Charles Boucher de Boucherville

Sir Charles-Eugène-Napoléon Boucher de Boucherville KCMG (May 4, 1822 – September 10, 1915) was a Canadian politician and medical doctor. He twice served as the premier of Quebec.

Sir Charles-Eugène-Napoléon Boucher de Boucherville
3rd Premier of Quebec
In office
September 22, 1874 – March 8, 1878
MonarchVictoria
Lieutenant GovernorRené-Édouard Caron
Luc Letellier de St.-Just
Preceded byGédéon Ouimet
Succeeded byHenri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière
In office
December 21, 1891 – December 16, 1892
MonarchVictoria
Lieutenant GovernorAuguste-Réal Angers
Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau
Preceded byHonoré Mercier
Succeeded byLouis-Olivier Taillon
Senator for Montarville, Quebec
In office
February 12, 1879 – September 10, 1915
Appointed byJohn A. Macdonald
Preceded byLouis Lacoste
Succeeded byCharles-Philippe Beaubien
Member of Legislative Council for Montarville
In office
July 1, 1867 – September 10, 1915
Appointed byNarcisse Fortunat Belleau
Personal details
Born(1822-05-04)May 4, 1822
Montreal, Lower Canada
DiedSeptember 10, 1915(1915-09-10) (aged 93)
Montreal, Quebec
Political partyConservative Party of Quebec
Other political
affiliations
Conservative Party of Canada
Spouse(s)Susan Elizabeth Morrogh
Marie-Céleste-Esther Lussier

Personal life

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Boucher was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Descended from Pierre Boucher, he was one of the three children of Pierre Boucher de Boucherville (1780–1857), Seigneur of Boucherville, and Marguerite-Émilie de Bleury (1786–1812), sister of Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury. Boucher de Boucherville took his MD from McGill University, graduating with an MD in 1843.

Political career

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During the Chauveau administration, he served as Speaker of the Legislative Council. He became premier in 1874 when his predecessor, Gédéon Ouimet, had to resign due to a financial scandal. He then won the 1875 Quebec election but was removed from office on March 8, 1878, in a conflict with Lieutenant Governor Luc Letellier de Saint-Just. Letellier de Saint-Just refused to approve legislation that had been passed by both houses of the Quebec legislature that would have forced municipalities to pay for railway construction. The Lieutenant-Governor deposed Boucher de Boucherville, and called on the Leader of the Opposition, Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, to form a government.

Boucher de Boucherville's second term came about after Honoré Mercier was removed from office by Lieutenant Governor Auguste-Réal Angers on December 16, 1891, on charges of corruption. Mercier was later cleared.

After Conservative leader Louis-Olivier Taillon had lost the 1890 election and his own seat, Jean Blanchet had taken over as Leader of the Opposition to the Mercier government. Blanchet, however, had resigned on September 19, 1891, to accept an appointment as a judge. The Lieutenant Governor, therefore, needed a Conservative to fill the post of Premier and turned to Boucher de Boucherville.

Boucher de Boucherville served for one year but resigned when former Conservative premier Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau was appointed Lieutenant-Governor in December 1892. Relations between the two may have been strained. By 1915 the oldest legislator in North America, he died that year in Montreal at the Deaf and Dumb Institute, in whose work he was so interested that he lived there.

See also

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  • Munro, Kenneth (1998). "Boucher de Boucherville, Sir Charles". In Cook, Ramsay; Hamelin, Jean (eds.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XIV (1911–1920) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
  • "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
  • Charles Boucher de Boucherville – Parliament of Canada biography
  • "Senator de Boucherville Dies at 95". The New York Times. September 12, 1915. p. 17.
Political offices
Preceded by MLA, District of Chambly
18611867
Succeeded by
National Assembly of Quebec
Preceded by Legislative Councillor, District of Montarville
1867–1915
Succeeded by