Secrétariat d'Etat à la Marine. Correspondance à l'arrivée de Canada et colonies du nord de l'Amérique
Item
Country
FR
Name of institution (English)
Overseas National Archives
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
fra
Contact information: postal address
29 Chemin du Moulin de Testa, 13090 Aix-en-Provence
Contact information: phone number
0033 442933850
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
anom.aix@culture.gouv.fr
Reference number
COL C 11
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
Secretary of State for the Navy. Correspondence from Canada and other North American colonies
Title (official language of the state)
Secrétariat d'Etat à la Marine. Correspondance à l'arrivée de Canada et colonies du nord de l'Amérique
Language of title
fra
Creator / accumulator
Secrétariat d'Etat à la Marine
Date(s)
1575/1815
Language(s)
fra
Extent
223 reference numbers
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
This sub-series is part of Series C of the Colonial Archives and consists of the official correspondence between the Secrétariat d'Etat à la Marine and the administrators of the French territories of North America (New France, Acadia, Newfoundland, and others). It also includes financial and accounting documents (receipts, expenses, debts, etc.), ministerial decisions, general memories and travel or exploration reports.
This subseries includes records on the case of Esther Brandeau/Jacques La Fargue, a Sephardic young woman from Bayonne who embarked to New France disguised as a Catholic boy and served as a sailor (COL C11A 70, fols. 124-126, 129-130; COL C11A 71, fols. 134-136). After being discovered, she was arrested on the orders of Gilles Hocquart, Intendant of New France, and taken to the Hôpital Général in Quebec City. Esther is the first known Jew in the Canadian territory. See Hermant 2018.
This subseries includes records on the case of Esther Brandeau/Jacques La Fargue, a Sephardic young woman from Bayonne who embarked to New France disguised as a Catholic boy and served as a sailor (COL C11A 70, fols. 124-126, 129-130; COL C11A 71, fols. 134-136). After being discovered, she was arrested on the orders of Gilles Hocquart, Intendant of New France, and taken to the Hôpital Général in Quebec City. Esther is the first known Jew in the Canadian territory. See Hermant 2018.
Archival history
The origins of the Navy archives are still little known. A historical note written in 1879 by Octave de Branges, then assistant curator of the Archives, alleged that Colbert created the Dépôt de la Marine in 1680. However, there is no documentary evidence to support this assumption. According to tradition, the archives were initially located in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. In 1699, Jérôme de Pontchartrain (1674-1747), the Navy minister, installed the Dépôt de la Marine in a building in Place des Victories, in Paris. It was at this time that the Dépôt de la Marine started operating more systematically.
Pierre Clairambault must be considered the founder and first organiser of the archives. In 1699, he found the archives completely disorganised, and several pieces were missing. The following years were dedicated to the organisation and inventorying of the fonds. From 1740, by the hand of the archivist François-Maurice Lafîllard, the archives underwent a radical reclassification. The reorganisation of the documents followed a "blind" alphabetical order, with no attention to subjects, provenances, or matters, which was later the target of intense criticism. His successor, Laurent Truguet, tried to reverse Lafîllard's work and, in 1755, proposed a reorganisation by dividing the archives into ten divisions or series. A part of this new classification was indeed adopted, and it is still reflected in some series to the present.
At the beginning of 1763, the Archives de la Marine left Paris and went to Versailles to occupy the Hôtel de la Guerre et de la Marine building. The new archivist, Jean-Charles Horque d'Hamecourt, respected the classification adopted by Truguet, merely adding an additional division for the papers received from the Bureau des Fonds.
In 1781, the Archives de la Marine gained a new service, the Dépôt des chartes de las colonies, organised by an edict of June 1776. This institution was intended to preserve in France a duplicate of all public papers established in the colonies, such as parish records, notarial minutes, population census, and others.
The transfer of the Ministry of the Navy after the Revolution was not followed by the archives, which remained in Versailles. However, the archives' organisation and management were modified at the end of 1791, with a division into two offices: one for the Navy, headed by Antoine Villet, and the other for the Colonies, headed by Claude Deluzines.
In 1812, Nicolas- Charles Stévenot (1750-1822) replaced Deluzines and was responsible for a new classification of both the Navy and the Colonial Archives: the first divided into ten series (Personnel; Matériel; Fonds; Contentieux; Campagnes; Missions particulières; Invalides et prisonniers; Ordonnances et arrêts; Mémoires généraux; and Objets divers), and the second into nine series (Personnel; Matériel; Fonds; Campagnes; Concessions, commerce et domaine; Ordonnances et arrêts; Contentieux; Mémoires généraux; Colonies en général; and Objets divers). The Dépôt des papiers publics des Colonies continued to be a particular fonds.
The archives returned to Paris in 1837 and were housed in a building in the courtyard of the Rue Royale. The Commission des Archives, established in 1849, was responsible for designing a new method for classifying collections. Following the recommendations of this commission, the documents were divided into seven categories corresponding to the main divisions of the Département de la Marine et des Colonies: Personnel (currently corresponding to C and CC), Matériel (D and DD), Colonies, Comptabilité (E and EE), Invalides (F and FF), Service général (B and BB), and Dépôt des papiers publics des Colonies.
The Second Empire (1852-70) was an extremely active period in which the old series and the first part of the modern series gradually took on the organisation that is still in use at present. The Correspondance à l'arrivée de la Martinique series was classified and bound during this period. However, the lack of rigour and knowledge of colonial history caused some inconsistencies in its organisation.
Pierre Clairambault must be considered the founder and first organiser of the archives. In 1699, he found the archives completely disorganised, and several pieces were missing. The following years were dedicated to the organisation and inventorying of the fonds. From 1740, by the hand of the archivist François-Maurice Lafîllard, the archives underwent a radical reclassification. The reorganisation of the documents followed a "blind" alphabetical order, with no attention to subjects, provenances, or matters, which was later the target of intense criticism. His successor, Laurent Truguet, tried to reverse Lafîllard's work and, in 1755, proposed a reorganisation by dividing the archives into ten divisions or series. A part of this new classification was indeed adopted, and it is still reflected in some series to the present.
At the beginning of 1763, the Archives de la Marine left Paris and went to Versailles to occupy the Hôtel de la Guerre et de la Marine building. The new archivist, Jean-Charles Horque d'Hamecourt, respected the classification adopted by Truguet, merely adding an additional division for the papers received from the Bureau des Fonds.
In 1781, the Archives de la Marine gained a new service, the Dépôt des chartes de las colonies, organised by an edict of June 1776. This institution was intended to preserve in France a duplicate of all public papers established in the colonies, such as parish records, notarial minutes, population census, and others.
The transfer of the Ministry of the Navy after the Revolution was not followed by the archives, which remained in Versailles. However, the archives' organisation and management were modified at the end of 1791, with a division into two offices: one for the Navy, headed by Antoine Villet, and the other for the Colonies, headed by Claude Deluzines.
In 1812, Nicolas- Charles Stévenot (1750-1822) replaced Deluzines and was responsible for a new classification of both the Navy and the Colonial Archives: the first divided into ten series (Personnel; Matériel; Fonds; Contentieux; Campagnes; Missions particulières; Invalides et prisonniers; Ordonnances et arrêts; Mémoires généraux; and Objets divers), and the second into nine series (Personnel; Matériel; Fonds; Campagnes; Concessions, commerce et domaine; Ordonnances et arrêts; Contentieux; Mémoires généraux; Colonies en général; and Objets divers). The Dépôt des papiers publics des Colonies continued to be a particular fonds.
The archives returned to Paris in 1837 and were housed in a building in the courtyard of the Rue Royale. The Commission des Archives, established in 1849, was responsible for designing a new method for classifying collections. Following the recommendations of this commission, the documents were divided into seven categories corresponding to the main divisions of the Département de la Marine et des Colonies: Personnel (currently corresponding to C and CC), Matériel (D and DD), Colonies, Comptabilité (E and EE), Invalides (F and FF), Service général (B and BB), and Dépôt des papiers publics des Colonies.
The Second Empire (1852-70) was an extremely active period in which the old series and the first part of the modern series gradually took on the organisation that is still in use at present. The Correspondance à l'arrivée de la Martinique series was classified and bound during this period. However, the lack of rigour and knowledge of colonial history caused some inconsistencies in its organisation.
Administrative / Biographical history
The period from the 1600s to 1815 is usually called the "premier empire colonial" (first colonial empire). France settled in Canada, the West Indies, French Guiana, the Regency of Algiers, Saint-Louis du Sénégal, Gorée, and Rufisque. In the Indian Ocean, it gained a foothold in Madagascar (Fort-Dauphin), Ile de France, and Ile Bourbon. In India, the French colonial empire established itself in Surat, Pondicherry in 1673, and the whole Deccan peninsula.
Canada was a French possession from 1604 to 1763. Discovered by Jacques Cartier in 1534, colonisation began with Champlain, who founded Quebec in 1608. Quebec fell into the hands of the English in 1629 but was returned in 1632. Montreal was founded in 1642. In 1663, Canada was incorporated into the royal domain. Expansion began towards the Great Lakes region. In 1701, peace was signed with the Indians. The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) took Acadia from France. The English led the offensive during the Seven Years' War: Louisbourg fell in 1758, Quebec in 1759, and Montreal in 1760. France definitively abandoned Canada at the Treaty of Paris in 1763.
Canada was a French possession from 1604 to 1763. Discovered by Jacques Cartier in 1534, colonisation began with Champlain, who founded Quebec in 1608. Quebec fell into the hands of the English in 1629 but was returned in 1632. Montreal was founded in 1642. In 1663, Canada was incorporated into the royal domain. Expansion began towards the Great Lakes region. In 1701, peace was signed with the Indians. The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) took Acadia from France. The English led the offensive during the Seven Years' War: Louisbourg fell in 1758, Quebec in 1759, and Montreal in 1760. France definitively abandoned Canada at the Treaty of Paris in 1763.
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
This series is organised geographically and, at lower levels, by subject and chronology.
Access, restrictions
Digital copies of Esther Brandeau's records are available online:
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2023
Linked resources
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