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SAINT PERE, Agathe de (Legardeur de Repentigny)
- Born
- Montreal, Quebec, 1657
- Died
- Quebec, Quebec, 1747
- Biography synopsis
- Agathe de Saint Pere has been recognized as the first woman to participate in the textile industry of Canada (New France); notably, she explored new materials and dyes. In 1704 a shortage of cloth in New France (Quebec) due to a lost supply ship from France led St. Pere to investigate the possibility of producing textiles in the early colony. At this time, the people of New France did not have the right to produce their own cloth which was controlled by France. Agathe St. Pere set up a workshop in her home to produce cloth and dyes. Drawing on the knowledge and processes of First Nations peoples, she developed new materials using alternative plant sources such as nettles, bark fibres, and cottonweed, etc. She also explored different dyes from tinctorial plants as well as new processes for fixing colors. As there weren't any trained weavers in the colony, she bought and hired nine English weavers who were prisoners in New France; Canadian apprentices were assigned to assist them. King Louis 14th personally recognized her textile initiatives as well as food-related production of maple syrup. In 1705 the king granted her a patent for her products so she could manufacture and sell them.
- Media used
- Textiles
- File & Archive locations
- Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec
- Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, ON
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Writings about- "Agathe de St. Pere de Legardeur de Repentigny." Women of New France Hull, Quebec: Canadian Museum of History, ?
http://www.historymuseum.ca/teachers-zone/women-of-new-france/agathe-de-saint-pere-de-legardeur-de-repentigny - Bouchard, Serge and Rachel Verdon. "Agathe de Repentigny, femme d’affaires du 17e siècle." De remarquables oubliés - Les pionniers Montreal, Quebec: Radio-Canada, 2015
http://ici.radio-canada.ca/ohdio/premiere/grandes-series/4598/de-remarquables-oublies---les-pionniers/364912/agathe-de-repentigny-femme-daffaires-du-17e-s - Doyon-Ferland, Madeleine. "Saint-Pere, Agathe de." Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol 3 Toronto/Quebec: University of Toronto/ Universite Laval, 1974
http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/saint_pere_agathe_de_3E.html - Fabienne, Julien. Agathe de Repentigny: une manufacturière au XVIIe siècle Montreal, Quebec: XYZ, 1996
- Fauteux, J.N.. Essai sur l’industrie sous le Regime francais Quebec, Qc: Proulx, 1927 465–69
- Forget, Nicolle. "Agathe de Saint-Père (1657-1747*)." Montreal, Quebec: La Fondation Lionel-Groulx, 2019
http://www.fondationlionelgroulx.org/Agathe-de-Saint-Pere-1657-1747.html - Foster, William Henry III. "Agathe Saint-Père and Her Captive New England Weavers" French Colonial History 1 (2002): 129-141
- Lanoix, Denise. La Femme dans l'industrie au Canada University of Ottawa (M.A. thesis), 1944
- Leland, Marine. “Madame de Repentigny,” Bulletin des Recherches Historiques 60.2 (April1954): 75-79
http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2657603 - Massicote, E.Z.. "Agathe de Saint Père, Dame Le Gardeur de Repentigny." Le Bulletin des Recherches Historiques 50 (1944): 202-207
- Noel, Jan. "Women of the New France Noblesse." Women and Freedom in Early America. Ed. Larry Eldridge New York: New York University Press, 1997: 26-43
- Paradis, Andree. "L’avènement d’un costume canadien: d’après les documents du fonds Madeleine-Doyon-Ferland." Cap-aux-Diamants, 4.2 (summer 1988): 11–13
http://www.erudit.org/en/journals/cd/1900-v1-n1-cd1040478/7205ac.pdf - Richer, F. St-Cyr, L., and Beaudoin, N.. L'Entrepreneuriat Féminin au Québec: dix études de cas Montreal: Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 2007
