Adolphe Jacquies ( – 30 January 1860) was a Canadian shopkeeper, printer, trade unionist, and newspaper publisher in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

. Born in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

, he immigrated to Quebec City sometime before 1826. In 1836, he reorganised the Quebec City printers into the Canadian Typographical Union. He became a typographer in 1837 and published a newspaper called '' Le Fantasque''. In 1839, he was arrested for printing a poem in the paper and released afterwards with health complications. He continued printing newspapers and wrote editorials for the '' Canadian Colonist and Commercial Advertiser''. His views were sympathetic to the

Parti Patriote The Parti canadien () or Parti patriote () was a primarily francophone political party in what is now Quebec founded by members of the liberal elite of Lower Canada at the beginning of the 19th century. Its members were made up of liberal prof ...

and liberal causes. He died in Quebec City.

Early life

Jacquies was born in

, France, 1798. His father was Hilaire-Jacob Jacquies and his mother was Adélaïde Prahm. Jacquies immigrated to

sometime before 1826 and opened a

confectionery Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

business. In 1836, Jacquies helped to reorganise the printers in Quebec City into a union, which was eventually called the Canadian Typographical Union. Jacquies convinced 66 members from twelve workshops to join the union and served as its president. The union disbanded eight years later.

Printing career

Jacquies became a typographer and beginning in 1837, he printed the weekly '' Le Fantasque'' paper for

Napoléon Aubin Napoléon Aubin (9 November 1812 – 12 June 1890), christened Aimé-Nicolas, was born from a Swiss family in Chêne-Bougeries, a district of Geneva, at the time a territory of France. He was a journalist, writer, publisher, scientist, musici ...

. In 1839 he was arrested and his press seized for printing a poem in ''Le Fantasque'' by

Joseph-Guillaume Barthe Joseph-Guillaume Barthe (March 16, 1816 – August 4, 1893) was a lawyer, journalist and political figure in Canada East. He also wrote for the Montreal newspaper Le Populaire under the pseudonym Marie-Louise. Life Barthe was born March 16, ...

called ''Aux exilés politiques canadiens''. Jacquies was released later that year after several doctors requested his release. His health was negatively affected by his time in prison, and he struggled with mobility issues for the rest of his life. His printing equipment was returned to him later that year in a damaged condition. In 1852, he was awarded £100 from the rebellion losses commissioners for his treatment during his imprisonment. Following his release, he started publishing the '' Canadian Colonist and Commercial Advertiser''. The bi-weekly English paper was published for two years. Although most articles in the paper were reprints from other papers, it also contained editorials written by Jacquies. The paper was against the Act of Union that united

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

and

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

into the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British North America, British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham ...

: the paper published that the process for the province's creation was undemocratic and created a larger civil service. The paper also denounced England's pursuit of free trade policies, believing that Canada needed preferential treatment for England to buy its timber so that they could afford to buy England manufactured goods. In 1841 Jacquies acquired a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

newspaper called ''British North American'' and renamed it to the '' Quebec Argus''. He also printed the '' Quebec Times'', another Conservative newspaper. He may have moved to Montreal during this time, as his wife died there in 1847.

Personal life, ideology, and death

Jacquies married Catherine Ponsy in Quebec City on 10 June 1828. They had nine children. Jacquies was sympathetic to the

, a Francophone liberal party. He promoted workers' rights and liberal ideological ideas including

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...

and unions for workers. He died in Quebec City on 30 January 1860.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacquies, Adolphe 1790s births 1860 deaths People from Bordeaux Trade unionists from Quebec 19th-century Canadian newspaper publishers (people) Pre-Confederation Quebec people