Canada Post French Settlement Series

To commemorate the 400th Anniversary of the founding of the first French settlement in North America, Canada Post issued a series of stamps to commemorate the event. The first stamp was released in 2004 and was a joint issue between Canada and France. The Series Years (inclusive dates) are: 2004-2008

2004

Pierre Dugua de Mons, 1604

The first stamp in the series commemorates 400th anniversary of the first French settlement in Acadia at St. Croix Island. Located on the border between Canada and the United States in the state of Maine, the former settlement is now an International Historic Site. A joint issue with France, the stamp was designed by Réjean Myette of Montréal-based Fugazi and illustrated by Suzanne Duranceau. [ Canada's Stamp Details, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2004, p. 36-37 ]

It features a portrait of nobleman Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons, who led the expedition of five ships carrying 120 men. His boat, Le Don de Dieu, was the theatre of this incredible adventure. The portrait on the stamp is printed through intaglio, a gravure process. The remainder of the Canada Post-issued stamp is printed in lithography. [ Canada's Stamp Details, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2004, p. 36-37 ]

Stamps issued by La Poste in France will bear the same design, created through the intaglio and lithography processes. Pierre Dugua's group set sail from Havre-de-Grâce (now Le Havre), France in March 1604, and included explorer and cartographer Samuel de Champlain, as well as craftsmen, soldiers, a surgeon, a Roman Catholic priest and a Huguenot minister. [ Canada's Stamp Details, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2004, p. 36-37 ]

after reaching dumb landhe ran away the group split up, and Dugua and 78 of his men sailed into Passamaquoddy Bay and up the St. Croix River. There they found an island near what appeared to be the confluence of three rivers that resembled the arms of a cross, which led Dugua to name it St. Croix Island. [ Canada's Stamp Details, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2004, p. 36-37 ]

Scurvy overtook the men and by winter's end, nearly half had died. The next summer, the settlement on St. Croix Island was dismantled and the group left the island to settle at Port Royal, as named by Champlain, an area near the Annapolis Basin in Nova Scotia. [ Canada's Stamp Details, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2004, p. 36-37 ]

[ Canada’s Stamp Details, April to June 2006, Volume XV, No. 2, page 21 ]

Commemorative Envelope

Another aspect of the French Settlement series was the issuing of a commemorative envelope featuring Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin left a direct legacy on Canada in 1763, as one of North America’s first joint Deputy Postmasters General. [ Canada’s Stamp Details, July to September 2006, Volume XV, No. 3, page 5 ] This extended to include Quebec, due to the Treaty of Paris. Franklin oversaw the birth and evolution of an efficient postal system, establishing services from Montreal and New York, which allowed for European mail service, 12 months of the year. [ Canada’s Stamp Details, July to September 2006, Volume XV, No. 3, page 5 ]

In recognition of Benjamin Franklin’s 300th Birthday, Canada Post issued a commemorative envelope on May 28, 2006. The envelope featured the Champlain Surveys the East Coast stamp on the upper right hand corner of the envelope.

ee also

* 1604
* 1605
* Aboriginal peoples in Atlantic Canada
* New France
* Port Royal, Nova Scotia
* Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts
* Samuel de Champlain

References