Félix-Gabriel Marchand (January 9, 1832 – September 25, 1900) was a journalist, author, notary and politician in Quebec, Canada. He was the 11th premier of Quebec from May 24, 1897, to September 25, 1900. Born in what is

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu () is a city in eastern Montérégie in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec, about southeast of Montreal. It is situated on the west bank of the Richelieu River at the northernmost naviga ...

, Quebec today, he was the son of Lt.-Colonel Gabriel Marchand (1780–1852) J.P., and Mary MacNider, a woman of the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

faith, daughter of John MacNider, 2nd Seigneur of Metis, Quebec. As a child, Marchand attended English schools and was taught in French at the age of 11. Fluently

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

, Marchand became a journalist and writer. He became a notary and practised this profession for 45 years, but continued journalism and writing as well. He was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Quebec The Legislative Assembly of Quebec (French: ''Assemblée législative du Québec'') was the name of the lower house of Quebec's legislature from 1867 to December 31, 1968, when it was renamed the National Assembly of Quebec. At the same time, t ...

in the 1867 Quebec provincial election for the district of Saint-Jean and retained his seat for 33 years until his death. He was

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

from 1892 to 1897, and then won the 1897 election as leader of the Liberal Party. As premier, Marchand attempted to create a Ministry of Education in 1898. At the time, education was entirely in the hands of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church in the province. His legislation was passed by the Legislative Assembly (the lower chamber of Quebec's legislature), but was defeated in the Legislative Council (the upper house). It was not until 1964 that a Ministry of Education was finally created in Quebec. Félix-Gabriel Marchand was still in office when he died in 1900 in Quebec City. He is interred in the cimetière Notre-Dame-de-Belmont in Sainte-Foy, Quebec. Dr. André Simard, husband of

Marthe Simard Marthe Marie Amélie Angèle Simard née Caillaud, later Reid-Simard (6 April 1901, Bordj Menaïel – 28 March 1993), was a Franco-Canadian politician. Simard was the first French woman to sit in a parliamentary assembly. In December 1940, ...

, was his grandson.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marchand, Felix-Gabriel 1832 births 1900 deaths Anglophone Quebec people Canadian people of French descent Canadian people of Scottish descent Premiers of Quebec Presidents of the National Assembly of Quebec Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Quebec political party leaders Quebecers of French descent

See also

References

External links