MORILLON DU BOURG (his first name is unknown), commissioner appointed by the king of France to carry out the Treaty of Breda in Acadia; fl. c. 1667–68; d. 10 April 1670, perhaps in Guinea (Africa).

According to a letter that he wrote from Boston 9 Nov. 1668 (o.s.) to the Compagnie des Indes occidentales, Morillon du Bourg, in order to conform with the instructions of Charles II and carry out the mission that Louis XIV had entrusted to him, had sailed along the shores of Acadia with Alexandre Le Borgne de Belle-Isle; his purpose was to see the places mentioned in his commission. He had left Belle-Isle at Port-Royal, after making over his powers to him, and had sailed for Boston to arrive at an understanding with the English governor of Acadia, Sir Thomas Temple, concerning the cession of the territory to France. During Du Bourg’s stay at Boston, Temple received from Charles II, who had revised his decision, the order not to give up Acadia so long as the French, for their part, had not turned over St. Christopher’s Island (now St. Kitts), as the treaty required. Temple, on his own initiative, lodged a complaint with Du Bourg against the attack made by Belle-Isle on Port Rossignol. Du Bourg hastened to write to Belle-Isle to advise him to leave Acadia until the principal clauses of the treaty were respected. He forwarded reports to the Compagnie des Indes occidentales and to the French ambassador in London, M. Colbert de Croissy, then headed for St. Christopher’s. The Acadian posts were ceded to the French only in August and September 1670.

On 1 Nov. 1669 a frigate, the Justice, had left Le Havre-de-Grâce (Le Havre), bound for Africa. It was engaged upon an expedition organized by the Compagnie des Indes occidentales, with the object of establishing commercial relations (the slave trade) with Guinea, through the creation of a post there. The vessel had aboard a “sieur du Bourg, with the title of commandant for the habitation.” The latter died in Africa a year later. This was perhaps Morillon Du Bourg, who, after completing his mission in Acadia, may have returned to France via the West Indies, and then left again for Guinea.

In collaboration

AN, Col., C^11D 1, f.126. Coll. de manuscrits relatifs a la Nouv.-France, I, 188, 197. Journal du voyage du Sr Delbée, aux isles de la caste de Guinée, 348, 386, 389, 393, 394, 400, 403, 404, 409, 410, 412, 463, in I.C.S.D.V., Relation. Mémoires des commissaires du roi, I, xviii, 49; II, 298–99, 302–12; IV, 286–87, 311; and Memorials of the English and French commissaries, I, 21, 121, 411, 588–89, 591–96, 599–600. PRO, CSP, Col, 1661–68, nos.1868, 1877, 1898. Couillard Després, Saint-Étienne de La Tour, 446 (note that the dating seems to be incorrect).