Joseph-François Perrault (June 2, 1753 – April 5, 1844) 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 ...

Early years

He was born in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

in 1753, the son of fur trader Louis Perrault and grandson of François Perrault, and was brought to

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from the city of ...

during the

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attack on the town. In 1763, his father returned to Quebec City and left his children with his brother

Jacques Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

while he returned to

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on business. Joseph-François 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 ...

. In 1772, he left the province to meet his father in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. When he arrived, his father was at St Louis, Missouri and they were finally reunited there in the spring of 1773.

Career

In 1779, the younger Perrault was captured by native warriors allied with the British and brought to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

while traveling down the Ohio River with Colonel David Rogers and Captain Robert Benham. There, he met his uncle Jacques Baby, dit Dupéront. Unable to rejoin his father, Perrault began working for his uncle at

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 ...

. He later entered retail trade on his own, later leaving that business and becoming involved in various other activities, including teaching bookkeeping and translating legal publications. Perrault also became involved in theatre at Montreal with

Pierre-Amable de Bonne Pierre-Amable de Bonne (November 25, 1758 – September 6, 1816) was a seigneur, lawyer, judge and political figure in Lower Canada. He was born in Montreal in 1758, the son of Louis de Bonne de Missègle (1717-1760), Chevalier de Saint-Lou ...

. In 1795, he was named clerk of the peace and

protonotary The word prothonotary is recorded in English since 1447, as "principal clerk of a court," from L.L. ''prothonotarius'' ( c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the B ...

for the Court of King's Bench at Quebec. He 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 el ...

for Huntingdon County in 1796; he was reelected in 1800. In 1806, he helped establish the ''

Courier de Québec A courier is a person or organisation that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...

'' and was also involved in the production of the '' Le Vrai Canadien'' at Quebec. Although he was originally a strong supporter of the English party, Perrault became a moderate Reformer later in life; he opposed the use of force to secure political change. Perrault was active in

freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, establishing a lodge at Quebec City and serving as deputy grand master for the province in 1816. He helped establish the Education Society of the District of Quebec to provide education for the town's poor children and served as its president. He also helped establish the British and Canadian School Society of the District of Quebec, an organization with similar aims.

Death

He died at Quebec City in 1844.

Family

His grandson Joseph-Xavier Perrault later served in the legislative assembly and also was involved in promoting education in the province.

References

External links

* * High School named after hi

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perrault, Joseph-Francois 1753 births 1844 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada Canadian Freemasons Petit Séminaire de Québec alumni