Alexandre-René Chaussegros de Léry (March 26, 1818 – December 19, 1880) was a

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

seigneur A seigneur () or lord is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. The seigneur owned a seigneurie, seigneury, or lordship—a form of ...

, lawyer and political figure. He was a

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

member of the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...

for Lauzon division from 1871 to 1876 and also represented the same division in the

Legislative Council of Quebec The Legislative Council of Quebec (, ) was the unelected upper house of the bicameral legislature in the Canadian province of Quebec from 1867 to 1968. The Legislative Assembly was the elected lower house. The council was composed of 24 memb ...

from 1867 to 1880. He was born at

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

in 1818, the son of seigneur Charles-Étienne Chaussegros de Léry, and studied at the

Petit Séminaire of Quebec Petit is a French-language surname literally meaning "small" or "little". Notable people with the surname include: *Adriana Petit (born 1984), Spanish multidisciplinary artist *Alexis Thérèse Petit (1791–1820), French physicist * Amandine Pet ...

. He articled in law with Louis de Gonzague Baillairgé and was admitted to the bar in 1842. In 1844, he married Catherine Charlotte-Éliza, the daughter of seigneur Antoine-Gaspard Couillard. He inherited the seigneuries of Rigaud-Vaudreuil and Sainte-Barbe-de-la-Famine and also owned property at Quebec City and Saint-François-de-la-Beauce (now

Beauceville, Quebec Beauceville () is a city in, and the seat of, the Municipalité régionale de comté Beauce-Centre in Quebec, Canada. It is part of the Chaudière-Appalaches region and the population was 6,185 as of the Canada 2021 Census. Beauceville's new ...

). After

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

was discovered on his property, he set up the De Léry Gold Mining Company. He also took part in the founding of the Compagnie de Chemin de fer à Lisses de Lévis à Kennebec (later the

Quebec Central Railway The Quebec Central Railway was a railway in the Canadian province of Quebec, that served the Eastern Townships region south of the St. Lawrence River. Its headquarters was in Sherbrooke. It was originally incorporated in 1869 as the Sherbrooke, Ea ...

) and served as president. He was named to the legislative council in 1867 and to the Senate in 1871, but resigned his seat in the Senate in 1876. He continued to be a member of the legislative council until his death in 1880 at Quebec. He was buried at Saint-François-de-la-Beauce. His son William-Henri-Brouage later served as mayor of Saint-François-de-la-Beauce. His daughter Catherine-Louise-Josephte became the second wife of Richard Alleyn, a member of the Quebec legislative assembly. His brother Charles-Joseph was the mayor of Saint-François-de-la-Beauce and also served as warden for Beauce County.

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaussegros De Lery, Alexandre 1818 births 1880 deaths Conservative Party of Quebec MLCs Canadian senators from Quebec Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) senators People from Beauce, Quebec Politicians from Chaudière-Appalaches 19th-century members of the Senate of Canada