François - Gabriel D ' Angeac François - Gabriel D ' Angeac ( variants : Dangeac , Danjaique , Don Jacque ) ( 1708 – 9 March 1782 ) , Knight of Saint - Louis , was an officer in the French colonial regular troops and the first French governor of Saint Pierre and Miquelon . Early years . D ' Angeac was born in Plaisance , Newfoundland ( now Placentia , Newfoundland and Labrador ) . He was the son of Gabriel d ’ Angeac ( born Saintonge ; died 1737 , Île Royale , now Cape Breton Island ) , a military man stationed at the time with Joseph de St . Ovide , Monbeton de Brouillan ' s company in Plaisance . His mother was Marguerite Bertrand . In 1714 , his father and the garrison were re - assigned to Louisbourg where , five years later , France began construction of a fortified town . At the age of eight , D ' Angeac began his military career as a guard at Port - Dauphin , Nova Scotia ( now Englishtown ) on Île Royale . Then , in 1723 , D ' Angeac was given the rank of second ensign and assigned to his father ’ s company at Louisbourg . Career . During the periods of 1738 – 1741 and 1743 – 1745 , D ' Angeac was a lieutenant and sometimes seved as commandant at Port - Dauphin . D ' Angeac helped defend Louisbourg during the 1745 siege of Louisbourg by New England forces , but after the defeat , he left for France where he recruited troops for colonial companies . He was promoted to captain in 1747 , and accompanied Île Royale ’ s garrison to Quebec before returning to Louisbourg in 1749 upon its reeoccupation by France . From 1751 to 1758 , he served as commandant of Port - Dauphin supervising outpost reconstruction . He was awarded the Cross of the Order of Saint - Louis in 1754 ( his father had received it in 1724 ) . D ' Angeac sustained a chest wound during the 1758 siege of Louisbourg . In 1760 , Captain D ’ Angeac was placed in command of French reinforcement troops sent to Canada to aid the commander of the French fleet , François Chenard de La Giraudais , prior to the Battle of Restigouche . His squadron was defeated on 8 July 1760 by Captain John Byron ' s British naval squadron , the last naval engagement of New France . However , D ' Angeac organized thousands of Acadian s and Indians and bolstered French defenses . Though there was ultimately an order to surrender , D ’ Angeac was defiant , until finally agreeing to terms . Governor . With the signing of the 1763 Treaty of Paris , the islands of Saint - Pierre and Miquelon became a new French colony , replacing Louisbourg as France ' s sedentary fishery base and deep - sea fishing fleet refuge . When D ’ Angeac was appointed governor , Sir Charles Douglas delayed D ' Angeac while Captain James Cook worked quickly to complete his survey of Saint - Pierre and Miquelon . D ' Angeac served as governor from 15 June 1763 to 31 July 1773 . His relations with Newfoundland ' s governor , Hugh Palliser , were strained ; Palliser ' s letters were considered rude . D ' Angeac requested permission to retire in 1765 ; it was denied . He was promoted to " Brigadier des armées " of the line infantry in 1770 . Two years later , he left the island of Saint - Pierre for France . With his recommendation , he was succeeded by his nephew , Charles Gabriel Sébastien , Baron de l ' Espérance ( 1725 , Louisbourg ; died 1791 ) . Personal life . On 31 December 1735 , in Louisbourg , he married Geneviève ( sister of Jean - François Lefebvre de Bellefeuille ) . They had seven children . D ' Angeac retired to Soubise , Charente - Maritime , France where he died in 1782 .