Pierre Bruneau (July 22, 1761 – April 13, 1820) was a merchant and political figure 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 ...

Biography

He was born in the town of

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, ...

in 1761, the son of a merchant involved 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 ...

, and studied at the

Petit Séminaire de Québec Petit is a French-language surname literally meaning "small" or "little". Notable people with the surname include: *Adriana Petit (born 1984), Spanish multidisciplinary artist *Alexis Thérèse Petit (1791–1820), French physicist * Amandine Pet ...

. In 1785, he married Marie-Anne Robitaille. In 1786, he took over the family business after his father returned to

Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

; Bruneau opened a second store in Chambly and expanded into the trade in grain, cloth and alcohol. He also invested in property. In 1792, Bruneau joined the local militia, serving as a major during 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 ...

. In 1807, he hired Charles Labbé to manufacture articles made from fur that Bruneau then sold. He was elected to 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 ...

for the Lower Town of Quebec in 1810; he was reelected in 1814. In 1816, he was defeated in that riding but elected in Kent and reelected there in 1820. Like many members 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 ...

, Bruneau was opposed to judges sitting in the legislative assembly. He died in office at Quebec in 1820. His daughter Julie married

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 ...

. His nephew François-Pierre Bruneau later served as a member of the legislative council for the Province of Canada.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruneau, Pierre 1761 births 1820 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada