Text from the Plaque
Of noble French birth, de Roybon was the first European woman to own land in what is now Ontario. She came to Fort Frontenac (Kingston), probably in 1679, where she acquired property from René-Robert Caveliere de La Salle, governor and seigneury of the fort. In 1681 she loaned him money to finance his explorations and about this time he granted her a seigneury extending westward from Toneguignon (Collin’s Bay). On this land she built a house, outbuildings and a trading post, grew crops and raised cattle. Marauding Iroquois, angry at the French for their campaign against the Senecas in 1686 destroyed the Roybon’s establishment in August 1687, and took her prisoner. Released the following year, she lived in Montreal until her death.
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