William Baker (1789 – May 1866) 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 represented Missisquoi in 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 ...

from 1854 until the suspension of the constitution in 1838. He was born in

Petersham, Massachusetts Petersham is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,194 at the 2020 census. Petersham is home to a considerable amount of conservation land, including the Quabbin Reservation, Harvard Forest, the Swift R ...

, the son of Joseph Baker and Maria "Molly" Stevens, and came to Dunham in Lower Canada in 1799 with his family. Baker studied medicine but never practised as a physician. He was named village schoolmaster in 1812 but shortly afterwards entered business. Baker was named

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 ...

in 1831. Baker was married, probably in Massachusetts, around 1821. He died in Dunham. His brother Stevens also represented Missisquoi in the assembly. His son George Barnard served in the Quebec assembly and the Canadian House of Commons and Senate. His grandson

George Harold Baker George Harold Baker (November 4, 1877 – June 2, 1916) was a lawyer, political figure, and soldier from Quebec, Canada. He represented Brome in the House of Commons of Canada from 1911 to 1916 as a Conservative Member of Parliament. He is th ...

was a member of the Canadian House of Commons.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, William 1789 births 1866 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada Canadian justices of the peace