Joseph-François Deblois (April 2, 1797 – August 10, 1860) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in

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 ...

. He was born in the town of

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, ...

in 1797, the son of a merchant, and studied at the

Petit Séminaire de Québec 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 served in the local militia during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. After his father's death in 1814, he helped his mother to run the family store while he studied law with

Louis Lagueux Louis Lagueux (November 20, 1793 – June 15, 1832) was a lawyer and political figure in Lower Canada. He was born in the town of Quebec in 1793, the son of merchant Louis Lagueux and Louise Bégin, whose father Charles Bégin served in the ...

; Deblois was called to the bar in 1826. With his brother, he set up a herring fishery at Baie de Cascapédia in the Gaspé region. Deblois also began practicing law in the region and set up a farm there. In 1834, 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 e ...

for Bonaventure. A few years later, he moved his law practice to Quebec. In 1849, he was named a circuit judge for Gaspé district, which also included the Îles de la Madeleine, and settled at Percé. He also served as president of the Société d'agriculture de Gaspé. After the post of circuit judge was abolished in 1857, Deblois retired and settled at Quebec, where he died in 1860.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Deblois, Joseph-Francois 1797 births 1860 deaths 19th-century Canadian judges Judges in Canada East, Province of Canada Lawyers in Lower Canada and Canada East Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada Pre-Confederation Quebec people