Frédéric-Auguste Quesnel, (; February 4, 1785 – July 28, 1866), was a lawyer, businessman and politician in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

(now

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

). He was a member of the Legislative Assembly and the Executive Council of Lower Canada. Following the union of the Canadas, he was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the Parliament of the Province of Canada. The Province of Canada consisted of the former province of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East (now Quebec), and Upper Canada ...

and later was appointed to the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

. Throughout his career he was a political moderate, seeking greater political power for French-Canadians under British rule, but also supporting the British connection generally. Condemned by the Patriotes as a ''vendu'' ("sell-out") in the

Lower Canada Rebellion The Lower Canada Rebellion (), commonly referred to as the Patriots' Rebellion () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now southern Quebec). Together wit ...

, in 1860 he was elected President of the

Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society (, ) is an institution in the Canadian province of Quebec dedicated to the protection of Quebec francophone interests and to the promotion of Quebec sovereignism. It is known as the oldest patriotic association in ...

of Montreal. His achievements in commerce and finance showed that a

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

could make his fortune in business. In 1859, he was elected President of the Banque du Peuple. His home, Manoir Souvenir (now a ruin) was one of the early estates of the

Golden Square Mile The Golden Square Mile (, ), also known as the Square Mile, is the nostalgic name given to an urban neighbourhood developed principally between 1850 and 1930 at the foot of Mount Royal, in the west-central section of downtown Montreal in Quebec, Ca ...

Early life

Quesnel was born in 1785 at

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 ...

into a family well known in

Canadien French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the provi ...

gentry Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...

society. He was the eldest son of Joseph Quesnel, who had emigrated from France, and Marie-Josephte Deslandes, step-daughter of

Maurice-Régis Blondeau Maurice-Régis Blondeau (23 June 1734 13 July 1809) was a fur trader, militia officer, and office holder in Canada. Blondeau was born into a merchant family from Montreal in New France. He became associated with the fur trade and spent his early ca ...

. Joseph Quesnel was a businessman, but also became known as one of the earliest French-Canadian poets. Joseph also was a strong supporter of the British connection, as his family connections had suffered during the French revolution, with one cousin being guillotined.Frederick H. Armstrong
"Quesnel, Frédéric-Auguste"
''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', Volume IX (1861–1870), University of Toronto/Université Laval. Frédéric-Auguste was educated at the Collège Saint-Raphaël from 1796 to 1803. One of his classmates was

Louis-Joseph Papineau Louis-Joseph Papineau (; October 7, 1786 – September 23, 1871), born in Montreal, Province of Quebec (1763–1791), Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the ''seigneurie de la Petite-Nation''. He was the leader of the reform ...

, later the leader of the nationalist Parti Patriotes. One of Frédéric-Auguste's brothers, Jules-Maurice Quesnel, was involved in the fur trade, eventually becoming a member of the

Beaver Club The Beaver Club was a gentleman's club, gentleman's dining club founded in 1785 by the predominantly English-speaking men who had gained control of the fur trade of Montreal. According to the club's rules, the object of their meeting was "to bring ...

, and also was appointed to the Special Council, which governed Lower Canada after the

in 1837. One of his sisters was married to Côme-Séraphin Cherrier, a leading lawyer and Patriote politician.

Early career

After his studies at the Collège Saint-Raphaël, Quesnel

articled Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulate ...

in the law offices of Stephen Sewell, and could speak both French and English fluently. He was admitted to the Bar of Montreal in 1807, set up practice there, and by 1819 had offices on Rue Notre-Dame. During that period, Quesnel laid the basis of his fortune by investing in the

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

ventures of his brother Jules-Maurice Quesnel. He was also involved in various speculations that included considerable land sales. By the time the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

broke out, he was a captain in the 5th Battalion of Montreal militia (later known as the '' Chasseurs Canadiens''), with whom he fought during the

. By 1830, he was promoted to major in the 4th battalion of the Montreal militia.

Business career

Quesnel was one of only a few

s of his generation to enter into business life, and he made a fortune doing so. His example showed that a French-Canadian could be successful in the business world. In addition to his investments in the fur trade, Quesnel was also involved in real estate, and later in banking. In 1843, the Banque du Peuple was born through the French-Canadian nationist movement, to cater for French Canadians, and in 1848 Quesnel was made a director. He served as its president from 1859 to 1865, during which time the bank enjoyed steady growth and tranquillity. (Long after Quesnel's death, in 1895 the Banque du Peuple was forced to close its doors as a result of mismanagement.) Having been involved in land speculation from the earliest days of his career, by 1864 he was reaping the awards of these early investments: He sold the land which would become the town of Sainte-Cunégonde to William Workman and

Alexandre-Maurice Delisle Alexandre-Maurice Delisle (April 20, 1810 – February 13, 1880) was a Montreal businessman and political figure. Trained as a lawyer, he held several public service positions in the governments of Lower Canada and the Province of Canada ...

for $100,000. Quesnel also continued his legal career, including acting for the

Sulpician order The Society of Priests of Saint-Sulpice (; PSS), also known as the Sulpicians, is a society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men, named after the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, where it was founded. The members of the Society add t ...

in obtaining confirmation of some of its seigneurial properties. In 1831 he was appointed

King's counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

. In 1854, when the government was considering the abolition of seigneurial tenure, Quesnel made extensive submissions on the claims of the seigneurial holders for compensation, which were eventually incorporated into the law abolishing seigneurial tenure.

Political career

Lower Canada

From 1820 to 1834, Quesnel represented Kent County (re-named Chambly in 1829), in the

Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. The lower house consisted of e ...

, gaining a reputation as an elegant speaker. In his early years in the Assembly, he was a member of the

Parti canadien The () or () was a primarily francophone political party in what is now Quebec founded by members of the liberal elite of Lower Canada at the beginning of the 19th century. Its members were made up of liberal professionals and small-scale ...

, which agitated for greater self-government in Lower Canada and a reduction in the powers of the governors, who were appointed by the

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

. He supported

and

Denis-Benjamin Viger Denis-Benjamin Viger (; August 19, 1774 – February 13, 1861) was a 19th-century politician, lawyer, and newspaper publisher in Lower Canada, who served as joint premier of the Province of Canada for over two years. A leader in the Patri ...

, who were the leaders of the Parti canadien. In 1822, he signed a petition against the proposed union of

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

and Lower Canada, which the British government was considering. He also spoke at the farewell dinner for Papineau and John Neilson, before they left for Britain on a successful mission to oppose the union. Although Quesnel initially supported the Parti canadien, he held moderate political views, which made his position increasingly difficult as the party became more radical in its nationalism and began to be known as the Parti patriote. After several stands against Papineau and his supporters, the final break for Quesnel came over the

Ninety-Two Resolutions The Ninety-Two Resolutions were drafted by Louis-Joseph Papineau and other members of the '' Parti patriote'' of Lower Canada in 1834. The resolutions were a long series of demands for political reforms in the British-governed colony. Papineau ha ...

, which the Legislative Assembly adopted in 1834, calling for significant constitutional changes in the government of Lower Canada. Quesnel was one of the few French-Canadian members of the Assembly to vote against the Resolutions. He supported Neilson's attempt to introduce more moderate resolutions, but both men were condemned at a public meeting at Saint-Athanase-d’Iberville. For his rejection of the Resolutions and break with Papineau, he was called a "''chouayen''", or "turncoat". In the general elections of 1834, both of them lost their seats to supporters of Papineau. Quesnel was defeated by

Louis Lacoste Louis Lacoste (April 3, 1798 – November 26, 1878) was a notary and political figure in Lower Canada and then Canada East, Province of Canada (now Quebec). He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, supporting Louis-Jo ...

, a more ardent nationalist and member of the Parti patriote. As the political situation in

worsened by 1837, Quesnel, Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury, and George Moffatt arranged a public meeting at

in support of the government. Two months later the Governor, Lord Gosford, appointed him to the

Executive Council of Lower Canada The Executive Council of Lower Canada was an appointive body created by the Constitutional Act 1791. Its function was to advise the Governor or his representative on the administration of the colony's public affairs. It was replaced by the Executiv ...

. When the

broke out in late 1837, the Patriotes condemned Quesnel as a ''vendu'' ("sell-out"). His brother, Joseph-Timoléon, was forced to flee

L'Acadie Acadia (; ) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. The population of Acadia included the various indigenous Fir ...

and to give up his

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

’s commission.

Province of Canada

Legislative Assembly

Following the rebellion in Lower Canada, and the similar rebellion in 1837 in

(now

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

), the British government decided to merge the two provinces into a single province, as recommended by

Lord Durham Earl of Durham is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1833 for the Whig politician and colonial official John Lambton, 1st Baron Durham. Known as "Radical Jack", he played a leading role in the passing of the Refo ...

in the

Durham Report The ''Report on the Affairs of British North America'', (, 1839) commonly known as the ''Durham Report'' or ''Lord Durham's Report'', is an important document in the history of Quebec, Ontario, Canada and the British Empire. The notable Briti ...

. The ''Union Act, 1840'', passed by the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

, abolished the two provinces and their separate parliaments, and created the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

, with a single parliament for the entire province, composed of an elected Legislative Assembly and an appointed

. The

Governor General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

retained a strong position in the government. As in 1822, Quesnel continued to oppose the union of the two Canadas. In March 1840, he was the head of a delegation of three hundred to the Governor General, Charles Poulett Thomson, later Lord Sydenham. As head of the delegation, Quesnel presented a petition to the Governor, with 6,370 signatures, opposing the union of Upper and Lower Canada. When the Canadas were united the following year, he was elected unopposed to the new Legislative Assembly for the Montmorency riding. Lord Sydenham concluded that Quesnel was one of the members who would likely vote against Sydenham's government. This prediction was borne out in the first session of the new Parliament: Quesnel voted against a motion approving the union, and was a consistent vote against the governor. He was a member of the French-Canadian group, which supported

Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine Sir Louis-Hippolyte Ménard '' dit'' La Fontaine, 1st Baronet, KCMG (October 4, 1807 – February 26, 1864) was a Canadian politician who served as the first Premier of the United Province of Canada and the first head of a responsible governme ...

and

Robert Baldwin Robert Baldwin (May 12, 1804 – December 9, 1858) was an Upper Canadian lawyer and politician who with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine of Lower Canada, led the first responsible government ministry in the Province of Canada. ...

in their efforts to attain

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive br ...

.Cornell
''Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, 1841–67''
pp. 7, 93–97. The ministerial crisis of 1843 affected Quesnel's position. The dispute was over the implementation of

. The Governor General, Sir Charles Metcalfe, asserted that he could appoint government officials without consulting the Executive Council, whose members were generally elected. The Reform ministry of LaFontaine and Baldwin resigned. Metcalfe was able to create a rump ministry composed of

Henry Draper Henry Draper (March 7, 1837 – November 20, 1882) was an American medical doctor and amateur astronomer. He is best known today as a pioneer of astrophotography. Life and work Henry Draper's father, John William Draper, was an accomplished do ...

from Upper Canada, and Denis-Benjamin Viger and

Dominick Daly Sir Dominick Daly (11 August 1798 – 19 February 1868) was a British colonial public servant and administrator during the 19th century, who held positions in British North America, History_of_Tobago, Tobago and South Australia. Born in I ...

from Lower Canada, but Metcalfe was seeking further support. There was concern in the Reform and French-Canadian groups that Quesnel might re-join his old colleague, Viger, in a

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

government. Although that did not occur, Quesnel was defeated in the 1844 elections by Joseph Cauchon, thought to be a more reliable reformer.

Legislative Council

Four years later, in 1848, Quesnel was appointed to the Legislative Council. The general respect in which he was held is shown that he had originally been offered the seat by Draper, then the Tory premier, but was actually appointed on the advice of the Reformers, Lafontaine and Baldwin, after a change in government. He held the seat until his death in 1866. While in the Legislative Council, Quesnel supported the 1849

Rebellion Losses Bill The Rebellion Losses Bill (full name: ''An Act to provide for the Indemnification of Parties in Lower Canada whose Property was destroyed during the Rebellion in the years 1837 and 1838'') was a controversial law enacted by the legislature of ...

. The passage of the bill and grant of royal assent by the Governor General was the clear mark that responsible government had been achieved, although at the cost of the Montreal riot and burning of the Parliament Building. He also opposed annexation by the United States, which was proposed by some in the Montreal business community when Britain ended imperial tariff protection. He was convinced that French-Canadians would do better under British government than under American rule. He was also influential in ensuring that compensation for

seigneur A seigneur () or lord is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. The seigneur owned a seigneurie, seigneury, or lordship—a form of ...

s was built into legislation to abolish seigneurial tenure. Quesnel was elected president of the

of Montreal in 1860.

Family

Quesnel married Marguerite Denaut (1791-1820) in 1813 at

Boucherville Boucherville () is a city in the Montérégie region in Quebec, Canada. It is a suburb of Montreal on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River. Boucherville is part of both the urban agglomeration of Longueuil and the Montreal Metropolitan ...

. She was the only daughter and heiress of Captain Joachim Denaut, a wealthy fur trader who lived at Granville, by his wife Marguerite Chabert. She died in 1820, and their three daughters and two sons all predeceased him. In 1830, Quesnel built ''Manoir Souvenir'', named in memory of his wife. Built within a park of 240 acres in Montreal, it was one of the early estates of the

. Quesnel was survived only by a granddaughter from one of his sons, and a nephew whom he adopted: *Pierre-Adolphe-Augustin Quesnel was one of his sons. In 1843, he married Charlotte Vercheres-Boucher de Boucherville, granddaughter of René-Amable Boucher de Boucherville and niece of Louis-René Chaussegros de Léry. Their daughter, Emma, married

Théodore Robitaille Théodore Robitaille, (; 29 January 1834 – 17 August 1897) was a Canadian physician, politician, and the fourth Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. Biography Born in Varennes, Lower Canada, the son of Louis-Adolphe Robitaille (pronounced ...

Lieutenant Governor of Quebec The lieutenant governor of Quebec (; , ) is the representative in Quebec of the monarch, who Monarchy in Quebec, operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the Canadian federalism, ten other jurisdictions of Canada. T ...

. *

Charles-Joseph Coursol Charles-Joseph Coursol, (3 October 1819 – 4 August 1888) was a Canadian lawyer and politician, the Mayor of Montreal, Quebec between 1871 and 1873, and a member of Canadian Parliament from 1878 until his death. Baptised Michel-Joseph-Charl ...

was the son of Quesnel's sister, Marie-Melanie and her husband Michel Coursol, who died when Charles-Joseph was only one year old. Quesnel adopted his young nephew. Charles-Joseph married a daughter of Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché and inherited the bulk of Quesnel's estate, including ''Manoir Souvenir''. They were the parents of four children. Quesnel died at age 81 in 1866. He was buried at

Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery (, ) is a rural cemetery located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, which was founded in 1854. The entrance and the grounds run along a part of Côte-des-Neiges Ro ...

in Montreal. Louis-Joseph Papineau attended the funeral.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quesnel, Frederic-Auguste 1785 births 1866 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East Members of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada Presidents of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society of Montreal Canadian King's Counsel Collège Saint-Raphaël alumni Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery