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BELLOT, dit Lafontaine, governor of Plaisance (Placentia), 1664–67.
After the brief governorship of Du Perron, who died by an assassin’s hand during the winter of 1662–63, only a few months after his arrival, the king sent a new governor, Bellot dit Lafontaine, to Plaisance. French fishermen had frequented the shores of Newfoundland for a long time, but the resident population of Plaisance did not yet exceed 200. To help them subsist, the king had to send them food and munitions every year; a fort and a small garrison assured their defence.
Far from working towards strengthening the colony, the new governor contributed rather to weakening it through his negligence, his exactions, and his misuse of his power. The only official document concerning him that has been preserved notes that he “has discharged his duty badly.” He was recalled in 1667 and replaced by La Palme (or de Palme).
AN, Col., C11C, I, f. 24 (copy in BN, MS, NAF 9282 (Margry), f. 230). BN, Mélanges Colbert, 144, L523. La Morandière, Hist. de la pêche française de la morue, I, 417–18.
