Thomas Lee (1783 – August 20, 1832) was a

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...

, merchant 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 Thomas Lée in the town of

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 ...

in 1783, the son of merchant Jean-Thomas Lée, and studied at the

Petit Séminaire de Québec Petite or petite may refer to: *Petit (crater), a small, bowl-shaped lunar crater on Mare Spumans * ''Petit'' (EP), a 1995 EP by Japanese singer-songwriter Ua * Petit (typography), another name for brevier-size type *Petit four * Petit Gâteau *P ...

. He articled as a notary, qualified to practice in 1805 and set up practice at Quebec. He owned a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

and

linseed oil Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colourless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant (''Linum usitatissimum''). The oil is obtained by pressing, sometimes followed by ...

factory at

Saint-Roch Saint-Roch may refer to: In Canada: *Saint-Roch, Quebec City, a neighbourhood of Quebec City *Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan, Quebec, a municipality * Saint-Roch-de-Mékinac, Quebec, a municipality *Saint-Roch-de-Richelieu, Quebec, a municipality *Saint-R ...

. He was co-owner of the print shop that produced the newspaper ''

Le Canadien ''Le Canadien'' () was a French language newspaper published in Lower Canada from November 22, 1806 to March 14, 1810. Its motto was: ''"Nos institutions, notre langue et nos droits"'' (Our institutions, our language, our rights). It was released ...

''. He served as a captain in the local militia but was removed from this post in 1827 by Governor Dalhousie at the request of his superior lieutenant-colonel Perrault. In 1808, he married Marie, the daughter of doctor John Conrad Just. Lee 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 Northumberland in 1809 and was reelected in 1810 and 1814. He supported the

parti canadien 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 pro ...

. He was elected for the Lower Town of Quebec in April 1820, then for the Upper Town of Quebec in an 1828 by-election held after the death of Jean Bélanger. He was reelected in 1830 and died in office at Quebec in 1832. In 1822, he had married Mary, the daughter of printer John Neilson. In 1830, Lee was named commissioner in charge of maintaining roads in the Quebec region. His sister Catherine married notary and lawyer

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

External links

*
''Fils de Québec, troisième série'', P-G Roy (1933)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Thomas 1783 births 1832 deaths Petit Séminaire de Québec alumni Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada