User:ClaudeDavid/sandbox/Claude David

Claude David (1621 – 30 November 1687) was a French explorer and fur trader in New France. He is known for helping to expand Trois-Rivières, in modern Quebec, as a regional center of commerce for the colony. He was also the armourer on Médard des Groseilliers' voyage into the North American interior which would pave the way for a sharp uptake in French colonial expeditions into the Great Lakes.

Early life and immigration
Claude David was born in 1621 in Bracquemont, Normandy, France to his parents, Blaise David and Flavie Morel. He was trained as a medical doctor, although it is unclear whether he practiced in North America after he emigrated there.

In 1646, at the age of about 25, he immigrated from France to North America. Once there, he was granted permission by Governor Charles Huault de Montmagny to clear land and build a settlement on present-day Saint-Quentin Island at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River and St. Lawrence River, a location critical for regulating the fur trade in the colony. In 1649 he married Suzanne de Noyon, also from Normandy, France, with whom he would go on to have four children.

Saint-Quentin Island, which became known informally at the time as "Claude David's island", quickly became a center of immigration and trade for Trois-Rivières and trade up the Saint-Maurice River. After clearing the island, Claude David spent the 1640s and 50s ceding land to new settlers on the island. In 1652 the colony ceded Claude David co-control over a surrounding island at the two river's confluence.

Groseilliers' voyage
Instrumental, fur trade. Claude David is known for a part of the 1660 expedition

In 1663, Claude David personally returned to Trois-Rivières with 600,000 pounds of fur and 300 First Nations companions who would settle in the settlement. This influx of furs and new inhabitants dramatically increased the economic power of Trois-Rivières, so much so that it became the seat of regional government two years later in 1665.

Nicolas Perrot