François-Xavier Malhiot (December 4, 1781 – June 12, 1854) was a merchant,

seigneur ''Seigneur'' is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. A seigneur refers to the person or collective who owned a ''seigneurie'' (or ...

and political figure in

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 ...

Life

Malhiot was born François-Xavier-Amable Malhiot at Verchères,

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 ...

in 1781, the son of François Malhiot. Malhiot joined the Royal Canadian Volunteer Regiment as an officer and later became a lieutenant-colonel in the militia, serving during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

. In 1804, with one of his brothers, he took over the family business. In 1805, he married Julie Laperière and inherited land in the seigneury of Contrecoeur after the death of his father-in-law in 1807; he became principal seigneur in 1818. In 1814, he purchased land in the seigneury of Saint-Ours. Malhiot was elected to represent Richelieu 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 el ...

in an 1815 by-election held after an earlier election was declared invalid. In 1828, he was elected for Surrey in a by-election held after

Louis-Joseph Papineau Louis-Joseph Papineau (October 7, 1786 – September 23, 1871), born in Montreal, Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the ''seigneurie de la Petite-Nation''. He was the leader of the reformist Patriote movement before the Low ...

, who had been elected in two different ridings, chose to sit for Montreal West. In 1828, Malhiot was dismissed from his position in the militia by

Lord Dalhousie James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie (22 April 1812 – 19 December 1860), also known as Lord Dalhousie, styled Lord Ramsay until 1838 and known as The Earl of Dalhousie between 1838 and 1849, was a Scottish statesman and co ...

after he supported resolutions critical of the governor's behaviour. He was elected to represent Verchères (formerly Surrey) in 1830 but resigned his seat in 1832 after he was named to the Legislative Council. Malhiot did not support those who took up arms against the authorities during 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 ...

. He sold his seigneury in 1846 and retired to Boucherville, where he died in 1854. His son Charles-Christophe later became a member of the Canadian Senate.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Malhiot, Francois-Xavier 1781 births 1854 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada Members of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada People from Verchères, Quebec