The Honourable Alain Chartier de Lotbinière |
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Member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for York | |
In office 1792–1794 |
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Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada | |
In office 1794–1796 |
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Member of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada | |
In office 1796–1797 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Quebec City, New France |
31 August 1748
Died | 1 January 1822 Montreal, Lower Canada |
(aged 73)
Nationality | French Canadian |
Occupation | Seigneur |
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Michel-Eustache-Gaspard-Alain Chartier de Lotbinière (August 31, 1748 – January 1, 1822), 2nd Marquis de Lotbinière, though to keep political favour with the British he never used the title. He was seigneur of Vaudreuil, Lotbinière and Rigaud. He was the Speaker of the House of Commons in Lower Canada who saw to it that the French language was recognised as equal to English in the Quebec Parliament, where a painting of him giving the speech still hangs above the Speaker's chair.
Born in the Quebec City in 1748, he was the son of Michel Chartier de Lotbinière, 1st Marquis de Lotbinière, and his wife Louise-Madeleine (1726–1809), daughter of Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry (1682–1756), engineer-in-chief of New France. He was one of a distinguished group of first cousins that included The Hon. Antoine Juchereau Duchesnay, François-Joseph Chaussegros, Vicomte de Léry, Mme Jacques-Philippe Saveuse de Beaujeu, The Hon. Louis-René Chaussegros de Léry and The Hon. Charles-Étienne Chaussegros de Léry. He was the brother-in-law of The Hon. Pierre-Amable de Bonne. De Lotbinière inherited the title Marquis de Lotbinière in 1798, but he never used it. This choice was probably to keep political favor with the new rulers of Canada as his father had been in constant and open opposition to British rule for which in 1784 he had been awarded the Marquisate.