Louis-Tancrède Bouthillier

Louis-Tancrède Bouthillier (March 1, 1796 – February 28, 1881) was a Canadian officer, merchant, potash inspector, sheriff, and landowner.

Louis-Tancrède Bouthillier was born March 1, 1796 in Montreal to Jean Bouthillier, a successful merchant from La Rochelle, and Louise Perthuis.

The 1830s marked the rise of his career. In 1830 he married Françoise-Geneviève, daughter of Benjamin Trottier-Desrivières-Beaubien and Françoise-Geneviève Sabrevois de Bleury, two influential middle-class families in Montreal. Two years later, he was appointed, as his father was before him, director of the Trinity House and inspector of potash and pearl in Montreal. At the end of 1832, his father died.

In, 1833, Bouthillier obtained eight plots of land in Montreal by auction, one of which was in the Côte Sainte-Catherine, where he built a large brick house. As it was on the opposite side of the mountain from the town of Montreal at that time, he named it Outre-Mont (over the mountain). This mansion, which still exists today on McDougall Street, in 1875 gave its name to the newly created then-Village of Outremont. The City of Outremont became a borough of Montreal in the municipal mergers of 2002.

He also acquired some of the properties belonging to his deceased parent, such as a lot on St. Paul Street with a two-storey stone house and outbuildings. Four years later, Bouthillier hired mason Louis Comte to build the stone Bouthillier Store-residence, which was originally divided into two unequal parts. He owned it until his death.

He was named commissioner of the Lachine Canal in 1835, and commissioner of the lands of the Crown (commissaire des terres de la Couronne) in 1838.

From 1850, he held the post of custom duty collector in Montreal, a position he left in 1863 to become sheriff of the city for nearly ten years. He also became President of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society in 1864.

In 1862, he purchased the manor house of his uncle by marriage, the late Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury.

Louis-Tancrède Bouthillier died February 28, 1881. He was survived by his two sons, Charles-Frontenac Bouthillier and Henri Bouthillier.

References