François Byssot de la Rivière (1612–1673) was an early figure in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

, his presence being recorded at Île-aux-Ruaux in 1639 when the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

took possession of the property. He married Marie Couillard in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

on 25 October 1648. Byssot was active in a number of pursuits and his name is associated with some of the earliest land grants and was also a person of note in seigneurial justice. In 1661, he received, from the

Compagnie des Cent-Associés The Company of One Hundred Associates ( French: formally the Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France, or colloquially the Compagnie des Cent-Associés or Compagnie du Canada), or Company of New France, was a French trading and colonization company ch ...

, a concession in what is now

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

. He may have constructed a post at

Mingan Mingan, also known as Ekuanitshit in Innu-aimun, is an Innu First Nations reserve in the Canadian province of Quebec, at the mouth of the Mingan River on Mingan Bay of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. It belongs to the Innu band of Ekuanitshit. Geogra ...

. He constructed the first tannery and was granted some other important concessions in both fishing and harvesting seals. He had twelve children, two of whom,

Jean-Baptiste Jean-Baptiste is a male French name, originating with Saint John the Baptist, and sometimes shortened to Baptiste. The name may refer to any of the following: Persons * Charles XIV John of Sweden, born Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, was King ...

and François-Joseph, attained some notability in Canadian history.

References

* * 1612 births 1673 deaths Canadian explorers People of New France 1630s in Canada 1639 in New France Immigrants to New France {{NewFrance-stub