Charles-Joseph Coursol, (3 October 1819 – 4 August 1888) was a Canadian lawyer and politician, the Mayor of Montreal, Quebec between 1871 and 1873, and a member of Canadian Parliament from 1878 until his death. Baptised Michel-Joseph-Charles Coursol, he was born at Fort Malden,

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 th ...

, located at what is now Amherstburg, Ontario. He was the son of Michel Coursol (d.1820), of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

, and Marie-Mélanie Quesnel, daughter of

Joseph Quesnel Joseph Quesnel (15 November 1746 – 2 or 3 July 1809) was a French Canadian composer, poet, playwright and slave-trader. Among his works were two operas, ''Colas et Colinette'' and ''Lucas et Cécile''; the former is considered to be the first ...

. His father died before he was one year old, and he was adopted and brought up like a son in the home of his uncle, The Hon.

Frédéric-Auguste Quesnel Frédéric-Auguste Quesnel, (February 4, 1785 – July 28, 1866), was a Canadian lawyer, businessman and politician. He held a number of public offices and in politics he was a moderate who represented Chambly in the Legislative Assembly ...

. His early education was at the Petit Séminaire de Montréal, and afterwards he was apprenticed to his step-father Côme-Séraphin Cherrier for the legal profession until his formal installation as a lawyer on 24 February 1841. During his legal career in Montreal, he was a city councillor in Saint-Antoine ward between 1853 and 1855. Coursol left politics for numerous years, yet maintained a high profile in the Montreal community with other activities such as business and culture. He returned to local politics and was acclaimed Mayor in both 1871 and 1872. During that time, Coursol established

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to r ...

s for public use. After he left the Mayor's office, Coursol served as President of the

Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society (french: Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste) is an institution in Quebec dedicated to the protection of Quebec francophone interests and to the promotion of Quebec sovereignism. It is known as the oldest patriotic asso ...

from 1872 to 1876. His attention turned to national politics, winning the

Montreal East Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

riding for the

Conservatives 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 in ...

in the 1878 federal election. He served second and third terms in the riding, running uncontested in the

1882 Events January–March * January 2 ** The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates. ** Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in t ...

and 1887 federal elections. However, Coursol died in office at

Montmagny, Quebec Montmagny () is a city in the Montmagny Regional County Municipality within the Chaudière-Appalaches region of Quebec. It is the county seat and had a population, as of the Canada 2011 Census, of 11,491. The city is on the south shore of the Sai ...

on 4 August 1888. Coursol's honours included Spain's

Order of Charles III The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III, originally Royal and Much Distinguished Order of Charles III ( es, Real y Distinguida Orden Española de Carlos III, originally es, Real y Muy Distinguida Orden de Carlos III) was establ ...

in 1872, then his appointment as

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

in February 1873. After his death in 1888, he was entombed at the

Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery (french: Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges) is a rural cemetery located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada which was founded in 1854. The entrance and the grounds run a ...

in Montreal.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

Charles-Joseph Coursol at City of Montreal
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coursol, Charles-Joseph 1819 births 1888 deaths Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs Mayors of Montreal Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec People from Amherstburg, Ontario Lawyers in Quebec Canadian King's Counsel Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery

Archives

References

External links