The Sieur de la Palme was the
Governor of Plaisance (nowadays
Placentia) in the
New-France (french: Nouvelle-France) colony in
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
from 1667 to 1670.
In 1667, 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 ...
,
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Vers ...
, learns of the irresponsible behaviour of the previous governor
Bellot dit Lafontaine
Lafontaine Bellot (''Bellot dit Lafontaine'') was Governor of Plaisance ( Placentia), Newfoundland from 1664 to 1667.
Bellot was in charge of a small fort and garrison that protected the interests of the French fishery in the area. He was an ineff ...
. An official document indicates that Bellot had "fulfilled his duty badly" (). Louis XIV, frustrated with his governor, immediately recalls him to France. The king names le sieur La Palme as the new governor at Plaisance.
La Palme arrives to Newfoundland on board the ship "''Saint-Sébastien''". He received the mission from the King, to help populating the colony of Plaisance, to encourage agriculture and to protect the numerous French fishers. The new governor disembarks at Plaisance with 150 soldiers and numerous supplies, notably weapons stored in two warships that accompanied him from France.
La Palme builds fortifications around Plaisance to protect from an possible attack from the English.
However, La Palme displeases the colonists with shows of authoritarianism. He demands one third of the fish caught from the fishermen in exchange for provisions. Finally, the King relieves him from his administrative functions in 1670 and replaces him with a new governor named
La Poippe The Sieur de la Poippe was the Governor of Plaisance (nowadays Placentia) in the French colony of Newfoundland
Newfoundland Colony was an English and, later, British colony established in 1610 on the island of Newfoundland off the Atlantic co ...
.
External links
Government House ''The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador''Marcel Trudel, ''La seigneurie de la Compagnie des Indes occidentales, 1663-1674'', Histoire de la Nouvelle-France, éditions Fides, Québec, 1997
La Palme
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