Joseph Drapeau (April 13, 1752 – November 3, 1810) was a

seigneur ''Seigneur'' 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. A seigneur refers to the person or collective who owned a ''seigneurie'' (o ...

, merchant and political figure in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec ...

. He represented Northumberland 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 el ...

from 1809 to 1810. He was born in Pointe-Lévy, the son of Pierre Drapeau and Marie-Joseph Huard, dit Désilets. Drapeau moved to

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

during the 1770s. In 1779, he obtained a permit to sell alcoholic beverages and, in 1781, a hotel-keeper's licence. He also operated a general store in the Lower Town of Quebec City and supplied goods to merchants

Louis Bourdages Louis Bourdages (July 6, 1764 – January 20, 1835) was a businessman and political figure in Lower Canada. He was born Louis-Marie Bourdages in Jeune-Lorette, Quebec in 1764, the son of Raymond Bourdages, an Acadian doctor and merchant. B ...

and Louis Bélair. Drapeau married Marie-Geneviève Noël, the daughter of the seigneur of Tilly, in 1782. He was an officer in the militia and served during the American invasion of 1795–1796. In 1799, he owned a shipbuilding yard at

Baie-Saint-Paul Baie-Saint-Paul ( 2011 Population 7,332; UA population 4,535) is a city in the Province of Quebec, Canada, on the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River. Baie-Saint-Paul is the seat of Charlevoix Regional County Municipality. The city is ...

. He was able to acquire the seigneuries of Champlain, Lessard (also known as Pointe-au-Père), Rimouski and Saint-Barnabé, Grand-Métis, Pachot (also known as Rivière-Mitis) and Sainte-Claire. After selling part of his holdings, Drapeau then purchased half of the seigneury of Île-d'Orléans. For a time, he also owned a small portion of the seigneuries of Rigaud-Vaudreuil, Gentilly, Perthuis, Beauvais, Rivière-Duchesne, and Sainte-Barbe-de-la-Famine. He died in office in Quebec City at the age of 58. His grandson

Ulric-Joseph Tessier Ulric-Joseph Tessier (May 3, 1817 – April 7, 1892) was a Quebec lawyer, judge, seigneur, and politician who was a member of the Senate of Canada representing the Gulf division from 1867 to 1873 and served as mayor of Quebec City from 1853 to ...

served in the legislative assembly for the Province of Canada and the Canadian senate and was also mayor of Quebec City.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Drapeau, Joseph 1752 births 1810 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada People from Lévis, Quebec