Peter Livius (12 July 1739 – 23 July 1795) was a Portuguese-born lawyer who became the

Chief Justice of Quebec The title of Chief Justice of Quebec (french: link=no, Juge en chef du Québec) is assumed by the chief justice of the Court of Appeal of Quebec. From 1849 to 1974 it was assumed by the Chief Justice from the Court of Queen's Bench or Court of Kin ...

. He was born in

Lisbon, Portugal Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

, the sixth child of Peter Livius, a

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from

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and was sent to school in England by his English mother. He married well and in 1763 moved to the

Province of New Hampshire The Province of New Hampshire was a colony of England and later a British province in North America. The name was first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America, and was n ...

, where his wife's family owned land. In 1764 he made a large gift of books to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and in return was given an honorary master's degree. In 1765 he became a member of the New Hampshire council and in 1768 was appointed a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He was removed from the bench in 1772 for partiality and returned to

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 ...

on an unsuccessful mission to fight his case. He decided to stay on in England to improve his credentials and reputation. In 1773 a gift of elk horns to the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

got him elected as a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

. He entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

to study law and was called to the bar in 1775, also receiving an honorary DCL from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

. He then managed to secure the position of judge of the Court of Common Pleas and judge of the Court of Vice-Admiralty in

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 ...

. He arrived in Quebec just prior to the American siege of the town in 1775 and was rewarded for his defensive activities in August 1776 with the post of

and an ''ex-officio'' place on the Council. However, a secret letter from Livius to the enemy commander was intercepted and resulted in Livius being deprived of his estates. After further clashes with Governor Guy Carleton he was dismissed from his post by the Governor in 1778. Again he fled to London to plead his case, successfully this time, but his return to Quebec in 1780 was thwarted by adverse sailing conditions. He was finally relieved of his position as Chief Justice in 1786, without ever having attempted a second time to return to Quebec. He lived thereafter on a pension. He died in 1795 on a trip to Brighton. He had married Anna Elizabeth, the daughter of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

John Tufton Mason.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Livius, Peter 1739 births 1795 deaths People from Lisbon Chief justices Fellows of the Royal Society Province of Quebec (1763–1791) judges