Lt.-Colonel The Hon. James Irvine J.P., M.P. (1766 – September 27, 1829) was a businessman 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 ...

. James Irvine was born in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1766, the son of Adam Irvine (1736–1776) and Elizabeth (1731–1818), daughter of John Johnston (1696–1757), 3rd

Laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

of Outbrecks,

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

. Irvine was a nephew of Lt.-Colonel James Johnston (1724-1800), 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 thirtee ...

, brother-in-law of

Mathew MacNider Mathew MacNider (c.1732–1804) was a Scottish-born businessman, seigneur and political figure at Quebec. He was a Justice of the Peace and represented Hampshire County in the 1st Parliament of Lower Canada. He was the uncle of John MacNider, ...

and grandfather of Lady Meredith. Adam Irvine, a merchant, came to

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

soon after James' birth. He formed a retail firm in partnership with John Munro that operated until 1797, when Irvine returned to

. The following year, he formed an import/export company with John McNaught and later James Leslie. In 1801, he married Anne, the daughter of

John George Pyke John George Pyke (4 January 1744 – 3 September 1828) was an English-born merchant and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Halifax County from 1779 to 1793 and Halifax Township from 1793 to 1800 and from 1802 to 1818 in the Nova Sc ...

M.P., of

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

, by his wife Elizabeth, sister of

John Allan (colonel) Colonel John Allan M.P. J.P. (January 3, 1746February 7, 1805) was a Canadian politician who became an officer with the Massachusetts Militia in the American Revolutionary War. He served under George Washington during the Revolutionary War as Sup ...

, two of the children of Major William Allan (1720–1790). Their son, Lt.-Colonel John George Irvine (1802–1871), served as A.D.C. to the Governor-General and was chosen to be acting adjutant-general to attend on the Prince of Wales (the future

Edward VII of the United Kingdom Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

) during his visit to Canada in 1860/61. James and Anne Irvine were the grandparents of

George Irvine George Irvine may refer to: *George Irvine (politician) (1826–1897), Canadian politician *George Irvine (basketball) (1948–2017), American basketball player and coach *George Irvine (diver), see William Hogarth Main See also

*George Irving ...

Acheson Irvine Acheson Gosford Irvine, ISO (December 7, 1837 – January 8, 1916) served as Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) from November 1, 1880, to March 31, 1886. Irvine was born in Lower Canada in 1837, the son of John George Irv ...

and Commissary-General Matthew Bell Irvine (1832–1889) C.B., C.M.G., of the British Army. Deputy Controller Matthew Bell Irvine, C.B., C.M.G., second son of Lieut.-Col. J. G. Irvine, Dominion A.D.C. to the Governor-General, Matthew Bell Irvine married Charlotte Feodore Louisa Augusta, daughter of Rev. Narcisse Guerout, rector of Berthier, P.Q., June 2, 1875. Irvine served as chairman for the Quebec Committee of Trade from 1809 to 1822, and was President of the Agricultural Society of Quebec. He also was warden of Trinity House of Quebec. 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 ele ...

for the Upper Town in 1810 and served until 1814. He was a member of the Executive Council from 1808 to 1822. Irvine served as a member of the

Legislative Council of Lower Canada The Legislative Council of Lower Canada was the upper house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The upper house consisted of appointed councillors who voted on bills passed up by the Legislative Assembly ...

from 1818 to 1829. In 1824, he represented Lower Canada in the arbitration for the sharing of customs duties with

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 ...

. He was a member of the local militia, serving during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

and eventually attaining the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and also served as justice of the peace. Irvine was a member of the Quebec Fire Society, serving as vice-president in 1807. He owned a number of properties in Quebec and extensive farmland in the surrounding area. He lived with his family at his Sainte-Foy estate, Belmont House, which he bought for £4,000 in 1817 from his relation Sir John Caldwell (seigneur) 6th Bt., of Wellsburrow, Co. Fermanagh and Caldwell Manor, Quebec. Irvine was related to many of the foremost Anglo-Quebec families from the time of the British conquest of Canada. He died in Quebec City in 1829.

External links

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irvine, James 1766 births 1829 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada Members of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada Pre-Confederation Canadian businesspeople English emigrants to pre-Confederation Quebec Anglophone Quebec people