It began in 1627 with David Kirke's father when several London merchants formed the Company of Adventurers to Canada to develop trade and settlement for profit on the Saint Lawrence River.

[1] Accompanied by his brothers Lewis, Thomas, John, and James (sometimes recorded as Jarvis), David Kirke set off with three ships, probably in company with a fleet bringing settlers to Sir William Alexander's colonisation project at Charlesfort in Acadia.

With the onset of winter Kirke's ships turned back for England, but en route they encountered the French supply fleet of four vessels under Admiral Claude Roquemont de Brison.

An English invasion fleet, of six ships and three pinnaces, left Gravesend in March 1629 with Jacques Michel, a deserter from Champlain, to act as pilot on the St. Lawrence River.

[1] Impressed with the achievement, Samuel de Champlain of Adventurers applied to the Crown for letters patent to give them the sole right to trade and settle in Canada along the St. Lawrence.

The two groups compromised by joining forces; Alexander would establish an Anglo-Scottish colony at Tadoussac, holding all the land within ten leagues on both sides of the river, while the Company would have the right to free trade and use of the harbours.

As part of the ongoing negotiations of their exit from the Anglo-French War, in 1632 Charles I of England agreed to return the lands in exchange for Louis XIII paying his wife's dowry.