GOBIN, JEAN, merchant; b. 1646 at Tours; d. 11 July 1703 at Quebec.

Shortly after his arrival in Canada in the early 1680s, Gobin established himself as a merchant and shipper. In 1685 his name appeared on the list of directors of the Compagnie du Nord. After Philippe Gaultier* de Comporté’s death in 1687, Gobin acted as his children’s guardian, but this led to a lengthy legal dispute in which Gobin was accused of profiting at the expense of Comporté’s heirs and was ordered to return a substantial sum of money. In 1688 Gobin was granted property in Quebec’s Lower Town. On 14 April 1689 he and several partners obtained fishing rights in the Gulf of St Lawrence, and in 1690 he was granted a seigneury in Acadia, which he sold within a year. Gobin’s partner in several interests, including a tannery and brickyard, as well as an investment in the Compagnie de la Colonie, was the leading merchant, Charles Aubert de La Chesnaye.

Gobin died insolvent in 1703. Both he and his wife Gabrielle Bécasseau were buried in the crypt of the church of Notre-Dame de Québec. They left no children.

Edward H. Borins