Searching for the Burial Site of Samuel De Champlain

Previously published in Examiner

Conclusion of the Samuel de Champlain series

To learn more about Canadian or Quebec politics, both McGill University and Concordia University in Montreal offer wonderful political science degrees, that you may want to look into.

For further reading, Montreal's Concordia University has a wonderful women's studies program at the Simone do Beauvoir Institute

We now are setting the tone for the three female Governor Generals of Canada, two of which were from Montreal Quebec.

A history of the evolution of Canada is important to the understanding of the role of a governor general. We will look at three male governors at three different periods of Quebec and Canadian history. They mark the stage for governor generals. These men made decisions primarily on behalf of men. Women's issues were really not considered with any semblance of respect before the 20th century. The actions of these governors affected the lives of women and that is why they are chosen as a preamble before our women governor generals will be discussed.

The search for Champlain's burial site continues

Champlain had a stroke in 1635 and died on Christmas Day of the same year. He had no immediate heirs, but he did have a wife, Helene. He bequeathed his property to his wife and gave substantially to catholic missions and different people in the colony. Unfortunately a cousin on his wife's side in France, Marie Camaret, challenged the will and got it overturned. It is unclear what happened to his estate after that.

His burial site is thought to be near the Notre Dame de Quebec Cathedral. The great fire of 1640, destroyed the original site and to date historians are unable to locate the site. There have been several archeological digs as well, but no trace of his remains have been found.

This account is by no means the full account of the great Samuel de Champlain, its focus was on the duty of his governorship and not on his great exploration accomplishments. Interested individuals are encouraged to continue reading about this great explorer.

Sources:

http://www.canadiana.ca/hbc/stories/coureurs1_e.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_de_Champlain

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?Params=A1ARTA0007673&PgNm=TCE