Kirke Brothers Capture Quebec

Timeline

1. 1628Tadoussac and the St. Lawrence · Quebec (province)David Kirke entered the St. Lawrence with three ships, occupied Tadoussac, and sent men to demand that Champlain hand over Quebec. Champlain refused, expecting French relief. Kirke did not storm the fortified settlement, but on his return voyage encountered and captured the four supply ships of naval commander Roquemont de Brison, losing all the provisions the Company of One Hundred Men had sent to the colony that year. Paris regarded the Kirke brothers, born in Dieppe, as traitors, even burning straw effigies of them. Quebec was soon gripped by famine.
2. 1629Quebec settlement · Quebec CityA second fleet of six ships and three pinnaces re-entered the St. Lawrence. The small party Champlain sent to meet Émery de Caën's relief ships was intercepted by the English on the return voyage. David Kirke sent Lewis and Thomas from Tadoussac to Quebec. The garrison was nearly out of provisions, and Champlain surrendered on July 19. Europe had already concluded the Treaty of Suza on April 24, so the French regarded the capture as an illegal seizure after the armistice. Charles I refused immediate restitution on the grounds that Queen Henrietta Maria's dowry had not been paid.
3. 1632–1633Saint-Germain-en-Laye · Île-de-FranceAfter long negotiations over the dowry and the ownership of furs, England and France concluded a treaty at Saint-Germain-en-Laye on March 29, 1632, providing for the return of Quebec, Acadia, and Cape Breton, with compensation arrangements for goods seized by the English. During the three years of English occupation the Company of Adventurers of Canada maintained about 200 men and continued the fur trade. After the treaty was implemented France resumed sovereignty in North America, and Champlain returned to Quebec in 1633 to rebuild the administration and defenses, restarting the New France colonial enterprise. David Kirke was knighted in 1633 for his military service.