Medard des Groseilliers
| Médard des Groseilliers | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1618 Charly-sur-Marne, France |
| Died | 1696 |
| Occupation | Explorer, fur trader |
Médard des Groseilliers (1618—1696) was a French explorer and fur trader in Canada. He is often paired with his brother-in-law Pierre-Esprit Radisson, who was about 20 years younger. The pair worked together in fur trading and exploration. Their decision to enter British service led to the foundation of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670. This company established trading posts and extensive relations with the First Nations in western Canada. It was highly influential in making the region amenable to British colonization. Radisson, with Groseiliers, also mapped many of the Great Lakes and trading routes used by settlers in the early 19th century.
Médard Chouart was born in Charly-sur-Marne, France to Médard Chouart, his father and Marie Poirier. He also had a cousin named Médard Chouart. He later called himself Sieur des Groseilliers after a farm his parents managed in Bassevelle. He was reported to have immigrated to New France in 1641 at age 23, but according to Nute, this has never been proven. He became a donné or lay helper at the Jesuit missions in the Huron region near present-day Simcoe County, Ontario. Here he learned the skills of a coureur des bois. In 1646, Groseilliers fought with the Huron against the Iroquois.
On 3 September 1647 Groseilliers married the widowed Helène Martin, the daughter of Abraham Martin whose land later became famous as the Plains of Abraham. Their first child died in 1648. Their second child, also named Médard, was born in 1651, the same year Helène died. After the Iroquois destroyed the Huron missions and forced the people to move further west in the late 1640s, Groseilliers worked to re-establish trade, especially in the Lake Superior region.
In 1653, Groseilliers travelled to Acadia to meet with Claude de la Tour and returned to New France in July and establishing himself at Trois-Rivières. There he married his second wife, Marguérite Hayet, (sometimes spelled Hayot) the widowed step-sister of Pierre-Esprit Radisson and from whom he inherited his lands in Trois-Rivières. Two sons from her first marriage became troublesome and in 1654, Groseilliers petitioned the governor of New France to find the boys another guardian, which was accepted. His first child by Marguérite, Jean Baptiste, was baptized on 5 July 1654. His second child by Marguérite, also named Marguérite, was baptized on 15 April 1659 and his third child, Marie-Antoinette, was baptized on 8 June 1661.
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