Laurent Leroux, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetLaurent Leroux
Canadian politician
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: L'Assomption, Quebec, Canada
About Laurent Leroux
- Laurent Leroux (November 17, 1759 – May 26, 1855) was a fur trader, businessman and political figure in Lower Canada. He was born in L'Assomption in 1759, the son of Germain Le Roux d’Esneval, whose family lived at the Château d'Esneval.
- His father grew up in Paris and settled in New France after the serving as in officer in the War of the Austrian Succession, afterwards becoming a merchant.
- In 1776, Leroux was hired as a clerk by a Montreal merchant and sent to Michilimackinac.
- He became a clerk in a fur trading company there, Gregory, MacLeod and Company, that competed with the North West Company.
- In 1786, he set up a trading post on Great Slave Lake.
- After the murder of Leroux's superior, John Ross, Gregory, MacLeod and Company merged with the North West Company.
- He travelled with Alexander MacKenzie to Great Slave Lake in 1789 and again met Mackenzie, returning from the Arctic Ocean, later that year.
- When Laurent's father died in 1792, he returned to L'Assomption to take over his father's business there, although he still retained links to the North West Company.
- He expanded into the production of potash and also sold products manufactured by the Batiscan ironworks.
- He helped found the Bank of Montreal.
- Leroux was named a justice of the peace.
- He served in the local militia during the War of 1812 and became major in 1818.
- In 1827, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for Leinster. He died at L'Assomption in 1855.
- His nephews, François-Antoine and Joseph, also became involved in fur trading, using their uncle's connections in the industry.
- His sister, Angélique, married Jean-Moïse Raymond, who also represented Leinster in the legislative assembly, before marrying the eldest son of Captain John Munro.
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