James O'Halloran

James O'Halloran, KC (c.1820 – June 1, 1913) was a Quebec lawyer and political figure. He was born about 1820 (some sources say 1821) near Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland and came to Canada with his family in 1828. He studied at the University of Vermont and served in the U.S. Army during the war with Mexico. He returned to Lower Canada in 1849, was admitted to the bar in 1852 and set up practice in Cowansville. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for Missisquoi as a member of the parti rouge; he was reelected in 1863. He opposed Confederation. O'Halloran was named Queen's Counsel on February 12, 1864.

He helped establish the South Eastern Railway and served as its first president; it was later bought by the Canadian Pacific Railway. O'Halloran then became the lawyer for the Canadian Pacific Railway in Quebec. He served as first mayor of Cowansville in 1876, from 1882 to 1883 and from 1886 to 1891. He died on June 1, 1913 and was buried in the (formerly Methodist) United Church cemetery two days later.

As a member of the Legislative Assembly representing the riding of Missisquoi in the Provincial Parliament of Canada James O'Halloran delivered this speech on March 8, 1865, during the debate on the proposed confederation of the British provinces in North America. The text is taken from the Parliamentary Debates on the Subject of the Confederation of the British North American Provinces, 3rd series, 8th Parliament (Hunter, Rose, & Co., Quebec, 1865), pp. 792–799.

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