Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau

Summary

Sir Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau KCMG PC (November 9, 1840 – June 13, 1898), born in Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec, was a French-Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 7th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec from 1892 to 1898.

Sir Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau
7th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
In office
December 5, 1892 – January 20, 1898
MonarchVictoria
Governors GeneralThe Lord Stanley of Preston
The Earl of Aberdeen
PremierCharles Boucher de Boucherville
Louis-Olivier Taillon
Edmund James Flynn
Félix-Gabriel Marchand
Preceded byAuguste-Réal Angers
Succeeded byLouis-Amable Jetté
5th Premier of Quebec
In office
October 31, 1879 – July 29, 1882
MonarchVictoria
Lieutenant GovernorThéodore Robitaille
Preceded byHenri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière
Succeeded byJoseph-Alfred Mousseau
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Terrebonne
In office
July 29, 1882 – December 5, 1892
Preceded byGuillaume-Alphonse Nantel
Succeeded byPierre-Julien Leclair
MLA for Terrebonne
In office
September 1, 1867 – July 29, 1882
Preceded byProvincial district created in 1867
Succeeded byGuillaume-Alphonse Nantel
Personal details
Born(1840-11-09)November 9, 1840
Sainte-Thérèse, Lower Canada
DiedJune 13, 1898(1898-06-13) (aged 57)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Political partyConservative Party of Quebec
Other political
affiliations
Conservative
Spouse
Marie-Louise King
(m. 1874)
CabinetSolicitor General (1873–1874)
Minister Without Portfolio (1876–1878)
Provincial Secretary (1876–1878)
Commissioner of Agriculture and Public Works (1879–1881)
Commissioner of Railways (1880–1881)
Secretary of State of Canada (1882–1892)
Minister of Customs (1892)

Life edit

 
Funeral monument of Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau in the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery.

As a lawyer, he defended Ambroise-Dydime Lépine against the charge of murdering Thomas Scott during the Red River Rebellion of 1869–1870.

He served as the fifth premier of Quebec, federal Cabinet minister, and the seventh lieutenant governor of Quebec.

After the 1878 Quebec election, he was the Leader of the Opposition. He became premier in 1879 after the fall of the minority government of Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière. He won the 1881 election, but resigned on July 29, 1882, to seek election to the federal House of Commons. He won a by-election held on August 16, 1882.

Chapleau planned to quit politics in 1885 when Louis Riel was sentenced to be hanged but decided to stay, fearing it would only inflame the situation. After Riel was hanged, he was attacked by Quebecers who accused him of the death of Riel along with John A. Macdonald.

He served as Minister of Justice under prime ministers John A. Macdonald and John Abbott, but declined to serve under John Thompson. He resigned in 1892, and was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Quebec from December 1892 until January 1898. He died in June of that same year in Montreal, Quebec. His funeral monument can be seen at the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery.[1]

Elections as party leader edit

He won the 1881 election.

Family edit

On November 25, 1874, he married Marie Louise, daughter of Lieutenant-colonel Charles King of Sherbrooke in the province of Quebec.[2]

Electoral record edit

1891 Canadian federal election: Terrebonne
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau 1,830 61.9 -1.8
Liberal M.D. Limoges 1,126 38.1 +1.8
Total valid votes 2,956 100.0
1887 Canadian federal election: Terrebonne
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau 1,819 63.8 -1.8
Liberal M.J. Therrien 1,034 36.2
Total valid votes 2,853 100.0
By-election on 16 August 1882

To allow Mr. Chapleau to run for office.

Party Candidate Votes
Conservative Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau acclaimed

Note: popular vote is compared to vote in 1882 general election.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Monument funéraire de Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau". Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec (in French). n.d. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  2. ^ Carlyle 1901.

Further reading edit

  • DUSSAULT, Roy. « Défense des intérêts des Canadiens français et unité de la Confédération canadienne : la pensée nationaliste de Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau, 1840–1898». Mémoire de maîtrise, Québec, Université Laval, 2018, 177 p.
  • Carlyle, Edward Irving (1901). "Chapleau, Joseph Adolphe" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  • "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
  • Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau fonds, Library and Archives Canada.
  • Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
  • Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau – Parliament of Canada biography

External links edit