Jean Baptiste Bourdon (sometimes called M. de Saint-Jean or Sieur de Saint-François) was born c. 1601 at Saint-André-le-Vieil in Rouen, Normandy, France.

He was a seigneur, the first engineer-in-chief and land-surveyor in the colony of New France, cartographer, businessman, procurator-syndic of the village of Quebec, head clerk of the Communauté des Habitants, explorer, and the first attorney-general of the Conseil Superieur. He arrived in the colony in 1634 and settled on the outskirts of Quebec, on the Sainte-Geneviève hill. In 1639, governor Huault made him a commoner’s land grant of 50 acres that he had named “terre Saint-Jean.” He built a mill and a chapel where his friend Jean Le Sueur was to officiate. Bourdon received several other seigneuries in return for his services, e.g., the Rivière au Griffon seigneury, the seigneury of Autray, the seigneury of Dombourg (an anagram of Bourdon), which was situated at the spot now called Pointe-aux-Trembles, and the seigneury of La Malbaie. He lived on the Saint-Jean fief and carried on his profession as an engineer and surveyor. In 1641-42, he drew up a detailed map of the region between Quebec and Cap Tourmente, including the Île d’Orléans. In 1645, he was appointed acting governor of Trois-Rivières. In 1647, he was elected procurator-syndic of the town of Quebec, and then the governor appointed him head clerk of the Communauté des Habitants. In 1663, he became attorney-general and occupied this office until 1668.

In 1635, he married Jacqueline Potel (1620-1645), and in 1655, he remarried Anne Gasnier (1611-1698). He died on January 12, 1668, in Quebec City.