Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry

Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry
Born July 20, 1721
Quebec, New France
Died December 11, 1797
Quebec, Lower Canada
Occupation military engineer and political figure in Lower Canada

Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry (July 20, 1721 – December 11, 1797), his first name was also sometimes written Joseph-Gaspard. He was a military engineer and a political figure in Lower Canada.[1] During the Seven Years' War he proved himself to be an outstanding officer and was one of only a few colonial officers held in high esteem by the Marquis de Montcalm. In recognition of his military service, in 1759 he was made a Chevalier of the Order of Saint Louis. n 1763, after the British Conquest of New France, he and his wife, Louise Martel de Brouage, were the first French Canadian couple to be presented to the English Court, drawing the compliment from King George III that if all Canadian ladies resembled Mme de Léry then he had "indeed made a conquest".[2]

Early life

Born at Quebec City in 1721, he was the son of Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry and his wife Marie-Renée, daughter of Captain René Legardeur de Beauvais (1660–1742), holder of the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint-Louis.[3]

Career

He joined the colonial army in 1733 and became an assistant engineer in 1739. Chaussegros de Léry took part in raids against the British in New England, helped maintain French fortifications in New France and was in charge of the construction of Fort Saint-Jean. In 1753, he married Louise, the daughter of François Martel de Brouague, commandant of the Coast of Labrador. He took part in Louis-Joseph de Montcalm's capture of Fort Oswego in 1756 and, in 1757, was promoted to captain for his success at the Battle of Fort Bull. He was wounded at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and sent back to France in 1761. He had become the seigneur of Léry after his father's death.

At some point, Chaussegros de Léry produced a finished copy of a map of the west. The original work had been done by Christopher Dufrost de La Jemeraye, a nephew of Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye.

Chaussegros de Léry was not given any opportunities by the French and returned to Quebec by way of England in 1764. He was named chief road commissioner by Governor Guy Carleton in 1768 and served on the Legislative Council and Executive Council of Quebec. In 1792, he was named to the Legislative Council of Lower Canada. He sold the seigneury of Léry in 1766 but later acquired the seigneuries of Perthuis, Rigaud-Vaudreuil, Gentilly, Le Gardeur and Sainte-Barbe.

He died at Quebec in 1797.

Honours

Fort Saint-Jean plaque

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
  2. ↑ Kirby, William (2012). Edwards, Mary Jane, ed. Le Chien d'Or. The Golden Dog: a Legend of Quebec (New ed.). Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press. p. 804. ISBN 978-0-7735-4016-3.
  3. ↑ Russ, C.J. (1974). "Legardeur de Beauvais, Rene". Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 3. University of Toronto, Universite Laval. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
  4. ↑ Witten, Sally Sue (2001). Port Clinton, the Peninsula, and the Bass Islands. Charleston, SC: Arcadia. p. 20. ISBN 0-7385-0702-4.

Further reading

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