Jacques Cartier

Jacques Cartier (1491-1557), French mariner and explorer of North America, born in St-Malo. Selected by King Francis I of France to lead an expedition to discover a North West Passage to China, he departed from St-Malo with two ships in April 1534. He sighted Newfoundland after 20 days, and sailing through Belle Isle Strait, between Newfoundland and Labrador, he proceeded southward along the western coast of Newfoundland and rounded the entire Gulf of St Lawrence. On this voyage he saw Prince Edward Island and the New Brunswick mainland, sailed into Chaleur Bay, which he named, landed on the Gaspé Peninsula, and crossed the St Lawrence River estuary. Much of the French claim to Canada is based on Cartier's explorations.

Again sailing on orders from King Francis in 1535, Cartier crossed Belle Isle for the second time and then sailed up the St Lawrence River, which he named on this occasion (the date of his entry into the river mouth being August 10, the feast day of St Lawrence), as far as the Native American village of Stadacona, where modern Quebec stands. He later proceeded up the river to the Native American village of Hochelaga and climbed the hill behind the village to observe the Ottawa River and Lachine Rapids (so named by Cartier because, although they prevented his progressing further up the river, he believed that beyond them lay a water route to China—”la Chine”). Cartier called the hill Mont Réal (Mount Royal), from which the name of the city of Montreal is derived. After spending the winter in Stadacona, Cartier sailed for France on a course south of Newfoundland, and for the first time passed through what is now called Cabot Strait.

Beginning his third voyage in 1541, Cartier again sailed up the St Lawrence, this time as far as Lachine Rapids. His purpose was to establish a colony in Canada, but the mission, overcome by scurvy and the harshness of the winter, was not successful. He returned to France the following year. He settled in St-Malo and wrote an account of his expeditions that was published in 1545.