Michael O'Sullivan
| Michael O'Sullivan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1784-05-04 Clonmel, Ireland |
| Died | 1839-03-07 Montreal, Quebec |
| Occupation | Lawyer, militia officer, politician, judge |
| Father | |
| Mother | |
| Partner | |
Michael O'Sullivan (4 May 1784 – 7 March 1839 (aged 54)) was an Irish-born lawyer, militia officer, politician, and judge who practised in Montreal during the early nineteenth century, rising to become chief justice of the Court of King's Bench for the Montreal district shortly before his death.
Early life and education
O'Sullivan was baptized on 4 May 1784 in Clonmel, Ireland, the son of John O'Sullivan and Eleonora O'Donel, and was connected by family to the gentry of County Tipperary. He arrived in Montreal at a young age and enrolled at the Sulpician Collège Saint-Raphaël in 1799, graduating in 1806 alongside future nationalist figures Hugues Heney, Jean-Moïse Raymond, and André Jobin.[1]
Around 1806 he contributed articles to Le Canadien, the Montreal nationalist newspaper.[1] Beginning in December 1805 he articled with Montreal lawyer Denis-Benjamin Viger, then transferred in March 1808 to read law under Stephen Sewell. He received his lawyer's commission on 6 April 1811.[1]
Legal career
O'Sullivan built a prominent Montreal practice. Among those who articled under him were William Walker, Charles-Elzéar Mondelet, and Dominique Mondelet. In 1818 he served as associate counsel alongside James Stuart and Samuel Gale in charges arising from Lord Selkirk's conflict with the North West Company — proceedings connected to events at Fort William, in present-day Thunder Bay.[1] Around 1822, James Charles Grant became his law partner, and their firm remained one of Montreal's leading practices until Grant's death in 1836.[1]
O'Sullivan was appointed king's counsel in 1831, elected president of the Advocates' Library and Law Institute of Montreal in 1831–1832, and delivered a series of public lectures in December 1831 tracing the history of Roman law through to Justinian I. He was named justice of the peace in 1831 and evidence commissioner in 1829.[1]
Following Charles Richard Ogden's elevation to attorney general, Lord Aylmer appointed O'Sullivan solicitor general of Lower Canada in April 1833, praising his legal performance and standing "in Public Estimation in this Province for probity, Professional ability & sound constitutional principles."[1]
Military service
O'Sullivan received a militia commission as lieutenant and adjutant in the Beauharnois battalion in 1812. At the Battle of Châteauguay in October 1813 he served as aide-de-camp to Charles-Michel d'Irumberry de Salaberry and was cited for bravery. His subsequent account of the engagement, published in the Montreal Gazette on 9 November 1813, stressed the role of Canadian troops and became an early touchstone for French-Canadian commemorations of the battle.[1][2][3]
By 1821 O'Sullivan had advanced to the rank of major in the Beauharnois militia battalion, transferring to Montreal's 1st Militia Battalion in 1830.[1]
Political career
O'Sullivan was elected to the House of Assembly for Huntingdon County in 1814, serving for about ten years with broadly reformist inclinations and in close professional association with James Stuart. He attended fewer than half of the sessions, focusing his energy on judicial and administrative matters. A forceful opposition to government-backed non-denominational hospital funding led to a duel with Dr William Caldwell, in which O'Sullivan was wounded twice and a bullet lodged against his spine, causing him lifelong pain and lameness. He resigned in 1824, succeeded by Raymond.[1]
Through the 1820s O'Sullivan gradually distanced himself from the Canadian party's nationalism. By 1835 Louis-Joseph Papineau lamented that O'Sullivan's policy of temporizing would ultimately bring on the "great débâcle" in Lower Canadian politics.[1] During the rebellions of 1837–38 he served effectively as solicitor general and supported the colonial administration. On 25 October 1838 he was appointed chief justice of the Court of King's Bench for the Montreal district.[1]
Ecclesiastical affairs
O'Sullivan maintained close legal relations with the Sulpicians, advising them in their dispute with Jean-Jacques Lartigue, who had been consecrated as auxiliary bishop in 1821. He counselled the priest Augustin Chaboillez, who publicly contested Lartigue's appointment in 1823–24, and may have influenced the selection of his kinsman James O'Donnell as architect for the new Notre-Dame church in Montreal — a project the Sulpicians partly intended to forestall Lartigue's plans for a cathedral. During 1824 O'Sullivan toured England, France, and Italy, lobbying on the Sulpicians' behalf in Rome, though without success.[1]
Personal life
O'Sullivan married Cécile Berthelet on 1 June 1809 in Montreal; the witnesses included prominent figures of the Canadian bourgeoisie. Cécile died in 1811. On 17 May 1831, O'Sullivan married Jeanne-Marie-Catherine Bruyères, widow of Dr David Thomas Kennelly and granddaughter of former seigneur John Bruyères; witnesses included Toussaint Pothier, Charles William Grant (Baron de Longueuil), Dr Selby, and Joseph Papineau.[1]
Despite his flourishing legal revenues and judicial appointments, O'Sullivan accumulated substantial debts from at least 1815. He anticipated leaving a modest estate; the liquidation of four Montreal properties and an extensive library was unlikely to satisfy his creditors in full.[1]
Death
O'Sullivan died on 7 March 1839 in Montreal, having sat as chief justice for only a single term.[1][4][5]
References
[1] [4] [5] [2] [3] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 Alan Dever."Alan Dever, "O'Sullivan, Michael," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 7."[website].Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 7 (University of Toronto/Université Laval).1988.University of Toronto/Université Laval.Link.(Rights: copyrighted | Access: open)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Benjamin Sulte, "Qui commandait à Châteauguay?" BRH, 1 (1895): 97–98.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Michelle Guitard, "Les miliciens de la bataille de Châteauguay," master's thesis, University of Ottawa, 1980.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 L'Aurore des Canadas, 8 and 12 March 1839.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Le Canadien, 11 March 1839.
- ↑ F.-J. Audet, Les juges en chef de la province de Québec, 1764–1924 (Québec, 1927).
- ↑ E. A. Collard, Montreal: the days that are no more (Toronto, 1976), 203–8.
- ↑ J.-J. Lefebvre, "Quelques officiers de 1812," RSC Trans., 4th ser., 4 (1966), sect. i: 69–136.
- ↑ Montreal Gazette, 9 November 1813.
- ↑ Buchanan."Bench and bar of Lower Canada."[book].Bench and bar of L.C..(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ "ANQ-M, CE1-51 (baptism and marriages register), CN1-28, CN1-126, CN1-134, CN1-192, CN1-194, CN1-224, CN1-396."[record].Archives nationales du Québec, Montréal.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ "PAC, MG 11 [CO 42] Q, 206: 213–14; MG 24, B2: 2072; RG 4, B8: 6688–702, 10468; RG 68, General index, 1651–1841."[record].Public Archives of Canada.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)