Colonel Sir Joseph David Rodolphe Forget (December 10, 1861 – February 19, 1919) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

business investor,

stockbroker A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks an ...

, and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He held national directorships and had major investments in

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...

companies, as well as industrial concerns and

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

companies in the

Provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. He was one of the few

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

business magnate A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

s of his time.

Life and career

Born in

Terrebonne Terrebonne, meaning ''good earth'' in French, is a name of several places in North America: ;Canada *Terrebonne, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal ** Terrebonne station, a commuter railway station in Terrebonne, Quebec **Terrebonne City Council, the go ...

in what was then known as

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 ...

, he was the only son of David Rodolphe Forget, a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

at Terrebonne who was the brother of the Hon.

Louis-Joseph Forget Louis-Joseph Forget (March 11, 1853 – April 7, 1911) was a Canadian businessman and politician. Life and career Born in Terrebonne, Canada East, he was a stockbroker and then founded his own brokerage firm, ''L. J. Forget et Compagnie'', in ...

. His mother, Angele Limoges, was the half-sister of Sir Louis-Olivier Taillon, 8th

Prime Minister of Quebec The premier of Quebec ( French: ''premier ministre du Québec'' (masculine) or ''première ministre du Québec'' (feminine)) is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of the ...

. The Forgets were long settled in Quebec, having moved there from

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

in 1650. Forget became one of the most influential and controversial businessmen of his era in Quebec. With wide-ranging business interests, one of his companies built the Manoir Richelieu hotel in 1899 at

La Malbaie, Quebec La Malbaie is a municipality in the Charlevoix-Est Regional County Municipality in the Province of Quebec, Canada, situated on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River at the mouth of the Malbaie River. It was formerly known as Murray Bay. La M ...

. During the early 1900s, Rodolphe Forget with his uncle Louis-Joseph Forget and Forget family investments controlled the very important Montreal Light, Heat & Power Company. Rodolphe Forget also served as chairman of the

Board of Directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of the

Montreal Stock Exchange The Montreal Exchange (MX; french: Bourse de Montréal), formerly the Montreal Stock Exchange (MSE), is a derivatives exchange, located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that trades futures contracts and option (finance), options on equities, indices, c ...

from 1907 to 1909. In 1904, Forget was elected as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

to the 10th Canadian Parliament for the Charlevoix riding, and he served for more than thirteen years. He was the father of

Thérèse Casgrain Marie Thérèse Casgrain, ., née Forget (10 July 1896 – 3 November 1981) was a French Canadian feminist, reformer, politician and senator. She was a leader in the fight for women's right to vote in the province of Quebec, as well as the first ...

and father-in-law of Pierre-François Casgrain, who was elected as a Liberal MP in Charlevoix in 1917. Forget died in 1919 at the age of fifty-seven and was buried in the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery (french: Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges) is a rural cemetery located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada which was founded in 1854. The entrance and the grounds run a ...

in Montreal. His home in Montreal's

Golden Square Mile / ''Mille carré doré'' , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = List of neighbourhoods in Montreal, Neighbourhood , image_skyline = Ravenscrag.jpg , image_alt = , image_caption = ''Rave ...

still stands today and is one of the buildings that are used by the Russian Consulate. His estate in Charlevoix is now part of

Domaine Forget Le Domaine Forget de Charlevoix is an international Music Festival as well as a music and dance Academy located in Saint-Irénée, Charlevoix, in Quebec, in Canada. This domain is a operated by a non-profit organization occupying a large set of ...

References

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

External links

1861 births 1919 deaths Businesspeople from Quebec Canadian Knights Bachelor Canadian philanthropists Canadian stockbrokers Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec People from Lanaudière People from Terrebonne, Quebec Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Beaubien-Casgrain family {{Canada-business-bio-stub