René-Édouard Caron (21 October 1800 – 13 December 1876) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician, judge, and the

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

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 ...

. He was born in

Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré () is a town in La Côte-de-Beaupré Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada, along the Saint Lawrence River, north-east of Quebec City. The population was 2,803 according to the Canada 2006 Census. Major religious ...

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 ...

, the son of

Augustin Caron Augustin Caron (September 15, 1778 – September 4, 1862) was a farmer and political figure in Lower Canada. He represented Northumberland in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada from 1808 to 1809 and from 1811 to 1814. He was born in Sa ...

, a well-to-do farmer and Member of the House of Assembly (MHA) for Lower Canada, and Élizabeth Lessard. He studied

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

at the college of

Saint-Pierre-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud Saint-Pierre-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud () is a parish municipality in Quebec, Canada. Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Saint-Pierre-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud had a population of living in of its total ...

, which prepared him for admittance to 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 1813. After later studying law in André-Rémi Hamel's office, Caron was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

of Lower Canada in 1826. In 1828, he married Marie-Vénérande-Joséphine de Blois, the daughter of Joseph de Blois and Marie-Vénérande Ranvoyzé. In 1833, he was elected as a municipal representative for the Palais district of

Quebec City Quebec City 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 Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

. In 1834, he was elected

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

by the city councillors and served until 1836. He was mayor again from 1840 to 1846. He was mayor when

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

broke out in 1834 and when a fire nearly destroyed the city in 1845. In 1834, he was elected a Member of 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 riding of Upper Town of Quebec. In 1841, he was appointed a member of the

Legislative Council of the Province of Canada The Legislative Council of the Province of Canada () was the upper house for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper Canada, then known ...

. He was the Speaker from 1843 to 1847 and again from 1848 to 1853. From 1844 to 1853, he was also in a law partnership with

Louis de Gonzague Baillairgé Louis de Gonzague Baillairgé (18 February 1808 – 20 March 1896) was the son of Pierre-Florent Baillairgé and grandson of Jean Baillairgé. A descendant of a family distinguished by several illustrious figures in the fields of wood-carving a ...

. In 1853, he was appointed Judge of the Court of Appeal, and in 1855 of the Court of the Queen's Bench. In 1859, he took part in the codification of the civil laws. He remained a judge until 1873 when he was appointed the second Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec. He served until his death in December 1876. He was buried at

Cimetière Notre-Dame-de-Belmont The Cimetière Notre-Dame-de-Belmont (; English: Belmont Cemetery) is a historic garden cemetery located in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The Roman Catholic cemetery was built between 1857 and 1859. Its architect, Charles Baillargé, took inspir ...

in Sainte-Foy.

Family

He married Marie-Vénérande-Joséphine de Blois, daughter of Joseph de Blois and Marie-Vénérande Ranvoyzé, of Quebec, on 16 September 1828, at

Notre-Dame de Québec Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the ...

. She died on 25 March 1880, and was buried at cimetière Notre-Dame-de-Belmont, alongside her husband. The couple's son Adolphe-Philippe later became a member of the Canadian House of Commons and cabinet minister. Their daughter Corine married Sir

Charles Fitzpatrick Sir Charles Fitzpatrick, (December 19, 1851 – June 17, 1942) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as Minister of Justice of Canada, as Chief Justice of Canada and then as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. Biography Fitzpatrick wa ...

, who became Chief Justice of Canada and Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec. Their daughter Marie-Joséphine married Jean-Thomas Taschereau, later a judge in the Supreme Court of Canada, and was the mother of

Louis-Alexandre Taschereau Louis-Alexandre Taschereau (; March 5, 1867 – July 6, 1952) was the 14th premier of Quebec from 1920 to 1936. A member of the Parti libéral du Québec, Taschereau's near 16-year tenure remains the longest uninterrupted term of office among ...

, a premier of Quebec. ;Descendants *

(17781862), m. Élizabeth Lessard (17741823) ** René-Édouard Caron (18001876), m. Marie-Vénérande-Joséphine de Blois (18291886) ***

Adolphe-Philippe Caron Sir Joseph-Philippe-René-Adolphe Caron, (24 December 1843 – 20 April 1908) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He is now best remembered as the Minister of Militia and Defence in the government of Sir John A. Macdonald and his role during ...

(18431908), m. Marie-Clotilde-Alice Baby (18331924) *** Marie-Elmire Corinne Caron, m. Sir Charles Fitzpatrick (18531942) *** Marie-Joséphine Caron (18391915), m. Jean-Thomas Taschereau (18141893) **** Joseph-Édouard Taschereau (18631891), m. Marie-Clara-Amelie Dionne (18651948) **** Louise-Josephine Taschereau (18661959) ****

(18671952), m. Marie-Emma-Adine Dionne (18711952)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caron, Rene-Edouard 1800 births 1876 deaths 19th-century mayors of places in Quebec Judges in Canada East, Province of Canada Judges in Quebec Lawyers in Lower Canada and Canada East Lieutenant governors of Quebec Mayors of Quebec City Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada Members of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada Petit Séminaire de Québec alumni