Louis Bétournay (November 13, 1825 – October 30, 1879), educated at the

Collège de Montréal The Collège de Montréal is a subsidized private high school for students attending grades 7–11 located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A former Roman Catholic minor seminary, it was founded on June 1, 1767 as the ''Petit Séminaire' ...

, was a lawyer and judge who was born in

Saint-Lambert, Quebec Saint-Lambert () is a city (french: ville) in southwestern Quebec, Canada, located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, opposite Montreal. It is part of the Urban agglomeration of Longueuil of the Montérégie administrative region. ...

, and died at

Saint-Boniface, Manitoba St-Boniface (or Saint-Boniface) is a city ward and neighbourhood in Winnipeg. Along with being the centre of the Franco-Manitoban community, it ranks as the largest francophone community in Western Canada. It features such landmarks as the St. Bo ...

. In 1872, Bétournay became a judge in what was the newly-proclaimed province of Manitoba. The appointment was to the Court of Queen's Bench, making him the first French Canadian to be appointed to a superior court in the west. The posting was to

Fort Garry Fort Garry, also known as Upper Fort Garry, was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers in what is now downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1822 on or near the site of the North West Company' ...

, where he was soon involved in the legal aftermath of the

Red River Rebellion The Red River Rebellion (french: Rébellion de la rivière Rouge), also known as the Red River Resistance, Red River uprising, or First Riel Rebellion, was the sequence of events that led up to the 1869 establishment of a provisional government by ...

. His court ordered the trial of

Louis Riel Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...

’s lieutenant, Ambroise-Dydime Lépine, for the death of Thomas Scott.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

''Manitoba Historical Society - Louis Bétournay''
1825 births 1879 deaths Judges in Manitoba Lawyers in Manitoba People of the Red River Rebellion People from Saint Boniface, Winnipeg Franco-Manitoban people People from Saint-Lambert, Quebec Collège de Montréal alumni {{Manitoba-stub