Jean Talon

Jean Talon visiting the colonists Credit: Lawrence R. Batchelor, Library and Canada, accession number 1983-45-3, C-011925.

In 1974, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC) designated Jean Talon (1626–94) a person of national historic importance as part of the commemoration of viceroys and intendants who ruled the colony.

Jean Talon was born and died in France. He was Intendant of New France from 1665 to 1668 and from 1670 to 1672. His appointment came at a time when King Louis XIV had taken back control of the colony and intended to revamp its government. Talon was the first intendant to take up residence in New France. He was active in many fields. Taking over the civil administration, he reorganized the justice system, conducted the first census of the colony in 1666 and promoted immigration, enabling close to 2,000 immigrants and demobilized soldiers to settle in New France. In economic affairs he took decisive action: he succeeded in increasing agricultural and fisheries production, and established a brewery and other industries, such as mining enterprises. He also encouraged shipbuilding and started the triangular trade between New France, the Caribbean and France. He promoted colonial expansion across the continent by sending Louis Jolliet (designated by the HSMBC in 1944) to explore the Mississippi region. In just six years this dynamic colonial administrator gave a remarkable boost to New France. Today his name is associated in Québec City with the site of the Intendant's Palace, built in Lower Town close to the Sainte Charles River. Starting in the mid-1980s, Université Laval and the municipal government of Québec City undertook a major archaeological dig on the site.