James Emile Pierre Prendergast (March 22, 1858 – April 18, 1945) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Manitoba. He represented La Verendrye from 1885 to 1888 and Woodlands from 1888 to 1892 and

St. Boniface Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

from 1892 to 1896 in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as a Conservative and later Liberal.

Biography

Prendergast was born in Quebec City,

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 ...

, the son of James Pierre Prendergast and Emeline Gauvreau, and was educated at Université Laval. Prendergast was called to the

Quebec bar The Bar of Quebec (french: Barreau du Québec) is the regulatory body for the practice of advocates in the Canadian province of Quebec and one of two legal regulatory bodies in the province. It was founded on May 30, 1849, as the Bar of Lower Ca ...

in 1881. In 1882, he came to Manitoba, was called to the Manitoba bar in 1883 and practised law in Winnipeg. In 1886, he married Olivina Mondor. He was elected to the Manitoba assembly in an 1885 by-election held after

Louis Prud'homme Louis Prud'homme (1611–1671) is remembered both as the first militia captain of Montreal and the founder of the first commercial brewery in New France in 1650. Establishment in Ville-Marie Prud'homme was one of the original settlers in Fort ...

was named a county court judge. Prendergast served in the provincial cabinet as Provincial Secretary. In 1890, he left the cabinet over the Manitoba Schools Question and joined the opposition. Prendergast was mayor of

from 1893 to 1896. He served as president of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society for Manitoba in 1886 and 1910 and for Saskatchewan in 1905 and 1909. Prendergast was a county court judge for the Northern division of the Eastern judicial district of Manitoba from 1897 to 1902; he was a judge in the Supreme Court of the North-West Territories from 1902 to 1906, a judge in the Supreme Court of Saskatchewan from 1906 to 1910 and a judge in the Manitoba Court of King's Bench from 1910 to 1922. He was named to the

Manitoba Court of Appeal The Manitoba Court of Appeal (french: Cour d'appel du Manitoba) is the court of appeal in, and the highest court of, the Canadian province of Manitoba. It hears criminal, civil, and family law cases, as well as appeals from various administrative ...

in 1922. In 1929, he became Chief Justice in the Court of Appeal; he retired from the bench in 1944. Prendergast also served in the Roman Catholic section of the Manitoba Board of Education, the council for the University of Manitoba and the senate of the University of Saskatchewan. Prendergast also published two booklets of poems and served as co-editor of the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

newspaper ''Le Manitoba''. For his contributions to the arts, he was elected to the French Académie des muses santones in Rouen. In 1944, he was appointed Knight Commander of the

Order of St. Gregory The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great ( la, Ordo Sancti Gregorii Magni; it, Ordine di San Gregorio Magno) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of ...

by Pope Pius XII. He died from a heart attack in Winnipeg at the age of 87 and was buried in St. Boniface.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prendergast, James E 1858 births 1945 deaths Canadian Roman Catholics Judges in Manitoba Judges in Saskatchewan Knights Commander of the Order of St Gregory the Great Manitoba Liberal Party MLAs Mayors of Saint Boniface, Winnipeg Politicians from Quebec City Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba MLAs