George Vanfelson, (April 23, 1784 – February 16, 1856) was a lawyer, judge 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 ...

. He was born 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 ...

in 1784, of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

descent, and studied law with Jean-Antoine Panet. He was called to the bar in 1805. Vanfelson was a captain in the militia 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 ...

. He was elected to 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 ...

for the Upper Town of Quebec in an 1815 by-election held after Jean-Antoine Panet was named to the Legislative Council; he was reelected in 1816. He was named advocate general for the province in 1819 and served in that position until 1832. Vanfelson was elected for the Lower Town of Quebec in an 1832 by-election held after the death of Thomas Lee; he was reelected in 1834. He supported the

Ninety-Two Resolutions The Ninety-Two Resolutions were drafted by Louis-Joseph Papineau and other members of the '' Parti patriote'' of Lower Canada in 1834. The resolutions were a long series of demands for political reforms in the British-governed colony. Papineau ha ...

but became a moderate Patriote, becoming the leader of this group when Elzéar Bédard was appointed judge. Vanfelson retired from politics in 1837, disturbed by the increasing animosity in the assembly. He became a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

in 1843 and was named inspector of police for

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 ...

later that year. In 1849, he was named to the Superior Court of Lower Canada at Montreal and served until his death at Montreal in 1856. His sister Josette married Louis Gauvreau, who also served in the legislative assembly.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vanfelson, George 1784 births 1856 deaths Judges in Canada East, Province of Canada Lawyers in Lower Canada and Canada East Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada Canadian King's Counsel 19th-century Canadian judges