Wolfred Nelson (10 July 1791 – 17 June 1863) was the

mayor of Montreal The mayor of Montreal is head of the executive branch of the Montreal City Council. The current mayor is Valérie Plante, who was elected into office on November 5, 2017, and sworn in on November 16. The office of the mayor administers all ci ...

, Quebec, from 1854 to 1856.

Biography

Nelson was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. His father, William Nelson, was an immigrant to Colonial America from Newsham, North Yorkshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. His mother, Jane Dies, was a teacher and daughter of an important land owner in the New York area. Along with his younger brother Robert Nelson, he was known as a member of the

Patriotes The patriotes movement was a political movement that existed in Lower Canada (present-day Quebec) from the turn of the 19th century to the Patriote Rebellion of 1837 and 1838 and the subsequent Act of Union of 1840. The partisan embodiment of ...

and for his leading role in 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 south ...

. Nelson studied at the school of his father in William Henry. He became a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

in January 1811 and subsequently served in that capacity with the British troops on the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

. He moved to

Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu is a municipality in the southwestern part of Quebec, Canada on the Richelieu River in the Regional County Municipality of La Vallée-du-Richelieu. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 2,285. History In 1694, ...

where he opened a distillery. He entered politics when elected in William Henry in 1827. He supported the

Parti Patriote 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 prof ...

. In 1827, he was elected as a member of 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 el ...

, but he gave up active politics in 1830, without disavowing his reformist allegiance. He became a Patriote leader in the region of the

Richelieu River The Richelieu River () is a river of Quebec, Canada, and a major right-bank tributary of the St. Lawrence River. It rises at Lake Champlain, from which it flows northward through Quebec and empties into the St. Lawrence. It was formerly kn ...

valley, and supported the use of arms at the ''

Assemblée des Six-Comtés The Assembly of the Six Counties (french: Assemblée des six-comtés) was an assembly of Patriote leaders and approximately 6,000 followers held in Saint-Charles, Lower Canada (present-day Quebec) on October 23 and October 24, 1837, despite t ...

'' in 1837. In a prelude to the

of 1837, Nelson led 5,000

in the two-day

Assembly of the Six Counties The Assembly of the Six Counties (french: Assemblée des six-comtés) was an assembly of Patriote leaders and approximately 6,000 followers held in Saint-Charles, Lower Canada (present-day Quebec) on October 23 and October 24, 1837, despite t ...

in Saint-Charles,

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 ...

(present-day Quebec), on 23 and 24 October 1837, to protest the government's

Russell Resolutions Russell may refer to: People * Russell (given name) * Russell (surname) * Lady Russell (disambiguation) * Lord Russell (disambiguation) Places Australia * Russell, Australian Capital Territory * Russell Island, Queensland (disambiguation) ** ...

, taking place despite the

15 June Proclamation Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak al ...

forbidding public assemblies. The conference delegates approved the

Thirteen Resolutions Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 ...

, based on the

republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

document ''

Rights of Man ''Rights of Man'' (1791), a book by Thomas Paine, including 31 articles, posits that popular political revolution is permissible when a government does not safeguard the natural rights of its people. Using these points as a base it defends the ...

'' written by British and later American Revolutionary

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...

, which was also adopted by proponents of both the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

and the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. A ''Column of Liberty'' was also erected in Saint-Charles' Square. On 16 November 1837, he and 25 others were charged with high treason. The following month, on 4 December 1837,

Louis-Joseph Papineau Louis-Joseph Papineau (October 7, 1786 – September 23, 1871), born in Montreal, Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the ''seigneurie de la Petite-Nation''. He was the leader of the reformist Patriote movement before the Low ...

and

Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan, (probably 27 February 1797 – 29 May 1880) was a doctor and journalist. Career Born in Mallow, County Cork, Ireland, he studied medicine in Paris and immigrated to Lower Canada in 1823 where he became involved ...

joined Nelson at Saint-Denis where they decided to

resist arrest Resisting arrest, or simply resisting, is an illegal act of a suspected criminal either fleeing, threatening, assaulting, or providing a fake ID to a police officer during arrest. In most cases, the person responsible for resisting arrest is crim ...

, procure arms and ammunition for the people and declare the independence of Lower Canada. It was around this time that Nelson exclaimed, "The time has come, to melt our spoons into bullets." On 28 February 1838, after having crossed the border from

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, Nelson, along with 300 to 400

from a secret group called

Frères Chasseurs The Frères chasseurs (French for "Hunter Brothers") were a paramilitary organization that fought in the Patriote Rebellion on the Patriote side, seeking to make Lower Canada, now Quebec, an independent and democratic republic. After the failure ...

, distributed copies of a declaration of independence written by Nelson's brother, Robert Nelson. Drawn from the American

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...

, the document listed the crimes that Great Britain had committed against

, and defended the right to overthrow the government. Pière tombale Wolfred Nelson

Later, he led a group of armed citizens who resisted arrest by the British army at St-Denis. He was arrested soon after. (See

.) Exiled to

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

in 1838, Nelson was granted amnesty by the British colonial government and came back to Montreal in 1842. In 1844, he was elected to the new

Parliament of the Province of Canada The Parliament of the Province of Canada was the legislature for the Province of Canada, made up of the two regions of Canada West (formerly Upper Canada, later Ontario) and Canada East (formerly Lower Canada, later Quebec). Creation of the Parl ...

. In 1854, he became mayor of Montreal, and he died in June 1863. He is interred in the Anglican cemetery in

Sorel-Tracy Sorel-Tracy (; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada and the geographical end point of the Champlain Valley. It is located at the confluence of the Richelieu River and the St. Lawrence River, on the western edge of Lac Saint-Pierre, downstr ...

and is commemorated by a park in Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough.

Works

* ''Report of Dr. Wolfred Nelson, one of the inspectors of the provincial penitentiary, on the present state, discipline, management and expenditure of the district and other prisons in Canada East'', 1852 (exist also in French) * ', 1853
''Practical views on cholera, and on the sanitaty, preventive and curative measures to be adopted in the event of a visitation of the epidemic''
1854 (exist also in French) *Five years in Panama (1880-1885)

Gallery

Image:Wolfred-nelson.jpg Image:Nelsonw.jpg

References

Sources

* * * * * (via Vigile.net) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Wolfred Mayors of Montreal Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East Lower Canada Rebellion people Quebec revolutionaries 1791 births 1863 deaths Canadian republicans Quebec sovereigntists Canadian exiles Canadian people of American descent Anglophone Quebec people

Biography

Works

Gallery

See also

References

Sources