67 Facts About Denis-Benjamin Viger

Denis-Benjamin Viger held public office for most of his adult life, often working alongside his cousin, Louis-Joseph Papineau, a fiery nationalist.

Denis-Benjamin Viger was later appointed to the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada, serving from 1848 to 1858.

Denis-Benjamin Viger remained fond of entertaining, and his wine-cellar was said to be one of the best in Montreal.

Denis-Benjamin Viger died in 1861, at the age of 86.

Denis-Benjamin Viger was born in Montreal to Denis Denis-Benjamin Viger and Perine-Charles Cherrier, daughter of Francois-Pierre Cherrier, a merchant and notary.

The Denis-Benjamin Viger family was part of a rising middle class.

Denis Denis-Benjamin Viger represented the electoral constituency of Montreal East in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada from 1796 to 1800.

In 1801, Denis-Benjamin Viger's parents took in one of his cousins, Come-Seraphin Cherrier, aged three when his mother died, and raised him in their family.

In 1782, Denis-Benjamin Viger's father sent him to the College Saint-Raphael, run by the Sulpician order.

Denis-Benjamin Viger retired from the militia in 1824 with the rank of major.

Denis-Benjamin Viger was a founder of the Institution pour les Filles Repenties, and was president of the Orphelinat Catholique de Montreal.

Denis-Benjamin Viger bought land and houses himself, and in 1823 inherited substantial land holdings from his parents, becoming one of the most important landowners in Montreal.

Denis-Benjamin Viger gradually acquired financial interests in other newspapers, including the Canadian Spectator, La Minerve and L'Ordre.

Denis-Benjamin Viger was a good writer, logical, thoughtful, and showing a depth of knowledge.

Denis-Benjamin Viger was an enthusiastic book-buyer, focussing on law and politics, but he was not very interested in fiction.

When Denis-Benjamin Viger was an established lawyer, he took in law students.

Denis-Benjamin Viger did not have a reputation of generosity towards his law clerks.

In 1804, at age 30, Denis-Benjamin Viger entered electoral politics, unsuccessfully contesting a seat in Montreal.

Denis-Benjamin Viger was elected in Leinster county in 1810 and 1814, and then regularly elected in Kent county from 1816 until 1827, until appointed to the Legislative Council of Lower Canada in 1829.

Papineau was much more dynamic and charismatic than Denis-Benjamin Viger, who was considered retiring and not eloquent.

Denis-Benjamin Viger helped to develop the intellectual framework for the party.

Denis-Benjamin Viger was a strong admirer of the British constitution, which he considered was an excellent balancing of the royal, aristocratic, and popular elements of the country.

Denis-Benjamin Viger believed that French-Canadian culture and existence was threatened by immigration from the United States and from Britain.

Denis-Benjamin Viger worked on outreach to English-speaking politicians who shared concerns over popular control over public finances, such as John Neilson, who worked closely with Papineau.

Denis-Benjamin Viger was one of the leaders of the party, and was involved in developing its tactics and ideology.

When his cousin, Jean-Jacques Lartigue, became the first Bishop of Montreal, Denis-Benjamin Viger supported Lartigue in a dispute with the Sulpician order.

Denis-Benjamin Viger later acted as a go-between for his two cousins, Lartigue and Papineau, when tensions rose between the church and the Parti canadien in the lead-up to the Lower Canada Rebellion in 1837.

Papineau and Denis-Benjamin Viger organised opposition to the proposal, with local committees meeting to pass petitions against union.

The next year, 1829, Denis-Benjamin Viger was appointed to the Legislative Council, the upper house of the Parliament of Lower Canada, but did not take his seat until 1831.

Denis-Benjamin Viger did not play a major role in the Council, because that same year the members of the Legislative Assembly appointed him as the Assembly's representative in Britain, over the objections of the Legislative Council.

Denis-Benjamin Viger stayed there from 1831 to 1834, but did not have as successful a time as in the previous delegation.

Denis-Benjamin Viger returned to Lower Canada towards the end of 1834.

Denis-Benjamin Viger remained a member of the Legislative Council until the suspension of the constitution of Lower Canada in 1838, a result of the Lower Canada Rebellion.

Denis-Benjamin Viger was highly critical of the Special Council of Lower Canada, appointed by the Governor General to replace the Parliament.

Denis-Benjamin Viger was still heavily involved in the Parti patriote with Papineau, and so he is assumed to have participated in planning for the public meetings which were held to increase popular support for the Patriote movement.

Denis-Benjamin Viger did not appear at the Assembly of the Six Counties, where one of the leaders of the movement, Wolfred Nelson, openly called for rebellion.

Denis-Benjamin Viger in turn published an editorial in La Minerve, strongly critical of the bishop, and equating the bishop's letter to a second edition of the Governor General's critique of the Patriote movement.

Denis-Benjamin Viger assured Papineau that they could expect help from the Americans to overthrow the British, and possibly from the Indian population.

Whatever his connections to the Rebellion in 1837, Denis-Benjamin Viger initially did not come under serious scrutiny from the British authorities.

Denis-Benjamin Viger's house was searched once, in November 1837, but thereafter he was left alone for a year, even after the government declared martial law in the Montreal district on December 5,1837.

However, when the Rebellion broke out a second time the next year, Denis-Benjamin Viger was arrested on November 4,1838, denounced by the Montreal Herald as the promoter of seditious newspapers.

Denis-Benjamin Viger was denied the solace of playing his flageolet, a small recorder-like instrument, which was one of his few hobbies.

Denis-Benjamin Viger was not released until May 1840, without ever standing trial.

Now in his mid-60s, a political veteran and nicknamed Le Venerable, Denis-Benjamin Viger was worried that the union proposal was designed to assimilate French-Canadians and undercut their culture.

Denis-Benjamin Viger was specifically critical of the provision that barred the use of French in the new Parliament.

Denis-Benjamin Viger campaigned against the union and won the riding of Richelieu, defeating a unionist candidate.

Denis-Benjamin Viger realigned with Neilson, who had broken with Papineau in the increasing radicalism leading to the Rebellion, but who shared Viger's opposition to the union.

Denis-Benjamin Viger cooperated with Robert Baldwin, leader of the Reformers from Canada West, in introducing a series of resolutions affirming the role of the Legislative Assembly in reviewing the actions of the executive.

Denis-Benjamin Viger appointed Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine from the French-Canadian Group, and Robert Baldwin from Canada West, to lead the Executive Council.

Denis-Benjamin Viger was heavily criticised by his former party companions for taking office under a Governor General who was hostile to responsible government and French-Canadians.

Denis-Benjamin Viger was accused by some former Parti patriote colleagues of treason.

Denis-Benjamin Viger was criticised by William Lyon Mackenzie, who had led the Upper Canada Rebellion.

One theory is that Denis-Benjamin Viger believed that ultimately the united Province of Canada would fall apart, leaving the path open for Lower Canada to become fully independent.

Denis-Benjamin Viger opposed LaFontaine's efforts to build a fully functioning alliance with Baldwin and the Reformers, because in his view that would delay the ultimate break-up.

Denis-Benjamin Viger was defeated in his riding of Richelieu by Wolfred Nelson, the former leader in the Rebellion, now returned from exile and supporting LaFontaine.

Denis-Benjamin Viger remained without a seat in the Assembly until 1845, when he won a by-election in the Three Rivers riding after the death of the incumbent member.

Viger's cousin Denis-Benjamin Papineau was the only member of the ministry re-elected in Canada East.

Finally, on June 17,1846, Denis-Benjamin Viger resigned his position in the Executive Council.

Denis-Benjamin Viger was succeeded as joint premier from Canada East by his cousin, Denis-Benjamin Papineau.

Denis-Benjamin Viger did not stand for election in the general elections of 1847.

Denis-Benjamin Viger critiqued it as pillaging the property rights of the seigneurial class.

Denis-Benjamin Viger wrote articles opposing the Montreal Annexation Manifesto, which proposed that the Province of Canada should be annexed by the United States.

Amedee Papineau, son of Louis-Joseph Papineau, said that Denis-Benjamin Viger had the finest art collection and library in Montreal.

Denis-Benjamin Viger maintained a social life, entertaining friends and families.

Denis-Benjamin Viger left most of his fortune to his younger cousin, Come-Seraphin Cherrier, whom Viger's parents had taken in when Cherrier's mother had died.

Denis-Benjamin Viger is buried in Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery.

Denis-Benjamin Viger's home is listed on the federal listing of Canada's Historic Places, and on the Repertoire du patrimoine culturel du Quebec.