Charles Laberge (October 21, 1827 – August 3, 1874) was a

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

lawyer, journalist and political figure. He was born in

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 ...

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 1827 and studied at the Séminaire de Saint-Hyacinthe from 1838 to 1845, when he completed his classical studies. During his time in school, he helped found 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 ...

. He articled in law with René-Auguste-Richard Hubert at Montreal and was admitted to the bar in 1848. Laberge entered practice with

Toussaint-Antoine-Rodolphe Laflamme Toussaint-Antoine-Rodolphe Laflamme, (15 May 1827 – 7 December 1893), was a French-Canadian lawyer, professor of law and politician. He received a BCL in 1856 and an honorary DCL in 1873, both from McGill University. He was a partner in a ...

, later setting up on his own at Saint-Jean-d'Iberville. He was an early contributor to the newspaper '' L'Avenir''. He supported annexation with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In 1854, Laberge 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 Iberville as a member of the

parti rouge The Red Party (french: Parti rouge, or french: Parti démocratique) was a political group that contested elections in the Eastern section of the Province of Canada. It was formed around 1847 by radical French-Canadians inspired by the ideas of L ...

. He was reelected in 1858 and was named solicitor general later that year; he retired from politics in 1860. Laberge was named

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1858. As a loyal

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, he was greatly disturbed when the church condemned the

in 1858. He married Hélène-Olive, daughter of

Joseph-Ovide Turgeon Joseph-Ovide Turgeon (1797 – November 9, 1856) was a Quebec official and political figure. He was born at Terrebonne in 1797, a cousin of Louis Turgeon, and studied at the Petit Séminaire de Montréal. He travelled in the United States ...

, in 1859. In 1860, with

Félix-Gabriel Marchand Félix-Gabriel Marchand (January 9, 1832 – September 25, 1900) was a journalist, author, notary and politician in Quebec, Canada. He was the 11th premier of Quebec from May 24, 1897, to September 25, 1900. Born in what is Saint-Jean-sur- ...

, he found the paper ''Le Franco-Canadien''; he also contributed to ''L'Ordre'' at Montreal. In 1863, he was appointed 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 ...

at Sorel. He opposed

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 ...

, but ran unsuccessfully in Saint-Jean in 1867. He served two terms as mayor of Saint-Jean-d'Iberville. In 1872, he became editor of '' Le National'' at Montreal. He died in Montreal in 1874 and was buried in the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laberge, Charles 1827 births 1874 deaths Séminaire de Saint-Hyacinthe alumni Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East Mayors of places in Quebec Journalists from Montreal Lawyers from Montreal 19th-century Canadian journalists Canadian male journalists Canadian King's Counsel Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Quebec candidates for Member of Parliament Candidates in the 1867 Canadian federal election