Samuel de CHAMPLAIN
1567-1635
Governor of "la Nouvelle-France"

Etienne Brule and Champlain in Huronie

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by Danielle Duval LeMyre
daughter of Salluste Duval LeMyre and Olga Drouin Obry

Historical notes for:
"WE WERE THERE! ... Genealogy & Roots>

e-mail: dlemyre@yahoo.com
CANADA
Messges: 604-682-3269 ext.9017
www.geocities.com/daniellla.geo/champlain.html

MINI-BIOGRAPHY
SAMUEL de CHAMPLAIN
1567-1635

Samuel de Champlain writes of himself tru his historian in 1630, that he was born in Brouage, a small port on the Bay of Biscay, in 1567, son of Anthoine Complain (a Huguenot) and Magueritte le Roy.
At the end of the year 1610, after Henri IV's death, Samuel Champlain married Elaine Boulay (daughter of Nicholas Boullay) and he named an island after her, in 1611, Ste-Hélène Island, (the Parc Jean Drapeau in Montreal) which would hold the 1967 Exhibit of Terre des Hommes.

He says that he was in the army of Henry IV of France, serving him in Brittany under commanders Jean d’Aumont, François de St. Luc and Charles de Brissac.

When the army was disbanded in 1599, he went to Spain with his uncle, and from there to the West Indies, for two years, pushing also to Vera Cruz and Mexico.
He wrote a manuscript which was kept at Dieppe entitled:
"Bref Discours des Choses plus remarquables que
Samuel Champalin de Brouage a recognues aux Indes Occidentales".

Later on, he first came to establish a post in Acadia, in Port-Royal in 1603.
The inhospitable weather and land which led him to establish a better post in Quebec in 1608.

Here, in this web page, I am giving you LINKS to some sites about him

It is true, I am biaised, I do not like to rely too much on his say-so: though I admire le sieur de Champlain for his great explorator skills, skills since he made 30 distinct trips to New-France and went in-land several times, from 1603 to 1635, when he died, excluding three years, from 1629 to 1632, when he stayed in France, while the English held Quebec which had been taken by the KIRKE BROTHERS a.k.a. KERTH, during which time Champlain hired a writer and wrote his "Memoirs", stories which had happened 27-20 years ago until then, and he admitted his memory was not clear on which year and events concorded.

So when I have dates or events conflict, I tend to believe the other party more readily, for their accuracy..... also, I found him quite opiniated, for example, he did not encourage European Women to come to New-France, as his wife which he married in 1610, Helene Boule had had a bad experience during her short stay (around 1620), but did not encourage the European and French men to marry the native women, which many men lived with. Also he had a low opinion of both Etienne Brule and of Nicolas Marsolet because he felt they led "dissolute lives" "eating meat on Friday" "drinking" and later on he accused them of "betraying" the French to the English, which we now know was totally inaccurate, as supported by the research showing that in 1632 (Etienne Brule had died), when France was given back, there were no punishments, to the contrary, Marsolet was kept at his post, in all honour, and apart from Champlain's complaints, there were highly favourable reports and later on, years later, Marsolet received numerous land grants, titles for most of his grand-children from the King of France, and other gifts received by Marsolet from so many quarters.

So Champlain was Governor of New France, though he could not have been there too often for we have on record that Champlain did 30 trips between France and "la Nouvelle-France" between 1603 and 1635, except between 1629 and 1632 when he remained in France, after the English took over, after the brothers Kirke a.k.a. Kerth, took possession of Quebec.

It was a short possession, since Henriette de France, the Sister of King Louis XIII, was at the time given in marriage to the King of England and the land was therefore given back to the French by 1632.

Champlain died on December 25th 1635, and we have not found yet where his remains are.
If you have some knowledge of this, or are interested in the subject, CLICK HERE , where you will find some information (in French) given by M. Maurice Séguin, including more facts on CHAMPLAIN's life and that of his wife Ellaine Boullay.
Also Mr. Seguin's e-mail if you can provide more info on Champlain's death and burial.

LINKS and SITES about Samuel de CHAMPLAIN

The Yorkies French Explorer pages by Mrs. Yorks' fourth grade class in Flint, Michigan
The Yorkies French Explorer

Also Civilization.ca

The Virtual Museum of New France offers more on Canadian and other early History.

N.B.: For more on Etienne Brule, see the Canadiana site about the Hudson Bay www.canadiana.org/hbc/person/brule_e.html

and CLICK HERE to see his picture by Charles William Jefferys

I am working primarily about
the Marsolet story, since he was the first interpretor in New-France, chosen by Henri IV in 1589,
also on the Damours
and on the lives of Charlotte Guyon D'Amours and her husband the buccaneer St-Castin, who, with his brother-in-law, Pierre Morpain, rescued Port-Royal from the British in 1707

BACK TO DANIELLA's GENEALOGY INDEX
at www.geocities.com/daniellla.geo

Thank you for your visit
Danielle