List of governors of Acadia
The governance of the French colony of Acadia has a long and tangled history. Founded in 1603 by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts, the territory of Acadia (roughly, the present-day Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, and portions of the U.

List of governors of Acadia

Section Title:
Table Section Text: The governance of the French colony of Acadia has a long and tangled history. Founded in 1603 by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts, the territory of Acadia (roughly, the present-day Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, and portions of the U.

Governor	Term	Granting authority	Notes

Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts	1603–1608	French crown	Dugua and Samuel de Champlain established the first settlement in Acadia on St. Croix Island in 1603.

Jean de Biencourt de Poutrincourt et de Saint-Just	1606–1615	French crown	Poutrincourt's first charter was revoked in 1607; he received a new grant from King Henry in 1608, but did not resettle Port Royal until 1610.

Charles de Biencourt de Saint-Just	1615–1623	French crown	Biencourt inherited his father's commission upon the latter's death. The colony remained small, subsisting on fishing and the fur trade.

William Alexander	1621–1629	Scottish crown	Alexander was granted a proprietorship to establish New Scotland. Despite a lack of settlement, his grant was renewed in 1625.

William Alexander the younger	1629–1632	Scottish crown	Alexander inherited his father's claim. He settled Port Royal and an outpost on Cape Breton Island with Scottish colonists in 1629.

Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour	1631–1644	French crown	La Tour inherited Biencourt's commission, but this was not recognized by the crown. He built up a strong presence at Cape Sable, and was issued a charter in his own right in 1631.

Isaac de Razilly	1632–1635	French crown	Razilly's charter conflicted with La Tour's, and King Louis XIII's division of their authorities was geographically uninformed. Although Razilly and La Tour had an amicable relationship, their successors battled each other for control of various parts of Acadia.

Charles de Menou d'Aulnay	1635–1650	French crown	D'Aulnay governed on behalf of Claude de Razilly, who inherited his brother's charter but was unable to come to Acadia. Disagreements between La Tour and d'Aulnay broke out into open violence in the late 1630s.

Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour	1653–1654	French crown	La Tour refused to surrender territories he was holding when driven from office in 1644, and appealed to New England colonists, with whom Acadians had been trading, for aid.

John Leverett	1654–1657	English military command	Leverett was placed in command of the sites captured by Sedgwick in his 1654 expedition. His command ended with the arrival of Thomas Temple.

Nicolas Denys	1654–1688	French crown	Denys had arrived in Acadia as one of Isaac Razilly's lieutenants. He was granted a charter for coastal areas from Canso north along the coast of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, including present-day Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton Island, and a monopoly on fishing rights as far south as Virginia.

William Crowne and Thomas Temple	1657–1670	The Protectorate	Crowne and Temple claimed Nova Scotia as a proprietorship authorized by Oliver Cromwell, after purchasing Charles La Tour's interests. Their claim was disputed militarily by Emmanuel Le Borgne, who was granted a French charter in 1657.

Emmanuel Le Borgne	1657–1667	French crown	Le Borgne was a creditor of d'Aulnay's. Shortly after La Tour's return to Acadia in 1653, Le Borgne arrived to negotiate for payment of the debts owed him.

Alexandre Le Borgne de Belle-Isle	1667–1670	French crown	Belle-Isle, despite the Treaty of Breda's terms, was unable to take control of Acadia from Crowne and Temple because France could not guarantee certain preconditions to the handover.

Hector d'Andigné de Grandfontaine	1670–1673	French crown	Grandfontaine, a military officer, spent most of his term in office restoring order after the preceding years of chaos. He established his headquarters at Fort Pentagouet, partly as a deterrent against the English, who also claimed the area.

Jacques de Chambly	1673–1677	French crown	Most of Chambly's term in office was disrupted by the attack of the Dutchman Jurriaen Aernoutsz, who seized a number of the key communities and claimed Acadia as New Holland.

John Rhoades	1674–1675	Dutch military command	Rhoades, an Englishman from Massachusetts, was captured and taken to Boston after men under his command captured New England trading ships in Acadian waters.

Cornelius Van Steenwyk	1676	Dutch West India Company	Van Steenwyk was a Dutch merchant from New York. The Dutch West India Company, seeking to capitalize on Aernoutsz's actions, granted him a commission as Governor of New Holland.

Pierre de Joybert de Soulanges et de Marson (commandant)	1677–1678	French crown	In Joybert's brief term in office he moved the capital to Jemseg, where he had been granted land for his military service.

Michel Leneuf de la Vallière de Beaubassin	1678–1684	French crown	Beaubassin replaced Joybert as commandant, and based himself primarily at Beaubassin on the Isthmus of Chignecto. Commissioned as governor in 1683, he was criticized for allowing New Englanders to fish in Acadian waters (against orders from the king forbidding such activity).

François-Marie Perrot	1684–1687	French crown	Little is known of Perrot's time as governor of Acadia. He apparently did not actually arrive at Port Royal until 1685, and sought to monopolize trade for his own benefit.

Louis-Alexandre des Friches de Meneval	1687–1690	French crown	Meneval, a lieutenant in the troupes de la marine, worked to improve Acadia's defenses against English attacks. In 1690, after the Nine Years' War broke out, he surrendered Port Royal, whose fort was only half-finished, to an expedition led by William Phips.

Charles La Tourasse	1690	English military command	La Tourasse was a sergeant in the French garrison at the time of Phips' expedition. Phips placed him at the head of a council of locals (that notably included Alexandre Le Borgne de Belle-Isle) to govern the colony in his absence.

Edward Tyng	1691	English military command	Tyng was appointed Governor of Acadia until he was captured by Villebon and died in prison.

Joseph Robineau de Villebon (commandant)	1691–1700	French crown	Robineau arrived at Port Royal not long after Phips departed. As de facto French commander, he immediately relocated the seat of government to Jemseg, and was eventually given a commission as commandant of Acadia in 1691.

Claude-Sébastien de Villieu (acting commandant)	1700–1701	French crown	Villieu governed the colony after Villebon's death until his successor de Brouillan arrived. He also acted as acting commander during some of de Brouillan's absences from the colony.

Jacques-François de Monbeton de Brouillan	1701–1705	French crown	De Brouillan's first commission was as commandant; he was elevated to governor in 1702. He was a corrupt and sometimes cruel administrator, who thought poorly of the inhabitants.

Simon-Pierre Denys de Bonaventure (acting)	1705–1706	French crown	Bonaventure petitioned to formally replace de Brouillan after the latter's death, but the position went instead to the governor of Plaisance, Daniel d'Auger de Subercase.

Daniel d'Auger, sieur de Subercase	1706–1710	French crown	Subercase successfully repulsed two attempts by English colonists to take Port Royal in 1707. He orchestrated highly successful privateering operations against the New Englanders, but was unable to prevent the capture of Port Royal in 1710 when the British provided the New Englanders with significant naval resources and regular troops to take the Acadian capital for the last time.

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Joseph Robineau de Villebon was a governor of Acadia.

final_sentence: Joseph Robineau de Villebon was a governor of Acadia.