, 1698. |
| 1699 | Simon Drouillard and Marguerite Ferre have their first child, a son, Pierre on September 26, 1699. |
| 1700 | Clement Leriger de la Plante married Marie Roy dit Saint-Lambert on September 8, 1700. |
| 1701 | Jacques Triolet and Marie Agnes Jeanne Roy marry on March 14, 1701. |
