Jean Talon does a count: Student task sheet

Talon.
Théophile Hamel. Musée de la civilisation, dépôt du Séminaire de Québec, Nº 1993.16425.
©Musée de la civilisation, 1998

Jean Talon was sent to New France on a mission for King Louis XIV and his financial advisor, Jean-Baptiste Colbert. Jean Talon was the first Intendant of New France. As Intendant in charge of Justice, Police and Finance, his job was to help the colony make more money to send back to the King of France.

Jean Talon wanted people in New France to be able to survive without help from Europe. He was very proud to be able to say that he could dress himself from head to toe in clothes made entirely of cloth and furs from New France.

The first census counted all the people in their place of residence. Jean Talon had to decide what he wanted to know about the people before he started knocking on their doors. Here is what he decided to count:

• occupations
• ages
• marital status (married, single or widowed)
• number of people in each family
• relationships of people in a residence
• value of local lumber and mineral resources
• domestic animals
• farms (called seigneuries)
• government buildings
• churches

Jean Talon visiting settlers. (L.R. Batchelor, National Archives of Canada: C-011925)

The following links show the information that Jean Talon gathered about New France in 1665:

• Families, Population, Sexes, Conjugal Condition
• Ages of the People
• Ages in relation to Conjugal Condition
• Professions and Trade