Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons

Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons
Bust of Pierre Du Gua de Mons in Quebec City by Hamilton MacCarthy; installed on July 3, 2007, it is an exact copy of the one in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia.
Born	c. 1558 Château de Mons, Royan, Saintonge, France
Died	1628 castle of Ardenne in Fléac-sur-Seugne
Parent(s)	Guy and Claire Goumard Du Gua

Pierre Dugua de Mons (or Du Gua de Monts; c. 1558 – 1628) was a French merchant, explorer and colonizer. A Calvinist, he was born in the Château de Mons, in Royan, Saintonge (southwestern France) and founded the first permanent French settlement in Canada. He travelled to northeastern North America for the first time in 1599 with Pierre de Chauvin de Tonnetuit.

Pierre Du Gua de Mons was born about 1558 in Saintonge, France to Guy and Claire Goumard Du Gua. He fought for the cause of Henri IV during the religious wars in France. The king later awarded him an annual pension of 1,200 crowns and the governorship of the town of Pons in Saintonge in recognition of his outstanding service.

De Mons seems to have made several voyages to Canada including in 1600, with Pierre de Chauvin de Tonnetuit to Tadoussac. In 1603, King Henry, granted Du Gua exclusive right to colonize lands in North America between 40°–60° North latitude. The King also gave Du Gua a monopoly in the fur trade for these territories and named him Lieutenant General for Acadia and New France. In return, Du Gua promised to bring 60 new colonists each year.

In 1604, Du Gua organized an expedition, underwritten by merchants in Rouen, Saint-Malo, and La Rochelle, and left France with 79 settlers including François Gravé Du Pont as senior officer, Royal cartographer Samuel de Champlain, the Baron de Poutrincourt, apothecary Louis Hébert, a priest Nicolas Aubry, and Mathieu de Costa: a legendary linguist, the first registered black man to set foot in North America, and a Protestant member of the clergy.