Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière

Portneuf
In office June 23, 1896 – November 7, 1900
Preceded by	Arthur Delisle
Succeeded by	Michel-Siméon Delisle
Personal details
Born	Henry-Gustave Joly (1829-12-05)December 5, 1829 Épernay, France
Died	November 16, 1908(1908-11-16) (aged 78) Quebec City, Canada
Resting place	Mount Hermon Cemetery, Sillery, Quebec, Canada
Political party	Quebec Liberal Party

Sir Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière,

Biography

Early years

Sir Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière,

before he married in 1856.

His father,

.

Henri-Gustave's mother was Julie-Christine, the youngest daughter of

.

Henri-Gustave Joly studied in Paris from 1836 to 1849, obtaining his bachelier ès lettres from the Sorbonne.^[3] He returned to Canada in 1850 and was called to the bar in 1855.^[4] Joly inherited the lands and title of seigneur of Lotbinière in 1860.^[5]

Family

Joly married Margaretta-Josepha Gowen (25 July 1837 – 14 August 1904), daughter of Hammond Gowen of Quebec, and was the father of eleven children, of whom seven (four girls and three boys) reached adulthood. Their daughter, Margaretta-Anna, married Brigadier-General Herbert Colborne Nanton

from 1935 to 1940.

Provincial political career

Joly was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for Lotbinière in 1861 as a Bleu, a moderate liberal, but was a member of the more radical Parti rouge when 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,

. They had a conflict over railroad legislation which de Saint-Just deemed unconstitutional. As a result, Joly became Premier on March 8, 1878, and the first Liberal to become Premier of Quebec. To this day, he remains the only foreign-born and Protestant to be the Leader of the Province of Quebec.

In the May 1,

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

Legislative Assembly

in November 1885.

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

Careers in federal politics and in forestry

Joly de Lotbinière was once again elected to the federal

In March 1900 Sir Henri was invited along with J. R. Booth, William Little, Thomas Southworth and Dr. William Saunders by Elihu Stewart, Canada's chief inspector of timber and forestry, to create the

.

Under the chairmanship of Sir Henri, delegates approved bylaws and a constitution of the Canadian Forestry Association, Canada's oldest conservation organization. These early conservationists recognized that the whole field of renewable resources, the forests, waters, wildlife, soils and recreational values, were closely interrelated. The CFA's mission continues to be to promote the protection and wise use of Canada's forest, water and wildlife resources. His participation as the first president of the Canadian Forestry Association was not altered by his ongoing political activity. He continued to put forward new ideas for forestry. In 1906 the CFA convened Canada's first national forestry convention, chaired by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, honorary CFA President. Sir Henri presented a paper in that called for the forest sector to consider conversion to the metric measurement system, a change that would not come to fruition in Canada until the 1980s.[9]

At the 1905 annual meeting of the Canadian Forestry Association in Québec City, condolences were expressed to Sir Henri on the passing the previous year of his wife. To quote the proceedings: "Then we must all regret the affliction that has come to our honoured president, Sir Henri Joly de Lotbinière and his family in the death of Lady Joly. We all love Sir Henri, and we believe that his name will be remembered for the good work he has done as long as trees grow in this country. He has our sincere sympathy in the affliction that has befallen him."

Prime Minister Laurier appointed him

, on 18 November 1908.

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.

Electoral record

By-election on 30 July 1896 Joly de Lotbinière was appointed Controller of Inland Revenue, 11 July 1896
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	(x)Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière	acclaimed

v t e 1896 Canadian federal election: Portneuf
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière	2,086	50.4	-1.6
	Conservative	L. Stafford	2,050	49.6	+1.6
Total valid votes			4,136	100.0

1867 Canadian federal election: Lotbinière--Chutes-de-la-Chaudière
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière	acclaimed
Source: Canadian Elections Database[10]

v t e 1872 Canadian federal election: Lotbinière
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Henri-Gustave Joly	acclaimed
Source: Canadian Elections Database[11]

See also

• List of Quebec general elections
• Politics of Quebec
• Provincial premiers who have become Canadian MPs
• Timeline of Quebec history

References

• Little, John (2013). Patrician Liberal: The Public and Private Life of Sir Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, 1829-1908. University of Toronto Press.
  ISBN 978-1-4426-6699-3
  .
• Hamelin, Marcel (1994). "Joly de Lotbinière, Sir Henri-Gustave". In Cook, Ramsay; Hamelin, Jean (eds.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XIII (1901–1910) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.

External links

• Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière – Parliament of Canada biography
• Doughty, Arthur George (1911). "Joly de Lotbinière, Sir Henri Gustave" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). p. 495.
• "Biography of Sir Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
• His summer estate now a garden-park open to visitors (in French)