René-Édouard Caron

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René-Édouard Caron

René-Édouard Caron (21 October 1800 – 13 December 1876) was a Canadian politician, judge, and Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec.

Born in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Lower Canada, the son of Augustin Caron, a farmer, and Elizabeth Lessard, he studied at a Quebec seminary, the Petit Séminaire of Quebec, and studied law in André-Rémi Hamel’s office was called to the Quebec Bar in 1826. In 1828, he married Marie-Vénérande-Joséphine, the daughter of Joseph Deblois and Marie-Vénérande Ranvoyzé.

In 1833, he was elected as a municipal representative for the Palais district of Quebec City. In 1834, he was elected mayor by the city councillors and served until 1836. He was mayor again from 1840 to 1846. He was mayor when cholera broke out in 1834 and when a fire nearly destroyed the city in 1845.

In 1834, he was elected a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for the riding of Upper Town of Quebec. In 1841, he was appointed a member of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada. He was the Speaker from 1843 to 1847 and again from 1848 to 1853. From 1844 to 1853, he was also in a law partnership with Louis de Gonzague Baillairgé. In 1853, he was appointed Judge of the Court of Appeal, and in 1855 of the Court of the Queen's Bench. In 1859, he took part in the codification of the civil laws. He remained a judge until 1873 when he was appointed the second Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec. He served until his death in 1876. He is buried in Cimetière Notre-Dame-de-Belmont.

His son Adolphe-Philippe later became a member of the Canadian House of Commons and cabinet minister. His daughter Corine married Sir Charles Fitzpatrick, who became chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec. His daughter Marie-Joséphine married Jean-Thomas Taschereau, later a judge in the Supreme Court of Canada, and was the mother of Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, a premier of Quebec.