David Morrison Armstrong (1805 – April 14, 1873) was a merchant, insurance agent 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 ...

in the

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 ...

(now

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 ...

). He represented the electoral district of Berthier in 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 ...

from 1841 to 1851. From 1855 to 1867 he sat in the

Legislative Council of the Province of Canada The Legislative Council of the Province of Canada was the upper house 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 Canada, then known as ...

, and in the

Legislative Council of Quebec The Legislative Council of Quebec (French; ''Conseil législatif du Québec'') was the unelected upper house of the bicameral legislature in the Canadian province of Quebec from 1867 to 1968. The Legislative Assembly of Quebec, Legislative Assem ...

from 1867 until his death. He initially opposed the union of the

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 ...

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 Province of Canada, and supported the reform movement for

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...

. After responsible government was achieved, he gradually became a

Conservative 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 i ...

Family and business career

Armstrong was born in Maskinongé, the son of Edmond Armstrong and Elizabeth Dunn. His father had been a captain in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, serving during the American Revolutionary War, and then was the harbour master of Montreal. His mother's family were

United Empire Loyalist United Empire Loyalists (or simply Loyalists) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor General of The Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America duri ...

s who emigrated to Canada.Henry J. Morgan (ed.), ''The Canadian Parliamentary Companion'' (Montreal: Montreal Printing and Publishing Company, 1869 (5th ed.), p. 184.
/ref> He was educated in part at the English school in Maskinongé.David Morrison Armstrong, Around 1824, Armstrong moved with his parents to Berthier, where he established himself as a merchant, as well as an agent for insurance companies. He married Léocadie Deligny in 1831. She was the daughter of Jacques Deligny, who had been a member in the

Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. The lower house consisted of ele ...

for over twenty years, first for the district of Warwick, and then for Berthier. Armstrong was a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

and a commissioner for the trial of Small Causes. He entered the militia, eventually becoming lieutenant-colonel of the 4th Battalion of the Berthier Militia. His daughter Amélie married Michel Mathieu, who served in the Canadian House of Commons.

Political career

Following the rebellion in Lower Canada, and the similar rebellion in 1837 in

(now

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

), the British government decided to merge the two provinces into a single province, as recommended by

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 Gre ...

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 ...

. The ''Union Act, 1840'', passed by 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 supremacy ...

, abolished the two provinces and their separate parliaments, and created the

, with a single parliament for the entire province, composed of an elected Legislative Assembly and an appointed Legislative Council. The

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

retained a strong position in the government.''Union Act, 1840'', 3 & 4 Vict., c. 35 (UK), s. 3.
/ref> Armstrong stood for election in the first general election in 1841 and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the new province, representing the electoral district of Berthier. He was re-elected in 1844 and 1848, but defeated in 1851. In the first session of the first Parliament, elected in 1841, Armstrong was a member of the Groupe canadien-français from Canada East, who opposed both the new union Province of Canada, and the government of Governor-General Sydenham. Following Sydenham's death in late 1841, he continued to oppose the government of the new Governor General, Sir Charles Bagot, until Bagot was forced to reorganise his government by taking in Reformers, led by

Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Sir Louis-Hippolyte Ménard '' dit'' La Fontaine, 1st Baronet, KCMG (October 4, 1807 – February 26, 1864) was a Canadian politician who served as the first Premier of the United Province of Canada and the first head of a responsible governmen ...

and

Robert Baldwin Robert Baldwin (May 12, 1804 – December 9, 1858) was an Upper Canada, Upper Canadian lawyer and politician who with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine of Lower Canada, led the first responsible government ministry in the Province ...

. Armstrong supported the new government, and also voted in opposition when the Lafontaine–Baldwin ministry felt compelled to resign.Cornell, ''Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, 1841-67'', pp. 5, 7, 93–97. Armstrong subsequently became identified with the Reform group, until his defeat in 1851. In 1855, he was named to the

for the Sorel division and served until

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Canada, Dom ...

in 1867, when the

province of 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 thirteen p ...

was created. He was named to the

in 1867, again for the Sorel division. By the time he sat in the Legislative Council of Quebec, he was considered a Conservative. He served in the Quebec Legislative Council from 1867 until his death in Sorel in 1873. He was entombed in the vault of the church of St Pierre at Sorel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, David Morrison 1805 births 1873 deaths Anglophone Quebec people Canadian justices of the peace Canadian Militia officers Conservative Party of Quebec MLCs Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East Members of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada People from Mauricie Pre-Confederation Quebec people

Family and business career

Political career

See also

References