François Poulin de Francheville, Seigneur de Saint-Maurice (7 October 1692 – November 1733) was a

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

merchant who was granted permission by the

King of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the first ...

to mine the

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

deposits on his

seigneury ''Seigneur'' is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. A seigneur refers to the person or collective who owned a ''seigneurie'' (o ...

in 1730. In 1730, Francheville founded the ''Compagnie des Forges de Saint-Maurice'', but he died three years later. The

ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloomeri ...

— Forges du St-Maurice — built near the town of

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

(in present-day

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 ...

), were the only iron industry enterprise in

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...

. In 1736, the ironworks were taken over by a company that went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...

in 1741. The ironworks then became the property of the Crown, and began producing

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

pieces and objects of everyday use, such as pots and stoves. Francheville had bequeathed ownership of his slave,

Marie-Joseph Angélique Marie-Josèphe dite Angélique (died June 21, 1734) was the name given to a Portuguese-born black slave in New France (later the province of Quebec in Canada) by her last owners. She was tried and convicted of setting fire to her owner's home, bu ...

, to his wife; the following year, Angélique was convicted for starting the 1734 fire of Montreal.

References

Pre-Confederation Canadian businesspeople People of New France Businesspeople from Montreal Canadian slave owners {{NewFrance-stub

See also

References