François Gravé Du Pont

François Gravé Du Pont was a French navigator, an early fur trader and explorer in the New World.

Born in the great seaport of Saint-Malo, on the coast of Normandy he is known as the founder of the first European settlement in present-day New Brunswick. He traded furs in the New France perhaps as early as 1580. In 1599 he and his partner, Pierre de Chauvin de Tonnetuit obtained from the King Henri IV a monopoly for fur trading.

In 1600 they established a trading post a Tadoussac, which was a traditional location for summer trading among the local Indians, and a stopping point for European whalers and fishermen. Du Pont led another fur-trading expedition to further explore the Saint Lawrence River, accompanied by two Indians and young Samuel de Champlain.

The next year in 1604, Champlain and Du Pont were in the service of Pierre du Gua de Monts, who was granted the fur trade monopoly in Arcadia on the condition that he establish a colony there. On Saint Croix Island they selected a site for settlement. Since that winter, more than half colonists died due to bad conditions, it was necessary to find a more favorable position. The next summer, they explored the coast and proposed a new site, named Port-Royal, across the Bay of Fundy.

Du Pont was named a commander of Port Royal during de Mons voyage to France, 1605-1606. But, at the time when the colony finally came to life, de Mons’ monopoly was revoked and the settlement was abandoned.