Paul de Nourquer du Camper was Governor General for Inde française in the Second French Colonial Empire during the July Monarchy. During his period an annual statistics manual was written by Pierre Constant Sicé in 1842, which describes and narrates various situations in Inde française.
Biography Coming from the Breton nobility and great-grandnephew of Dupleix,His parents were Paul-Mathurin Nourquer du Camper (1743-1778), ship's ensign, and Marie-Françoise-Xavier-Joséphine Desnos de Kerjean (1757-1832); great-niece of Dupleix, she remarried in 1794 to the future maritime prefect of Brest Louis Léger (1748-1813). he is said to have lived in the French trading posts in India before taking refuge in the Philippines where he was for several years, until 1808, the agent in Manila of General Decaen for the supply of food to the Île de France.Henri Bourde de La Rogerie: The Bretons on the islands of France and Bourbon (Mauritius and Reunion) in the 17th and 18th centuries , LaDiscovery , 2006, p.375.
Integrated into the royal navy under the First Restoration, he was promoted to frigate captain on December 31, 1814Maritime and colonial annals, 1821, p.26. then ship captain the August 4, 1824.Maritime and colonial annals, 1833, p.43.
From June 1821 to May 1823, he sailed in Asia and the Indian Ocean as second in command on the frigate La Cléopâtre, commanded by Captain Courson de la Ville-Hélio. From this expedition he produced a description of the voyage which was subject of a double publication.His full text entitled "Voyage to the Moluccas Islands, the Philippine Islands, China, Cochinchina, the settlements of Malac, Pulo-Pinang, Sincapour, India and Madagascar, containing a physical, commercial and agricultural description of these regions" appeared in the Annales maritimes et coloniales, 1824, volume I, pp.105-161 and pp.186-204.
partial version was inserted under the title of "Remarks on the Philippines, the Moluccas and several European settlements in Eastern Asia" in the Abrégé des voyages modernes depuis 1780 jusqu'à nos jours, volume XII, 1824, pp.293-321 directed by the geographer Jean Baptiste Benoît Eyriès [ archive ] [ archive ]
Nourquer du Camper then participates from March 1824 to June 1826, to the round-the-world expedition led by Hyacinthe de Bougainville, during which he commanded the corvette L'Espérance.Hyacinthe de Bougainville: Journal of the navigation around the globe of the frigate Thétis and the corvette Espérance, 1837, first volume, p.25. [ archive ]
At the end of his career at sea, he was appointed a member of the Naval Works Council in May 1837.Revue maritime, volume 4, n°V of May 15, 1837, p.175. Succeeding as Governor of French Guiana to the ship captain Laurens de Choisy who had just been dismissed, he exercises these powers from November 1, 1837 until November 26, 1839. On this date, he hands over his functions to Captain Gourbeyre to take up the post of Governor of the French establishments in India, which he held from April 28, 1840 until the arrival of his successor Louis Pujol, in November 16, 1844.Revue maritime et coloniale, Volume 9, 1863, p.253.
He was admitted to retirement by the Navy as in July 31, 1841Revue historique, Volume 288, 1992, p.84.
Captain de Nourquer du Camper was a knight of Saint-Louis. Officer of the Legion of Honor since October 29, 1826,Almanach national, 1829, p.317. he was elevated to the rank of commander of the same order on February 23, 1844Almanach national, 1846, p.298.
Titles Held
See also European and American voyages of scientific exploration
References and notes