LaFontaine, Sir Louis-Hippolyte National Historic Person

Montréal, Quebec
Sir Louis Hippolyte LaFontaine, joint premier of the Province of Canada (© Archives de la Ville de Montréal | City of Montréal Archives / CA M001 BM001-05-P1073)
Portrait of Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine
(© Archives de la Ville de Montréal | City of Montréal Archives / CA M001 BM001-05-P1073)
Address : 10 Saint-Antoine Street East, Montréal, Quebec

Recognition Statute: Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date: 1937-05-20
Life Date: 1807 to 1864

Other Name(s):
  • Sir Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine  (Designation Name)

Importance: Reformer, co-Premier of Province of Canada (1842-43, 1848-51)

Plaque(s)


Existing plaque: Bibliothèque du Barreau, 17th floor at the Court House 10 Saint-Antoine Street East, Montréal, Quebec

Jurist, reformer, and one of the architects of responsible government in Canada, LaFontaine was born at Boucherville in 1807. He sat for Terrebonne and York in the Legislature, and served as Attorney General for Lower Canada. With Robert Baldwin he led the reform governments of the Province of Canada in 1842 and 1848. LaFontaine retired from politics in 1851, became Chief Justice of Lower Canada in 1853, and was created a baronet by Queen Victoria in 1854. He died at Montreal in 1864.