Augustin-Norbert Morin (October 13, 1803 – July 27, 1865) was a

Canadien French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fre ...

lawyer and judge. Born in

Saint-Michel-de-Bellechasse Saint-Michel-de-Bellechasse is a municipality of about 1,800 people about 20 km east of Lévis, in Bellechasse Regional County Municipality in the Chaudière-Appalaches region of Quebec, Canada. It is a mostly rural community, and it was ch ...

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 a large Roman Catholic farming family, Morin was identified by the parish priest at a young age as a boy of exceptional talent and intelligence. The parish priest therefore arranged for his education at the

Séminaire de Québec The Seminary of Quebec (French: Séminaire de Québec) is a Catholic community of diocesan priests in Quebec City founded by Bishop François de Laval, the first bishop of New France in 1663. History The Séminaire de Québec is a Society of d ...

, beginning in 1815. After leaving the seminary, Morin worked as newspaperman in order to earn money for the study of law as clerk in the office of

Denis-Benjamin Viger Denis-Benjamin Viger (; August 19, 1774 – February 13, 1861) was a 19th-century politician, lawyer, businessman in Lower Canada. He was a leader in the ''Patriote'' movement. Viger was part of the militia in the early 19th century and th ...

. By 1828 he was practicing law independently, and by 1830 had become involved with colonial politics. In 1834 Morin was elected to the 15th Parliament of Lower Canada. Morin helped draft the

Ninety-Two Resolutions The Ninety-Two Resolutions were drafted by Louis-Joseph Papineau and other members of the ''Parti patriote'' of Lower Canada in 1834. The resolutions were a long series of demands for political reforms in the British-governed colony. Papineau had b ...

. Although he took part in the

Lower Canada Rebellion The Lower Canada Rebellion (french: rébellion du Bas-Canada), commonly referred to as the Patriots' War () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now southe ...

and was later arrested, it was not felt that a charge of high treason was justified. Following the union of Lower Canada and

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 ...

into the new

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 ...

in 1841, Morin was elected to the first Parliament of the new Province, for the Nicolet electoral district. He resigned his seat a year later on appointment to the district court for

Rimouski Rimouski ( ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. Rimouski is located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, at the mouth of the Rimouski River. It has a population of 48,935 (as of 2021). Rimouski is the site of Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), the C ...

, but served on the bench for less than a year. He resigned from the court and was re-elected to Parliament, this time for the riding of Saguenay, in November, 1842. Morin served as

Joint Premier of the Province of Canada Joint premiers of the Province of Canada were the prime ministers of the Province of Canada, from the 1841 unification of Upper Canada and Lower Canada until Confederation in 1867. Following the abortive Rebellions of 1837, Lord Durham was appoint ...

from

Canada East Canada East (french: links=no, Canada-Est) was the northeastern portion of the United Province of Canada. Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new ...

along with his counterparts from

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

Francis Hincks Sir Francis Hincks, (December 14, 1807 – August 18, 1885) was a Canadian businessman, politician, and British colonial administrator. An immigrant from Ireland, he was the Co-Premier of the Province of Canada (1851–1854), Governor of Barb ...

(from October 28, 1851, to September 11, 1854), and with

Allan Napier MacNab Sir Allan Napier MacNab, 1st Baronet (19 February 1798 – 8 August 1862) was a Canadian political leader who served as joint Premier of the Province of Canada from 1854 to 1856. Early life He was born in Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) to All ...

(from that date until January 27, 1855). He resigned from government due to ill health. However, Morin was named a judge in the

Quebec Superior Court The Superior Court of Quebec (french: Cour supérieure du Québec) is a superior trial court in the Province of Quebec, in Canada. It consists of 157 judges who are appointed by the federal government. Appeals from this court are taken to the Qu ...

and he also took part in the commission which drafted a new

civil code A civil code is a codification of private law relating to property, family, and obligations. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure. In some jurisdictions with a civil code, a number of the core ar ...

for Canada East.

Morin-Heights, Quebec Morin-Heights is a town in the Laurentian Mountains region of Quebec, Canada. It is west of Saint-Sauveur and north of Lachute; municipally, it is within the Regional County Municipality of Les Pays-d'en-Haut. It is primarily a tourist town, ha ...

, and

Val-Morin, Quebec Val-Morin is a municipality in the Laurentides region of Quebec, Canada, part of the Les Laurentides Regional County Municipality. Geography Val-Morin is located in the Laurentian Mountains, along the Rivière du Nord and on the shores of Lake R ...

, which Morin help found, are named for him. He also helped found Sainte-Adèle, Quebec, which was named after his wife Adèle Raymond, the sister of Joseph-Sabin Raymond. He died at Sainte-Adèle in 1865.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morin, Augustin-Norbert 1803 births 1865 deaths Premiers of the Province of Canada Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East Presidents of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society of Montreal Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Province of Canada judges

See also

External links