Pierre-Antoine Dorion (ca. 1789 – September 12, 1850) 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 ...

. He was born in Lower Canada around 1789. He worked as a clerk in a store at

Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade () is a municipality in the Les Chenaux Regional County Municipality, in the Mauricie region of the province of Quebec in Canada. The town is located near the mouth of the Sainte-Anne River along the ''Chemin du Roy'', ...

for Pierre Bureau and then established himself as a lumber merchant there. In 1814, he married Bureau's daughter, Geneviève. Dorion was selected as a school trustee at Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade in 1829, later becoming an inspector of schools. In 1830, 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 Champlain and was reelected in 1834, supporting the

Parti Patriote The Parti canadien () or Parti patriote () was a primarily francophone political party in what is now Quebec founded by members of the liberal elite of Lower Canada at the beginning of the 19th century. Its members were made up of liberal prof ...

. He was named commissioner for the construction of a bridge over the

Sainte-Anne River The Sainte-Anne River is a tributary of the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River, whose mouth is located at Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade. This river flows in the province of Quebec, Canada, in the administrative regions of: * Capitale-Nationale: ...

. Dorion voted in support of 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 had b ...

. In 1837, he became a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

. His term in office ended when the assembly was dissolved during the events leading up to the

Lower Canada Rebellion The Lower Canada Rebellion (french: rébellion du Bas-Canada), commonly referred to as the Patriots' War () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now southe ...

; he did not return to politics afterwards. He died at

Drummondville Drummondville is a city in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec, located east of Montreal on the Saint-François River. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 79,258. The mayor of Drummondville is Stéphanie Lacoste. Drummondville is ...

in 1850. His sons Antoine-Aimé and Jean-Baptiste-Éric went on to careers in politics. His son Vincislas-Paul-Wilfrid was also involved in politics and later became a judge.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorion, Pierre-Antoine 1780s births 1850 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada Year of birth uncertain Canadian justices of the peace