Date Published:
March 2005

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

James Cuthbert

(1769?-1849)

Cuthbert, James (1769?-1849), president of the Special Council of Lower Canada (1838), was the third son of James Cuthbert, the first English seignior of Berthier. He inherited the seigniory of Berthier, and lived there all his life. From 1796 to 1811 he was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for Warwick ; and from 1811 to 1838 he was a member of the Legislative Council. In 1838 he was appointed president of the Special Council appointed to administer the affairs of Lower Canada after the suspension of the constitution; and he was one of three members of the Council that opposed union with Upper Canada. In his liter years he became involved in financial difficulties, and obtained the post of grand-voyer of the province. He died at the manor house of Berthier on March 4, 1849. He was twice married, first to Marie-Claire Fraser (d. 1811), and then in 1814 to Marie-Louise-Amable Cairns (d. 1878). See. Abbé S. A. Moreau, L'honorable Jacques Cuthbert, fils (Bull. rech. hist., 1902).

Source  : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. II, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 411p., p. 169.