Government of Trois-Rivières
The Government of Trois-Rivières was one of three administrative divisions of the French colony of Canada from 1643 to 1764, the other two being the Government of Quebec and Government of Montreal. At the time of the New France, the colony was divided into five individual governments: one in Trois-Rivières, one in Quebec City, one in Montreal, one in Newfoundland and one in Acadia. Each of these regions was known as a government because it was headed by a governor. The Government of Trois-Rivières was the smallest of the three governments of the  St. Lawrence Valley in both area and population. History. It does not seem to act promulgating the creation of the three governments of Canada under the French regime (1608-1763). In this, the model here is similar to that of France. At that time, the valley of the St. Lawrence consisted of three population centres: Québec (from 1608), Trois-Rivières (from 1634) and Montreal (from 1642). It then became necessary to create three governments. In Trois-Rivières, the first captain to hold the title of governor Francis Champflour in 1643. Thus appeared the three governments of New France. At its  inception in 1643, the Government of Trois-Rivières had only one permanent establishment, the position of Trois-Rivières. Manors had been granted around (Hertel fief in 1633, Godefroy fief in 1633, lordship Jesuits in 1634 lordship of La Madeleine in 1636, Godefroy de Lintot fief in 1637, Dutort lordship in 1637, lordship of Batiscan in 1639), while others were projected (fief de l'Arbre à-la-Croix in 1644, Marsolet fief in 1644). Despite several attempts, no one lived in these lordships because of the Iroquois threat, it was not until 1665 with the arrival of the Carignan-Salières Regiment. The  center of the Government of Trois-Rivières will begin on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River from Trois-Rivières down to the east, probably for the sole reason that the rest of the country was in a flood zone. Trois-Rivières is the first occupied, followed by Cap-de-la-Madeleine little after 1640, the Champlain from 1664 or 1665, the Batiscan to 1666 and Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade from 1667. In 1648, the governor of Trois-Rivières became a member of the Council of Quebec, created the previous year. In 1651, the Government of Trois-Rivières  has a Seneschal (court), which like back in France, the post of high judge was held by a civil officer called a Lieutenant-General. The government of Trois-Rivières was maintained by the British during the military regime (1760-1764), with the difference that during this period, each government is autonomous and was not submitted to the Quebec Governor. Each government resorted to a currency of a different course, and required a passport for entry and exit. The two boundaries separating the three governments were a crossing equipped with a garrison: one in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Joliette, between the  Governments of Québec and Trois-Rivières, and the other Maskinongé, between governments of Trois-Rivières and Montreal. The government of Trois-Rivières was abolished on 10 August 1764, when the British replaced the three governments with two districts, one in Quebec and the other Montreal. The Saint-Maurice River marked the division between the two districts. Territory. The government of Trois-Rivières extended from Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade to Maskinongé on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, and Saint-Pierre-les-Becquets to Yamaska on the south shore. It was the closest of the three government contracts . In the north, it extended vaguely to land surrounding the Hudson Bay, and south to New England. These limits had not been set at the creation of the government in 1643. The size of the government was expanded for the area of the Trois-Rivières government extending between that of the Government of Quebec and the Government of Montreal. Its territory corresponds to the current regions of the Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec. It also included the eastern part of the Townships. Lordships. The Government of Trois-Rivières had up to 51 fiefs and lordships. Thirty-four (34) lordships on  the North Shore: 1. Sainte-Anne-East 2. Sainte-Anne-West 3. Sainte-Marie 4. Batiscan 5. Champlain 6. Cap-de-la-Madeleine 7-10. Islands of Saint-Maurice (Island Pigs or Pottery, St. Kitts, St. Joseph Island, Trinidad and Saint-Quentin) 11. Hertel 12. High-Boc 13. Niverville 14 Commune. 15. Coteau St. Louis 16. Sainte-Marguerite 17. Jesuits 18. Vieuxpont 19. Labadie 20. Boucher 21. Tonnancour 22. Saint-Maurice 23. Gastineau 24. Robert 25. Grosbois East 26. Grosbois West 27. Dumontier 28. Grandpre 29. Rivière-du-Loup 30. St. John 31. Maskinongé 32. Carufel 33. Dusablé 34. Lac  Maskinongé Seventeen (17) lordships on the south shore: 35. Yamaska 36. St. Francis 37. Lussaudière 38. Pierreville 39. Deguire 40. Baie-du-Febvre 41. Courval 42. Nicolet 43. Ile Moras 44. Roquetaillade 45. Godefroy 46. Marie Island 47. Bécancour 48. Dutort 49. Cournoyer 50. Gentilly 51. Lévrard Out of 51 of these lordships, there were only two stately homes on the north shore (Cap-de-la-Madeleine and Niverville), and one on the south shore (Lévrard). As for the manorial mills, there remained only three on the north shore (Commune, Pointe-du-Lac Saint-Jean) and one on the south  shore (Gentilly). Parishes. From 1608 to 1764, these 51 manors, appeared eighteen (18) parishes and two missions. Eleven (11) parishes on the North Shore: 1. Sainte-Anne 2. Batiscan 3. Sainte-Geneviève 4. Champlain 5. Cap-de-la-Madeleine 6. Trois-Rivières 7. Les Forges 8. Pointe-du-Lac 9. Yamachiche 10. Rivière-du-Loup 11. Maskinongé Seven (7) parishes and two Native American missions on the south side: 12. Yamaska 13. Saint-François-du-lac 14. Mission St. Francis (current Odanak) 15. Baie-du-Febvre 16. Nicolet 17. Bécancour 18. Mission Bécancour (current Wolinak) 19. Gentilly 20. Saint-Pierre -les-Becquets Each of these twenty parishes had its church and rectory. There are only two churches dating from the French regime (Cap-de-la-Madeleine 1715 and Recollects Anglicans-1754) and no parsonage. If the buildings no longer exist, there are works of art of this period in Sainte-Anne, Batiscan, Champlain, Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Trois-Rivières, Maskinongé, Saint-François-du-Lac and Gentilly. Organisation. A series of high and minor officials was appointed to assume the organization of each government. In particular governor (in Quebec, it was the Governor General), and a king's lieutenant to attend a  sub-delegated steward (the commissary or the Commissioner of the Navy or the general-voyer or warehouseman), a staff, guards for the governor and main building, with a Court of Justice judge (called a Lieutenant-General, not to be confused with the military rank of the same name), assistant prosecutor, clerk, notary, judge a castle to house the governor and his staff. Officers Staff have real rights and honorary rights. Governors. To ensure the unity of the colony, individual governors of Trois-Rivières and Montreal were in effect subordinate to the Governor General so that they were, in fact, Lieutenant  Governors. The first to hold the title is Governor Francis Champflour in 1643. Those above on the list bore the title of captain. Lieutenants of the King (Lieutenants de roi). According to Pierre-Georges Roy, "The King's lieutenants were individual lieutenant-governors. They occupied most of the military part of the troops and fortifications and suppléaient governors in their absence". Majors. According to Pierre-Georges Roy, majors " were in charge of the police troops and saw the details of the military administration."