Charles Daoust (January 23, 1825 – February 27, 1868) was a lawyer, journalist and political figure in

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 ...

. He was born in Beauharnois,

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 ...

in 1825, the son of a farmer, and studied at the Collège Saint-Pierre at Chambly. He originally planned to become a priest but later articled in law with

Lewis Thomas Drummond Lewis Thomas Drummond (May 28, 1813 – November 24, 1882) was a Quebec lawyer, judge and political figure. He was born in Coleraine, County Londonderry, Ireland in 1813. His father, an attorney, died while he was young and he came to Lower ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and was called to the bar in 1847. During his time in Montreal, he contributed to the newspaper '' L'Avenir''. He then set up his law practice at Beauharnois. Daoust returned to journalism, as editor for ''

Le Pays ''Le Pays'' (''The Land'') is a three-act opera by Guy Ropartz with a libretto by Charles Le Goffic. It was composed between 1908 and 1910 and was premiered in 1912 at Nancy. It is an important example of the Breton cultural renaissance of the ...

'' from 1853 to 1859 and again from 1864 to 1865. In 1854, he was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the legislature for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper C ...

for Beauharnois. Daoust supported Joseph Papin's proposal for a school system not based on religious affiliations, a viewpoint opposed by the clergy in the province. He was defeated in the general elections held in 1858 and 1861. In 1856, he married his cousin Angèle Doutre. In 1859, he returned to the practice of law, in partnership with his cousins/brothers-in-law,

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

and Gonzalve Doutre. Daoust was a member of the

Institut canadien de Montréal The Institut canadien de Montréal (English; Canadian Institute of Montreal) was founded on 17 December 1844, by a group of 200 young liberal professionals in Montreal, Canada East, Province of Canada. The Institute provided a public library and d ...

and served as its president in 1860. He was opposed to

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

, because he felt it would diminish the importance of the province's elected representatives. He died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

at Montreal in 1868.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Daoust, Charles 1825 births 1868 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East People from Beauharnois, Quebec