Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière

Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière
Born	(1829-12-05)December 5, 1829 Épernay, France
Died	November 16, 1908(1908-11-16) (aged 78)

Sir Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, PC (December 5 1829 – November 16 1908) was born Henri-Gustave Joly in Épernay, France. His family was one of the traditional Huguenot families, and they converted to Anglicanism when they came to Canada.

He served as Liberal Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec, a federal Cabinet minister, and Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia.

His father, Pierre-Gustave Joly, had married Julie-Christine Chartier de Lotbinière, who owned the seigneury of Lotbinière, in 1828. Henri-Gustave studied in Paris and inherited the title of seigneur of Lotbinière in 1860. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for Lotbinière in 1861 as a moderate liberal, but was a member of the Parti rouge when he was re-elected in 1863.

Henri-Gustave Joly became Leader of the Quebec Liberals at the time of Confederation in 1867, and was the member for the federal riding of Lotbinière. He was re-elected in Lotbinière in the Canadian Election of 1872.

In 1878, Conservative premier Charles-Eugène Boucher de Boucherville resigned (or was deposed) on March 2 following a conflict with Lieutenant Governor Luc Letellier de Saint-Just over railroad legislation. As a result, Joly became Premier on March 8, 1878.

In the May 1, 1878 election, the Liberals won one less seat than the Conservatives (there were also two independent Conservatives). However Joly remained in power in a minority government for about a year and half. His government was brought down by a motion of censure involving the defection of five Liberals (including future premier Edmund James Flynn) to the Conservatives. The Leader of the Opposition Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau was called to form a government on October 31, 1879.

Joly remained Liberal Party leader until 1883. In all, he spent about 17 years as Liberal leader, but served only briefly as Premier.

In 1883, Joly resigned as Liberal leader to make way for Honoré Mercier. He resigned as member of the Legislative Assembly in November 1885.

He added "de Lotbinière" (part of his mother's maiden name) to his name in 1888.

Joly de Lotbinière was once again elected to the federal House of Commons in the 1896 federal election, this time as the member from Portneuf. He served as a federal Cabinet minister from 1897 until he retired in 1900.

He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia in 1900 and served until 1906. He died in Quebec City in 1908. His grandson Seymour de Lotbiniere grew up in England and was an influential director of outside broadcasting at the BBC.

Elections as party leader

He won the 1878 election (the Liberals won one fewer seat than the Conservatives but he remained premier with the support of a few Conservatives). He lost the 1881 election.

See also

• Politics of Quebec
• List of Quebec general elections
• Timeline of Quebec history

External links

• "Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2016.
• Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière – Parliament of Canada biography
• National Assembly biography Template:Fr icon
• His summer estate now a garden-park open to visitors Template:Fr icon