François-Étienne Cugnet (1688 – August 19, 1751) was a lawyer and merchant in

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area 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 King ...

. He was director of the

Domaine d'Occident An estate is a large parcel of land under single ownership, which would historically generate income for its owner. British context In the UK, historically an estate comprises the houses, outbuildings, supporting farmland, and woods that s ...

in New France. He was the son of Jean-Baptiste Cugnet, dean of the faculty of law of the Université de Paris, and Madeleine Baudin. Around 1717, he married Louise-Madeleine Dusautoy. In 1719, he went to New France. Cugnet was administrator for the Domaine du Roi or King's Posts, a large territory on the north shore of the

Saint Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman ...

. In 1730, he was named to the Conseil Supérieur. Cugnet was a partner in the Saint-Maurice ironworks. When the ironworks failed, he was pursued by the company's creditors and was forced to declare

personal bankruptcy Personal bankruptcy law allows, in certain jurisdictions, an individual to be declared bankrupt. Virtually every country with a modern legal system features some form of debt relief for individuals. Personal bankruptcy is distinguished from corpora ...

in 1741. Cugnet became owner of the seigneury of Saint-Étienne in 1737. From that year until 1749, he held the lease on the

Tadoussac Tadoussac () is a village in Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saguenay and Saint Lawrence rivers. The indigenous Innu call the place ''Totouskak'' (plural for ''totouswk'' or ''totochak'') meaning " bosom", probably in reference to the t ...

trading post. He died at

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), 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 Communauté métrop ...

in 1751. His oldest son

François-Joseph François-Joseph is a given name, and may refer to: * François-Joseph Amon d'Aby (1913–2007), Ivoirian playwright and essayist * François-Joseph de Beaupoil de Sainte-Aulaire (1643-1742), French poet and army officer * François-Joseph Béla ...

wrote several books on New France's legal system and also was official translator during the time of Governor

Guy Carleton Guy Carleton may refer to: *Guy Carleton (bishop) (1605–1685), Anglican bishop * Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester (1724–1808), Irish soldier and early Governor of Canada * Guy Carleton (general), (1857–1946), United States Army major genera ...

. His son Thomas-Marie also served on the Conseil Supérieur and was an agent for the Compagnie des Indes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cugnet, Francois-Etienne 1688 births 1751 deaths 18th-century French lawyers Immigrants to New France 18th-century Canadian lawyers