Dugard of Rouen, French trade to Canada and the West Indies, 1729-1770

Autore:Dale Miquelon

Riepilogo:"From the letters and fragmentary accounts of Robert Dugard of Rouen, Professor Miquelon has brought to life the history of an eighteenth-century trading company. Robert Dugard and his associates were men who came of age at the right moment to capitalize on the political and financial stability of France during the thirty years after Utrecht, and on the widening opportunities of colonial trade. Their Societe du Canada was founded in 1729 to handle the Quebec trade, but soon they were also testing the sugar island trade. By 1742 their business with the West indies was more profitable than their Canadian trade. But catastrophe trod upon the heels of success: between 1744 and 1748 most of their fleet was lost to shipwreck and war. Of the tree remaining ships one was broken up, another relegated to the fishery, and the third given over to sugar hauling. The company had no desire to rebuild its fleet. A few years earlier Dugard and a partner, Pierre D' Haristoy, had joined with a new circle of investors to establish to establish a factory to perfect the dye colour "Adrianople red". This development led them to the manufacture and marketing of dyed cotton and eventually into a state-sponsored enterprise to manufacture velvet under the direction of the English industry spy John Holker. The problems of perfecting and selling Adrianople red also finally resulted in overextension and bankruptcy. At Quebec Dugard's factors, Havy and Lefebvre, had remained and prospered in the fur trade, Labrador sealing, and the trade with France. Professor Miquelon describes their activties, which continued until their business was completely destroyed by the Conquest of Canada. Dugard of Rouen opens the accounts of Business past and permits an analysis of markets, shipping, business methods and finance, the level of costs and profits, institutions, the relations of business and government, and the trade basis of the colonial tie. Reflected in Robert Dugard's business papers are a class and an outlook that are a link between the Ancien Regime and the modern world". - Publisher. "