Date Published:
March 2005

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

Bonaventure Viger

Viger, Bonaventure (fl. 1803-1838), rebel, was born at Boucherville, Lower Canada, about 1803, a near relative of the Hon. Denis Benjamin Viger. On November 22, 1837, he commanded the group of rebels who rescued two prisoners from a detachment of British troops on the Chambly road, and thus gave the signal for the outbreak of rebellion. He was present at the engagement at St. Charles, a few days later, and was captured by the loyalists. In 1838 he was banished by Lord Durham to the Bermudas; but was released later in the year, and returned to Canada after the amnesty was granted. He settled down in Boucherville, married a sister of the Abbé Trudel, and became a Conservative.

Source  : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. VI, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 398p., pp. 241-242.