Joseph-Édouard Turcotte (October 10, 1808 – December 20, 1864) was a lawyer and political figure in

Canada East Canada East (french: links=no, Canada-Est) was the northeastern portion of the United Province of Canada. Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new c ...

. He was born in Gentilly,

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 ...

in 1808. He studied at the Séminaire de Nicolet. In 1831, he lost his right arm in an accident. Deciding not to pursue a future in the priesthood, he studied law with

Elzéar Bédard Elzéar Bédard (24 July 1799 – 11 August 1849) was a lawyer and a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. He later became a judge. He was born at Quebec City in 1799, the son of Pierre-Stanislas Bédard. Bédard received a typi ...

and was called to the bar in 1836. He practised law at

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), 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 Communauté métrop ...

and then

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 ...

. He became a supporter of

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 Lowe ...

and 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 pr ...

. In 1841, he was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the legislature for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Uppe ...

for Saint-Maurice; he opposed the union of the Canadas. He was forced to resign because he had accepted two government posts, but was reelected in an 1842 by-election; he was defeated in 1844. He was named solicitor general for Canada East in 1847 but was forced to resign in 1848 after two unsuccessful attempts to gain a seat in the assembly. In 1851, Turcotte was elected again in Saint-Maurice; in 1854, he was elected in Maskinongé as a

Reformer A reformer is someone who works for reform. Reformer may also refer to: *Catalytic reformer, in an oil refinery *Methane reformer, producing hydrogen * Steam reformer *Hydrogen reformer, extracting hydrogen *Methanol reformer, producing hydrogen ...

. He served as mayor of Trois-Rivières from 1857 to 1863. In 1858, he was elected to the assembly for

Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fr ...

, now as a member of the

parti bleu The Blue Party (french: Parti bleu) was a political group that contested elections in the Eastern section of the Province of Canada. The Blue Party was ideologically located on the political right, and was defined by its support for the Cathol ...

; in 1861, he was elected in

. He served as speaker from 1862 to 1863. He was reelected in Trois-Rivières in 1863 and served until his death in Trois-Rivières in 1864. Turcotte also played an important role in the economic development of the region, including railway links and the founding of a college there. He owned and was of the ''Journal des Trois-Rivières'' from 1847 to 1853. His son

Arthur Turcotte Arthur Turcotte (January 19, 1845 – October 12, 1905) was a Quebec lawyer, journalist and political figure. He was born Arthur-Henri-René Turcotte in Montreal in 1845, the son of Joseph-Édouard Turcotte. He studied at the Jesuit Coll� ...

served as a member in the

Legislative Assembly of Quebec The Legislative Assembly of Quebec (French: ''Assemblée législative du Québec'') was the name of the lower house of Quebec's legislature from 1867 to December 31, 1968, when it was renamed the National Assembly of Quebec. At the same time, ...

and his son Gustave-Adolphe-Narcisse was a member of the Canadian House of Commons. His daughter Marie-Louise married

Ernest Pacaud Ernest Pacaud (August 25, 1850 – April 19, 1904) was a Quebec lawyer and journalist. He was born Philippe-Olivier Pacaud in Trois-Rivières, Canada East in 1850, the son of Philippe-Napoléon Pacaud. He attended school in Trois-Rivières ...

, a Quebec lawyer and journalist.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turcotte, Joseph-Edouard 1808 births 1864 deaths Mayors of Trois-Rivières Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East People from Centre-du-Québec