Pierre-Jean de Sales Laterrière (1 July 1789 in Baie-du-Febvre,

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 ...

– 1834 in

Les Éboulements Les Éboulements is a municipality in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada. Its population centres include Les Éboulements (located along Route 362 on the plateau overlooking the Saint Lawrence River), Éboulements-Est (at the feet ...

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 ...

) was a doctor, militia officer and author; the elder son of

Pierre de Sales Laterrière Pierre de Sales Laterrière (1743 or 1747 – 14 June 1815), was an adventurer who left France in 1766. He was inspector and director of the ironworking Forges du Saint-Maurice and seigneur of the municipality Les Éboulements in New France ...

and Marie-Catherine Delezenne. In 1807 or 1808 he went to England to study medicine at St Thomas' Hospital in London under Sir Astley Paston Cooper, a famous surgeon. Admitted to membership in the

Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wales. T ...

in 1809, he did a period of training in a

military hospital A military hospital is a hospital owned and operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a ...

at Ramsgate. On returning to Quebec in 1810 Laterrière took over his father’s druggists shop and clientele. Early in 1812 he went into partnership with his younger brother

Marc-Pascal de Sales Laterrière Marc-Pascal de Sales Laterrière (March 25, 1792 – March 29, 1872) was a Quebec doctor, seigneur and political figure. He was born in Baie-du-Febvre, Lower Canada in 1792, the son of Pierre de Sales Laterrière who became the seigneur of ...

, who had recently returned from studying medicine in Philadelphia. At that time there were, other than Laterrière, few if any surgeons in Lower Canada with experience of military hospitals. Consequently on 24 April 1812 he was appointed surgeon to the Voltigeurs Canadiens, a militia regiment. In 1815 he went to Europe to settle up a family estate, and married Mary Ann Bulmer in London on 16 August 1815. During his absence his father,

died. Thanks to both the inheritance he received from his father and money inherited from his wife's family he was quite rich and opened a new apothecary’s shop in the Ville de Quebec and started practising medicine again. He was active in social causes and was involved in the establishment of the Quebec Dispensary which provided free treatment to the poor. He lived for most of the last decade of his life in London and frequently travelled between Europe and Canada. In 1830 he published a book on Lower Canada to try to educate the British about the needs and expectations of their colony. He died, from diabetes, while on a visit to Les Éboulements.

References

Pierre-Jean de Sales Laterrière. A political and historical account of Lower Canada: with remarks on the present situation of the people, as regards their manners, character, religion, &c. &c. / by a Canadian. -- London : W. Marsh and A. Miller ; Edinburgh : Constable, 1830. Reprinted 2008 with
Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sales Laterriere Pre-Confederation Quebec people People from Centre-du-Québec 1834 deaths 1789 births