Louis Bourdages
Louis Bourdages(July 6, 1764 – January 20, 1835) was a businessman and political figure inLower Canada.
He was bornLouis-Marie BourdagesinJeune-Lorette,Quebecin 1764, the son ofRaymond Bourdages,anAcadiandoctor and merchant. Bourdages studied at thePetit Séminaire de Québec,where he metPierre-Stanislas Bédard.After he left school, he became a sailor and travelled to Europe and theWest Indies.He returned toQuebec Cityin 1787, where he was unsuccessful in establishing himself as a merchant, and moved toSaint-Denison theRichelieu Riverin 1790 where he became a farmer. He later articled as a notary and qualified to practice in 1805. Bourdages also became an important land-owner in the region.
In 1804, he was elected to theLegislative Assembly of Lower Canadafor Richelieu; he represented this region until 1814. In 1806, he helped foundLe Canadien.Bourdages was generally opposed to measures intended to put an end toseigneurial tenure.During theWar of 1812,he served in the local militia, reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was elected in Buckinghamshire in an 1815 by-election and then represented it from 1820 to 1830, when Buckinghamshire was reorganized. He then representedNicoletin the assembly from 1830 until his death at Saint-Denis in 1835. Bourdages helped prepare theNinety-Two Resolutionssubmitted to theBritishgovernment in 1834. In January 1835, he suffered an attack ofapoplexyand died several days later.
His sonRémi-Séraphin,who represented Rouville in the legislative assembly, died before his father in 1832.
External links
[edit]- "Louis Bourdages".Dictionary of Canadian Biography(online ed.).University of Toronto Press.1979–2016.
- "Biography".Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours(in French).National Assembly of Quebec.
