David Burnet (c. 1803 – June 2, 1853) was a prominent merchant and political figure in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

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 ...

. Although initially successful, both his business activities and his political career were caught short by his bankruptcy. He died around age 50 in Quebec City.

Business career

Burnet was a merchant at

. He first entered business with his brother

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, who was involved in the timber trade, importing and ship building. Peter moved to

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around 1830 and David replaced him as a director of the Bank of Montreal at Quebec. He had two ships built, one in 1838 and one in 1840, and entered the forwarding business between Kingston and

Montreal 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 ...

. In 1832, he was named a warden of

Trinity House "Three In One" , formation = , founding_location = Deptford, London, England , status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity , purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons , he ...

of Quebec. Burnet was also part owner of a distillery and a

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

and speculated in real estate.Pierre Poulin, "Burnet, David", ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', volume VIII (1851-1860), University of Toronto / Université Laval.
/ref> Around 1830, Burnet married Mary Ann Forsyth, sister of a prominent businessman, James Bell Forsyth. Burnet had business dealings over the years with his brother-in-law.

Community activities

In the 1830s, Burnet was active in the community, as businessman and in philanthropic groups. He was on the Quebec Committee of Trade, and sometimes a member of the management committee of the Quebec Exchange. He was also on the board of directors of the Quebec Emigrant Society, the British and Canadian School Society of the District of Quebec, the St Andrew’s Society, the Quebec Auxiliary Bible Society, and the Quebec Male Orphan Asylum.

Political activities

In 1837, 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 south ...

broke out, with a similar rebellion in Upper Canada. The British government sent

Lord Durham Earl of Durham is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1833 for the Whig politician and colonial official John Lambton, 1st Baron Durham. Known as "Radical Jack", he played a leading role in the passing of the Gr ...

to investigate the causes for the rebellions and propose a solution. In the

Durham Report The ''Report on the Affairs of British North America'', (1839) commonly known as the ''Durham Report'' or ''Lord Durham's Report'', is an important document in the history of Quebec, Ontario, Canada and the British Empire. The notable British ...

, he recommended that the two Canadas be united into a single province. There was considerable opposition to the proposal in Lower Canada. Burnet was a member of the Quebec Constitutional Association, formed in Quebec City to oppose the merger of the two provinces. However, in 1840, the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

passed the ''Union Act, 1840'', which abolished the two provinces and their separate parliaments. It created the

Province of Canada 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 th ...

, with a single Parliament for the entire province, composed of an elected Legislative Assembly and an appointed Legislative Council. The Governor General retained a strong position in the government. The ''Union Act'' came into force in February 1841 and general elections were held in the next month. Burnet stood for election to the Legislative Assembly in the two-member constituency of

. Although Burnet had opposed the union, in his campaign speech he emphasised the need to respect the law and to try to make the new government system work. He was one of the two members elected from Quebec City, the other being Henry Black, an admiralty judge and government supporter.Cornell
''Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, 1841–67''
pp. 5, 7, 93–97. At the first session of the new Parliament in 1841, Burnett generally voted as an independent. He voted in favour of a key motion supporting the union, but was generally an opponent of Governor General Sydenham. He was not present for much of the second session in 1842, but was a critic of the restructuring of the ministry that session with a stronger Reform balance and an aim of greater control of government by the Assembly. By 1843, he was approaching bankruptcy, and he resigned shortly before the third session was set to begin.Côté, ''Political Appointments and Elections'', p. 59, note (33).
/ref>

Later life and death

After his bankruptcy, Burnett continued to operate as a merchant on a smaller scale and buy and sell real estate. He died in Quebec City in 1853. His funeral was at the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnet, David 1800s births 1853 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East Year of birth uncertain Anglophone Quebec people Politicians from Quebec City Directors of Bank of Montreal