Henri Elzéar Taschereau

The Right Honourable
Sir Henri Elzéar Taschereau
PC
4th Chief Justice of Canada
In office
November 21, 1902 – May 2, 1906
Nominated by Wilfrid Laurier
Appointed by Earl Minto
Preceded by Samuel Henry Strong
Succeeded by Charles Fitzpatrick
Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
In office
October 7, 1878 – November 21, 1902
Nominated by John A. Macdonald
Preceded by Jean-Thomas Taschereau
Succeeded by John Douglas Armour
Personal details
Born October 7, 1836(1836-10-07)
Sainte-Marie-de-la-Nouvelle-Beauce, Lower Canada
Died April 14, 1911(1911-04-14) (aged 74)
Ottawa, Ontario
Spouse(s) Marie-Antoinette Harwood
Marie-Louise Panet

Sir Henri-Elzéar Taschereau, PC (October 7, 1836 – April 14, 1911) was a Canadian jurist and the fourth Chief Justice of Canada.

He was born in his family's seigneurial manor house at Sainte-Marie-de-la-Beauce, Lower Canada to Pierre-Elzéar Taschereau and Catherine Hénédine Dionne. Tashereau attended the Université Laval and was called to the Bar of Quebec in 1857. That same year he married Marie-Antoinette de Lotbiniere Harwood (d.1896), daughter of Robert Unwin Harwood, and they were the parents of seven children. He married his second wife, Marie-Louise Panet, in 1897 and fathered three more children.

He practiced law in Quebec City and entered politics in 1861 when he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of what was then the Province of Canada where he opposed Canadian Confederation. He was appointed a judge of the Quebec Superior Court in 1871 and to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1878 following the retirement of Jean-Thomas Taschereau (see below), and also taught law part time at the University of Ottawa. In 1902 he became Chief Justice serving for four years until his retirement in 1906. He was knighted in 1902 and became a member of the British Privy Council in 1904 .

He was the great, great grandson of Thomas-Jacques Taschereau, the patriarch of the family in Canada. He was first-cousin once-removed to the brothers Elzéar Alexandre Cardinal Taschereau and Supreme Court Justice Jean-Thomas Taschereau. Jean-Thomas's son Louis-Alexandre would serve as Premier of Quebec, his grandson Robert Taschereau would also serve as Chief Justice of Canada.

Family

Henri Elzéar Taschereau married at Vaudreuil, Quebec May 27th, 1857, to Marie Antoinette Harwood, daughter of the Hon. R. U. Harwood, Seigneur of Vaudreuil, and his wife, Marie Louise Josephte Chartier de Lotbiniere. The couple had seven children. She died at Ottawa, June 2nd, 1896. Her remains were interred in the parish church of Vaudreuil.

Henri Elzéar Taschereau married at Ottawa, March 22nd, 1897 his second wife Marie Louise Panet, daughter of Charles Panet, Clerk of Private Bills, House of Commons, Ottawa, and his wife, Euphemie Chateauvert. Marie Louise was born in Ottawa, February 29th, 1868, and received her education at the Convent of the Sacred Heart (Grey Nuns) in Ottawa. The couple lived at 363 Theodore Street, Ottawa. The couple had two sons. Charles Elzear de Montarville Taschereau was born in Ottawa on October 5th, 1898. Henri Edouard Panet Taschereau was born at Ottawa, August 9th, 1902. [1]

References

  1. ^ Morgan, Henry James Types of Canadian women and of women who are or have been connected with Canada : (Toronto, 1903) [1]