Henri Elzéar Taschereau

Sir Henri-Elzéar Taschereau, PC, (October 7 1836 – April 14 1911) was a Canadian jurist and Chief Justice of Canada.

He was born in Sainte-Marie-de-la-Beauce, Lower Canada to Pierre-Elzéar Taschereau and Catherine Hénédine Dionne. He was called to the Bar of Quebec in 1857 and practiced law in Quebec City.

Taschereau entered politics in 1861 when he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of what was then the Province of Canada where he opposed Canadian Confederation. He was appointed a judge of the Quebec Superior Court in 1871 and to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1878 and also taught law part time at the University of Ottawa. In 1902 he became Chief Justice serving for four years until his retirement in 1906. He was knighted in 1902 and became a member of the British Privy Council in 1904 .

He was the nephew of Elzéar Alexandre Cardinal Taschereau. Henri-Elzéar's son, Louis-Alexandre Taschereau would serve as Premier of Quebec and his grandson, Robert Taschereau would follow in his grandfather's footsteps and serve as Chief Justice of Canada.

External links

* [http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/court-cour/ju/taschereau2/index-eng.asp Official Supreme Court Biography]
* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=7731 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
* [http://www.assnat.qc.ca/FRA/membres/notices/t-u/tasche.htm Biography from Assemblée nationale du Québec (french)]