François-Antoine LaRocque was born on August 19, 1784, in L’Assomption, Quebec, and died on May 1, 1869, in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. He was the son of François-Antoine LaRocque, the first representative for the county of Leinster, and Angélique Leroux, the daughter of merchant Germain Leroux. On January 26, 1818, LaRocque married Marie-Catherine-Émilie Cotté, daughter of merchant Gabriel Cotté, in Montreal. They had one son named François-Alfred-Chartier. In 1806, LaRocque moved to Montreal to run a trading house. He was a partner of Joseph Masson and then organized his own business under the name of LaRocque, Bernard, et Compagnie in 1832. In 1855, LaRocque entered the Hôtel-Dieu of Saint-Hyacinthe, where he spent the last years of his life. During the War of 1812, LaRocque served as an ensign in the 3rd militia division of Lower Canada and as a captain in the 5th battalion of Chasseurs Canadiens. Upon his return to Montreal after the war, he was decorated with the Châteauguay medal.