Jean du Plessis, sieur d’Ossonville (died 4 December 1635) was a joint leader of the French expedition that established a colony on the island of Guadeloupe in 1635. He died on the island after less than six months. Background Jean du Plessis was a gentleman from Picardy. He was the seigneur d’Ossonville, an advocate in Dieppe and a distant relative of Cardinal Richelieu (Armand Jean du Plessis). The French adventurers Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc and Urbain Du Roissey reached Saint Christopher Island (Saint Kitts) in 1625, and were struck by the potential of the island as a colony once the indigenous Island Caribs were removed. They returned to France and in 1626 with the support of Cardinal Richelieu founded the "Association des Seigneurs de la Compagnie des Isles de l’Amérique". The private venture had the mandate to settle Saint Christophe, Barbados and other neighboring islands at the entrance to Peru that were not possessed by any king or Christian prince. They engaged over 500 men to work on the islands for three years, sailed in three ships in February 1627, and after a difficult crossing landed in Saint-Christophe almost three months later. The first French settlers suffered from famine and fought with the Caribs and the English, who also had a settlement on the island. Richelieu sent a squadron of six ships commanded by Admiral François de Rotondy, seigneur de Cussac (or Cahuzac) to assist the settlers. Jean du Plessis travelled with this fleet. The fleet arrived at Saint-Christophe at the end of August 1629, defeated the English, reestablished d'Esnambuc and the French settlers in their settlements, and left for France. However, in November 1629 the Spanish admiral Federico de Toledo chased the French from the island. They left on two ships and attempted colonization of Antigua and Montserrat. They returned to Saint-Christophe in 1630. In 1634 d'Esnambuc and his lieutenant Charles Liènard de l'Olive decided to colonize other islands, and sent an exploratory expedition to Martinique, Dominica and Guadeloupe under Guillaume d'Orange, who reported that Guadeloupe seemed the easiest to settle. Spanish attempts to colonize the Guadeloupe archipelago in the first half of the 16th century had failed, and since then European sailors had only used it as a resting place. Guadeloupe expedition L'Olive left for Paris in 1634 to obtain permission from the Compagnie des îsles d'Amérique to settle Guadeloupe. He met Jean Du Plessis, sieur d'Ossonville in Dieppe,