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L’Ingénieur | The Engineer 

Originally, the term ingénieur, or engineer, referred to a person who built or invented war machines, or designed and built fortification walls or strongholds. Around the 18th century, its meaning was expanded and three types of engineers were defined:

1. Military or war engineers, who knew everything about attacking and defending locations, and the construction of defensive structures;

2. Navy engineers, who were versed in matters relating to war and sea; and

3. Engineers of bridges and roadways, who were focused on the condition of roads, the construction of bridges, the embellishment of streets, and the conduct and repair of canals.

To read about the King’s Engineer, click here.

Jean Bourdon (c. 1601-1668) was the first engineer-in-chief and land-surveyor in New France, and the first attorney-general of the Conseil Supérieur. Bourdon was responsible for standardizing the units of measurement in surveying.

Martin Boutet, professor of mathematics and hydrography at the Jesuit College, also an engineer, standardized the instruments used by surveyors. In the fourth quarter of the 17th century, Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquet took over from Jean Bourdon and Martin Boutet as cartographer, engineer and hydrographer to the king. He left some twenty beautifully-drawn maps, identifying discoveries on the coast of New England, in the St. Lawrence River valley and in the Mississippi valley.

Known persons who had this occupation: P.T. Archibald, Edgard Benzman, Jean Bourdon, Martin Boutet, Ralph-Henri Bruyère, T.J. Charbonneau, Michel Chartier de Lotbinière, Alexandre-­André Victor Chaussegros de Léry, François-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry, Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry, Gabriel Courrejoles, [John?] Collins, Louis d’Ailleboust de Coulonges, Gédéon de Catalogne, Jean-Baptiste de Couagne, de Théry, Jacques Deguise dit Flamand, Jean-Baptiste Derome, Josué Dubois Berthelot de Beaucourt, Louis-Rémy Duguay, Th. [Thomas?] Durand, Louis Franquet, Marcel Grand'Maitre, Samuel Holland, Denis Lagneau, Claude Dorothée Laguerre de Morville, François Lajoue, James Langley, Charles Legge, Jean Lerouge, Jacques Levasseur de Neré, E. MacCarthy, J. H. Matte, John Monroe, John O. Noyes, Joseph Obalski, Louis-Gustave Papineau, Jean-Pierre Poncy, Claude-Michel Sarrazin de Létang, James Thompson, William Twiss, J.E. Vanier.

Sources:

• Gilles Durand, “L’état des sciences en Nouvelle-France : conférence prononcée par Yves Gingras devant les membres de la Société généalogique canadienne-française”, extract from a conference given by professor Yves Gingras, appearing in Bulletin Mémoires Vives, La Commission franco-québécoise sur les lieux de mémoire communs (CFQLMC), https://www.cfqlmc.org/bulletin-memoires-vives/bulletins-anterieurs/bulletin-n-30-juin-2010/l-etat-des-sciences-en-nouvelle-france-conference-prononcee-par-yves-gingras-devant-les-membres-de-la-societe-genealogique-canadienne-francaise.

• Alfred Franklin, Dictionnaire historique des arts, métiers et professions exercés dans Paris depuis le treizième siècle (Paris, H. Welter, 1906), 398.