COURSERON, GILBERT, provost’s lieutenant at Quebec in 1621.

Champlain had held all legislative, executive, and judicial powers in the colony since 1612. He had acted first as the representative of the company operating the trading-post at Quebec, then, from 1612 on, as lieutenant to the viceroy. When the king ordered him to administer justice to all his subjects in the colony (1620), Champlain appointed in 1621 the country’s first law-officers: Louis Hébert became king’s attorney, Gilbert Courseron provost’s lieutenant, and one named Nicolas clerk of court of the jurisdiction of Quebec. Where did Courseron come from, and how long did he remain at Quebec? It is impossible to answer either of these questions.

André Vachon

Champlain, Œuvres (Laverdière), V, 328; VI, 5f., 22. Le Clercq, First establishment of the faith (Shea), I, 167; Premier établissement de la foy, I, 186. André Vachon, Histoire du notariat canadien, 1621–1960 (Québec, 1962), 10, 26.