Claude Charron de la Barre

Arriving in New France in 1652, Charron opened a shop at Quebec and soon emerged as a prosperous merchant and landowner.

Around 1660 he was one of the chief merchants of Quebec and the next year he imported commodities in the value of “five or six thousand livres" from France. He also owned a land at Quebec, on the Île d’Orléans, and at Montreal although his principal interest was trade, and not cultivation of land.

As a prominent citizen of Quebec, Charron was elected to various functions of honor. In 1663 and again in 1675 he was elected an alderman; from 1669 to 1671 he served a churchwarden of the parish of Quebec, and between 1673 and 1674 as police magistrate of the Quebec.

Regarding the economic development of New France, Charron proposed the foundation of the colony on the Detroit River as a center for the production of woolen material, cloth, and shoes, and he also favored the trade in spirits.

He died in 1687 leaving a sizeable fortune to his wife and their heirs.