Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière

Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière (born November 10, 1693 in Rochefort , † October 26, 1756 in Montereau-Fault-Yonne ) was a French naval officer, temporarily governor of New France and promoter of scientific research.

Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière

Off Menorca, La Galissonière defeated the British fleet in 1756, but did not take advantage of the victory and let the British escape

Life

He was the son of the high-ranking naval officer Roland Barrin de La Galissonière and came from an influential Breton family. He first studied at the College de Beauvais in Paris before joining the French Navy in 1710 . He was promoted to lieutenant in 1712 and married Marie-Catherine-Antoinette de Lauson in 1713. There were no children from the marriage.

Apart from a few trips to Canada, the West Indies and the Mediterranean, he initially worked mainly in the administrative service in Rochefort. In 1727 he became the commandant of a ship and took part in a campaign in the West Indies in 1734 and 1735. In 1737 he traveled to Canada. He owed his promotion to captain in 1738 to the influence of his family. In the same year he was made a knight of the Order of St. Louis . In the following years he commanded various ships. In 1745 he was acting general of the artillery in Rochefort and responsible for coastal protection. In 1746 he protected ships of the Compagnie des Indes ( Compagnie des Indes Occidentales Françaises and Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales ) from Africa and the West Indies.

In the meantime Jacques-Pierre de Taffanel de La Jonquière had been appointed Governor of New France in 1746, but could not take office. Therefore, Barrin de La Galissonière was appointed de facto governor and supreme commander until the arrival of Taffanel de La Jonquière. He arrived in Quebec in September 1749 without much knowledge of the situation. The situation was difficult. Since 1744 there was war with the British in King George's War . The colony's financial condition was poor and it was threatened by British expansionist policies. Ultimately, the new governor was left with only a defensive policy.

He endeavored to fortify Quebec and Montreal and also had various forts built in other parts of the country. In view of the small population compared to the British colonies, La Galissonière had to build more settlements for colonists on the one hand, but on the other hand it was also dependent on the support of Indian tribes. He also planned to connect Louisiana and Canada by land through a series of forts and posts in the Ohio Valley . It was in this area that the British-French conflict became the main arena. He used force against the British trading posts in the Great Lakes area . With the help of the Indian tribes, he tried to stop British expansion in Arcadia. He also tried to increase the population of Canada with new settlers. His attempt to establish the textile industry in Canada failed because of the mercantilist course of his homeland.

After returning to France in December 1749, he took part in negotiations with the British on border issues in America.

In 1750 he was appointed rear admiral. He was responsible for the Dépôt des Cartes et plans de la Marine . In 1752 he became a member of the Académie de Marine and the Academie Royale des Sciences . In 1754 he returned to active naval service. He became the commander of a squadron protecting merchant ships from the pirates of the barbarian states. In 1755 he was appointed lieutenant general in the Navy. In 1756 he took part in the French conquest of Menorca . He escorted the Landing Army's 176 transport ships. In the naval battle of Menorca he defeated an English fleet under the British admiral John Byng (see beginning of the Seven Years' War ).

Promotion of science

As early as 1737, he was conducting studies on a nautical device, possibly a quadrant . He corresponded with numerous well-known scientists at the time on botanical questions or marine biology. From his travels he sent plants and seeds to Henri Louis Duhamel du Monceau , to the Jardin des Plantes and home for the park of his castle, Chateau de Monniers. During his time as governor, he promoted the collection of zoological, botanical and mineral samples for scientific investigation. He made sure that scientific observers accompanied expeditions. He promoted the work of the botanist Peter Kalm in Canada. As head of the Dépôt des Cartes et planes de la Marine, he organized scientific expeditions to Newfoundland , Cape Breton , Arcadia, the Spanish coast and the Cape of Good Hope .

Honors

Several ships of the French Navy were named after him. According to Egli, the "Presqu'île de Lagalissonière", the eastern end of the kangaroo island , was also named after him in 1803 .

literature

• Keir B. Sterling et al. (Ed.): Biographical dictionary of American and Canadian naturalists and environmentalists. Greenwood Press, Westport CT 1997, ISBN 0-313-23047-1 , pp. 443f.

Web links

• Entry in Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online

Individual evidence

1. ^ Johann Jakob Egli : Nomina geographica. Language and factual explanation of 42,000 geographical names of all regions of the world. , Friedrich Brandstetter, 2nd ed. Leipzig 1893, p. 521