Laurent de Valernod

Laurent de Valernod (1669 – 24 May 1711) was a French colonial administrator who was governor of Grenada from 1708 to 1710, then governor of Saint-Domingue until his death in 1711.

Laurent de Valernod
Governor of Grenada
In office
1708–1710
Preceded byJoseph de Bouloc
Succeeded byGuillaume-Emmanuel-Théodore de Maupeou
Governor of Saint-Domingue
In office
7 February 1711, but died in Petit-Goâve on  24 May 1711
Preceded byFrançois-Joseph, comte de Choiseul-Beaupré
Succeeded byJean-Pierre de Charite
Personal details
Born1669
Died24 May 1711
Petit-Goâve, Saint-Domingue
NationalityFrench
OccupationColonial administrator

Career

Laurent de Valernod was a gentleman of Dauphiné.[1] He was the son of Hugues de Valernod, seigneur de Fay and Anne de Mistral (1633–1687). He was baptized on 21 August 1669 at Saint-Vallier, Drôme, France.[2] Laurent de Valernod joined the army and became a captain of the grenadiers.[3] He became a knight to the Order of Saint Louis.[4]

Governor of Grenada

In 1709 Valernod replaced M. de Bouloc, Governor of Grenada, who had died in 1708.[5] Valernod was taken from the regiment of Navarre to command in Grenada. The island was subordinate to Martinique at this time.[1] He left office in 1710 and was replaced by the Chevalier de Maupeou-Ribaudon (died 1725), a naval officer.[5]

Governor of Saint-Domingue

On 22 September 1710 the king gave Valernod command of Tortuga and the coast of Saint-Domingue.[6] A letter of 23 September 1710 told François-Joseph, comte de Choiseul-Beaupré that the king had relieved him of his duties as governor of Saint-Domingue.[7] Also on 23 September 1710 the Secrétariat d'État à la Marine wrote to Valernod informing him of his appointment as governor of Saint-Domingue in place of Choiseul, and wrote to the intendant Jean-Jacques Mithon de Senneville on the same subject.[8] Letters of 24 December 1710 discussed the reorganization of the administration of Saint-Domingue, cooperation with Mithon, administration of justice and the plans by the engineer Cauvet for fortifications at Petit-Goave. A letter of 6 February 1711 discussed road maintenance, buccaneers, discipline of the Negros and other subjects.[8]

Valernod was received at Le Cap on 7 February 1711 and by the council of Petit-Goâve on 5 May 1711.[4] Valernod and Mithon issued an ordinance on 1 May 1711 requiring all the settlers to report the number of blacks and mulattoes that were working for them, on pain of having undeclared negros confiscated.[9] Valernod died in Petit-Goâve on 24 May 1711. Jean-Pierre de Charitte took over as interim governor.[4]

Notes

    Sources

    • Bâtie, Gustave de Rivoire de La (1867), Armorial du Dauphiné, Perrin, retrieved 8 November 2019
    • Champel, Thierry, "Laurent de Valernod", Geneanet (in French), retrieved 2010-11-08
    • Durret (1720), Voyage de Marseille a Lima et dans les autres lieux des Indes Occidentales (etc.) (in French), Jean-Baptiste Coignard, retrieved 8 November 2019
    • Moreau de Saint-Méry, Médéric Louis Elie (1785), Loix et constitutions des colonies franc̜oises de l'Amérique sous le vent: 1704-1721, Chez l'auteur, retrieved 8 November 2019
    • Pritchard, James S. (22 January 2004), In Search of Empire: The French in the Americas, 1670-1730, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-82742-3, retrieved 8 November 2019
    • Secrétariat d'État à la Marine (1710–1711), Valernod (Laurent de) (in French), ANOM: Archives nationales d'outre-mer, retrieved 2019-11-08
    • Taillemite, Etienne, Choiseul-Beaupré (François Joseph, comte de) (in French), Archives nationales d'outre-mer, retrieved 2019-11-08
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