Louis de Courbon, comte de Blénac

[1] His father became a maréchal de camp in the king's army, in 1669 became a ship's captain, and in 1677 was made governor and lieutenant general of the French Islands and all the lands of America.

[5] He was named governor of Saint-Domingue in place of Nicolas de Gabaret on 1 October 1712, and was received by the Council of Cap François on 13 June 1713.

It covers finance, provisions, the state of the colony, the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), fortifications, appointments, complaints, trade restrictions and relations with Spain (which occupied the east of the island).

[5] Blenac was given strict instructions to prevent foreign trade, which was difficult in Saint-Domingue given the great length of the coastline from which ships could carry goods to and from Jamaica.

[15] A letter of 10 January 1714 from the Secretary of State for the Navy informed Blénac of the death of Raymond Balthazar Phélypeaux, governor-general of the French West Indies.

Further letters discussed black slaves shipped by the Compagnie du Sénégal, taxes, trade, shortage of coinage, sugar factories, negro regulations, lawsuits and piracy.