Wolfred Nelson
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Wolfred Nelson, (July 10, 1791 – June 17, 1863) was from 1854 – 1856 the mayor of Montreal, Quebec. Nelson was born in Montreal the son of William Nelson, an immigrant to Colonial America from Newsham, North Yorkshire, England. His mother, Jane Dies, was a teacher and daughter of an important land owner in the New York area. He was the older brother of Robert Nelson, known for his leading role in the Lower Canada Rebellion.
Nelson studied medicine at the school of his father in William Henry (today Sorel, Quebec). He became doctor in January 1811, and subsequently served in that capacity with the British troops in the War of 1812.
He moved to Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu where he opened a distillery. He entered politics when elected in William Henry in 1827. He supported the Parti Patriote.
In 1827, he was elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly, but gave up active politics in 1830, without disavowing his reformist allegiance. He became a Patriote leader in the region of the Richelieu River valley, and supported the use of arms at the Assemblée des Six-Comtés in 1837. He led the group of armed citizens who resisted their arrest by the British army at St-Denis, and was arrested soon after. (See Lower Canada Rebellion.)
Exiled to Bermuda in 1838, he was granted amnesty by the British colonial government and came back to Montreal in 1842. In 1844, he was elected to the new Parliament of the Province of Canada. In 1854, he became mayor of Montreal, and he died in June 1863. He is interred in the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery in Montreal.
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| Preceded by Charles Wilson |
Mayor of Montreal 1854–1856 |
Succeeded by Henry Starnes |
