Aldis Bernard ( 1810 – 3 July 1876) was a Canadian

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental doctor, dental physician, dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry, the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. The dentist's supporting team aids in provi ...

and politician, the Mayor of Montreal, Quebec between 1873 and 1875.

Dental career

Bernard was educated in dentistry at

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, after which he practiced as a dentist in the southern United States. He married there and in 1840 moved back to Canada first residing in the

Niagara Peninsula The Niagara Peninsula is an area of land lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie, in Ontario, Canada. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the ...

. In 1841, he settled in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and established a dental practice there. When the government was planning a governing organisation for doctors in 1847, Bernard lobbied to have dentistry included in the law that would establish the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Lower Canada. This effort was unsuccessful largely due to the medical establishment's negative view of dentistry at that time. The Dental Association of the Province of Quebec was eventually formed in 1869 with Bernard as its founding President.

Political career

His first terms as a Montreal municipal councillor for Montreal Centre ward began in 1858 and ended in 1861. He returned to city politics in 1866 and again served as a councillor until the death of Mayor Francis Cassidy in June 1873. City Council then appointed Bernard as interim Mayor to serve out the remainder of Cassidy's term. Voters returned Bernard to the Mayor's post in the 1874 city elections. Under his leadership,

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

s such as

Mount Royal Park Mount Royal (, ) is a mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The city's name is derived from the mountain's name. The mountain is part of the Monteregian Hills situated between the Laurentian ...

and Dufferin Park were established. Work on a new city hall also commenced under Bernard's watch.

Personal life

The circumstances of Bernard's birth have not been confirmed, but his obituaries suggest he was born in Quebec's

Eastern Townships The Eastern Townships (, ) is a historical administrative region in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It lies between the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands, St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby, Quebec, Granby in ...

United Empire Loyalist United Empire Loyalist (UEL; or simply Loyalist) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the governor of Quebec and governor general of the Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North Ameri ...

parents. Mary Webb Meredith was Bernard's first wife until her death in 1845. He remarried in 1852 to Sarah Couch, a member of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in contrast to Bernard's Protestant church membership. He had eight children, one of whom with his first wife. Bernard did not seek another term as Mayor in 1875. He moved to

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

shortly before his death in July 1876. His body was returned to Montreal for burial on 15 July 1876.

References

External links

A Brief History of Mont Royal: A day-in-the-life of Victorian-Era Montreal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, Aldis 1876 deaths 19th-century mayors of places in Quebec Canadian dentists Mayors of Montreal 1810s births 19th-century dentists