Date Published:
March 2005

L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

Alexander Vidal

Vidal, Alexander (1819-1906), senator of Canada , was born at Brocknell, Berkshire, England, on August 4, 1819, the son of Capt. Richard Emeric Vidal, R.N., and Charlotte Penrose Mitton. He was educated at the Royal Mathematical School, Christ's Hospital, London, England. In 1834 he came with his parents to Canada, and in 1835 he settled at Sarnia, Upper Canada. In 1843 he became a provincial land surveyor; but in 1853 he became the agent of the Bank of Upper Canada in Sarnia, and in 1866 the agent of the Bank of Montreal. From 1863 to 1867 he was an elected member for the St. Clair division in the Legislative Council of Canada; and he was defeated as a Conservative candidate for the Canadian House of Commons in 1867. In 1873 he was called to the Senate of Canada, and he remained a senator until his death on November 18, 1906. In 1847 he married Catherine Louisa, daughter of Capt. William Elliott Wright, R.N.; and by her he had five sons and two daughters. He was an ardent temperance and social reformer; and in 1875 he was chairman of the Dominion Prohibitory Convention at Montreal.

Source  : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. VI, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 398p., p. 241.