Robert Nugent Watts (1806 – April 19, 1867) was a political figure in

Canada East Canada East (french: links=no, Canada-Est) was the northeastern portion of the United Province of Canada. Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new ...

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British North America, British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham ...

(now Quebec). He represented the electoral district of Drummond for ten years in the

Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the legislature for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper C ...

. He was a supporter of the union of

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 ...

and

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 ...

and a

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

Family background

Watts was born in 1806.William John Watts fonds, McCord Museum of Canadian History
/ref> In 1839, he married Charlotte Sheppard, at the Anglican cathedral in Quebec, the

Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Holy Trinity Cathedral, Cathedral of the Holy Trinity or Trinity Cathedral may refer to: Africa * Holy Trinity Cathedral (Addis Ababa), Ethiopia * Holy Trinity Cathedral (Accra), Ghana Americas Canada *Holy Trinity Cathedral (New Westminster), B ...

. Their son,

William John Watts William John Watts (May 1, 1846 – September 4, 1907) was a businessman, lawyer and political figure in Quebec. He represented Drummond-Arthabaska in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1874 to 1885 and Drummond from 1890 to 1892 and f ...

, later served in the

Legislative Assembly of Quebec The Legislative Assembly of Quebec (French: ''Assemblée législative du Québec'') was the name of the lower house of Quebec's legislature from 1867 to December 31, 1968, when it was renamed the National Assembly of Quebec. At the same time, t ...

."William John Watts", Charlotte Sheppard was the daughter of William Sheppard, a major lumber merchant. William Sheppard was appointed to the

Executive Council of Lower Canada The Executive Council of Lower Canada was an appointive body created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. Its function was to advise the Governor or his representative on the administration of the colony's public affairs. It was replaced by the Execu ...

in September, 1837, shortly before 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 ...

broke out in 1837, but did not play a major role in the government of the province."Robert Nugent Watts", Watts was a public official, holding the office of Assistant Governor's Secretary in the government of

. He also was a local landholder, and lieutenant colonel in the local militia. He lived in

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 the home of his cousin

Frederick Heriot Frederick George Heriot (11 January 1786 – 30 December 1843) was a British army officer, who fought in the War of 1812 and subsequently became a landowner and administrator in Canada. Biography Of mixed Scottish and Irish ancestry, he was ...

. Heriot was appointed a member of the Special Council, after the Lower Canada Rebellion and the suspension of the provincial constitution by the

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

. Heriot left Watts a large portion of his property in his will.

Political career

Following the rebellion in Lower Canada, and the similar rebellion in 1837 in

(now

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

), the British government decided to merge the two provinces into a single province, as recommended by

Lord Durham Earl of Durham is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1833 for the Whig politician and colonial official John Lambton, 1st Baron Durham. Known as "Radical Jack", he played a leading role in the passing of the Gre ...

in the

Durham Report The ''Report on the Affairs of British North America'', (1839) commonly known as the ''Durham Report'' or ''Lord Durham's Report'', is an important document in the history of Quebec, Ontario, Canada and the British Empire. The notable British ...

. The ''Union Act, 1840'', passed by the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...

, abolished the two provinces and their separate parliaments, and created the

, with a single parliament for the entire province, composed of an elected Legislative Assembly and an appointed Legislative Council. The

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

retained a strong position in the government. Watts stood unopposed for election to the riding of Drummond and was

acclaimed An acclamation is a form of election that does not use a ballot. It derives from the ancient Roman word ''acclamatio'', a kind of ritual greeting and expression of approval towards imperial officials in certain social contexts. Voting Voice vot ...

to the Legislative Assembly. In the first Parliament, Watts was a

and government supporter. He voted in favour of the union of the Lower Canada and Upper Canada, and consistently supported the Governor General in the various disputes with the Reform group, which was campaigning for

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...

. He opposed the restructuring of the ministry in 1842 with a stronger Reform balance.Cornell
''Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, 1841–67''
pp. 8, 10, 93–97.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Robert Nugent 1806 births 1867 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East People from Drummondville Pre-Confederation Quebec people Year of birth uncertain

Family background

Political career

See also

References