Claude-Michel Bégon de la Cour (March 15, 1683 – April 30, 1748) was an officer in the colonial regular troops and a governor of

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

. Claude-Michel was the brother of Michel Bégon de la Picardière and they came to Canada together in 1713. Their father was Michel V Bégon who was

intendant An intendant (; ; ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In the War of the Spanish Success ...

de la marine at the port of Rochefort and intendant of the

généralité ''Recettes générales'', commonly known as ''généralités'' (), were the administrative divisions of France under the Ancien Régime and are often considered to prefigure the current '' préfectures''. At the time of the French Revolution, ther ...

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

. It was through the father's influence that Michel had been appointed

intendant of New France The Intendant of New France was an Public administration, administrative position in the French colony of New France. He controlled the colony's entire civil administration. He gave particular attention to settlement and economic development, and to ...

and Claude-Michel had risen quickly in his military career. Claude-Michel Bégon came to

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

and was promoted to full captain with command of a company of troops in the Montreal garrison and, in 1714, he was made a naval lieutenant. In 1718, against his family's advice, he married Marie-Elisabeth Rocbert, the daughter of the garde magasin of

Montréal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. While this marriage did not appear to affect his career in Canada, it probably closed the door to a rising career in France like his brother Michel who left for France in 1726. That year, he was promoted to town major of

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

and Governor Beauharnois had him lead an attempt to expel the English from

Fort Oswego Fort Oswego was an 18th-century trading post in the Great Lakes region in North America, which became the site of a battle between French and British Army forces in 1756 during the North American phase of the Seven Years' War, known in the United ...

on Lake Ontario. His negotiations were unsuccessful. In 1743, Bégon became the governor of Trois-Rivières where he served until his death.

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
People of New France 1683 births 1748 deaths {{KingdomofFrance-stub