James Smith, (May 16, 1806 – November 29, 1868) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in

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, ...

. He represented Missisquoi in the

Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the Parliament of the Province of Canada. The Province of Canada consisted of the former province of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East (now Quebec), and Upper Canada ...

from 1844 to 1847 as a Conservative. He was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

, the son of James Smith and Susanna McClement. Smith studied with John Doty in

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

and completed his education in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. On his return to Lower Canada in 1823, he studied law with Benjamin Beaubien and Samuel Gale; Smith was called to the Lower Canada bar in 1828 and set up practice in Montreal. He was named to a commission created by Governor Charles Bagot in 1841 to review the seigneurial system; the commission's report recommended that the system be abolished. Smith became a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1844. Also in 1844, he was named to the Executive Council as attorney general for Lower Canada. In 1847, he was named a judge in the Court of Queen's Bench. He was named to the Superior Court for Montreal district in 1849. In 1854, he was appointed to the Seigneurial Court created to deal with the abolition of the seigneurial system. Smith retired in August 1868 and died several months later in Montreal at the age of 62.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, James 1806 births 1868 deaths Attorneys general of Canada East, Province of Canada Judges in Canada East, Province of Canada Lawyers in Lower Canada and Canada East Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East Judges in Quebec Canadian King's Counsel 19th-century Canadian lawyers