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Château du Bouilh is a château in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It was made in 1786 for Jean-Frédéric de la Tour du Pin-Gouvernet by architect Victor Louis. The neoclassical semicircular château was built to host King Louis XVI on his visits to the area. Since 1864, it has been owned by the Feuilhade de Chauvin family, who in 2019 put the château and its contents up for sale for €7,350,000.
== References ==
|
country
|
{
"answer_start": [
63
],
"text": [
"France"
]
}
|
Château du Bouilh is a château in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It was made in 1786 for Jean-Frédéric de la Tour du Pin-Gouvernet by architect Victor Louis. The neoclassical semicircular château was built to host King Louis XVI on his visits to the area. Since 1864, it has been owned by the Feuilhade de Chauvin family, who in 2019 put the château and its contents up for sale for €7,350,000.
== References ==
|
instance of
|
{
"answer_start": [
23
],
"text": [
"château"
]
}
|
Château du Bouilh is a château in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It was made in 1786 for Jean-Frédéric de la Tour du Pin-Gouvernet by architect Victor Louis. The neoclassical semicircular château was built to host King Louis XVI on his visits to the area. Since 1864, it has been owned by the Feuilhade de Chauvin family, who in 2019 put the château and its contents up for sale for €7,350,000.
== References ==
|
architect
|
{
"answer_start": [
150
],
"text": [
"Victor Louis"
]
}
|
Château du Bouilh is a château in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It was made in 1786 for Jean-Frédéric de la Tour du Pin-Gouvernet by architect Victor Louis. The neoclassical semicircular château was built to host King Louis XVI on his visits to the area. Since 1864, it has been owned by the Feuilhade de Chauvin family, who in 2019 put the château and its contents up for sale for €7,350,000.
== References ==
|
owned by
|
{
"answer_start": [
95
],
"text": [
"Jean-Frédéric de la Tour du Pin-Gouvernet"
]
}
|
Château du Bouilh is a château in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It was made in 1786 for Jean-Frédéric de la Tour du Pin-Gouvernet by architect Victor Louis. The neoclassical semicircular château was built to host King Louis XVI on his visits to the area. Since 1864, it has been owned by the Feuilhade de Chauvin family, who in 2019 put the château and its contents up for sale for €7,350,000.
== References ==
|
Commons category
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Château du Bouilh"
]
}
|
Cheshmeh Qanat-e Junak (Persian: چشمه قنات جونك, also Romanized as Cheshmeh Qanāt-e Jūnak; also known as Cheshmeh Qanāt) is a village in Dasht-e Rum Rural District, in the Central District of Boyer-Ahmad County, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 75, in 14 families.
== References ==
|
country
|
{
"answer_start": [
249
],
"text": [
"Iran"
]
}
|
Cheshmeh Qanat-e Junak (Persian: چشمه قنات جونك, also Romanized as Cheshmeh Qanāt-e Jūnak; also known as Cheshmeh Qanāt) is a village in Dasht-e Rum Rural District, in the Central District of Boyer-Ahmad County, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 75, in 14 families.
== References ==
|
instance of
|
{
"answer_start": [
126
],
"text": [
"village"
]
}
|
Cheshmeh Qanat-e Junak (Persian: چشمه قنات جونك, also Romanized as Cheshmeh Qanāt-e Jūnak; also known as Cheshmeh Qanāt) is a village in Dasht-e Rum Rural District, in the Central District of Boyer-Ahmad County, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 75, in 14 families.
== References ==
|
located in the administrative territorial entity
|
{
"answer_start": [
137
],
"text": [
"Dasht-e Rum Rural District"
]
}
|
Petra Széles (born (1988-01-27)27 January 1988) is a Hungarian female volleyball player, playing as a middle-blocker. She is part of the Hungary women's national volleyball team.
She competed at the 2015 Women's European Volleyball Championship. On club level she plays for Gödöllõ Clu.
References
External links
"Petra Szeles - Volleyball - Scoresway - Results, fixtures, tables and statistics". Scoresway. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
"CEV - Confédération Européenne de Volleyball". Cev.lu. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
"Petra Szeles Stock Photos and Pictures". Getty Images. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
|
sex or gender
|
{
"answer_start": [
63
],
"text": [
"female"
]
}
|
Petra Széles (born (1988-01-27)27 January 1988) is a Hungarian female volleyball player, playing as a middle-blocker. She is part of the Hungary women's national volleyball team.
She competed at the 2015 Women's European Volleyball Championship. On club level she plays for Gödöllõ Clu.
References
External links
"Petra Szeles - Volleyball - Scoresway - Results, fixtures, tables and statistics". Scoresway. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
"CEV - Confédération Européenne de Volleyball". Cev.lu. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
"Petra Szeles Stock Photos and Pictures". Getty Images. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
|
country of citizenship
|
{
"answer_start": [
137
],
"text": [
"Hungary"
]
}
|
Petra Széles (born (1988-01-27)27 January 1988) is a Hungarian female volleyball player, playing as a middle-blocker. She is part of the Hungary women's national volleyball team.
She competed at the 2015 Women's European Volleyball Championship. On club level she plays for Gödöllõ Clu.
References
External links
"Petra Szeles - Volleyball - Scoresway - Results, fixtures, tables and statistics". Scoresway. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
"CEV - Confédération Européenne de Volleyball". Cev.lu. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
"Petra Szeles Stock Photos and Pictures". Getty Images. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
|
occupation
|
{
"answer_start": [
70
],
"text": [
"volleyball player"
]
}
|
Petra Széles (born (1988-01-27)27 January 1988) is a Hungarian female volleyball player, playing as a middle-blocker. She is part of the Hungary women's national volleyball team.
She competed at the 2015 Women's European Volleyball Championship. On club level she plays for Gödöllõ Clu.
References
External links
"Petra Szeles - Volleyball - Scoresway - Results, fixtures, tables and statistics". Scoresway. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
"CEV - Confédération Européenne de Volleyball". Cev.lu. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
"Petra Szeles Stock Photos and Pictures". Getty Images. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
|
sport
|
{
"answer_start": [
70
],
"text": [
"volleyball"
]
}
|
Petra Széles (born (1988-01-27)27 January 1988) is a Hungarian female volleyball player, playing as a middle-blocker. She is part of the Hungary women's national volleyball team.
She competed at the 2015 Women's European Volleyball Championship. On club level she plays for Gödöllõ Clu.
References
External links
"Petra Szeles - Volleyball - Scoresway - Results, fixtures, tables and statistics". Scoresway. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
"CEV - Confédération Européenne de Volleyball". Cev.lu. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
"Petra Szeles Stock Photos and Pictures". Getty Images. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
|
family name
|
{
"answer_start": [
6
],
"text": [
"Széles"
]
}
|
Petra Széles (born (1988-01-27)27 January 1988) is a Hungarian female volleyball player, playing as a middle-blocker. She is part of the Hungary women's national volleyball team.
She competed at the 2015 Women's European Volleyball Championship. On club level she plays for Gödöllõ Clu.
References
External links
"Petra Szeles - Volleyball - Scoresway - Results, fixtures, tables and statistics". Scoresway. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
"CEV - Confédération Européenne de Volleyball". Cev.lu. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
"Petra Szeles Stock Photos and Pictures". Getty Images. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
|
given name
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Petra"
]
}
|
Petra Széles (born (1988-01-27)27 January 1988) is a Hungarian female volleyball player, playing as a middle-blocker. She is part of the Hungary women's national volleyball team.
She competed at the 2015 Women's European Volleyball Championship. On club level she plays for Gödöllõ Clu.
References
External links
"Petra Szeles - Volleyball - Scoresway - Results, fixtures, tables and statistics". Scoresway. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
"CEV - Confédération Européenne de Volleyball". Cev.lu. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
"Petra Szeles Stock Photos and Pictures". Getty Images. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
|
participant in
|
{
"answer_start": [
199
],
"text": [
"2015 Women's European Volleyball Championship"
]
}
|
Sir John Clerk of Pennycuik, 5th Baronet FRSE (1736–1798) was a Royal Navy officer. Active in the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, he thereby became a founder fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh upon its formation in 1783.
Life
He was born in Midlothian the son of Sir George Clerk-Maxwell (1715–84) and his wife, Dorothea. John became a baronet upon the death of his father in 1784.He became Director of the Highland Society in 1785.He died on 24 February 1798 and is buried with his wife, Rosemary Dacre Appleby in Penicuik churchyard. They had no children and the baronetcy passed to his nephew George.
Artistic recognition
A famous portrait of Sir John and Lady Clerk, by Sir Henry Raeburn, is held by the National Gallery of Ireland.
== References ==
|
place of birth
|
{
"answer_start": [
252
],
"text": [
"Midlothian"
]
}
|
Sir John Clerk of Pennycuik, 5th Baronet FRSE (1736–1798) was a Royal Navy officer. Active in the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, he thereby became a founder fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh upon its formation in 1783.
Life
He was born in Midlothian the son of Sir George Clerk-Maxwell (1715–84) and his wife, Dorothea. John became a baronet upon the death of his father in 1784.He became Director of the Highland Society in 1785.He died on 24 February 1798 and is buried with his wife, Rosemary Dacre Appleby in Penicuik churchyard. They had no children and the baronetcy passed to his nephew George.
Artistic recognition
A famous portrait of Sir John and Lady Clerk, by Sir Henry Raeburn, is held by the National Gallery of Ireland.
== References ==
|
father
|
{
"answer_start": [
278
],
"text": [
"George Clerk-Maxwell"
]
}
|
Sir John Clerk of Pennycuik, 5th Baronet FRSE (1736–1798) was a Royal Navy officer. Active in the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, he thereby became a founder fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh upon its formation in 1783.
Life
He was born in Midlothian the son of Sir George Clerk-Maxwell (1715–84) and his wife, Dorothea. John became a baronet upon the death of his father in 1784.He became Director of the Highland Society in 1785.He died on 24 February 1798 and is buried with his wife, Rosemary Dacre Appleby in Penicuik churchyard. They had no children and the baronetcy passed to his nephew George.
Artistic recognition
A famous portrait of Sir John and Lady Clerk, by Sir Henry Raeburn, is held by the National Gallery of Ireland.
== References ==
|
noble title
|
{
"answer_start": [
347
],
"text": [
"baronet"
]
}
|
Sir John Clerk of Pennycuik, 5th Baronet FRSE (1736–1798) was a Royal Navy officer. Active in the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, he thereby became a founder fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh upon its formation in 1783.
Life
He was born in Midlothian the son of Sir George Clerk-Maxwell (1715–84) and his wife, Dorothea. John became a baronet upon the death of his father in 1784.He became Director of the Highland Society in 1785.He died on 24 February 1798 and is buried with his wife, Rosemary Dacre Appleby in Penicuik churchyard. They had no children and the baronetcy passed to his nephew George.
Artistic recognition
A famous portrait of Sir John and Lady Clerk, by Sir Henry Raeburn, is held by the National Gallery of Ireland.
== References ==
|
military branch
|
{
"answer_start": [
64
],
"text": [
"Royal Navy"
]
}
|
Sir John Clerk of Pennycuik, 5th Baronet FRSE (1736–1798) was a Royal Navy officer. Active in the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, he thereby became a founder fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh upon its formation in 1783.
Life
He was born in Midlothian the son of Sir George Clerk-Maxwell (1715–84) and his wife, Dorothea. John became a baronet upon the death of his father in 1784.He became Director of the Highland Society in 1785.He died on 24 February 1798 and is buried with his wife, Rosemary Dacre Appleby in Penicuik churchyard. They had no children and the baronetcy passed to his nephew George.
Artistic recognition
A famous portrait of Sir John and Lady Clerk, by Sir Henry Raeburn, is held by the National Gallery of Ireland.
== References ==
|
member of
|
{
"answer_start": [
176
],
"text": [
"Royal Society of Edinburgh"
]
}
|
Sir John Clerk of Pennycuik, 5th Baronet FRSE (1736–1798) was a Royal Navy officer. Active in the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, he thereby became a founder fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh upon its formation in 1783.
Life
He was born in Midlothian the son of Sir George Clerk-Maxwell (1715–84) and his wife, Dorothea. John became a baronet upon the death of his father in 1784.He became Director of the Highland Society in 1785.He died on 24 February 1798 and is buried with his wife, Rosemary Dacre Appleby in Penicuik churchyard. They had no children and the baronetcy passed to his nephew George.
Artistic recognition
A famous portrait of Sir John and Lady Clerk, by Sir Henry Raeburn, is held by the National Gallery of Ireland.
== References ==
|
honorific prefix
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Sir"
]
}
|
Sir John Clerk of Pennycuik, 5th Baronet FRSE (1736–1798) was a Royal Navy officer. Active in the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, he thereby became a founder fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh upon its formation in 1783.
Life
He was born in Midlothian the son of Sir George Clerk-Maxwell (1715–84) and his wife, Dorothea. John became a baronet upon the death of his father in 1784.He became Director of the Highland Society in 1785.He died on 24 February 1798 and is buried with his wife, Rosemary Dacre Appleby in Penicuik churchyard. They had no children and the baronetcy passed to his nephew George.
Artistic recognition
A famous portrait of Sir John and Lady Clerk, by Sir Henry Raeburn, is held by the National Gallery of Ireland.
== References ==
|
family name
|
{
"answer_start": [
9
],
"text": [
"Clerk"
]
}
|
Sir John Clerk of Pennycuik, 5th Baronet FRSE (1736–1798) was a Royal Navy officer. Active in the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, he thereby became a founder fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh upon its formation in 1783.
Life
He was born in Midlothian the son of Sir George Clerk-Maxwell (1715–84) and his wife, Dorothea. John became a baronet upon the death of his father in 1784.He became Director of the Highland Society in 1785.He died on 24 February 1798 and is buried with his wife, Rosemary Dacre Appleby in Penicuik churchyard. They had no children and the baronetcy passed to his nephew George.
Artistic recognition
A famous portrait of Sir John and Lady Clerk, by Sir Henry Raeburn, is held by the National Gallery of Ireland.
== References ==
|
given name
|
{
"answer_start": [
4
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"text": [
"John"
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|
O-aew (Thai: โอ้เอ๋ว, RTGS: o-eo, pronounced [ôːʔěːw], from Chinese: 薁蕘; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ò-giô) is a shaved ice dessert known as a local specialty of Phuket, Thailand. Introduced by Hokkien Chinese settlers, it is known after its main ingredient, a jelly made from seeds of the o-aew plant (a variety of the creeping fig, Ficus pumila var. awkeotsang), an ingredient now most commonly found in Taiwan where it is known as aiyu jelly.
History and preparation
O-aew originated from aiyu jelly, an ingredient in Hokkien Chinese cuisine, and was introduced to Phuket by Hokkien immigrants who settled there during the boom in the tin mining industry from the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. While the jelly is found today in various locations with significant Hokkien diaspora such as Taiwan and Singapore, the variety found in Phuket was most influenced by nearby Penang. Several well-known vendors in Phuket's Old Town have sold o-aew as a family business over multiple generations.
The dessert's main ingredient is the jelly made from seeds of the o-aew plant. The seeds are soaked and squeezed to extract a gel, which is mixed with extracted juice from the nam wa banana. Calcium sulphate is added as a gelling agent, and the jelly left to set overnight. It is served with crushed ice and syrup, and with toppings commonly including red kidney beans and grass jelly. It is often ordered by referring to the colours white, red and black as a code for the ingredients: white for the o-aew jelly, red for the kidney beans, and black for the grass jelly. For example, white-red would refer to an order of o-aew with a topping of kidney beans.
See also
List of Thai desserts
Phuket cuisine
Notes
References
Siripong (September 8, 2010). "O-Aew, a refreshing iced dish for Chaluay". Phuketindex.com. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
"Phuket dish o aew is always yummy jelly in your belly". The Phuket News. April 23, 2013.
|
Commons category
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"O-aew"
]
}
|
O-aew (Thai: โอ้เอ๋ว, RTGS: o-eo, pronounced [ôːʔěːw], from Chinese: 薁蕘; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ò-giô) is a shaved ice dessert known as a local specialty of Phuket, Thailand. Introduced by Hokkien Chinese settlers, it is known after its main ingredient, a jelly made from seeds of the o-aew plant (a variety of the creeping fig, Ficus pumila var. awkeotsang), an ingredient now most commonly found in Taiwan where it is known as aiyu jelly.
History and preparation
O-aew originated from aiyu jelly, an ingredient in Hokkien Chinese cuisine, and was introduced to Phuket by Hokkien immigrants who settled there during the boom in the tin mining industry from the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. While the jelly is found today in various locations with significant Hokkien diaspora such as Taiwan and Singapore, the variety found in Phuket was most influenced by nearby Penang. Several well-known vendors in Phuket's Old Town have sold o-aew as a family business over multiple generations.
The dessert's main ingredient is the jelly made from seeds of the o-aew plant. The seeds are soaked and squeezed to extract a gel, which is mixed with extracted juice from the nam wa banana. Calcium sulphate is added as a gelling agent, and the jelly left to set overnight. It is served with crushed ice and syrup, and with toppings commonly including red kidney beans and grass jelly. It is often ordered by referring to the colours white, red and black as a code for the ingredients: white for the o-aew jelly, red for the kidney beans, and black for the grass jelly. For example, white-red would refer to an order of o-aew with a topping of kidney beans.
See also
List of Thai desserts
Phuket cuisine
Notes
References
Siripong (September 8, 2010). "O-Aew, a refreshing iced dish for Chaluay". Phuketindex.com. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
"Phuket dish o aew is always yummy jelly in your belly". The Phuket News. April 23, 2013.
|
has active ingredient
|
{
"answer_start": [
318
],
"text": [
"Ficus pumila var. awkeotsang"
]
}
|
William des Roches (died 1222) (in French Guillaume des Roches) was a French knight and crusader who acted as Seneschal of Anjou, of Maine and of Touraine. After serving the Angevin kings of England, in 1202 he changed his loyalty to King Philip II of France and became a leading member of his government.
Origins
Born about 1160, his origins are unknown but he is taken to be from the same family of knightly status in or near Château-du-Loir that produced his contemporary Peter des Roches, the Bishop of Winchester.
Early career
William des Roches early in his life had been a mesnie knight of King Henry II of England. During the rebellion of 1189, Richard of Poitou (later Richard I of England) and King Philip II of France attacked the ageing king of England in the city of his birth, Le Mans. Guillaume had participated in the defense of Le Mans in the company of such knights as William Marshal and Gerard Talbot and was with King Henry when he was forced to flee the city. According to "The History of William the Marshal", des Roches rode in the vanguard of the retreating royal force. He wheeled around with William Marshal and engaged Count Richard's vanguard where he successfully charged and knocked Philip de Colombiers off of his horse.
After the death of King Henry, Guillaume enrolled in the royal mesnie of Richard, now King of England, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine and Count of Anjou. William was a trusted confidant of King Richard, and during the Third Crusade he was involved in the conquest of Sicily, the Siege of Acre, the Battle of Arsuf, and the Battle of Jaffa. In 1192, he was sent with Pierre de Preaux and Gerard de Fournival as part of a deputation to obtain safe conducts for the crusading host to enter Jerusalem and its environs. William remained a steadfast adherent to Richard in his wars with King Philip of France from 1194–1199 and it may have been at this time that he was arranged to be married to Marguerite, the daughter and heiress of Robert de Sablé.
Angevin war of succession (1199–1204)
Breton service
At the death of Richard at Chalus in April 1199, the Angevin kingship faced a serious succession dispute between Prince John of England, brother of King Richard, and Arthur of Brittany, Richard's nephew. The leaders of England, Normandy, and Poitou sided with John, while the barons of Anjou and Brittany chose Arthur according to their customs of succession. William, then at Le Mans, threw in his support for Arthur along with a very powerful group of Manceaux and Angevin barons, including Juhel II of Mayenne and his mother Isabella of Meulan. Des Roches became Arthur's seneschal of Anjou and was entrusted with the defense of Le Mans. The city of Tours was surrendered to Arthur and Eleanor, duchess of Aquitaine and queen-mother of England. In addition, she was Arthur's grandmother. She sent a force under Viscount Aimery VII of Thouars, John's newly appointed seneschal of Anjou (replacing Robert of Turnham), Hugh IX of Lusignan, and his brother Raoul I of Exoudun, count of Eu. Eleanor's force was successful in entering the suburbs of Tours, but was driven back by King Philip II of France who had himself chosen Arthur as Richard's rightful successor.
In May 1199, King Philip of France met with William des Roches at Le Mans and together they attacked the border fortress of Ballon, the fortress was surrendered by Geoffrey de Brûlon, the castellan, but not before being demolished. A quarrel ensued between King Philip and William over the lordship of the site. William was adamant that Ballon belonged rightfully to Duke Arthur, while King Philip wished to retain it as his own.
English service
In June 1199, King John of England launched a massive attack into Northern Maine from Argentan. On 13 September he was successful in repulsing King Philip from the fortress of Lavardin which protected the route from Le Mans to Tours. Arthur's supporters were forced to come to terms with John, and William met with the English king at Bourg-le-Roi, a fortress of the pro-John viscounts of Beaumont-en-Maine on or about 18 September. John convinced William that Arthur of Brittany was being used solely as tool of Capetian strategy and managed to convince him to switch sides. With this, John promised him the seneschalship of Anjou. During the night, John's incumbent seneschal, Viscount Aimery, took Arthur and Constance and fled the court. They fled first to Angers, then to the court of King Philip. King John officially designated William seneschal of Anjou in December 1199 and entered Angers triumphantly on 24 June 1200.
During the summer of 1201, William married Marguerite de Sablé. With this marriage came a vast landholding that included Sablé, La Suze, Briollay, Maiet, Loupelandé, Genneteil, Precigné, and the Norman manor of Agon (which was held of the lord of Mayenne). William had become overnight one of the greatest barons of Anjou and Maine and relative-in-law to the most exclusive houses of the region.
Coinciding with a renewed French attack on upper Normandy, Arthur along with many prominent knights of France and Poitou attempted to capture Eleanor of Aquitaine as she traveled from Anjou to her chief seat at Poitiers. Taking refuge in the castle of Mirebeau on the road just north of Poitiers, she came under siege. William agreed to help John with the relief of the castle as long as any prisoners captured were treated within common custom. He led a large contingent of Angevin knights along with Aimery of Thouars (now returned to favor with John by the diplomacy of Eleanor of Aquitaine) in John's company, and they arrived outside the castle on the night of 31 July 1202. The Battle of Mirebeau, fought the following day, was a decisive victory for King John in which Duke Arthur of Brittany was captured. Many of the prisoners captured, important Poitevins and Bretons, were grossly mistreated and some, including royal relatives like the viscount Hugh of Châtellerault and André de Chauvigny, were starved to death. Arthur himself disappeared in John's Norman prisons and many, including the French king, came to the conclusion that Arthur was in fact murdered by his uncle, King John.
French service
William immediately left John's service (between 17 and 25 August 1202) and departed to the court of Juhel de Mayenne. John sent soldiers to secure Angers and Tours and revoked William's seneschalship. King John then split the office and gave the seneschalship of Anjou to Brice the Chamberlain, a mercenary in his pay. The seneschalship of Tours was given to another mercenary captain, Martin Algais. Des Roches launched an attack on Angers and captured the city on 30 October 1202. Simultaneously, Sulpice III d'Amboise captured the town, but not the citadel at Tours. In January 1203, John mustered an army at Argentan for the reconquest of his Loire provinces. John took up court in Alençon and then Le Mans while his army was mustering. While in Le Mans he learned of the treachery of the count of Sees who had usurped authority in the town of Alençon (a town that belonged to his grandfather, Count William Talvas, up to 1166). Along with Count Robert of Sees rebelled Viscount Ralph of Beaumont. With two great barons of northern Maine now in the French camp, John's chances of retaining even Maine were reduced significantly. John, avoiding fortresses belonging to rebels, slowly made his way back to his army at Argentan. Alençon was offered to King Philip of France by the rebellious count in return for Philip's recognition of his comital authority over the area and possession of the family's castle at La Roche-Mabile.
While the barons of northern Maine kept John busy, William and a league of barons from the region including Maurice III of Craon, Thibaud V of Blaison, Bernard III of La Ferte, and Juhel II of Mayenne traveled to Paris and offered their homage and fealty to King Philip of France. With this, King Philip launched his forces into Anjou to attack strongholds that still held out for John. Saumur was captured in April 1203 and Beaufort-en-Vallée and Châteauneuf-sur-Sarthe fell soon thereafter. William, and his forces launched an attack on Le Mans and captured the city by about 17 May. One of John's final acts of 1203 was to bring Alençon under siege in August, he was unsuccessful in capturing the castle, and with many of his Norman castles under siege or already captured (including Vaudreuil), he must have known that the end of Angevin rule north of the Loire was upon him.
King Philip triumphant
William's family had originated from the lesser aristocracy, knights from Chateau-du-Loir, a castle that was granted as a dowry property of King Richard's widow, Berengaria of Navarre. Guillaume arranged for the exchange of his lordship of Le Mans (split with the bishop and the hereditary Manceaux seneschals, the 'Mauchien' family) for Berengaria's castle which he then became lord of. The exchange was ratified by King Philip.
King Philip had conquered Normandy (receiving the surrender of Peter de Preaux at Rouen in April 1204. Philip had then marched through Anjou and entered Poitiers after the death of Duchess Eleanor on 1 April. It was in Poitiers that Philip officially granted the hereditary seneschalship on to William. By a later charter (1206) William received custody of Angers, Loudun, Saumur, Brissac, Beaufort, and "all the land of Anjou" at the King's pleasure. The lasting settlement arranged in 1208 had King Philip retain authority in Touraine with the castles of Chinon, Bourgueil, Loudun, Saumur, and Langeais. William was granted custody of all of Anjou and Maine including the fortresses of Bauge and Chateauneuf-sur-Sarthe. In addition, William was granted the "third penny" of justice in Anjou and one mark of silver per fifty livres of demesnial revenue. He was also permitted to assign baillis to assist him, Hamelin de Roorta being the most prominent. Coincidentally, Aimery of Thouars was conferred the seneschalship of Poitou by King Philip to similar terms with exception to the added revenue. King John's senechal of Poitou for 1205 had been Savaric of Mauleon, who was limited to the Aunis coastline and later in the year the castle of Niort.
Des Roches and Dreux of Mello, constable of France conducted the attack in Touraine culminating with capture of John's last Angevin fortresses, Chinon and Loches. Hubert de Burgh, John's castellan of both locations was forced to surrender in June 1205.
In 1206, John restabilized his rule in Poitou, Guienne, and Gascony, driving Castilian forces from Bourg, Bayonne, and Dax. Leading barons of Poitou preferred the absentee rule of King John to the more autocratic rule of King Philip; the Thouars, Mauleon, Lusignan, Parthenay, and Sugeres families all allied with King John. William set out with a force of knights to defend the Roman road connecting Tours and Poitiers. Other than a brief occupation of Angers, John was unsuccessful in making further progress north of the Loire. John departed after signing a two-year truce with King Philip that recognized the status quo. As soon as the truce was up in 1208, William and Dreux de Mello (based at Loches) collected some 300 knights and launched numerous attacks on Thouars holdings in Poitou.
Albigensian Crusade and later life
William took the cross in 1209 and left Anjou to crusade in the Toulousain and Languedoc with Eudes III of Burgundy against the Cathar heretics. He was active at the siege of Béziers in July and Carcassonne in August. He wouldn't again participate in the Albigensian Crusade until 1219 at the Siege of Marmande under Prince Louis (later Louis VIII of France, the eldest son and heir of King Philip II of France.
King John again attacked Anjou from the south during the Bouvines Campaign of 1214. John was repulsed from Nantes but was able to enter Angers on 17 June. John moved out of the city to reduce the local forts, two succumbed quickly, but the garrison of the new fort at La Roche-aux-Moines, located just south of Angers, held out. An army of 800 knights under the command of the seneschal, Prince Louis, Amauri I de Craon, and Henri Clement, marshal of France collected at Chinon. John was deserted by his Thouars and Lusignan allies upon hearing of the collection of so great a force. On 2 July 1214, William and Prince Louis were victorious at the Battle of La Roche-aux-Moines and forced John to retreat clear to La Rochelle.
The seneschal died in 1222 and his eldest daughter, Jeanne brought the Sable barony and the hereditary seneschalship to her husband, Amauri de Craon.
See also
List of Counts and Dukes of Anjou
Angevin Empire
Anjou
References
Further reading
John W. Baldwin (1986), "The Government of Philip Augustus"
Daniel Power (2004), "The Norman Frontier in the Twelfth and Early Thirteenth Centuries"
Sir Maurice Powicke (1913), "The Loss of Normandy"
John Gillingham, "The Angevin Empire"
External links
earlyBlazon
|
spouse
|
{
"answer_start": [
4658
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"text": [
"Marguerite de Sablé"
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William des Roches (died 1222) (in French Guillaume des Roches) was a French knight and crusader who acted as Seneschal of Anjou, of Maine and of Touraine. After serving the Angevin kings of England, in 1202 he changed his loyalty to King Philip II of France and became a leading member of his government.
Origins
Born about 1160, his origins are unknown but he is taken to be from the same family of knightly status in or near Château-du-Loir that produced his contemporary Peter des Roches, the Bishop of Winchester.
Early career
William des Roches early in his life had been a mesnie knight of King Henry II of England. During the rebellion of 1189, Richard of Poitou (later Richard I of England) and King Philip II of France attacked the ageing king of England in the city of his birth, Le Mans. Guillaume had participated in the defense of Le Mans in the company of such knights as William Marshal and Gerard Talbot and was with King Henry when he was forced to flee the city. According to "The History of William the Marshal", des Roches rode in the vanguard of the retreating royal force. He wheeled around with William Marshal and engaged Count Richard's vanguard where he successfully charged and knocked Philip de Colombiers off of his horse.
After the death of King Henry, Guillaume enrolled in the royal mesnie of Richard, now King of England, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine and Count of Anjou. William was a trusted confidant of King Richard, and during the Third Crusade he was involved in the conquest of Sicily, the Siege of Acre, the Battle of Arsuf, and the Battle of Jaffa. In 1192, he was sent with Pierre de Preaux and Gerard de Fournival as part of a deputation to obtain safe conducts for the crusading host to enter Jerusalem and its environs. William remained a steadfast adherent to Richard in his wars with King Philip of France from 1194–1199 and it may have been at this time that he was arranged to be married to Marguerite, the daughter and heiress of Robert de Sablé.
Angevin war of succession (1199–1204)
Breton service
At the death of Richard at Chalus in April 1199, the Angevin kingship faced a serious succession dispute between Prince John of England, brother of King Richard, and Arthur of Brittany, Richard's nephew. The leaders of England, Normandy, and Poitou sided with John, while the barons of Anjou and Brittany chose Arthur according to their customs of succession. William, then at Le Mans, threw in his support for Arthur along with a very powerful group of Manceaux and Angevin barons, including Juhel II of Mayenne and his mother Isabella of Meulan. Des Roches became Arthur's seneschal of Anjou and was entrusted with the defense of Le Mans. The city of Tours was surrendered to Arthur and Eleanor, duchess of Aquitaine and queen-mother of England. In addition, she was Arthur's grandmother. She sent a force under Viscount Aimery VII of Thouars, John's newly appointed seneschal of Anjou (replacing Robert of Turnham), Hugh IX of Lusignan, and his brother Raoul I of Exoudun, count of Eu. Eleanor's force was successful in entering the suburbs of Tours, but was driven back by King Philip II of France who had himself chosen Arthur as Richard's rightful successor.
In May 1199, King Philip of France met with William des Roches at Le Mans and together they attacked the border fortress of Ballon, the fortress was surrendered by Geoffrey de Brûlon, the castellan, but not before being demolished. A quarrel ensued between King Philip and William over the lordship of the site. William was adamant that Ballon belonged rightfully to Duke Arthur, while King Philip wished to retain it as his own.
English service
In June 1199, King John of England launched a massive attack into Northern Maine from Argentan. On 13 September he was successful in repulsing King Philip from the fortress of Lavardin which protected the route from Le Mans to Tours. Arthur's supporters were forced to come to terms with John, and William met with the English king at Bourg-le-Roi, a fortress of the pro-John viscounts of Beaumont-en-Maine on or about 18 September. John convinced William that Arthur of Brittany was being used solely as tool of Capetian strategy and managed to convince him to switch sides. With this, John promised him the seneschalship of Anjou. During the night, John's incumbent seneschal, Viscount Aimery, took Arthur and Constance and fled the court. They fled first to Angers, then to the court of King Philip. King John officially designated William seneschal of Anjou in December 1199 and entered Angers triumphantly on 24 June 1200.
During the summer of 1201, William married Marguerite de Sablé. With this marriage came a vast landholding that included Sablé, La Suze, Briollay, Maiet, Loupelandé, Genneteil, Precigné, and the Norman manor of Agon (which was held of the lord of Mayenne). William had become overnight one of the greatest barons of Anjou and Maine and relative-in-law to the most exclusive houses of the region.
Coinciding with a renewed French attack on upper Normandy, Arthur along with many prominent knights of France and Poitou attempted to capture Eleanor of Aquitaine as she traveled from Anjou to her chief seat at Poitiers. Taking refuge in the castle of Mirebeau on the road just north of Poitiers, she came under siege. William agreed to help John with the relief of the castle as long as any prisoners captured were treated within common custom. He led a large contingent of Angevin knights along with Aimery of Thouars (now returned to favor with John by the diplomacy of Eleanor of Aquitaine) in John's company, and they arrived outside the castle on the night of 31 July 1202. The Battle of Mirebeau, fought the following day, was a decisive victory for King John in which Duke Arthur of Brittany was captured. Many of the prisoners captured, important Poitevins and Bretons, were grossly mistreated and some, including royal relatives like the viscount Hugh of Châtellerault and André de Chauvigny, were starved to death. Arthur himself disappeared in John's Norman prisons and many, including the French king, came to the conclusion that Arthur was in fact murdered by his uncle, King John.
French service
William immediately left John's service (between 17 and 25 August 1202) and departed to the court of Juhel de Mayenne. John sent soldiers to secure Angers and Tours and revoked William's seneschalship. King John then split the office and gave the seneschalship of Anjou to Brice the Chamberlain, a mercenary in his pay. The seneschalship of Tours was given to another mercenary captain, Martin Algais. Des Roches launched an attack on Angers and captured the city on 30 October 1202. Simultaneously, Sulpice III d'Amboise captured the town, but not the citadel at Tours. In January 1203, John mustered an army at Argentan for the reconquest of his Loire provinces. John took up court in Alençon and then Le Mans while his army was mustering. While in Le Mans he learned of the treachery of the count of Sees who had usurped authority in the town of Alençon (a town that belonged to his grandfather, Count William Talvas, up to 1166). Along with Count Robert of Sees rebelled Viscount Ralph of Beaumont. With two great barons of northern Maine now in the French camp, John's chances of retaining even Maine were reduced significantly. John, avoiding fortresses belonging to rebels, slowly made his way back to his army at Argentan. Alençon was offered to King Philip of France by the rebellious count in return for Philip's recognition of his comital authority over the area and possession of the family's castle at La Roche-Mabile.
While the barons of northern Maine kept John busy, William and a league of barons from the region including Maurice III of Craon, Thibaud V of Blaison, Bernard III of La Ferte, and Juhel II of Mayenne traveled to Paris and offered their homage and fealty to King Philip of France. With this, King Philip launched his forces into Anjou to attack strongholds that still held out for John. Saumur was captured in April 1203 and Beaufort-en-Vallée and Châteauneuf-sur-Sarthe fell soon thereafter. William, and his forces launched an attack on Le Mans and captured the city by about 17 May. One of John's final acts of 1203 was to bring Alençon under siege in August, he was unsuccessful in capturing the castle, and with many of his Norman castles under siege or already captured (including Vaudreuil), he must have known that the end of Angevin rule north of the Loire was upon him.
King Philip triumphant
William's family had originated from the lesser aristocracy, knights from Chateau-du-Loir, a castle that was granted as a dowry property of King Richard's widow, Berengaria of Navarre. Guillaume arranged for the exchange of his lordship of Le Mans (split with the bishop and the hereditary Manceaux seneschals, the 'Mauchien' family) for Berengaria's castle which he then became lord of. The exchange was ratified by King Philip.
King Philip had conquered Normandy (receiving the surrender of Peter de Preaux at Rouen in April 1204. Philip had then marched through Anjou and entered Poitiers after the death of Duchess Eleanor on 1 April. It was in Poitiers that Philip officially granted the hereditary seneschalship on to William. By a later charter (1206) William received custody of Angers, Loudun, Saumur, Brissac, Beaufort, and "all the land of Anjou" at the King's pleasure. The lasting settlement arranged in 1208 had King Philip retain authority in Touraine with the castles of Chinon, Bourgueil, Loudun, Saumur, and Langeais. William was granted custody of all of Anjou and Maine including the fortresses of Bauge and Chateauneuf-sur-Sarthe. In addition, William was granted the "third penny" of justice in Anjou and one mark of silver per fifty livres of demesnial revenue. He was also permitted to assign baillis to assist him, Hamelin de Roorta being the most prominent. Coincidentally, Aimery of Thouars was conferred the seneschalship of Poitou by King Philip to similar terms with exception to the added revenue. King John's senechal of Poitou for 1205 had been Savaric of Mauleon, who was limited to the Aunis coastline and later in the year the castle of Niort.
Des Roches and Dreux of Mello, constable of France conducted the attack in Touraine culminating with capture of John's last Angevin fortresses, Chinon and Loches. Hubert de Burgh, John's castellan of both locations was forced to surrender in June 1205.
In 1206, John restabilized his rule in Poitou, Guienne, and Gascony, driving Castilian forces from Bourg, Bayonne, and Dax. Leading barons of Poitou preferred the absentee rule of King John to the more autocratic rule of King Philip; the Thouars, Mauleon, Lusignan, Parthenay, and Sugeres families all allied with King John. William set out with a force of knights to defend the Roman road connecting Tours and Poitiers. Other than a brief occupation of Angers, John was unsuccessful in making further progress north of the Loire. John departed after signing a two-year truce with King Philip that recognized the status quo. As soon as the truce was up in 1208, William and Dreux de Mello (based at Loches) collected some 300 knights and launched numerous attacks on Thouars holdings in Poitou.
Albigensian Crusade and later life
William took the cross in 1209 and left Anjou to crusade in the Toulousain and Languedoc with Eudes III of Burgundy against the Cathar heretics. He was active at the siege of Béziers in July and Carcassonne in August. He wouldn't again participate in the Albigensian Crusade until 1219 at the Siege of Marmande under Prince Louis (later Louis VIII of France, the eldest son and heir of King Philip II of France.
King John again attacked Anjou from the south during the Bouvines Campaign of 1214. John was repulsed from Nantes but was able to enter Angers on 17 June. John moved out of the city to reduce the local forts, two succumbed quickly, but the garrison of the new fort at La Roche-aux-Moines, located just south of Angers, held out. An army of 800 knights under the command of the seneschal, Prince Louis, Amauri I de Craon, and Henri Clement, marshal of France collected at Chinon. John was deserted by his Thouars and Lusignan allies upon hearing of the collection of so great a force. On 2 July 1214, William and Prince Louis were victorious at the Battle of La Roche-aux-Moines and forced John to retreat clear to La Rochelle.
The seneschal died in 1222 and his eldest daughter, Jeanne brought the Sable barony and the hereditary seneschalship to her husband, Amauri de Craon.
See also
List of Counts and Dukes of Anjou
Angevin Empire
Anjou
References
Further reading
John W. Baldwin (1986), "The Government of Philip Augustus"
Daniel Power (2004), "The Norman Frontier in the Twelfth and Early Thirteenth Centuries"
Sir Maurice Powicke (1913), "The Loss of Normandy"
John Gillingham, "The Angevin Empire"
External links
earlyBlazon
|
noble title
|
{
"answer_start": [
4059
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"text": [
"viscount"
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William des Roches (died 1222) (in French Guillaume des Roches) was a French knight and crusader who acted as Seneschal of Anjou, of Maine and of Touraine. After serving the Angevin kings of England, in 1202 he changed his loyalty to King Philip II of France and became a leading member of his government.
Origins
Born about 1160, his origins are unknown but he is taken to be from the same family of knightly status in or near Château-du-Loir that produced his contemporary Peter des Roches, the Bishop of Winchester.
Early career
William des Roches early in his life had been a mesnie knight of King Henry II of England. During the rebellion of 1189, Richard of Poitou (later Richard I of England) and King Philip II of France attacked the ageing king of England in the city of his birth, Le Mans. Guillaume had participated in the defense of Le Mans in the company of such knights as William Marshal and Gerard Talbot and was with King Henry when he was forced to flee the city. According to "The History of William the Marshal", des Roches rode in the vanguard of the retreating royal force. He wheeled around with William Marshal and engaged Count Richard's vanguard where he successfully charged and knocked Philip de Colombiers off of his horse.
After the death of King Henry, Guillaume enrolled in the royal mesnie of Richard, now King of England, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine and Count of Anjou. William was a trusted confidant of King Richard, and during the Third Crusade he was involved in the conquest of Sicily, the Siege of Acre, the Battle of Arsuf, and the Battle of Jaffa. In 1192, he was sent with Pierre de Preaux and Gerard de Fournival as part of a deputation to obtain safe conducts for the crusading host to enter Jerusalem and its environs. William remained a steadfast adherent to Richard in his wars with King Philip of France from 1194–1199 and it may have been at this time that he was arranged to be married to Marguerite, the daughter and heiress of Robert de Sablé.
Angevin war of succession (1199–1204)
Breton service
At the death of Richard at Chalus in April 1199, the Angevin kingship faced a serious succession dispute between Prince John of England, brother of King Richard, and Arthur of Brittany, Richard's nephew. The leaders of England, Normandy, and Poitou sided with John, while the barons of Anjou and Brittany chose Arthur according to their customs of succession. William, then at Le Mans, threw in his support for Arthur along with a very powerful group of Manceaux and Angevin barons, including Juhel II of Mayenne and his mother Isabella of Meulan. Des Roches became Arthur's seneschal of Anjou and was entrusted with the defense of Le Mans. The city of Tours was surrendered to Arthur and Eleanor, duchess of Aquitaine and queen-mother of England. In addition, she was Arthur's grandmother. She sent a force under Viscount Aimery VII of Thouars, John's newly appointed seneschal of Anjou (replacing Robert of Turnham), Hugh IX of Lusignan, and his brother Raoul I of Exoudun, count of Eu. Eleanor's force was successful in entering the suburbs of Tours, but was driven back by King Philip II of France who had himself chosen Arthur as Richard's rightful successor.
In May 1199, King Philip of France met with William des Roches at Le Mans and together they attacked the border fortress of Ballon, the fortress was surrendered by Geoffrey de Brûlon, the castellan, but not before being demolished. A quarrel ensued between King Philip and William over the lordship of the site. William was adamant that Ballon belonged rightfully to Duke Arthur, while King Philip wished to retain it as his own.
English service
In June 1199, King John of England launched a massive attack into Northern Maine from Argentan. On 13 September he was successful in repulsing King Philip from the fortress of Lavardin which protected the route from Le Mans to Tours. Arthur's supporters were forced to come to terms with John, and William met with the English king at Bourg-le-Roi, a fortress of the pro-John viscounts of Beaumont-en-Maine on or about 18 September. John convinced William that Arthur of Brittany was being used solely as tool of Capetian strategy and managed to convince him to switch sides. With this, John promised him the seneschalship of Anjou. During the night, John's incumbent seneschal, Viscount Aimery, took Arthur and Constance and fled the court. They fled first to Angers, then to the court of King Philip. King John officially designated William seneschal of Anjou in December 1199 and entered Angers triumphantly on 24 June 1200.
During the summer of 1201, William married Marguerite de Sablé. With this marriage came a vast landholding that included Sablé, La Suze, Briollay, Maiet, Loupelandé, Genneteil, Precigné, and the Norman manor of Agon (which was held of the lord of Mayenne). William had become overnight one of the greatest barons of Anjou and Maine and relative-in-law to the most exclusive houses of the region.
Coinciding with a renewed French attack on upper Normandy, Arthur along with many prominent knights of France and Poitou attempted to capture Eleanor of Aquitaine as she traveled from Anjou to her chief seat at Poitiers. Taking refuge in the castle of Mirebeau on the road just north of Poitiers, she came under siege. William agreed to help John with the relief of the castle as long as any prisoners captured were treated within common custom. He led a large contingent of Angevin knights along with Aimery of Thouars (now returned to favor with John by the diplomacy of Eleanor of Aquitaine) in John's company, and they arrived outside the castle on the night of 31 July 1202. The Battle of Mirebeau, fought the following day, was a decisive victory for King John in which Duke Arthur of Brittany was captured. Many of the prisoners captured, important Poitevins and Bretons, were grossly mistreated and some, including royal relatives like the viscount Hugh of Châtellerault and André de Chauvigny, were starved to death. Arthur himself disappeared in John's Norman prisons and many, including the French king, came to the conclusion that Arthur was in fact murdered by his uncle, King John.
French service
William immediately left John's service (between 17 and 25 August 1202) and departed to the court of Juhel de Mayenne. John sent soldiers to secure Angers and Tours and revoked William's seneschalship. King John then split the office and gave the seneschalship of Anjou to Brice the Chamberlain, a mercenary in his pay. The seneschalship of Tours was given to another mercenary captain, Martin Algais. Des Roches launched an attack on Angers and captured the city on 30 October 1202. Simultaneously, Sulpice III d'Amboise captured the town, but not the citadel at Tours. In January 1203, John mustered an army at Argentan for the reconquest of his Loire provinces. John took up court in Alençon and then Le Mans while his army was mustering. While in Le Mans he learned of the treachery of the count of Sees who had usurped authority in the town of Alençon (a town that belonged to his grandfather, Count William Talvas, up to 1166). Along with Count Robert of Sees rebelled Viscount Ralph of Beaumont. With two great barons of northern Maine now in the French camp, John's chances of retaining even Maine were reduced significantly. John, avoiding fortresses belonging to rebels, slowly made his way back to his army at Argentan. Alençon was offered to King Philip of France by the rebellious count in return for Philip's recognition of his comital authority over the area and possession of the family's castle at La Roche-Mabile.
While the barons of northern Maine kept John busy, William and a league of barons from the region including Maurice III of Craon, Thibaud V of Blaison, Bernard III of La Ferte, and Juhel II of Mayenne traveled to Paris and offered their homage and fealty to King Philip of France. With this, King Philip launched his forces into Anjou to attack strongholds that still held out for John. Saumur was captured in April 1203 and Beaufort-en-Vallée and Châteauneuf-sur-Sarthe fell soon thereafter. William, and his forces launched an attack on Le Mans and captured the city by about 17 May. One of John's final acts of 1203 was to bring Alençon under siege in August, he was unsuccessful in capturing the castle, and with many of his Norman castles under siege or already captured (including Vaudreuil), he must have known that the end of Angevin rule north of the Loire was upon him.
King Philip triumphant
William's family had originated from the lesser aristocracy, knights from Chateau-du-Loir, a castle that was granted as a dowry property of King Richard's widow, Berengaria of Navarre. Guillaume arranged for the exchange of his lordship of Le Mans (split with the bishop and the hereditary Manceaux seneschals, the 'Mauchien' family) for Berengaria's castle which he then became lord of. The exchange was ratified by King Philip.
King Philip had conquered Normandy (receiving the surrender of Peter de Preaux at Rouen in April 1204. Philip had then marched through Anjou and entered Poitiers after the death of Duchess Eleanor on 1 April. It was in Poitiers that Philip officially granted the hereditary seneschalship on to William. By a later charter (1206) William received custody of Angers, Loudun, Saumur, Brissac, Beaufort, and "all the land of Anjou" at the King's pleasure. The lasting settlement arranged in 1208 had King Philip retain authority in Touraine with the castles of Chinon, Bourgueil, Loudun, Saumur, and Langeais. William was granted custody of all of Anjou and Maine including the fortresses of Bauge and Chateauneuf-sur-Sarthe. In addition, William was granted the "third penny" of justice in Anjou and one mark of silver per fifty livres of demesnial revenue. He was also permitted to assign baillis to assist him, Hamelin de Roorta being the most prominent. Coincidentally, Aimery of Thouars was conferred the seneschalship of Poitou by King Philip to similar terms with exception to the added revenue. King John's senechal of Poitou for 1205 had been Savaric of Mauleon, who was limited to the Aunis coastline and later in the year the castle of Niort.
Des Roches and Dreux of Mello, constable of France conducted the attack in Touraine culminating with capture of John's last Angevin fortresses, Chinon and Loches. Hubert de Burgh, John's castellan of both locations was forced to surrender in June 1205.
In 1206, John restabilized his rule in Poitou, Guienne, and Gascony, driving Castilian forces from Bourg, Bayonne, and Dax. Leading barons of Poitou preferred the absentee rule of King John to the more autocratic rule of King Philip; the Thouars, Mauleon, Lusignan, Parthenay, and Sugeres families all allied with King John. William set out with a force of knights to defend the Roman road connecting Tours and Poitiers. Other than a brief occupation of Angers, John was unsuccessful in making further progress north of the Loire. John departed after signing a two-year truce with King Philip that recognized the status quo. As soon as the truce was up in 1208, William and Dreux de Mello (based at Loches) collected some 300 knights and launched numerous attacks on Thouars holdings in Poitou.
Albigensian Crusade and later life
William took the cross in 1209 and left Anjou to crusade in the Toulousain and Languedoc with Eudes III of Burgundy against the Cathar heretics. He was active at the siege of Béziers in July and Carcassonne in August. He wouldn't again participate in the Albigensian Crusade until 1219 at the Siege of Marmande under Prince Louis (later Louis VIII of France, the eldest son and heir of King Philip II of France.
King John again attacked Anjou from the south during the Bouvines Campaign of 1214. John was repulsed from Nantes but was able to enter Angers on 17 June. John moved out of the city to reduce the local forts, two succumbed quickly, but the garrison of the new fort at La Roche-aux-Moines, located just south of Angers, held out. An army of 800 knights under the command of the seneschal, Prince Louis, Amauri I de Craon, and Henri Clement, marshal of France collected at Chinon. John was deserted by his Thouars and Lusignan allies upon hearing of the collection of so great a force. On 2 July 1214, William and Prince Louis were victorious at the Battle of La Roche-aux-Moines and forced John to retreat clear to La Rochelle.
The seneschal died in 1222 and his eldest daughter, Jeanne brought the Sable barony and the hereditary seneschalship to her husband, Amauri de Craon.
See also
List of Counts and Dukes of Anjou
Angevin Empire
Anjou
References
Further reading
John W. Baldwin (1986), "The Government of Philip Augustus"
Daniel Power (2004), "The Norman Frontier in the Twelfth and Early Thirteenth Centuries"
Sir Maurice Powicke (1913), "The Loss of Normandy"
John Gillingham, "The Angevin Empire"
External links
earlyBlazon
|
given name
|
{
"answer_start": [
42
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"text": [
"Guillaume"
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William des Roches (died 1222) (in French Guillaume des Roches) was a French knight and crusader who acted as Seneschal of Anjou, of Maine and of Touraine. After serving the Angevin kings of England, in 1202 he changed his loyalty to King Philip II of France and became a leading member of his government.
Origins
Born about 1160, his origins are unknown but he is taken to be from the same family of knightly status in or near Château-du-Loir that produced his contemporary Peter des Roches, the Bishop of Winchester.
Early career
William des Roches early in his life had been a mesnie knight of King Henry II of England. During the rebellion of 1189, Richard of Poitou (later Richard I of England) and King Philip II of France attacked the ageing king of England in the city of his birth, Le Mans. Guillaume had participated in the defense of Le Mans in the company of such knights as William Marshal and Gerard Talbot and was with King Henry when he was forced to flee the city. According to "The History of William the Marshal", des Roches rode in the vanguard of the retreating royal force. He wheeled around with William Marshal and engaged Count Richard's vanguard where he successfully charged and knocked Philip de Colombiers off of his horse.
After the death of King Henry, Guillaume enrolled in the royal mesnie of Richard, now King of England, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine and Count of Anjou. William was a trusted confidant of King Richard, and during the Third Crusade he was involved in the conquest of Sicily, the Siege of Acre, the Battle of Arsuf, and the Battle of Jaffa. In 1192, he was sent with Pierre de Preaux and Gerard de Fournival as part of a deputation to obtain safe conducts for the crusading host to enter Jerusalem and its environs. William remained a steadfast adherent to Richard in his wars with King Philip of France from 1194–1199 and it may have been at this time that he was arranged to be married to Marguerite, the daughter and heiress of Robert de Sablé.
Angevin war of succession (1199–1204)
Breton service
At the death of Richard at Chalus in April 1199, the Angevin kingship faced a serious succession dispute between Prince John of England, brother of King Richard, and Arthur of Brittany, Richard's nephew. The leaders of England, Normandy, and Poitou sided with John, while the barons of Anjou and Brittany chose Arthur according to their customs of succession. William, then at Le Mans, threw in his support for Arthur along with a very powerful group of Manceaux and Angevin barons, including Juhel II of Mayenne and his mother Isabella of Meulan. Des Roches became Arthur's seneschal of Anjou and was entrusted with the defense of Le Mans. The city of Tours was surrendered to Arthur and Eleanor, duchess of Aquitaine and queen-mother of England. In addition, she was Arthur's grandmother. She sent a force under Viscount Aimery VII of Thouars, John's newly appointed seneschal of Anjou (replacing Robert of Turnham), Hugh IX of Lusignan, and his brother Raoul I of Exoudun, count of Eu. Eleanor's force was successful in entering the suburbs of Tours, but was driven back by King Philip II of France who had himself chosen Arthur as Richard's rightful successor.
In May 1199, King Philip of France met with William des Roches at Le Mans and together they attacked the border fortress of Ballon, the fortress was surrendered by Geoffrey de Brûlon, the castellan, but not before being demolished. A quarrel ensued between King Philip and William over the lordship of the site. William was adamant that Ballon belonged rightfully to Duke Arthur, while King Philip wished to retain it as his own.
English service
In June 1199, King John of England launched a massive attack into Northern Maine from Argentan. On 13 September he was successful in repulsing King Philip from the fortress of Lavardin which protected the route from Le Mans to Tours. Arthur's supporters were forced to come to terms with John, and William met with the English king at Bourg-le-Roi, a fortress of the pro-John viscounts of Beaumont-en-Maine on or about 18 September. John convinced William that Arthur of Brittany was being used solely as tool of Capetian strategy and managed to convince him to switch sides. With this, John promised him the seneschalship of Anjou. During the night, John's incumbent seneschal, Viscount Aimery, took Arthur and Constance and fled the court. They fled first to Angers, then to the court of King Philip. King John officially designated William seneschal of Anjou in December 1199 and entered Angers triumphantly on 24 June 1200.
During the summer of 1201, William married Marguerite de Sablé. With this marriage came a vast landholding that included Sablé, La Suze, Briollay, Maiet, Loupelandé, Genneteil, Precigné, and the Norman manor of Agon (which was held of the lord of Mayenne). William had become overnight one of the greatest barons of Anjou and Maine and relative-in-law to the most exclusive houses of the region.
Coinciding with a renewed French attack on upper Normandy, Arthur along with many prominent knights of France and Poitou attempted to capture Eleanor of Aquitaine as she traveled from Anjou to her chief seat at Poitiers. Taking refuge in the castle of Mirebeau on the road just north of Poitiers, she came under siege. William agreed to help John with the relief of the castle as long as any prisoners captured were treated within common custom. He led a large contingent of Angevin knights along with Aimery of Thouars (now returned to favor with John by the diplomacy of Eleanor of Aquitaine) in John's company, and they arrived outside the castle on the night of 31 July 1202. The Battle of Mirebeau, fought the following day, was a decisive victory for King John in which Duke Arthur of Brittany was captured. Many of the prisoners captured, important Poitevins and Bretons, were grossly mistreated and some, including royal relatives like the viscount Hugh of Châtellerault and André de Chauvigny, were starved to death. Arthur himself disappeared in John's Norman prisons and many, including the French king, came to the conclusion that Arthur was in fact murdered by his uncle, King John.
French service
William immediately left John's service (between 17 and 25 August 1202) and departed to the court of Juhel de Mayenne. John sent soldiers to secure Angers and Tours and revoked William's seneschalship. King John then split the office and gave the seneschalship of Anjou to Brice the Chamberlain, a mercenary in his pay. The seneschalship of Tours was given to another mercenary captain, Martin Algais. Des Roches launched an attack on Angers and captured the city on 30 October 1202. Simultaneously, Sulpice III d'Amboise captured the town, but not the citadel at Tours. In January 1203, John mustered an army at Argentan for the reconquest of his Loire provinces. John took up court in Alençon and then Le Mans while his army was mustering. While in Le Mans he learned of the treachery of the count of Sees who had usurped authority in the town of Alençon (a town that belonged to his grandfather, Count William Talvas, up to 1166). Along with Count Robert of Sees rebelled Viscount Ralph of Beaumont. With two great barons of northern Maine now in the French camp, John's chances of retaining even Maine were reduced significantly. John, avoiding fortresses belonging to rebels, slowly made his way back to his army at Argentan. Alençon was offered to King Philip of France by the rebellious count in return for Philip's recognition of his comital authority over the area and possession of the family's castle at La Roche-Mabile.
While the barons of northern Maine kept John busy, William and a league of barons from the region including Maurice III of Craon, Thibaud V of Blaison, Bernard III of La Ferte, and Juhel II of Mayenne traveled to Paris and offered their homage and fealty to King Philip of France. With this, King Philip launched his forces into Anjou to attack strongholds that still held out for John. Saumur was captured in April 1203 and Beaufort-en-Vallée and Châteauneuf-sur-Sarthe fell soon thereafter. William, and his forces launched an attack on Le Mans and captured the city by about 17 May. One of John's final acts of 1203 was to bring Alençon under siege in August, he was unsuccessful in capturing the castle, and with many of his Norman castles under siege or already captured (including Vaudreuil), he must have known that the end of Angevin rule north of the Loire was upon him.
King Philip triumphant
William's family had originated from the lesser aristocracy, knights from Chateau-du-Loir, a castle that was granted as a dowry property of King Richard's widow, Berengaria of Navarre. Guillaume arranged for the exchange of his lordship of Le Mans (split with the bishop and the hereditary Manceaux seneschals, the 'Mauchien' family) for Berengaria's castle which he then became lord of. The exchange was ratified by King Philip.
King Philip had conquered Normandy (receiving the surrender of Peter de Preaux at Rouen in April 1204. Philip had then marched through Anjou and entered Poitiers after the death of Duchess Eleanor on 1 April. It was in Poitiers that Philip officially granted the hereditary seneschalship on to William. By a later charter (1206) William received custody of Angers, Loudun, Saumur, Brissac, Beaufort, and "all the land of Anjou" at the King's pleasure. The lasting settlement arranged in 1208 had King Philip retain authority in Touraine with the castles of Chinon, Bourgueil, Loudun, Saumur, and Langeais. William was granted custody of all of Anjou and Maine including the fortresses of Bauge and Chateauneuf-sur-Sarthe. In addition, William was granted the "third penny" of justice in Anjou and one mark of silver per fifty livres of demesnial revenue. He was also permitted to assign baillis to assist him, Hamelin de Roorta being the most prominent. Coincidentally, Aimery of Thouars was conferred the seneschalship of Poitou by King Philip to similar terms with exception to the added revenue. King John's senechal of Poitou for 1205 had been Savaric of Mauleon, who was limited to the Aunis coastline and later in the year the castle of Niort.
Des Roches and Dreux of Mello, constable of France conducted the attack in Touraine culminating with capture of John's last Angevin fortresses, Chinon and Loches. Hubert de Burgh, John's castellan of both locations was forced to surrender in June 1205.
In 1206, John restabilized his rule in Poitou, Guienne, and Gascony, driving Castilian forces from Bourg, Bayonne, and Dax. Leading barons of Poitou preferred the absentee rule of King John to the more autocratic rule of King Philip; the Thouars, Mauleon, Lusignan, Parthenay, and Sugeres families all allied with King John. William set out with a force of knights to defend the Roman road connecting Tours and Poitiers. Other than a brief occupation of Angers, John was unsuccessful in making further progress north of the Loire. John departed after signing a two-year truce with King Philip that recognized the status quo. As soon as the truce was up in 1208, William and Dreux de Mello (based at Loches) collected some 300 knights and launched numerous attacks on Thouars holdings in Poitou.
Albigensian Crusade and later life
William took the cross in 1209 and left Anjou to crusade in the Toulousain and Languedoc with Eudes III of Burgundy against the Cathar heretics. He was active at the siege of Béziers in July and Carcassonne in August. He wouldn't again participate in the Albigensian Crusade until 1219 at the Siege of Marmande under Prince Louis (later Louis VIII of France, the eldest son and heir of King Philip II of France.
King John again attacked Anjou from the south during the Bouvines Campaign of 1214. John was repulsed from Nantes but was able to enter Angers on 17 June. John moved out of the city to reduce the local forts, two succumbed quickly, but the garrison of the new fort at La Roche-aux-Moines, located just south of Angers, held out. An army of 800 knights under the command of the seneschal, Prince Louis, Amauri I de Craon, and Henri Clement, marshal of France collected at Chinon. John was deserted by his Thouars and Lusignan allies upon hearing of the collection of so great a force. On 2 July 1214, William and Prince Louis were victorious at the Battle of La Roche-aux-Moines and forced John to retreat clear to La Rochelle.
The seneschal died in 1222 and his eldest daughter, Jeanne brought the Sable barony and the hereditary seneschalship to her husband, Amauri de Craon.
See also
List of Counts and Dukes of Anjou
Angevin Empire
Anjou
References
Further reading
John W. Baldwin (1986), "The Government of Philip Augustus"
Daniel Power (2004), "The Norman Frontier in the Twelfth and Early Thirteenth Centuries"
Sir Maurice Powicke (1913), "The Loss of Normandy"
John Gillingham, "The Angevin Empire"
External links
earlyBlazon
|
name in native language
|
{
"answer_start": [
42
],
"text": [
"Guillaume des Roches"
]
}
|
John 1:19 is the nineteenth verse in the first chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible.
Content
In the original Greek according to Westcott-Hort this verse is:
Καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ μαρτυρία τοῦ Ἰωάννου, ὅτε ἀπέστειλαν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἐξ Ἱεροσολύμων ἱερεῖς καὶ Λευΐτας ἵνα ἐρωτήσωσιν αὐτόν, Σὺ τίς εἶ;After ἀπέστειλαν, some ancient Greek versions add πρὸς αὐτόν.In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:
And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?The New International Version translates the passage as:
Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was.
Analysis
Heinrich Meyer notes that John's "historical narrative" begins with this verse."And this is the witness of John ...", the same as the testimony of John seen in verse 15. It seems that John the Baptist often bore witness to Jesus, that He was the Messiah, both before and after his baptism.
"The Jews sent ...": According to Catholic writer Robert Witham, these men were priests and Levites who appear to have been sent by the Sanhedrin to enquire of John the Baptist, who was then held in great esteem, to see if he was their Messiah, for it was believed he was to come about that time. Lapide comments that "the reason for this embassy was because the chief priests saw John leading in the desert an angelic life, preaching with great power, baptizing, and moving men to repentance, as none of the other prophets had done". The mention of both priests and levites together is "a trait illustrative of John’s precision of statement".
Commentary from the Church Fathers
Origen: "This is the second testimony of John the Baptist to Christ, the first began with, This is He of Whom I spake; and ended with, He hath declared Him."Theophylact of Ohrid: "Or, after the introduction above of John's testimony to Christ, is preferred before me, the Evangelist now adds when the above testimony was given, And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem."Origen: "The Jews of Jerusalem, as being of kin to the Baptist, who was of the priestly stock, send Priests and Levites to ask him who he is; that is, men considered to hold a superior rank to the rest of their order, by God's election, and coming from that favoured above all cities, Jerusalem. Such is the reverential way in which they interrogate John. We read of no such proceeding towards Christ: but what the Jews did to John, John in turn does to Christ, when he asks Him, through His disciples, Art thou He that should come, (Luke 7:20) or look we for another?"Chrysostom: "Such confidence had they in John, that they were ready to believe him on his own words: witness how it is said, To ask him, Who art thou?"Augustine: "They would not have sent, unless they had been impressed by his lofty exercise of authority, in daring to baptize."
References
External links
Other translations of John 1:19 at BibleHub
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part of
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{
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0
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"text": [
"John 1"
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Paraleucopis is a genus of flies in the family Chamaemyiidae.
Species
P. boydensis Steyskal, 1972
P. corvina Malloch, 1913
P. mexicana Steyskal, 1981
== References ==
|
taxon rank
|
{
"answer_start": [
18
],
"text": [
"genus"
]
}
|
Paraleucopis is a genus of flies in the family Chamaemyiidae.
Species
P. boydensis Steyskal, 1972
P. corvina Malloch, 1913
P. mexicana Steyskal, 1981
== References ==
|
parent taxon
|
{
"answer_start": [
47
],
"text": [
"Chamaemyiidae"
]
}
|
Paraleucopis is a genus of flies in the family Chamaemyiidae.
Species
P. boydensis Steyskal, 1972
P. corvina Malloch, 1913
P. mexicana Steyskal, 1981
== References ==
|
taxon name
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Paraleucopis"
]
}
|
Abraham Markoe (July 2, 1727 – August 28, 1806) was a Danish businessman, landowner and planter. Living in Pennsylvania during the American Revolution, he actively supported U.S. independence by founding the Philadelphia Light Horse, now known as the First City Troop, and presenting them with a regimental flag of thirteen stripes to represent the thirteen rebel colonies.
Early life
Markoe was born in St. Croix, in what was then the Danish West Indies. His grandfather, Pierre Marcou, a French Huguenot, had left France for the Danish West Indies before the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. His father was Pierre Markoe, who changed the family name to Markoe, and married Elizabeth Cunningham.In St. Croix, Markoe became rich by inheriting his father's sugar plantations and trading with both American colonies and Europe. He married a widow, Elizabeth (Kenny) Rogers, in 1751, and had two sons, Peter and Abraham Jr.
Philadelphia
He went to Philadelphia about the year 1770, his wife having died. Abraham Markoe Jr., stayed in St. Croix to manage the family sugar plantations.He married Elizabeth Baynton in Christ Church in 1773. He had seven children from this marriage.When there were indications of rebellion, Markoe was the founder and the first Captain of the Philadelphia Light Horse, known today as the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry. The unit was composed of rich gentlemen of the city, who paid for their own horses and equipment. When the Continental Congress appointed George Washington the Commander in Chief, and Washington departed for Massachusetts on June 21, 1775, the Philadelphia Light Horse escorted him through New Jersey to New York City.
As a Danish subject, Markoe could not actually fight in the war because of the King of Denmark's Neutrality Edict, but he did contribute to the American war effort in many other ways. One early contribution was a regimental flag with thirteen stripes representing the thirteen colonies that were striving to become the original thirteen states.
See also
Margaret Hartman Markoe Bache, a publisher and member of the Markoe family, also from Saint Croix.
References
External links
The Markoe Family papers, containing various family correspondences, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Abraham Markoe at Find a Grave
Markoe Offshore
|
place of birth
|
{
"answer_start": [
2118
],
"text": [
"Saint Croix"
]
}
|
Abraham Markoe (July 2, 1727 – August 28, 1806) was a Danish businessman, landowner and planter. Living in Pennsylvania during the American Revolution, he actively supported U.S. independence by founding the Philadelphia Light Horse, now known as the First City Troop, and presenting them with a regimental flag of thirteen stripes to represent the thirteen rebel colonies.
Early life
Markoe was born in St. Croix, in what was then the Danish West Indies. His grandfather, Pierre Marcou, a French Huguenot, had left France for the Danish West Indies before the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. His father was Pierre Markoe, who changed the family name to Markoe, and married Elizabeth Cunningham.In St. Croix, Markoe became rich by inheriting his father's sugar plantations and trading with both American colonies and Europe. He married a widow, Elizabeth (Kenny) Rogers, in 1751, and had two sons, Peter and Abraham Jr.
Philadelphia
He went to Philadelphia about the year 1770, his wife having died. Abraham Markoe Jr., stayed in St. Croix to manage the family sugar plantations.He married Elizabeth Baynton in Christ Church in 1773. He had seven children from this marriage.When there were indications of rebellion, Markoe was the founder and the first Captain of the Philadelphia Light Horse, known today as the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry. The unit was composed of rich gentlemen of the city, who paid for their own horses and equipment. When the Continental Congress appointed George Washington the Commander in Chief, and Washington departed for Massachusetts on June 21, 1775, the Philadelphia Light Horse escorted him through New Jersey to New York City.
As a Danish subject, Markoe could not actually fight in the war because of the King of Denmark's Neutrality Edict, but he did contribute to the American war effort in many other ways. One early contribution was a regimental flag with thirteen stripes representing the thirteen colonies that were striving to become the original thirteen states.
See also
Margaret Hartman Markoe Bache, a publisher and member of the Markoe family, also from Saint Croix.
References
External links
The Markoe Family papers, containing various family correspondences, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Abraham Markoe at Find a Grave
Markoe Offshore
|
country of citizenship
|
{
"answer_start": [
1764
],
"text": [
"Denmark"
]
}
|
Abraham Markoe (July 2, 1727 – August 28, 1806) was a Danish businessman, landowner and planter. Living in Pennsylvania during the American Revolution, he actively supported U.S. independence by founding the Philadelphia Light Horse, now known as the First City Troop, and presenting them with a regimental flag of thirteen stripes to represent the thirteen rebel colonies.
Early life
Markoe was born in St. Croix, in what was then the Danish West Indies. His grandfather, Pierre Marcou, a French Huguenot, had left France for the Danish West Indies before the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. His father was Pierre Markoe, who changed the family name to Markoe, and married Elizabeth Cunningham.In St. Croix, Markoe became rich by inheriting his father's sugar plantations and trading with both American colonies and Europe. He married a widow, Elizabeth (Kenny) Rogers, in 1751, and had two sons, Peter and Abraham Jr.
Philadelphia
He went to Philadelphia about the year 1770, his wife having died. Abraham Markoe Jr., stayed in St. Croix to manage the family sugar plantations.He married Elizabeth Baynton in Christ Church in 1773. He had seven children from this marriage.When there were indications of rebellion, Markoe was the founder and the first Captain of the Philadelphia Light Horse, known today as the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry. The unit was composed of rich gentlemen of the city, who paid for their own horses and equipment. When the Continental Congress appointed George Washington the Commander in Chief, and Washington departed for Massachusetts on June 21, 1775, the Philadelphia Light Horse escorted him through New Jersey to New York City.
As a Danish subject, Markoe could not actually fight in the war because of the King of Denmark's Neutrality Edict, but he did contribute to the American war effort in many other ways. One early contribution was a regimental flag with thirteen stripes representing the thirteen colonies that were striving to become the original thirteen states.
See also
Margaret Hartman Markoe Bache, a publisher and member of the Markoe family, also from Saint Croix.
References
External links
The Markoe Family papers, containing various family correspondences, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Abraham Markoe at Find a Grave
Markoe Offshore
|
given name
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Abraham"
]
}
|
Sir William Collis Meredith, (23 May 1812 – 26 February 1894) was Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec from 1866 to 1884. In 1844, he was offered but refused the positions of Solicitor General of Canada and then Attorney-General for Canada East - the latter position he turned down again in 1847. In 1887, he was one of the two English-speaking candidates considered by the Liberals for the role of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. The home he commissioned and lived in at Montreal from 1845 to 1849 still stands today, known as the Notman House.
Early life
Born May 23, 1812, at No.1 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, second son of the Rev. Thomas Meredith and his wife Elizabeth Maria Graves, the eldest daughter of the Very Rev. Richard Graves, Dean of Ardagh. He was named for his father's first cousin, William Collis (1788–1866) J.P., of Tieraclea House, High Sheriff of Kerry, a first cousin of Lord Monteagle. Meredith was a nephew of Robert James Graves and a brother of Edmund Allen Meredith. His first cousins included John Walsingham Cooke Meredith, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, John Dawson Mayne, Francis Brinkley, Major-General Arthur Robert MacDonnell and Sir James Creed Meredith.
A year after Meredith was born his family moved up to Ardtrea, near Cookstown, County Tyrone, his father having resigned his fellowship in Dublin to take up the position of Rector there. In 1819, Meredith's father died of 'a sudden and awful visitation' at his home while attempting to shoot a ghost with a silver bullet. His mother returned to Harcourt Street, Dublin, and he joined his Meredith and Redmond cousins at Dr Behan's school in County Wexford. Five years later, against her parents wishes, Meredith's mother remarried her mother's cousin, James Edmund Burton (1776–1850), a first cousin of Henry Peard Driscoll and an uncle of Sir Richard Francis Burton and Lady Stisted. Formerly a magistrate at Tuam, Meredith's step-father had "wasted every farthing of his Irish property" and so attracted by the land grants he took the position of the Church of England's first missionary to Terrebonne, Quebec.
In the summer of 1824, Meredith arrived at 'Burtonville', his stepfather's house and farm outside Rawdon, Quebec, then a four-day journey north of Montreal. He was tutored there by Burton himself or by whatever tutor his stepfather could procure, who were few and far between. In 1828, William's mother, "a lady of much culture and refinement, and possessed also of great energy and force of character", sent him back to Ireland to complete his studies at Trinity College Dublin.
In 1831, a year before his mother and stepfather returned permanently to Cloyne, Co. Cork, he chose to return to Montreal to commence his legal studies there. He articled under The Hon. Clement-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury and then James Charles Grant, QC, before being called to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1836.
Duel and rebellion
On Monday, August 9, 1837, at eight o'clock in the evening, Meredith fought a duel with pistols against James Scott, no stranger to such events. Earlier that day, following a dispute over legal costs, Meredith challenged Scott. He chose James McGill Blackwood (son of John Blackwood) to second him, while Scott's choice was Joseph-Ferreol Pelletier. The duel took place behind Mount Royal, and the pistols used were Meredith's which he had bought in London, on a previous trip to England. On the first exchange Scott took a bullet high up in the thigh, and the duel was called to a stop. List of duels Meredith v Scott, 1837, under 'Canadian Duels'.
The bullet in Scott's thigh bone lodged itself in such a way that it could not be removed by doctors, causing him great discomfort for the rest of his days. Ironically for Scott, this was exactly where he had shot Sweeney Campbell in a duel when they were students. In the early 1850s (Scott died in 1852), when both the adversaries had become judges, one of the sights then to see was Meredith helping his brother judge up the steep Court House steps, Scott being still hindered by the lameness in his leg since their encounter.
Not long after the duel, his career was interrupted again by the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. Under the command of Lt.-Colonel Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury, with whom he had articled with a few years previously, Meredith joined the Montreal Rifles as a Lieutenant and saw action against the French rebels at the Battle of Saint-Eustache, reaching the rank of Major in the militia.
Montreal
From the late 1830s Meredith, "a careful, shrewd lawyer", was senior partner of the firm Meredith & Bethune (a relation through the explorer Alexander Henry the elder) and subsequently Meredith, Bethune & Dunkin. Their offices were situated at 33 Little St. James Street and the firm was described in the 1840s as the most influential in Montreal, having brought together the largest legal business by any one firm in the Province of Quebec. In 1843, he commissioned John Wells, to build him a home beyond the walls of Old Montreal on a spacious plot of land surrounded by fields, Elm and Maple trees. It still stands today, known as the Notman House.
In 1844, he was created a Queen's Counsel (Q.C.), declining the office of Solicitor General, and subsequently that of Attorney-General, which he declined again for the second time in 1847 during the Draper administration. Meredith disliked politics. In the same year Chief Justice Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal offered him the position of Dean of Law at McGill University, which he also turned down - a position his grandson, William Campbell James Meredith, later held.
He was one of the founding members and a director of the High School of Montreal, which was established with his help in 1843 and soon superseded the Royal Grammar School. He was counsel to the board of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning and on the committee to save McGill University in the early 1840s. He conducted a good deal of business for the university, and it was with his influence that his younger brother, Edmund Allen Meredith, became the sixth principal of McGill from 1846 to 1853. In 1848, he was a founding director and trustee of the Montreal Mining Company along with Peter McGill, George Moffatt, Sir George Simpson, Sir Allan Napier MacNab and James Ferrier.
Quebec
In December 1849, Meredith was appointed to be one of the first ten judges of the newly established Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, by the Lafontaine–Baldwin government, a position he held for ten years. However, this meant abandoning with some reluctance the practice of a profession to which he was greatly attached, and in doing so relinquished a profitable business in Montreal. During Lord Elgin's term as Governor General of Canada (1847–1854), Meredith was elected one of the judges of the Seigneurial Court. In 1859, 'at the earnest solicitation of the government and in compliance with the members of the Montreal bar', he accepted a seat from Sir George-Étienne Cartier, as a judge in the Court of Queen's Bench, that being the Court of Appeals for the province. Several of his judgments were spoken of very highly by the lords of the Privy Council in England. He filled the position for seven years 'with marked ability and success'. On December 28, 1854, he was given an honorary D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Bishop's University College, Lennoxville. In 1880, he received the honor for a second time, from Université Laval. In 1865, at a private meeting of the board of governors of Bishop's University he was unanimously elected to become the university's new Chancellor, but due to his existing official duties he declined the position. His youngest son, Frederick Edmund Meredith, would hold the position from 1926 to 1932.
Meredith's friend Sir John Abbott, who had studied law under him and later became Prime Minister of Canada, was a reluctant supporter of Canadian Confederation in 1866. Abbott feared that it would reduce the English-speaking inhabitants of Lower Canada to political impotence. Among others, he consulted with Meredith and Meredith's former business partner, Christopher Dunkin. They drafted a resolution calling on the government to protect the electoral borders of twelve English Quebec constituencies. Subsequently, Alexander Tilloch Galt endorsed the proposal, had the London Conference of 1866 accept it, and included it as Article 80 of the British North America Act, 1867.
In 1866, following the death of one of Meredith's closest friends, Edward Bowen, Sir George-Étienne Cartier appointed him Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec. Judge Caron rivalled him for the position, but the influential and affable D'Arcy McGee (then Minister of Agriculture), a close associate of Meredith's brother (Edmund Allen Meredith), made a few favourable representations on Meredith's behalf, easing the way for his appointment to the position. In the years before his retirement he was the oldest judge on the Bench in Canada, 'still going with his characteristic energy and ability'. Chief Justice Meredith finally retired for health reasons, in this his final office, October 1, 1884. The government did their best to keep him from resigning his post, but Meredith declined their offers to accept leave of absence with the understanding that his full salary would be paid and his resignation subsequently accepted. Two years later he was created a Knight Bachelor by Queen Victoria. Meredith had been as popular among the French as he was among the English, which was extremely rare for the time. This is made clear from an article written in the French journal L'Electeur at his retirement,
La retraite de M. le juge Meredith va creer un vif chagrin dans le barreau comme parmi le public. Jamais en effet un magistrat ne sut mieux se concilier leftie des avocats sans cesse en rapport avec lui et la confiance du public. Jurisconsulte eminent, magistrat dont la reputation d'honorabilite a toujours ete au-dessus du soupcon, bienveillent pour tout la monde, d'un politesse vraiment exquise, M. le juge en chef va laisser une vide bien difficile a remplir.
In 1887, on the retirement of Louis-Rodrigue Masson as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Liberal government favoured an English-speaking replacement. Along with his wife's cousin, George Irvine, Meredith was named as one of the two men, who if appointed, would bring the greatest satisfaction to the English-speaking minority. Neither Meredith nor Irvine were appointed, the new government instead choosing another French-speaking Quebecer, Sir Auguste-Réal Angers. At Meredith's death in 1894, the Legal News printed: The late Chief Justice was a diligent advocate and judge, and conscientious and painstaking in the performance of every duty. The opinions delivered by him from the bench have always been cited with the greatest respect and many of them are models of what a judicial opinion should be. They excel in clearness, are ample without ceasing to be concise, and bring light and satisfaction to the reader.
Family
William Collis Meredith was married at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, May 20, 1847, to Sophia Naters Holmes (1820–1898). She was the eldest daughter of the late 'well-known and popular' William Edward Holmes (1796–1825), a Quebec surgeon (son of William Holmes) and a brother-in-law of Sydney Robert Bellingham. Mrs Meredith's mother, Ann Johnston (1788–1865), was the daughter of Lt.-Colonel James Johnston and his wife Margaret, sister of John MacNider. Mrs Meredith was one of seven siblings and half-siblings, but other than her only two were married: Her brother, William Holmes, married a daughter of Colonel Bartholomew Gugy, and their half-sister, Eliza Paul, married Major Stephen Heward (1776–1828), brother-in-law of Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto. The Merediths were the parents of ten children:
Sophia Elizabeth Meredith (1848–1927), married Henry Nicholas (Monck) Middleton (1845–1928) J.P., D.L., of Dissington Hall, Northumberland, and later Lowood House, near Melrose, Scotland. He was a brother of Sir Arthur Middleton, 7th Baronet, of Belsay Hall. Their son married a daughter of Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey.
William Henry Meredith (1849–1895), director of the Bank of Montreal. He died at a comparatively young age, unmarried, at the apartments he kept in the Windsor Hotel (Montreal).
Matilda Anne Meredith (1851–1875), died young, unmarried, at Cannes, France.
Edward Graves Meredith (1852–1938) N.P., of Quebec, married Isabella Agnes Housman (1858–1949), daughter of The Rev. George Vernon Housman (1820–1887), for 25 years Rector of Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Quebec City, by his wife Eliza Izza Maria Reeves (1823–1865) of Hanover Square, London. George Housman was the uncle of the poet A.E. Housman and the grandson of Thomas Shrawley Vernon of Hanbury Hall.
Harriet Meredith (1854–1941), married Harry Stanley Smith (1850–1916), a native of Seaforth near Liverpool, who retired to Addington House, Wimbledon.
Hylda Graves Meredith (1856–1931), married George Hamilton Thomson (1857–1929), grandson of George Hamilton.
Richard Holmes Meredith (1858–1868), died young.
Louisa Meredith (1860–1938), married her half first cousin Lt.-Col. Edward Hampden Turner Heward (1852–1930). His brother married the sister of Lord Atholstan.
Frederick Edmund Meredith (1862–1941) K.C., D.C.L., of Montreal, married Anne Madeleine VanKoughnet (1863–1945), granddaughter of Colonel Philip VanKoughnet. They were the parents of William Campbell James Meredith.
Evaline Bertha Meredith (1863–1868), died young.
Private life
On moving from their house in Montreal to Quebec City in 1849, the Merediths lived at 19 St. Ursule Street, a large, three storey, brick house with room for five live-in servants. In Christmas 1853, they entertained the author William Henry Giles Kingston and his new wife, Agnes Kinloch. In 1866, they built a summer house, 'Rosecliff' in the hamlet of St. Patrick, outside Rivière-du-Loup (where they owned 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) of farmland), which is still occupied by his descendants today. In Quebec City, they owned three further houses and two barn stables; keeping five pleasure carriages, sleighs, two wagon-sleds, three horses and one milk cow. When he became financially independent in 1830, Meredith had purchased four town lots in Kent County, Upper Canada, that turned out to be an important investment in consequence of the railway that was built there.
Frances (known as Feo) Monck was the maternal granddaughter of Henry Monck, 1st Earl of Rathdowne and the sister-in-law of the then Governor-General Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck. 'Not generally given to benevolence in her judgments,' she gave an unusually long account of a party - or 'drum' as it was known - given by Judge Meredith in her book, My Canadian Leaves, An Account of a Visit to Canada, 1864–1865:
Dick (her husband, Lt-General Richard Monck) and I, and Captain Pem. (Sir Wykeham Leigh Pemberton) are going, I hope, to-night to a 'drum' at Judge Meredith's.... There was a very large party, and the house is large. I was much amused and talked to many people, among others to M. Duvergier-d'Hauranne, a young Frenchman, who is come over here to travel, and has brought a letter to the Governor-General from Lord Clarendon. His father (Prosper Duvergier de Hauranne) was a well-known man in France under Louis Philippe I. My friend, Sir R.M. (Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, William's first cousin who spent a year in Canada as Governor of Nova Scotia in 1864) rushed to me, and asked me to walk about with him, and invited us to Government House (Nova Scotia) at H. (Halifax), which he told me was much finer and larger than 'Spencer's Wood'. Lady M (Lady Blanche MacDonnell) and Dick flirted together for a long time; she is so pretty and pleasant. A Miss Tilstone sang—a handsome girl with a pretty voice. Then a Madame Taschereau (a daughter of Robert Unwin Harwood) sang—good voice; and then THE man sang, Mr Antoine Chartier de Lotbinière Harwood (brother of Madame Taschereau) an M.P.P., half French. He has a very fine voice, and is a pupil of Garcia's. He was offered an engagement at the Italian Opera, London. The large rooms were too small for his voice, which wants modulation. I got quite giddy with the loudness of it ! He sang from operas; he wants expression and more teaching. Judge Meredith introduced him to me, and he sang again, for me !
Meredith frequently returned to Europe, either touring the continent with members of his family or visiting friends and relatives in Ireland. Rather than their stepfather, he and the rest of his siblings regarded their uncle, Rev. Dr Richard MacDonnell, as a second father. In 1853, Edmund Allen Meredith wrote in his diary that 'the doctor (as they referred to MacDonnell) spoke much of the splendid apples and cider William had sent him'. In return 'the doctor' insisted on opening bottle after bottle of claret for Edmund, 'to prove to William that it is now possible to find good claret in Ireland!'
Obituaries
Chief Justice Meredith was 'a gentleman with exemplary charm and manners', and 'a man of fine scholarly attainments'. He possessed 'troops' of friends and was 'held in the highest respect in the City and Province of Quebec, by all classes of the community' and even more extraordinary for the time, was described as being as popular among the French as the English. This is noticeably apparent in an article written about him in L'Opinion Publique on 10 July 1879 :
Le Juge-en-Chef est l'urbanite meme, il est attentive comme un Francais de l'ancien regime. A cette grande affabilite qui n'est nulle part plus appreciable que sur le banc d'un tribunal. Le Juge Meredith joint un savoir etendu, un tact parfait, un judgement tres sur. Il voit au fond s'egarent, les avocats qui brouillent les faits, aux elements fondamentaux dont il faut s'inspirer pour retrouver la verite. Tout cela avec infiniment de benevolence et toutes les formes de la politesse.
"Esteemed for his high character, wide knowledge and amiable disposition", "his lofty conception of duty, his great learning, and his gentleness of character commanded the admiration and affection of the bench and bar of Quebec." Sir William Colles Meredith died 26 February 1894, aged eighty two after a short illness, and he was buried with many of his family at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Sillery. Part of the inscription on his gravestone reads, "... Thoughtful consideration for others marked all his acts and made bright his daily walk through life."
References
Le Revue du Bar, Quebec
Les Juges de la Province de Québec (1933), P.G. Roy
Quebec National Archives
McGill University Archives, Montreal
McCord Museum, Montreal
Quebec Literary and Historical Society
Laval University Archives, Quebec
Bishop's University Archives, Lennoxville
Burkes Landed Gentry of Ireland
The Private Capital (1989), Sandra Gwynn
Rawdon Historical Society
Correspondence of Edgar Allan Collard
The Canadian Legal News
The Canadian Dictionary of National Biography
My Canadian Leaves: An account of a visit to Canada (1864–1865), Feo Monck
Archives of the Montreal Star
Archives of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
Archives of L'Electeur
Archives of the L'Opinion Publique
|
place of birth
|
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Sir William Collis Meredith, (23 May 1812 – 26 February 1894) was Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec from 1866 to 1884. In 1844, he was offered but refused the positions of Solicitor General of Canada and then Attorney-General for Canada East - the latter position he turned down again in 1847. In 1887, he was one of the two English-speaking candidates considered by the Liberals for the role of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. The home he commissioned and lived in at Montreal from 1845 to 1849 still stands today, known as the Notman House.
Early life
Born May 23, 1812, at No.1 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, second son of the Rev. Thomas Meredith and his wife Elizabeth Maria Graves, the eldest daughter of the Very Rev. Richard Graves, Dean of Ardagh. He was named for his father's first cousin, William Collis (1788–1866) J.P., of Tieraclea House, High Sheriff of Kerry, a first cousin of Lord Monteagle. Meredith was a nephew of Robert James Graves and a brother of Edmund Allen Meredith. His first cousins included John Walsingham Cooke Meredith, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, John Dawson Mayne, Francis Brinkley, Major-General Arthur Robert MacDonnell and Sir James Creed Meredith.
A year after Meredith was born his family moved up to Ardtrea, near Cookstown, County Tyrone, his father having resigned his fellowship in Dublin to take up the position of Rector there. In 1819, Meredith's father died of 'a sudden and awful visitation' at his home while attempting to shoot a ghost with a silver bullet. His mother returned to Harcourt Street, Dublin, and he joined his Meredith and Redmond cousins at Dr Behan's school in County Wexford. Five years later, against her parents wishes, Meredith's mother remarried her mother's cousin, James Edmund Burton (1776–1850), a first cousin of Henry Peard Driscoll and an uncle of Sir Richard Francis Burton and Lady Stisted. Formerly a magistrate at Tuam, Meredith's step-father had "wasted every farthing of his Irish property" and so attracted by the land grants he took the position of the Church of England's first missionary to Terrebonne, Quebec.
In the summer of 1824, Meredith arrived at 'Burtonville', his stepfather's house and farm outside Rawdon, Quebec, then a four-day journey north of Montreal. He was tutored there by Burton himself or by whatever tutor his stepfather could procure, who were few and far between. In 1828, William's mother, "a lady of much culture and refinement, and possessed also of great energy and force of character", sent him back to Ireland to complete his studies at Trinity College Dublin.
In 1831, a year before his mother and stepfather returned permanently to Cloyne, Co. Cork, he chose to return to Montreal to commence his legal studies there. He articled under The Hon. Clement-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury and then James Charles Grant, QC, before being called to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1836.
Duel and rebellion
On Monday, August 9, 1837, at eight o'clock in the evening, Meredith fought a duel with pistols against James Scott, no stranger to such events. Earlier that day, following a dispute over legal costs, Meredith challenged Scott. He chose James McGill Blackwood (son of John Blackwood) to second him, while Scott's choice was Joseph-Ferreol Pelletier. The duel took place behind Mount Royal, and the pistols used were Meredith's which he had bought in London, on a previous trip to England. On the first exchange Scott took a bullet high up in the thigh, and the duel was called to a stop. List of duels Meredith v Scott, 1837, under 'Canadian Duels'.
The bullet in Scott's thigh bone lodged itself in such a way that it could not be removed by doctors, causing him great discomfort for the rest of his days. Ironically for Scott, this was exactly where he had shot Sweeney Campbell in a duel when they were students. In the early 1850s (Scott died in 1852), when both the adversaries had become judges, one of the sights then to see was Meredith helping his brother judge up the steep Court House steps, Scott being still hindered by the lameness in his leg since their encounter.
Not long after the duel, his career was interrupted again by the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. Under the command of Lt.-Colonel Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury, with whom he had articled with a few years previously, Meredith joined the Montreal Rifles as a Lieutenant and saw action against the French rebels at the Battle of Saint-Eustache, reaching the rank of Major in the militia.
Montreal
From the late 1830s Meredith, "a careful, shrewd lawyer", was senior partner of the firm Meredith & Bethune (a relation through the explorer Alexander Henry the elder) and subsequently Meredith, Bethune & Dunkin. Their offices were situated at 33 Little St. James Street and the firm was described in the 1840s as the most influential in Montreal, having brought together the largest legal business by any one firm in the Province of Quebec. In 1843, he commissioned John Wells, to build him a home beyond the walls of Old Montreal on a spacious plot of land surrounded by fields, Elm and Maple trees. It still stands today, known as the Notman House.
In 1844, he was created a Queen's Counsel (Q.C.), declining the office of Solicitor General, and subsequently that of Attorney-General, which he declined again for the second time in 1847 during the Draper administration. Meredith disliked politics. In the same year Chief Justice Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal offered him the position of Dean of Law at McGill University, which he also turned down - a position his grandson, William Campbell James Meredith, later held.
He was one of the founding members and a director of the High School of Montreal, which was established with his help in 1843 and soon superseded the Royal Grammar School. He was counsel to the board of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning and on the committee to save McGill University in the early 1840s. He conducted a good deal of business for the university, and it was with his influence that his younger brother, Edmund Allen Meredith, became the sixth principal of McGill from 1846 to 1853. In 1848, he was a founding director and trustee of the Montreal Mining Company along with Peter McGill, George Moffatt, Sir George Simpson, Sir Allan Napier MacNab and James Ferrier.
Quebec
In December 1849, Meredith was appointed to be one of the first ten judges of the newly established Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, by the Lafontaine–Baldwin government, a position he held for ten years. However, this meant abandoning with some reluctance the practice of a profession to which he was greatly attached, and in doing so relinquished a profitable business in Montreal. During Lord Elgin's term as Governor General of Canada (1847–1854), Meredith was elected one of the judges of the Seigneurial Court. In 1859, 'at the earnest solicitation of the government and in compliance with the members of the Montreal bar', he accepted a seat from Sir George-Étienne Cartier, as a judge in the Court of Queen's Bench, that being the Court of Appeals for the province. Several of his judgments were spoken of very highly by the lords of the Privy Council in England. He filled the position for seven years 'with marked ability and success'. On December 28, 1854, he was given an honorary D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Bishop's University College, Lennoxville. In 1880, he received the honor for a second time, from Université Laval. In 1865, at a private meeting of the board of governors of Bishop's University he was unanimously elected to become the university's new Chancellor, but due to his existing official duties he declined the position. His youngest son, Frederick Edmund Meredith, would hold the position from 1926 to 1932.
Meredith's friend Sir John Abbott, who had studied law under him and later became Prime Minister of Canada, was a reluctant supporter of Canadian Confederation in 1866. Abbott feared that it would reduce the English-speaking inhabitants of Lower Canada to political impotence. Among others, he consulted with Meredith and Meredith's former business partner, Christopher Dunkin. They drafted a resolution calling on the government to protect the electoral borders of twelve English Quebec constituencies. Subsequently, Alexander Tilloch Galt endorsed the proposal, had the London Conference of 1866 accept it, and included it as Article 80 of the British North America Act, 1867.
In 1866, following the death of one of Meredith's closest friends, Edward Bowen, Sir George-Étienne Cartier appointed him Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec. Judge Caron rivalled him for the position, but the influential and affable D'Arcy McGee (then Minister of Agriculture), a close associate of Meredith's brother (Edmund Allen Meredith), made a few favourable representations on Meredith's behalf, easing the way for his appointment to the position. In the years before his retirement he was the oldest judge on the Bench in Canada, 'still going with his characteristic energy and ability'. Chief Justice Meredith finally retired for health reasons, in this his final office, October 1, 1884. The government did their best to keep him from resigning his post, but Meredith declined their offers to accept leave of absence with the understanding that his full salary would be paid and his resignation subsequently accepted. Two years later he was created a Knight Bachelor by Queen Victoria. Meredith had been as popular among the French as he was among the English, which was extremely rare for the time. This is made clear from an article written in the French journal L'Electeur at his retirement,
La retraite de M. le juge Meredith va creer un vif chagrin dans le barreau comme parmi le public. Jamais en effet un magistrat ne sut mieux se concilier leftie des avocats sans cesse en rapport avec lui et la confiance du public. Jurisconsulte eminent, magistrat dont la reputation d'honorabilite a toujours ete au-dessus du soupcon, bienveillent pour tout la monde, d'un politesse vraiment exquise, M. le juge en chef va laisser une vide bien difficile a remplir.
In 1887, on the retirement of Louis-Rodrigue Masson as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Liberal government favoured an English-speaking replacement. Along with his wife's cousin, George Irvine, Meredith was named as one of the two men, who if appointed, would bring the greatest satisfaction to the English-speaking minority. Neither Meredith nor Irvine were appointed, the new government instead choosing another French-speaking Quebecer, Sir Auguste-Réal Angers. At Meredith's death in 1894, the Legal News printed: The late Chief Justice was a diligent advocate and judge, and conscientious and painstaking in the performance of every duty. The opinions delivered by him from the bench have always been cited with the greatest respect and many of them are models of what a judicial opinion should be. They excel in clearness, are ample without ceasing to be concise, and bring light and satisfaction to the reader.
Family
William Collis Meredith was married at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, May 20, 1847, to Sophia Naters Holmes (1820–1898). She was the eldest daughter of the late 'well-known and popular' William Edward Holmes (1796–1825), a Quebec surgeon (son of William Holmes) and a brother-in-law of Sydney Robert Bellingham. Mrs Meredith's mother, Ann Johnston (1788–1865), was the daughter of Lt.-Colonel James Johnston and his wife Margaret, sister of John MacNider. Mrs Meredith was one of seven siblings and half-siblings, but other than her only two were married: Her brother, William Holmes, married a daughter of Colonel Bartholomew Gugy, and their half-sister, Eliza Paul, married Major Stephen Heward (1776–1828), brother-in-law of Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto. The Merediths were the parents of ten children:
Sophia Elizabeth Meredith (1848–1927), married Henry Nicholas (Monck) Middleton (1845–1928) J.P., D.L., of Dissington Hall, Northumberland, and later Lowood House, near Melrose, Scotland. He was a brother of Sir Arthur Middleton, 7th Baronet, of Belsay Hall. Their son married a daughter of Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey.
William Henry Meredith (1849–1895), director of the Bank of Montreal. He died at a comparatively young age, unmarried, at the apartments he kept in the Windsor Hotel (Montreal).
Matilda Anne Meredith (1851–1875), died young, unmarried, at Cannes, France.
Edward Graves Meredith (1852–1938) N.P., of Quebec, married Isabella Agnes Housman (1858–1949), daughter of The Rev. George Vernon Housman (1820–1887), for 25 years Rector of Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Quebec City, by his wife Eliza Izza Maria Reeves (1823–1865) of Hanover Square, London. George Housman was the uncle of the poet A.E. Housman and the grandson of Thomas Shrawley Vernon of Hanbury Hall.
Harriet Meredith (1854–1941), married Harry Stanley Smith (1850–1916), a native of Seaforth near Liverpool, who retired to Addington House, Wimbledon.
Hylda Graves Meredith (1856–1931), married George Hamilton Thomson (1857–1929), grandson of George Hamilton.
Richard Holmes Meredith (1858–1868), died young.
Louisa Meredith (1860–1938), married her half first cousin Lt.-Col. Edward Hampden Turner Heward (1852–1930). His brother married the sister of Lord Atholstan.
Frederick Edmund Meredith (1862–1941) K.C., D.C.L., of Montreal, married Anne Madeleine VanKoughnet (1863–1945), granddaughter of Colonel Philip VanKoughnet. They were the parents of William Campbell James Meredith.
Evaline Bertha Meredith (1863–1868), died young.
Private life
On moving from their house in Montreal to Quebec City in 1849, the Merediths lived at 19 St. Ursule Street, a large, three storey, brick house with room for five live-in servants. In Christmas 1853, they entertained the author William Henry Giles Kingston and his new wife, Agnes Kinloch. In 1866, they built a summer house, 'Rosecliff' in the hamlet of St. Patrick, outside Rivière-du-Loup (where they owned 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) of farmland), which is still occupied by his descendants today. In Quebec City, they owned three further houses and two barn stables; keeping five pleasure carriages, sleighs, two wagon-sleds, three horses and one milk cow. When he became financially independent in 1830, Meredith had purchased four town lots in Kent County, Upper Canada, that turned out to be an important investment in consequence of the railway that was built there.
Frances (known as Feo) Monck was the maternal granddaughter of Henry Monck, 1st Earl of Rathdowne and the sister-in-law of the then Governor-General Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck. 'Not generally given to benevolence in her judgments,' she gave an unusually long account of a party - or 'drum' as it was known - given by Judge Meredith in her book, My Canadian Leaves, An Account of a Visit to Canada, 1864–1865:
Dick (her husband, Lt-General Richard Monck) and I, and Captain Pem. (Sir Wykeham Leigh Pemberton) are going, I hope, to-night to a 'drum' at Judge Meredith's.... There was a very large party, and the house is large. I was much amused and talked to many people, among others to M. Duvergier-d'Hauranne, a young Frenchman, who is come over here to travel, and has brought a letter to the Governor-General from Lord Clarendon. His father (Prosper Duvergier de Hauranne) was a well-known man in France under Louis Philippe I. My friend, Sir R.M. (Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, William's first cousin who spent a year in Canada as Governor of Nova Scotia in 1864) rushed to me, and asked me to walk about with him, and invited us to Government House (Nova Scotia) at H. (Halifax), which he told me was much finer and larger than 'Spencer's Wood'. Lady M (Lady Blanche MacDonnell) and Dick flirted together for a long time; she is so pretty and pleasant. A Miss Tilstone sang—a handsome girl with a pretty voice. Then a Madame Taschereau (a daughter of Robert Unwin Harwood) sang—good voice; and then THE man sang, Mr Antoine Chartier de Lotbinière Harwood (brother of Madame Taschereau) an M.P.P., half French. He has a very fine voice, and is a pupil of Garcia's. He was offered an engagement at the Italian Opera, London. The large rooms were too small for his voice, which wants modulation. I got quite giddy with the loudness of it ! He sang from operas; he wants expression and more teaching. Judge Meredith introduced him to me, and he sang again, for me !
Meredith frequently returned to Europe, either touring the continent with members of his family or visiting friends and relatives in Ireland. Rather than their stepfather, he and the rest of his siblings regarded their uncle, Rev. Dr Richard MacDonnell, as a second father. In 1853, Edmund Allen Meredith wrote in his diary that 'the doctor (as they referred to MacDonnell) spoke much of the splendid apples and cider William had sent him'. In return 'the doctor' insisted on opening bottle after bottle of claret for Edmund, 'to prove to William that it is now possible to find good claret in Ireland!'
Obituaries
Chief Justice Meredith was 'a gentleman with exemplary charm and manners', and 'a man of fine scholarly attainments'. He possessed 'troops' of friends and was 'held in the highest respect in the City and Province of Quebec, by all classes of the community' and even more extraordinary for the time, was described as being as popular among the French as the English. This is noticeably apparent in an article written about him in L'Opinion Publique on 10 July 1879 :
Le Juge-en-Chef est l'urbanite meme, il est attentive comme un Francais de l'ancien regime. A cette grande affabilite qui n'est nulle part plus appreciable que sur le banc d'un tribunal. Le Juge Meredith joint un savoir etendu, un tact parfait, un judgement tres sur. Il voit au fond s'egarent, les avocats qui brouillent les faits, aux elements fondamentaux dont il faut s'inspirer pour retrouver la verite. Tout cela avec infiniment de benevolence et toutes les formes de la politesse.
"Esteemed for his high character, wide knowledge and amiable disposition", "his lofty conception of duty, his great learning, and his gentleness of character commanded the admiration and affection of the bench and bar of Quebec." Sir William Colles Meredith died 26 February 1894, aged eighty two after a short illness, and he was buried with many of his family at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Sillery. Part of the inscription on his gravestone reads, "... Thoughtful consideration for others marked all his acts and made bright his daily walk through life."
References
Le Revue du Bar, Quebec
Les Juges de la Province de Québec (1933), P.G. Roy
Quebec National Archives
McGill University Archives, Montreal
McCord Museum, Montreal
Quebec Literary and Historical Society
Laval University Archives, Quebec
Bishop's University Archives, Lennoxville
Burkes Landed Gentry of Ireland
The Private Capital (1989), Sandra Gwynn
Rawdon Historical Society
Correspondence of Edgar Allan Collard
The Canadian Legal News
The Canadian Dictionary of National Biography
My Canadian Leaves: An account of a visit to Canada (1864–1865), Feo Monck
Archives of the Montreal Star
Archives of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
Archives of L'Electeur
Archives of the L'Opinion Publique
|
place of death
|
{
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"text": [
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Sir William Collis Meredith, (23 May 1812 – 26 February 1894) was Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec from 1866 to 1884. In 1844, he was offered but refused the positions of Solicitor General of Canada and then Attorney-General for Canada East - the latter position he turned down again in 1847. In 1887, he was one of the two English-speaking candidates considered by the Liberals for the role of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. The home he commissioned and lived in at Montreal from 1845 to 1849 still stands today, known as the Notman House.
Early life
Born May 23, 1812, at No.1 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, second son of the Rev. Thomas Meredith and his wife Elizabeth Maria Graves, the eldest daughter of the Very Rev. Richard Graves, Dean of Ardagh. He was named for his father's first cousin, William Collis (1788–1866) J.P., of Tieraclea House, High Sheriff of Kerry, a first cousin of Lord Monteagle. Meredith was a nephew of Robert James Graves and a brother of Edmund Allen Meredith. His first cousins included John Walsingham Cooke Meredith, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, John Dawson Mayne, Francis Brinkley, Major-General Arthur Robert MacDonnell and Sir James Creed Meredith.
A year after Meredith was born his family moved up to Ardtrea, near Cookstown, County Tyrone, his father having resigned his fellowship in Dublin to take up the position of Rector there. In 1819, Meredith's father died of 'a sudden and awful visitation' at his home while attempting to shoot a ghost with a silver bullet. His mother returned to Harcourt Street, Dublin, and he joined his Meredith and Redmond cousins at Dr Behan's school in County Wexford. Five years later, against her parents wishes, Meredith's mother remarried her mother's cousin, James Edmund Burton (1776–1850), a first cousin of Henry Peard Driscoll and an uncle of Sir Richard Francis Burton and Lady Stisted. Formerly a magistrate at Tuam, Meredith's step-father had "wasted every farthing of his Irish property" and so attracted by the land grants he took the position of the Church of England's first missionary to Terrebonne, Quebec.
In the summer of 1824, Meredith arrived at 'Burtonville', his stepfather's house and farm outside Rawdon, Quebec, then a four-day journey north of Montreal. He was tutored there by Burton himself or by whatever tutor his stepfather could procure, who were few and far between. In 1828, William's mother, "a lady of much culture and refinement, and possessed also of great energy and force of character", sent him back to Ireland to complete his studies at Trinity College Dublin.
In 1831, a year before his mother and stepfather returned permanently to Cloyne, Co. Cork, he chose to return to Montreal to commence his legal studies there. He articled under The Hon. Clement-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury and then James Charles Grant, QC, before being called to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1836.
Duel and rebellion
On Monday, August 9, 1837, at eight o'clock in the evening, Meredith fought a duel with pistols against James Scott, no stranger to such events. Earlier that day, following a dispute over legal costs, Meredith challenged Scott. He chose James McGill Blackwood (son of John Blackwood) to second him, while Scott's choice was Joseph-Ferreol Pelletier. The duel took place behind Mount Royal, and the pistols used were Meredith's which he had bought in London, on a previous trip to England. On the first exchange Scott took a bullet high up in the thigh, and the duel was called to a stop. List of duels Meredith v Scott, 1837, under 'Canadian Duels'.
The bullet in Scott's thigh bone lodged itself in such a way that it could not be removed by doctors, causing him great discomfort for the rest of his days. Ironically for Scott, this was exactly where he had shot Sweeney Campbell in a duel when they were students. In the early 1850s (Scott died in 1852), when both the adversaries had become judges, one of the sights then to see was Meredith helping his brother judge up the steep Court House steps, Scott being still hindered by the lameness in his leg since their encounter.
Not long after the duel, his career was interrupted again by the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. Under the command of Lt.-Colonel Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury, with whom he had articled with a few years previously, Meredith joined the Montreal Rifles as a Lieutenant and saw action against the French rebels at the Battle of Saint-Eustache, reaching the rank of Major in the militia.
Montreal
From the late 1830s Meredith, "a careful, shrewd lawyer", was senior partner of the firm Meredith & Bethune (a relation through the explorer Alexander Henry the elder) and subsequently Meredith, Bethune & Dunkin. Their offices were situated at 33 Little St. James Street and the firm was described in the 1840s as the most influential in Montreal, having brought together the largest legal business by any one firm in the Province of Quebec. In 1843, he commissioned John Wells, to build him a home beyond the walls of Old Montreal on a spacious plot of land surrounded by fields, Elm and Maple trees. It still stands today, known as the Notman House.
In 1844, he was created a Queen's Counsel (Q.C.), declining the office of Solicitor General, and subsequently that of Attorney-General, which he declined again for the second time in 1847 during the Draper administration. Meredith disliked politics. In the same year Chief Justice Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal offered him the position of Dean of Law at McGill University, which he also turned down - a position his grandson, William Campbell James Meredith, later held.
He was one of the founding members and a director of the High School of Montreal, which was established with his help in 1843 and soon superseded the Royal Grammar School. He was counsel to the board of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning and on the committee to save McGill University in the early 1840s. He conducted a good deal of business for the university, and it was with his influence that his younger brother, Edmund Allen Meredith, became the sixth principal of McGill from 1846 to 1853. In 1848, he was a founding director and trustee of the Montreal Mining Company along with Peter McGill, George Moffatt, Sir George Simpson, Sir Allan Napier MacNab and James Ferrier.
Quebec
In December 1849, Meredith was appointed to be one of the first ten judges of the newly established Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, by the Lafontaine–Baldwin government, a position he held for ten years. However, this meant abandoning with some reluctance the practice of a profession to which he was greatly attached, and in doing so relinquished a profitable business in Montreal. During Lord Elgin's term as Governor General of Canada (1847–1854), Meredith was elected one of the judges of the Seigneurial Court. In 1859, 'at the earnest solicitation of the government and in compliance with the members of the Montreal bar', he accepted a seat from Sir George-Étienne Cartier, as a judge in the Court of Queen's Bench, that being the Court of Appeals for the province. Several of his judgments were spoken of very highly by the lords of the Privy Council in England. He filled the position for seven years 'with marked ability and success'. On December 28, 1854, he was given an honorary D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Bishop's University College, Lennoxville. In 1880, he received the honor for a second time, from Université Laval. In 1865, at a private meeting of the board of governors of Bishop's University he was unanimously elected to become the university's new Chancellor, but due to his existing official duties he declined the position. His youngest son, Frederick Edmund Meredith, would hold the position from 1926 to 1932.
Meredith's friend Sir John Abbott, who had studied law under him and later became Prime Minister of Canada, was a reluctant supporter of Canadian Confederation in 1866. Abbott feared that it would reduce the English-speaking inhabitants of Lower Canada to political impotence. Among others, he consulted with Meredith and Meredith's former business partner, Christopher Dunkin. They drafted a resolution calling on the government to protect the electoral borders of twelve English Quebec constituencies. Subsequently, Alexander Tilloch Galt endorsed the proposal, had the London Conference of 1866 accept it, and included it as Article 80 of the British North America Act, 1867.
In 1866, following the death of one of Meredith's closest friends, Edward Bowen, Sir George-Étienne Cartier appointed him Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec. Judge Caron rivalled him for the position, but the influential and affable D'Arcy McGee (then Minister of Agriculture), a close associate of Meredith's brother (Edmund Allen Meredith), made a few favourable representations on Meredith's behalf, easing the way for his appointment to the position. In the years before his retirement he was the oldest judge on the Bench in Canada, 'still going with his characteristic energy and ability'. Chief Justice Meredith finally retired for health reasons, in this his final office, October 1, 1884. The government did their best to keep him from resigning his post, but Meredith declined their offers to accept leave of absence with the understanding that his full salary would be paid and his resignation subsequently accepted. Two years later he was created a Knight Bachelor by Queen Victoria. Meredith had been as popular among the French as he was among the English, which was extremely rare for the time. This is made clear from an article written in the French journal L'Electeur at his retirement,
La retraite de M. le juge Meredith va creer un vif chagrin dans le barreau comme parmi le public. Jamais en effet un magistrat ne sut mieux se concilier leftie des avocats sans cesse en rapport avec lui et la confiance du public. Jurisconsulte eminent, magistrat dont la reputation d'honorabilite a toujours ete au-dessus du soupcon, bienveillent pour tout la monde, d'un politesse vraiment exquise, M. le juge en chef va laisser une vide bien difficile a remplir.
In 1887, on the retirement of Louis-Rodrigue Masson as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Liberal government favoured an English-speaking replacement. Along with his wife's cousin, George Irvine, Meredith was named as one of the two men, who if appointed, would bring the greatest satisfaction to the English-speaking minority. Neither Meredith nor Irvine were appointed, the new government instead choosing another French-speaking Quebecer, Sir Auguste-Réal Angers. At Meredith's death in 1894, the Legal News printed: The late Chief Justice was a diligent advocate and judge, and conscientious and painstaking in the performance of every duty. The opinions delivered by him from the bench have always been cited with the greatest respect and many of them are models of what a judicial opinion should be. They excel in clearness, are ample without ceasing to be concise, and bring light and satisfaction to the reader.
Family
William Collis Meredith was married at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, May 20, 1847, to Sophia Naters Holmes (1820–1898). She was the eldest daughter of the late 'well-known and popular' William Edward Holmes (1796–1825), a Quebec surgeon (son of William Holmes) and a brother-in-law of Sydney Robert Bellingham. Mrs Meredith's mother, Ann Johnston (1788–1865), was the daughter of Lt.-Colonel James Johnston and his wife Margaret, sister of John MacNider. Mrs Meredith was one of seven siblings and half-siblings, but other than her only two were married: Her brother, William Holmes, married a daughter of Colonel Bartholomew Gugy, and their half-sister, Eliza Paul, married Major Stephen Heward (1776–1828), brother-in-law of Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto. The Merediths were the parents of ten children:
Sophia Elizabeth Meredith (1848–1927), married Henry Nicholas (Monck) Middleton (1845–1928) J.P., D.L., of Dissington Hall, Northumberland, and later Lowood House, near Melrose, Scotland. He was a brother of Sir Arthur Middleton, 7th Baronet, of Belsay Hall. Their son married a daughter of Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey.
William Henry Meredith (1849–1895), director of the Bank of Montreal. He died at a comparatively young age, unmarried, at the apartments he kept in the Windsor Hotel (Montreal).
Matilda Anne Meredith (1851–1875), died young, unmarried, at Cannes, France.
Edward Graves Meredith (1852–1938) N.P., of Quebec, married Isabella Agnes Housman (1858–1949), daughter of The Rev. George Vernon Housman (1820–1887), for 25 years Rector of Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Quebec City, by his wife Eliza Izza Maria Reeves (1823–1865) of Hanover Square, London. George Housman was the uncle of the poet A.E. Housman and the grandson of Thomas Shrawley Vernon of Hanbury Hall.
Harriet Meredith (1854–1941), married Harry Stanley Smith (1850–1916), a native of Seaforth near Liverpool, who retired to Addington House, Wimbledon.
Hylda Graves Meredith (1856–1931), married George Hamilton Thomson (1857–1929), grandson of George Hamilton.
Richard Holmes Meredith (1858–1868), died young.
Louisa Meredith (1860–1938), married her half first cousin Lt.-Col. Edward Hampden Turner Heward (1852–1930). His brother married the sister of Lord Atholstan.
Frederick Edmund Meredith (1862–1941) K.C., D.C.L., of Montreal, married Anne Madeleine VanKoughnet (1863–1945), granddaughter of Colonel Philip VanKoughnet. They were the parents of William Campbell James Meredith.
Evaline Bertha Meredith (1863–1868), died young.
Private life
On moving from their house in Montreal to Quebec City in 1849, the Merediths lived at 19 St. Ursule Street, a large, three storey, brick house with room for five live-in servants. In Christmas 1853, they entertained the author William Henry Giles Kingston and his new wife, Agnes Kinloch. In 1866, they built a summer house, 'Rosecliff' in the hamlet of St. Patrick, outside Rivière-du-Loup (where they owned 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) of farmland), which is still occupied by his descendants today. In Quebec City, they owned three further houses and two barn stables; keeping five pleasure carriages, sleighs, two wagon-sleds, three horses and one milk cow. When he became financially independent in 1830, Meredith had purchased four town lots in Kent County, Upper Canada, that turned out to be an important investment in consequence of the railway that was built there.
Frances (known as Feo) Monck was the maternal granddaughter of Henry Monck, 1st Earl of Rathdowne and the sister-in-law of the then Governor-General Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck. 'Not generally given to benevolence in her judgments,' she gave an unusually long account of a party - or 'drum' as it was known - given by Judge Meredith in her book, My Canadian Leaves, An Account of a Visit to Canada, 1864–1865:
Dick (her husband, Lt-General Richard Monck) and I, and Captain Pem. (Sir Wykeham Leigh Pemberton) are going, I hope, to-night to a 'drum' at Judge Meredith's.... There was a very large party, and the house is large. I was much amused and talked to many people, among others to M. Duvergier-d'Hauranne, a young Frenchman, who is come over here to travel, and has brought a letter to the Governor-General from Lord Clarendon. His father (Prosper Duvergier de Hauranne) was a well-known man in France under Louis Philippe I. My friend, Sir R.M. (Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, William's first cousin who spent a year in Canada as Governor of Nova Scotia in 1864) rushed to me, and asked me to walk about with him, and invited us to Government House (Nova Scotia) at H. (Halifax), which he told me was much finer and larger than 'Spencer's Wood'. Lady M (Lady Blanche MacDonnell) and Dick flirted together for a long time; she is so pretty and pleasant. A Miss Tilstone sang—a handsome girl with a pretty voice. Then a Madame Taschereau (a daughter of Robert Unwin Harwood) sang—good voice; and then THE man sang, Mr Antoine Chartier de Lotbinière Harwood (brother of Madame Taschereau) an M.P.P., half French. He has a very fine voice, and is a pupil of Garcia's. He was offered an engagement at the Italian Opera, London. The large rooms were too small for his voice, which wants modulation. I got quite giddy with the loudness of it ! He sang from operas; he wants expression and more teaching. Judge Meredith introduced him to me, and he sang again, for me !
Meredith frequently returned to Europe, either touring the continent with members of his family or visiting friends and relatives in Ireland. Rather than their stepfather, he and the rest of his siblings regarded their uncle, Rev. Dr Richard MacDonnell, as a second father. In 1853, Edmund Allen Meredith wrote in his diary that 'the doctor (as they referred to MacDonnell) spoke much of the splendid apples and cider William had sent him'. In return 'the doctor' insisted on opening bottle after bottle of claret for Edmund, 'to prove to William that it is now possible to find good claret in Ireland!'
Obituaries
Chief Justice Meredith was 'a gentleman with exemplary charm and manners', and 'a man of fine scholarly attainments'. He possessed 'troops' of friends and was 'held in the highest respect in the City and Province of Quebec, by all classes of the community' and even more extraordinary for the time, was described as being as popular among the French as the English. This is noticeably apparent in an article written about him in L'Opinion Publique on 10 July 1879 :
Le Juge-en-Chef est l'urbanite meme, il est attentive comme un Francais de l'ancien regime. A cette grande affabilite qui n'est nulle part plus appreciable que sur le banc d'un tribunal. Le Juge Meredith joint un savoir etendu, un tact parfait, un judgement tres sur. Il voit au fond s'egarent, les avocats qui brouillent les faits, aux elements fondamentaux dont il faut s'inspirer pour retrouver la verite. Tout cela avec infiniment de benevolence et toutes les formes de la politesse.
"Esteemed for his high character, wide knowledge and amiable disposition", "his lofty conception of duty, his great learning, and his gentleness of character commanded the admiration and affection of the bench and bar of Quebec." Sir William Colles Meredith died 26 February 1894, aged eighty two after a short illness, and he was buried with many of his family at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Sillery. Part of the inscription on his gravestone reads, "... Thoughtful consideration for others marked all his acts and made bright his daily walk through life."
References
Le Revue du Bar, Quebec
Les Juges de la Province de Québec (1933), P.G. Roy
Quebec National Archives
McGill University Archives, Montreal
McCord Museum, Montreal
Quebec Literary and Historical Society
Laval University Archives, Quebec
Bishop's University Archives, Lennoxville
Burkes Landed Gentry of Ireland
The Private Capital (1989), Sandra Gwynn
Rawdon Historical Society
Correspondence of Edgar Allan Collard
The Canadian Legal News
The Canadian Dictionary of National Biography
My Canadian Leaves: An account of a visit to Canada (1864–1865), Feo Monck
Archives of the Montreal Star
Archives of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
Archives of L'Electeur
Archives of the L'Opinion Publique
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Sir William Collis Meredith, (23 May 1812 – 26 February 1894) was Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec from 1866 to 1884. In 1844, he was offered but refused the positions of Solicitor General of Canada and then Attorney-General for Canada East - the latter position he turned down again in 1847. In 1887, he was one of the two English-speaking candidates considered by the Liberals for the role of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. The home he commissioned and lived in at Montreal from 1845 to 1849 still stands today, known as the Notman House.
Early life
Born May 23, 1812, at No.1 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, second son of the Rev. Thomas Meredith and his wife Elizabeth Maria Graves, the eldest daughter of the Very Rev. Richard Graves, Dean of Ardagh. He was named for his father's first cousin, William Collis (1788–1866) J.P., of Tieraclea House, High Sheriff of Kerry, a first cousin of Lord Monteagle. Meredith was a nephew of Robert James Graves and a brother of Edmund Allen Meredith. His first cousins included John Walsingham Cooke Meredith, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, John Dawson Mayne, Francis Brinkley, Major-General Arthur Robert MacDonnell and Sir James Creed Meredith.
A year after Meredith was born his family moved up to Ardtrea, near Cookstown, County Tyrone, his father having resigned his fellowship in Dublin to take up the position of Rector there. In 1819, Meredith's father died of 'a sudden and awful visitation' at his home while attempting to shoot a ghost with a silver bullet. His mother returned to Harcourt Street, Dublin, and he joined his Meredith and Redmond cousins at Dr Behan's school in County Wexford. Five years later, against her parents wishes, Meredith's mother remarried her mother's cousin, James Edmund Burton (1776–1850), a first cousin of Henry Peard Driscoll and an uncle of Sir Richard Francis Burton and Lady Stisted. Formerly a magistrate at Tuam, Meredith's step-father had "wasted every farthing of his Irish property" and so attracted by the land grants he took the position of the Church of England's first missionary to Terrebonne, Quebec.
In the summer of 1824, Meredith arrived at 'Burtonville', his stepfather's house and farm outside Rawdon, Quebec, then a four-day journey north of Montreal. He was tutored there by Burton himself or by whatever tutor his stepfather could procure, who were few and far between. In 1828, William's mother, "a lady of much culture and refinement, and possessed also of great energy and force of character", sent him back to Ireland to complete his studies at Trinity College Dublin.
In 1831, a year before his mother and stepfather returned permanently to Cloyne, Co. Cork, he chose to return to Montreal to commence his legal studies there. He articled under The Hon. Clement-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury and then James Charles Grant, QC, before being called to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1836.
Duel and rebellion
On Monday, August 9, 1837, at eight o'clock in the evening, Meredith fought a duel with pistols against James Scott, no stranger to such events. Earlier that day, following a dispute over legal costs, Meredith challenged Scott. He chose James McGill Blackwood (son of John Blackwood) to second him, while Scott's choice was Joseph-Ferreol Pelletier. The duel took place behind Mount Royal, and the pistols used were Meredith's which he had bought in London, on a previous trip to England. On the first exchange Scott took a bullet high up in the thigh, and the duel was called to a stop. List of duels Meredith v Scott, 1837, under 'Canadian Duels'.
The bullet in Scott's thigh bone lodged itself in such a way that it could not be removed by doctors, causing him great discomfort for the rest of his days. Ironically for Scott, this was exactly where he had shot Sweeney Campbell in a duel when they were students. In the early 1850s (Scott died in 1852), when both the adversaries had become judges, one of the sights then to see was Meredith helping his brother judge up the steep Court House steps, Scott being still hindered by the lameness in his leg since their encounter.
Not long after the duel, his career was interrupted again by the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. Under the command of Lt.-Colonel Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury, with whom he had articled with a few years previously, Meredith joined the Montreal Rifles as a Lieutenant and saw action against the French rebels at the Battle of Saint-Eustache, reaching the rank of Major in the militia.
Montreal
From the late 1830s Meredith, "a careful, shrewd lawyer", was senior partner of the firm Meredith & Bethune (a relation through the explorer Alexander Henry the elder) and subsequently Meredith, Bethune & Dunkin. Their offices were situated at 33 Little St. James Street and the firm was described in the 1840s as the most influential in Montreal, having brought together the largest legal business by any one firm in the Province of Quebec. In 1843, he commissioned John Wells, to build him a home beyond the walls of Old Montreal on a spacious plot of land surrounded by fields, Elm and Maple trees. It still stands today, known as the Notman House.
In 1844, he was created a Queen's Counsel (Q.C.), declining the office of Solicitor General, and subsequently that of Attorney-General, which he declined again for the second time in 1847 during the Draper administration. Meredith disliked politics. In the same year Chief Justice Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal offered him the position of Dean of Law at McGill University, which he also turned down - a position his grandson, William Campbell James Meredith, later held.
He was one of the founding members and a director of the High School of Montreal, which was established with his help in 1843 and soon superseded the Royal Grammar School. He was counsel to the board of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning and on the committee to save McGill University in the early 1840s. He conducted a good deal of business for the university, and it was with his influence that his younger brother, Edmund Allen Meredith, became the sixth principal of McGill from 1846 to 1853. In 1848, he was a founding director and trustee of the Montreal Mining Company along with Peter McGill, George Moffatt, Sir George Simpson, Sir Allan Napier MacNab and James Ferrier.
Quebec
In December 1849, Meredith was appointed to be one of the first ten judges of the newly established Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, by the Lafontaine–Baldwin government, a position he held for ten years. However, this meant abandoning with some reluctance the practice of a profession to which he was greatly attached, and in doing so relinquished a profitable business in Montreal. During Lord Elgin's term as Governor General of Canada (1847–1854), Meredith was elected one of the judges of the Seigneurial Court. In 1859, 'at the earnest solicitation of the government and in compliance with the members of the Montreal bar', he accepted a seat from Sir George-Étienne Cartier, as a judge in the Court of Queen's Bench, that being the Court of Appeals for the province. Several of his judgments were spoken of very highly by the lords of the Privy Council in England. He filled the position for seven years 'with marked ability and success'. On December 28, 1854, he was given an honorary D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Bishop's University College, Lennoxville. In 1880, he received the honor for a second time, from Université Laval. In 1865, at a private meeting of the board of governors of Bishop's University he was unanimously elected to become the university's new Chancellor, but due to his existing official duties he declined the position. His youngest son, Frederick Edmund Meredith, would hold the position from 1926 to 1932.
Meredith's friend Sir John Abbott, who had studied law under him and later became Prime Minister of Canada, was a reluctant supporter of Canadian Confederation in 1866. Abbott feared that it would reduce the English-speaking inhabitants of Lower Canada to political impotence. Among others, he consulted with Meredith and Meredith's former business partner, Christopher Dunkin. They drafted a resolution calling on the government to protect the electoral borders of twelve English Quebec constituencies. Subsequently, Alexander Tilloch Galt endorsed the proposal, had the London Conference of 1866 accept it, and included it as Article 80 of the British North America Act, 1867.
In 1866, following the death of one of Meredith's closest friends, Edward Bowen, Sir George-Étienne Cartier appointed him Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec. Judge Caron rivalled him for the position, but the influential and affable D'Arcy McGee (then Minister of Agriculture), a close associate of Meredith's brother (Edmund Allen Meredith), made a few favourable representations on Meredith's behalf, easing the way for his appointment to the position. In the years before his retirement he was the oldest judge on the Bench in Canada, 'still going with his characteristic energy and ability'. Chief Justice Meredith finally retired for health reasons, in this his final office, October 1, 1884. The government did their best to keep him from resigning his post, but Meredith declined their offers to accept leave of absence with the understanding that his full salary would be paid and his resignation subsequently accepted. Two years later he was created a Knight Bachelor by Queen Victoria. Meredith had been as popular among the French as he was among the English, which was extremely rare for the time. This is made clear from an article written in the French journal L'Electeur at his retirement,
La retraite de M. le juge Meredith va creer un vif chagrin dans le barreau comme parmi le public. Jamais en effet un magistrat ne sut mieux se concilier leftie des avocats sans cesse en rapport avec lui et la confiance du public. Jurisconsulte eminent, magistrat dont la reputation d'honorabilite a toujours ete au-dessus du soupcon, bienveillent pour tout la monde, d'un politesse vraiment exquise, M. le juge en chef va laisser une vide bien difficile a remplir.
In 1887, on the retirement of Louis-Rodrigue Masson as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Liberal government favoured an English-speaking replacement. Along with his wife's cousin, George Irvine, Meredith was named as one of the two men, who if appointed, would bring the greatest satisfaction to the English-speaking minority. Neither Meredith nor Irvine were appointed, the new government instead choosing another French-speaking Quebecer, Sir Auguste-Réal Angers. At Meredith's death in 1894, the Legal News printed: The late Chief Justice was a diligent advocate and judge, and conscientious and painstaking in the performance of every duty. The opinions delivered by him from the bench have always been cited with the greatest respect and many of them are models of what a judicial opinion should be. They excel in clearness, are ample without ceasing to be concise, and bring light and satisfaction to the reader.
Family
William Collis Meredith was married at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, May 20, 1847, to Sophia Naters Holmes (1820–1898). She was the eldest daughter of the late 'well-known and popular' William Edward Holmes (1796–1825), a Quebec surgeon (son of William Holmes) and a brother-in-law of Sydney Robert Bellingham. Mrs Meredith's mother, Ann Johnston (1788–1865), was the daughter of Lt.-Colonel James Johnston and his wife Margaret, sister of John MacNider. Mrs Meredith was one of seven siblings and half-siblings, but other than her only two were married: Her brother, William Holmes, married a daughter of Colonel Bartholomew Gugy, and their half-sister, Eliza Paul, married Major Stephen Heward (1776–1828), brother-in-law of Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto. The Merediths were the parents of ten children:
Sophia Elizabeth Meredith (1848–1927), married Henry Nicholas (Monck) Middleton (1845–1928) J.P., D.L., of Dissington Hall, Northumberland, and later Lowood House, near Melrose, Scotland. He was a brother of Sir Arthur Middleton, 7th Baronet, of Belsay Hall. Their son married a daughter of Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey.
William Henry Meredith (1849–1895), director of the Bank of Montreal. He died at a comparatively young age, unmarried, at the apartments he kept in the Windsor Hotel (Montreal).
Matilda Anne Meredith (1851–1875), died young, unmarried, at Cannes, France.
Edward Graves Meredith (1852–1938) N.P., of Quebec, married Isabella Agnes Housman (1858–1949), daughter of The Rev. George Vernon Housman (1820–1887), for 25 years Rector of Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Quebec City, by his wife Eliza Izza Maria Reeves (1823–1865) of Hanover Square, London. George Housman was the uncle of the poet A.E. Housman and the grandson of Thomas Shrawley Vernon of Hanbury Hall.
Harriet Meredith (1854–1941), married Harry Stanley Smith (1850–1916), a native of Seaforth near Liverpool, who retired to Addington House, Wimbledon.
Hylda Graves Meredith (1856–1931), married George Hamilton Thomson (1857–1929), grandson of George Hamilton.
Richard Holmes Meredith (1858–1868), died young.
Louisa Meredith (1860–1938), married her half first cousin Lt.-Col. Edward Hampden Turner Heward (1852–1930). His brother married the sister of Lord Atholstan.
Frederick Edmund Meredith (1862–1941) K.C., D.C.L., of Montreal, married Anne Madeleine VanKoughnet (1863–1945), granddaughter of Colonel Philip VanKoughnet. They were the parents of William Campbell James Meredith.
Evaline Bertha Meredith (1863–1868), died young.
Private life
On moving from their house in Montreal to Quebec City in 1849, the Merediths lived at 19 St. Ursule Street, a large, three storey, brick house with room for five live-in servants. In Christmas 1853, they entertained the author William Henry Giles Kingston and his new wife, Agnes Kinloch. In 1866, they built a summer house, 'Rosecliff' in the hamlet of St. Patrick, outside Rivière-du-Loup (where they owned 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) of farmland), which is still occupied by his descendants today. In Quebec City, they owned three further houses and two barn stables; keeping five pleasure carriages, sleighs, two wagon-sleds, three horses and one milk cow. When he became financially independent in 1830, Meredith had purchased four town lots in Kent County, Upper Canada, that turned out to be an important investment in consequence of the railway that was built there.
Frances (known as Feo) Monck was the maternal granddaughter of Henry Monck, 1st Earl of Rathdowne and the sister-in-law of the then Governor-General Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck. 'Not generally given to benevolence in her judgments,' she gave an unusually long account of a party - or 'drum' as it was known - given by Judge Meredith in her book, My Canadian Leaves, An Account of a Visit to Canada, 1864–1865:
Dick (her husband, Lt-General Richard Monck) and I, and Captain Pem. (Sir Wykeham Leigh Pemberton) are going, I hope, to-night to a 'drum' at Judge Meredith's.... There was a very large party, and the house is large. I was much amused and talked to many people, among others to M. Duvergier-d'Hauranne, a young Frenchman, who is come over here to travel, and has brought a letter to the Governor-General from Lord Clarendon. His father (Prosper Duvergier de Hauranne) was a well-known man in France under Louis Philippe I. My friend, Sir R.M. (Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, William's first cousin who spent a year in Canada as Governor of Nova Scotia in 1864) rushed to me, and asked me to walk about with him, and invited us to Government House (Nova Scotia) at H. (Halifax), which he told me was much finer and larger than 'Spencer's Wood'. Lady M (Lady Blanche MacDonnell) and Dick flirted together for a long time; she is so pretty and pleasant. A Miss Tilstone sang—a handsome girl with a pretty voice. Then a Madame Taschereau (a daughter of Robert Unwin Harwood) sang—good voice; and then THE man sang, Mr Antoine Chartier de Lotbinière Harwood (brother of Madame Taschereau) an M.P.P., half French. He has a very fine voice, and is a pupil of Garcia's. He was offered an engagement at the Italian Opera, London. The large rooms were too small for his voice, which wants modulation. I got quite giddy with the loudness of it ! He sang from operas; he wants expression and more teaching. Judge Meredith introduced him to me, and he sang again, for me !
Meredith frequently returned to Europe, either touring the continent with members of his family or visiting friends and relatives in Ireland. Rather than their stepfather, he and the rest of his siblings regarded their uncle, Rev. Dr Richard MacDonnell, as a second father. In 1853, Edmund Allen Meredith wrote in his diary that 'the doctor (as they referred to MacDonnell) spoke much of the splendid apples and cider William had sent him'. In return 'the doctor' insisted on opening bottle after bottle of claret for Edmund, 'to prove to William that it is now possible to find good claret in Ireland!'
Obituaries
Chief Justice Meredith was 'a gentleman with exemplary charm and manners', and 'a man of fine scholarly attainments'. He possessed 'troops' of friends and was 'held in the highest respect in the City and Province of Quebec, by all classes of the community' and even more extraordinary for the time, was described as being as popular among the French as the English. This is noticeably apparent in an article written about him in L'Opinion Publique on 10 July 1879 :
Le Juge-en-Chef est l'urbanite meme, il est attentive comme un Francais de l'ancien regime. A cette grande affabilite qui n'est nulle part plus appreciable que sur le banc d'un tribunal. Le Juge Meredith joint un savoir etendu, un tact parfait, un judgement tres sur. Il voit au fond s'egarent, les avocats qui brouillent les faits, aux elements fondamentaux dont il faut s'inspirer pour retrouver la verite. Tout cela avec infiniment de benevolence et toutes les formes de la politesse.
"Esteemed for his high character, wide knowledge and amiable disposition", "his lofty conception of duty, his great learning, and his gentleness of character commanded the admiration and affection of the bench and bar of Quebec." Sir William Colles Meredith died 26 February 1894, aged eighty two after a short illness, and he was buried with many of his family at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Sillery. Part of the inscription on his gravestone reads, "... Thoughtful consideration for others marked all his acts and made bright his daily walk through life."
References
Le Revue du Bar, Quebec
Les Juges de la Province de Québec (1933), P.G. Roy
Quebec National Archives
McGill University Archives, Montreal
McCord Museum, Montreal
Quebec Literary and Historical Society
Laval University Archives, Quebec
Bishop's University Archives, Lennoxville
Burkes Landed Gentry of Ireland
The Private Capital (1989), Sandra Gwynn
Rawdon Historical Society
Correspondence of Edgar Allan Collard
The Canadian Legal News
The Canadian Dictionary of National Biography
My Canadian Leaves: An account of a visit to Canada (1864–1865), Feo Monck
Archives of the Montreal Star
Archives of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
Archives of L'Electeur
Archives of the L'Opinion Publique
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Sir William Collis Meredith, (23 May 1812 – 26 February 1894) was Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec from 1866 to 1884. In 1844, he was offered but refused the positions of Solicitor General of Canada and then Attorney-General for Canada East - the latter position he turned down again in 1847. In 1887, he was one of the two English-speaking candidates considered by the Liberals for the role of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. The home he commissioned and lived in at Montreal from 1845 to 1849 still stands today, known as the Notman House.
Early life
Born May 23, 1812, at No.1 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, second son of the Rev. Thomas Meredith and his wife Elizabeth Maria Graves, the eldest daughter of the Very Rev. Richard Graves, Dean of Ardagh. He was named for his father's first cousin, William Collis (1788–1866) J.P., of Tieraclea House, High Sheriff of Kerry, a first cousin of Lord Monteagle. Meredith was a nephew of Robert James Graves and a brother of Edmund Allen Meredith. His first cousins included John Walsingham Cooke Meredith, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, John Dawson Mayne, Francis Brinkley, Major-General Arthur Robert MacDonnell and Sir James Creed Meredith.
A year after Meredith was born his family moved up to Ardtrea, near Cookstown, County Tyrone, his father having resigned his fellowship in Dublin to take up the position of Rector there. In 1819, Meredith's father died of 'a sudden and awful visitation' at his home while attempting to shoot a ghost with a silver bullet. His mother returned to Harcourt Street, Dublin, and he joined his Meredith and Redmond cousins at Dr Behan's school in County Wexford. Five years later, against her parents wishes, Meredith's mother remarried her mother's cousin, James Edmund Burton (1776–1850), a first cousin of Henry Peard Driscoll and an uncle of Sir Richard Francis Burton and Lady Stisted. Formerly a magistrate at Tuam, Meredith's step-father had "wasted every farthing of his Irish property" and so attracted by the land grants he took the position of the Church of England's first missionary to Terrebonne, Quebec.
In the summer of 1824, Meredith arrived at 'Burtonville', his stepfather's house and farm outside Rawdon, Quebec, then a four-day journey north of Montreal. He was tutored there by Burton himself or by whatever tutor his stepfather could procure, who were few and far between. In 1828, William's mother, "a lady of much culture and refinement, and possessed also of great energy and force of character", sent him back to Ireland to complete his studies at Trinity College Dublin.
In 1831, a year before his mother and stepfather returned permanently to Cloyne, Co. Cork, he chose to return to Montreal to commence his legal studies there. He articled under The Hon. Clement-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury and then James Charles Grant, QC, before being called to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1836.
Duel and rebellion
On Monday, August 9, 1837, at eight o'clock in the evening, Meredith fought a duel with pistols against James Scott, no stranger to such events. Earlier that day, following a dispute over legal costs, Meredith challenged Scott. He chose James McGill Blackwood (son of John Blackwood) to second him, while Scott's choice was Joseph-Ferreol Pelletier. The duel took place behind Mount Royal, and the pistols used were Meredith's which he had bought in London, on a previous trip to England. On the first exchange Scott took a bullet high up in the thigh, and the duel was called to a stop. List of duels Meredith v Scott, 1837, under 'Canadian Duels'.
The bullet in Scott's thigh bone lodged itself in such a way that it could not be removed by doctors, causing him great discomfort for the rest of his days. Ironically for Scott, this was exactly where he had shot Sweeney Campbell in a duel when they were students. In the early 1850s (Scott died in 1852), when both the adversaries had become judges, one of the sights then to see was Meredith helping his brother judge up the steep Court House steps, Scott being still hindered by the lameness in his leg since their encounter.
Not long after the duel, his career was interrupted again by the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. Under the command of Lt.-Colonel Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury, with whom he had articled with a few years previously, Meredith joined the Montreal Rifles as a Lieutenant and saw action against the French rebels at the Battle of Saint-Eustache, reaching the rank of Major in the militia.
Montreal
From the late 1830s Meredith, "a careful, shrewd lawyer", was senior partner of the firm Meredith & Bethune (a relation through the explorer Alexander Henry the elder) and subsequently Meredith, Bethune & Dunkin. Their offices were situated at 33 Little St. James Street and the firm was described in the 1840s as the most influential in Montreal, having brought together the largest legal business by any one firm in the Province of Quebec. In 1843, he commissioned John Wells, to build him a home beyond the walls of Old Montreal on a spacious plot of land surrounded by fields, Elm and Maple trees. It still stands today, known as the Notman House.
In 1844, he was created a Queen's Counsel (Q.C.), declining the office of Solicitor General, and subsequently that of Attorney-General, which he declined again for the second time in 1847 during the Draper administration. Meredith disliked politics. In the same year Chief Justice Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal offered him the position of Dean of Law at McGill University, which he also turned down - a position his grandson, William Campbell James Meredith, later held.
He was one of the founding members and a director of the High School of Montreal, which was established with his help in 1843 and soon superseded the Royal Grammar School. He was counsel to the board of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning and on the committee to save McGill University in the early 1840s. He conducted a good deal of business for the university, and it was with his influence that his younger brother, Edmund Allen Meredith, became the sixth principal of McGill from 1846 to 1853. In 1848, he was a founding director and trustee of the Montreal Mining Company along with Peter McGill, George Moffatt, Sir George Simpson, Sir Allan Napier MacNab and James Ferrier.
Quebec
In December 1849, Meredith was appointed to be one of the first ten judges of the newly established Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, by the Lafontaine–Baldwin government, a position he held for ten years. However, this meant abandoning with some reluctance the practice of a profession to which he was greatly attached, and in doing so relinquished a profitable business in Montreal. During Lord Elgin's term as Governor General of Canada (1847–1854), Meredith was elected one of the judges of the Seigneurial Court. In 1859, 'at the earnest solicitation of the government and in compliance with the members of the Montreal bar', he accepted a seat from Sir George-Étienne Cartier, as a judge in the Court of Queen's Bench, that being the Court of Appeals for the province. Several of his judgments were spoken of very highly by the lords of the Privy Council in England. He filled the position for seven years 'with marked ability and success'. On December 28, 1854, he was given an honorary D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Bishop's University College, Lennoxville. In 1880, he received the honor for a second time, from Université Laval. In 1865, at a private meeting of the board of governors of Bishop's University he was unanimously elected to become the university's new Chancellor, but due to his existing official duties he declined the position. His youngest son, Frederick Edmund Meredith, would hold the position from 1926 to 1932.
Meredith's friend Sir John Abbott, who had studied law under him and later became Prime Minister of Canada, was a reluctant supporter of Canadian Confederation in 1866. Abbott feared that it would reduce the English-speaking inhabitants of Lower Canada to political impotence. Among others, he consulted with Meredith and Meredith's former business partner, Christopher Dunkin. They drafted a resolution calling on the government to protect the electoral borders of twelve English Quebec constituencies. Subsequently, Alexander Tilloch Galt endorsed the proposal, had the London Conference of 1866 accept it, and included it as Article 80 of the British North America Act, 1867.
In 1866, following the death of one of Meredith's closest friends, Edward Bowen, Sir George-Étienne Cartier appointed him Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec. Judge Caron rivalled him for the position, but the influential and affable D'Arcy McGee (then Minister of Agriculture), a close associate of Meredith's brother (Edmund Allen Meredith), made a few favourable representations on Meredith's behalf, easing the way for his appointment to the position. In the years before his retirement he was the oldest judge on the Bench in Canada, 'still going with his characteristic energy and ability'. Chief Justice Meredith finally retired for health reasons, in this his final office, October 1, 1884. The government did their best to keep him from resigning his post, but Meredith declined their offers to accept leave of absence with the understanding that his full salary would be paid and his resignation subsequently accepted. Two years later he was created a Knight Bachelor by Queen Victoria. Meredith had been as popular among the French as he was among the English, which was extremely rare for the time. This is made clear from an article written in the French journal L'Electeur at his retirement,
La retraite de M. le juge Meredith va creer un vif chagrin dans le barreau comme parmi le public. Jamais en effet un magistrat ne sut mieux se concilier leftie des avocats sans cesse en rapport avec lui et la confiance du public. Jurisconsulte eminent, magistrat dont la reputation d'honorabilite a toujours ete au-dessus du soupcon, bienveillent pour tout la monde, d'un politesse vraiment exquise, M. le juge en chef va laisser une vide bien difficile a remplir.
In 1887, on the retirement of Louis-Rodrigue Masson as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Liberal government favoured an English-speaking replacement. Along with his wife's cousin, George Irvine, Meredith was named as one of the two men, who if appointed, would bring the greatest satisfaction to the English-speaking minority. Neither Meredith nor Irvine were appointed, the new government instead choosing another French-speaking Quebecer, Sir Auguste-Réal Angers. At Meredith's death in 1894, the Legal News printed: The late Chief Justice was a diligent advocate and judge, and conscientious and painstaking in the performance of every duty. The opinions delivered by him from the bench have always been cited with the greatest respect and many of them are models of what a judicial opinion should be. They excel in clearness, are ample without ceasing to be concise, and bring light and satisfaction to the reader.
Family
William Collis Meredith was married at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, May 20, 1847, to Sophia Naters Holmes (1820–1898). She was the eldest daughter of the late 'well-known and popular' William Edward Holmes (1796–1825), a Quebec surgeon (son of William Holmes) and a brother-in-law of Sydney Robert Bellingham. Mrs Meredith's mother, Ann Johnston (1788–1865), was the daughter of Lt.-Colonel James Johnston and his wife Margaret, sister of John MacNider. Mrs Meredith was one of seven siblings and half-siblings, but other than her only two were married: Her brother, William Holmes, married a daughter of Colonel Bartholomew Gugy, and their half-sister, Eliza Paul, married Major Stephen Heward (1776–1828), brother-in-law of Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto. The Merediths were the parents of ten children:
Sophia Elizabeth Meredith (1848–1927), married Henry Nicholas (Monck) Middleton (1845–1928) J.P., D.L., of Dissington Hall, Northumberland, and later Lowood House, near Melrose, Scotland. He was a brother of Sir Arthur Middleton, 7th Baronet, of Belsay Hall. Their son married a daughter of Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey.
William Henry Meredith (1849–1895), director of the Bank of Montreal. He died at a comparatively young age, unmarried, at the apartments he kept in the Windsor Hotel (Montreal).
Matilda Anne Meredith (1851–1875), died young, unmarried, at Cannes, France.
Edward Graves Meredith (1852–1938) N.P., of Quebec, married Isabella Agnes Housman (1858–1949), daughter of The Rev. George Vernon Housman (1820–1887), for 25 years Rector of Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Quebec City, by his wife Eliza Izza Maria Reeves (1823–1865) of Hanover Square, London. George Housman was the uncle of the poet A.E. Housman and the grandson of Thomas Shrawley Vernon of Hanbury Hall.
Harriet Meredith (1854–1941), married Harry Stanley Smith (1850–1916), a native of Seaforth near Liverpool, who retired to Addington House, Wimbledon.
Hylda Graves Meredith (1856–1931), married George Hamilton Thomson (1857–1929), grandson of George Hamilton.
Richard Holmes Meredith (1858–1868), died young.
Louisa Meredith (1860–1938), married her half first cousin Lt.-Col. Edward Hampden Turner Heward (1852–1930). His brother married the sister of Lord Atholstan.
Frederick Edmund Meredith (1862–1941) K.C., D.C.L., of Montreal, married Anne Madeleine VanKoughnet (1863–1945), granddaughter of Colonel Philip VanKoughnet. They were the parents of William Campbell James Meredith.
Evaline Bertha Meredith (1863–1868), died young.
Private life
On moving from their house in Montreal to Quebec City in 1849, the Merediths lived at 19 St. Ursule Street, a large, three storey, brick house with room for five live-in servants. In Christmas 1853, they entertained the author William Henry Giles Kingston and his new wife, Agnes Kinloch. In 1866, they built a summer house, 'Rosecliff' in the hamlet of St. Patrick, outside Rivière-du-Loup (where they owned 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) of farmland), which is still occupied by his descendants today. In Quebec City, they owned three further houses and two barn stables; keeping five pleasure carriages, sleighs, two wagon-sleds, three horses and one milk cow. When he became financially independent in 1830, Meredith had purchased four town lots in Kent County, Upper Canada, that turned out to be an important investment in consequence of the railway that was built there.
Frances (known as Feo) Monck was the maternal granddaughter of Henry Monck, 1st Earl of Rathdowne and the sister-in-law of the then Governor-General Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck. 'Not generally given to benevolence in her judgments,' she gave an unusually long account of a party - or 'drum' as it was known - given by Judge Meredith in her book, My Canadian Leaves, An Account of a Visit to Canada, 1864–1865:
Dick (her husband, Lt-General Richard Monck) and I, and Captain Pem. (Sir Wykeham Leigh Pemberton) are going, I hope, to-night to a 'drum' at Judge Meredith's.... There was a very large party, and the house is large. I was much amused and talked to many people, among others to M. Duvergier-d'Hauranne, a young Frenchman, who is come over here to travel, and has brought a letter to the Governor-General from Lord Clarendon. His father (Prosper Duvergier de Hauranne) was a well-known man in France under Louis Philippe I. My friend, Sir R.M. (Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, William's first cousin who spent a year in Canada as Governor of Nova Scotia in 1864) rushed to me, and asked me to walk about with him, and invited us to Government House (Nova Scotia) at H. (Halifax), which he told me was much finer and larger than 'Spencer's Wood'. Lady M (Lady Blanche MacDonnell) and Dick flirted together for a long time; she is so pretty and pleasant. A Miss Tilstone sang—a handsome girl with a pretty voice. Then a Madame Taschereau (a daughter of Robert Unwin Harwood) sang—good voice; and then THE man sang, Mr Antoine Chartier de Lotbinière Harwood (brother of Madame Taschereau) an M.P.P., half French. He has a very fine voice, and is a pupil of Garcia's. He was offered an engagement at the Italian Opera, London. The large rooms were too small for his voice, which wants modulation. I got quite giddy with the loudness of it ! He sang from operas; he wants expression and more teaching. Judge Meredith introduced him to me, and he sang again, for me !
Meredith frequently returned to Europe, either touring the continent with members of his family or visiting friends and relatives in Ireland. Rather than their stepfather, he and the rest of his siblings regarded their uncle, Rev. Dr Richard MacDonnell, as a second father. In 1853, Edmund Allen Meredith wrote in his diary that 'the doctor (as they referred to MacDonnell) spoke much of the splendid apples and cider William had sent him'. In return 'the doctor' insisted on opening bottle after bottle of claret for Edmund, 'to prove to William that it is now possible to find good claret in Ireland!'
Obituaries
Chief Justice Meredith was 'a gentleman with exemplary charm and manners', and 'a man of fine scholarly attainments'. He possessed 'troops' of friends and was 'held in the highest respect in the City and Province of Quebec, by all classes of the community' and even more extraordinary for the time, was described as being as popular among the French as the English. This is noticeably apparent in an article written about him in L'Opinion Publique on 10 July 1879 :
Le Juge-en-Chef est l'urbanite meme, il est attentive comme un Francais de l'ancien regime. A cette grande affabilite qui n'est nulle part plus appreciable que sur le banc d'un tribunal. Le Juge Meredith joint un savoir etendu, un tact parfait, un judgement tres sur. Il voit au fond s'egarent, les avocats qui brouillent les faits, aux elements fondamentaux dont il faut s'inspirer pour retrouver la verite. Tout cela avec infiniment de benevolence et toutes les formes de la politesse.
"Esteemed for his high character, wide knowledge and amiable disposition", "his lofty conception of duty, his great learning, and his gentleness of character commanded the admiration and affection of the bench and bar of Quebec." Sir William Colles Meredith died 26 February 1894, aged eighty two after a short illness, and he was buried with many of his family at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Sillery. Part of the inscription on his gravestone reads, "... Thoughtful consideration for others marked all his acts and made bright his daily walk through life."
References
Le Revue du Bar, Quebec
Les Juges de la Province de Québec (1933), P.G. Roy
Quebec National Archives
McGill University Archives, Montreal
McCord Museum, Montreal
Quebec Literary and Historical Society
Laval University Archives, Quebec
Bishop's University Archives, Lennoxville
Burkes Landed Gentry of Ireland
The Private Capital (1989), Sandra Gwynn
Rawdon Historical Society
Correspondence of Edgar Allan Collard
The Canadian Legal News
The Canadian Dictionary of National Biography
My Canadian Leaves: An account of a visit to Canada (1864–1865), Feo Monck
Archives of the Montreal Star
Archives of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
Archives of L'Electeur
Archives of the L'Opinion Publique
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Sir William Collis Meredith, (23 May 1812 – 26 February 1894) was Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec from 1866 to 1884. In 1844, he was offered but refused the positions of Solicitor General of Canada and then Attorney-General for Canada East - the latter position he turned down again in 1847. In 1887, he was one of the two English-speaking candidates considered by the Liberals for the role of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. The home he commissioned and lived in at Montreal from 1845 to 1849 still stands today, known as the Notman House.
Early life
Born May 23, 1812, at No.1 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, second son of the Rev. Thomas Meredith and his wife Elizabeth Maria Graves, the eldest daughter of the Very Rev. Richard Graves, Dean of Ardagh. He was named for his father's first cousin, William Collis (1788–1866) J.P., of Tieraclea House, High Sheriff of Kerry, a first cousin of Lord Monteagle. Meredith was a nephew of Robert James Graves and a brother of Edmund Allen Meredith. His first cousins included John Walsingham Cooke Meredith, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, John Dawson Mayne, Francis Brinkley, Major-General Arthur Robert MacDonnell and Sir James Creed Meredith.
A year after Meredith was born his family moved up to Ardtrea, near Cookstown, County Tyrone, his father having resigned his fellowship in Dublin to take up the position of Rector there. In 1819, Meredith's father died of 'a sudden and awful visitation' at his home while attempting to shoot a ghost with a silver bullet. His mother returned to Harcourt Street, Dublin, and he joined his Meredith and Redmond cousins at Dr Behan's school in County Wexford. Five years later, against her parents wishes, Meredith's mother remarried her mother's cousin, James Edmund Burton (1776–1850), a first cousin of Henry Peard Driscoll and an uncle of Sir Richard Francis Burton and Lady Stisted. Formerly a magistrate at Tuam, Meredith's step-father had "wasted every farthing of his Irish property" and so attracted by the land grants he took the position of the Church of England's first missionary to Terrebonne, Quebec.
In the summer of 1824, Meredith arrived at 'Burtonville', his stepfather's house and farm outside Rawdon, Quebec, then a four-day journey north of Montreal. He was tutored there by Burton himself or by whatever tutor his stepfather could procure, who were few and far between. In 1828, William's mother, "a lady of much culture and refinement, and possessed also of great energy and force of character", sent him back to Ireland to complete his studies at Trinity College Dublin.
In 1831, a year before his mother and stepfather returned permanently to Cloyne, Co. Cork, he chose to return to Montreal to commence his legal studies there. He articled under The Hon. Clement-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury and then James Charles Grant, QC, before being called to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1836.
Duel and rebellion
On Monday, August 9, 1837, at eight o'clock in the evening, Meredith fought a duel with pistols against James Scott, no stranger to such events. Earlier that day, following a dispute over legal costs, Meredith challenged Scott. He chose James McGill Blackwood (son of John Blackwood) to second him, while Scott's choice was Joseph-Ferreol Pelletier. The duel took place behind Mount Royal, and the pistols used were Meredith's which he had bought in London, on a previous trip to England. On the first exchange Scott took a bullet high up in the thigh, and the duel was called to a stop. List of duels Meredith v Scott, 1837, under 'Canadian Duels'.
The bullet in Scott's thigh bone lodged itself in such a way that it could not be removed by doctors, causing him great discomfort for the rest of his days. Ironically for Scott, this was exactly where he had shot Sweeney Campbell in a duel when they were students. In the early 1850s (Scott died in 1852), when both the adversaries had become judges, one of the sights then to see was Meredith helping his brother judge up the steep Court House steps, Scott being still hindered by the lameness in his leg since their encounter.
Not long after the duel, his career was interrupted again by the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. Under the command of Lt.-Colonel Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury, with whom he had articled with a few years previously, Meredith joined the Montreal Rifles as a Lieutenant and saw action against the French rebels at the Battle of Saint-Eustache, reaching the rank of Major in the militia.
Montreal
From the late 1830s Meredith, "a careful, shrewd lawyer", was senior partner of the firm Meredith & Bethune (a relation through the explorer Alexander Henry the elder) and subsequently Meredith, Bethune & Dunkin. Their offices were situated at 33 Little St. James Street and the firm was described in the 1840s as the most influential in Montreal, having brought together the largest legal business by any one firm in the Province of Quebec. In 1843, he commissioned John Wells, to build him a home beyond the walls of Old Montreal on a spacious plot of land surrounded by fields, Elm and Maple trees. It still stands today, known as the Notman House.
In 1844, he was created a Queen's Counsel (Q.C.), declining the office of Solicitor General, and subsequently that of Attorney-General, which he declined again for the second time in 1847 during the Draper administration. Meredith disliked politics. In the same year Chief Justice Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal offered him the position of Dean of Law at McGill University, which he also turned down - a position his grandson, William Campbell James Meredith, later held.
He was one of the founding members and a director of the High School of Montreal, which was established with his help in 1843 and soon superseded the Royal Grammar School. He was counsel to the board of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning and on the committee to save McGill University in the early 1840s. He conducted a good deal of business for the university, and it was with his influence that his younger brother, Edmund Allen Meredith, became the sixth principal of McGill from 1846 to 1853. In 1848, he was a founding director and trustee of the Montreal Mining Company along with Peter McGill, George Moffatt, Sir George Simpson, Sir Allan Napier MacNab and James Ferrier.
Quebec
In December 1849, Meredith was appointed to be one of the first ten judges of the newly established Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, by the Lafontaine–Baldwin government, a position he held for ten years. However, this meant abandoning with some reluctance the practice of a profession to which he was greatly attached, and in doing so relinquished a profitable business in Montreal. During Lord Elgin's term as Governor General of Canada (1847–1854), Meredith was elected one of the judges of the Seigneurial Court. In 1859, 'at the earnest solicitation of the government and in compliance with the members of the Montreal bar', he accepted a seat from Sir George-Étienne Cartier, as a judge in the Court of Queen's Bench, that being the Court of Appeals for the province. Several of his judgments were spoken of very highly by the lords of the Privy Council in England. He filled the position for seven years 'with marked ability and success'. On December 28, 1854, he was given an honorary D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Bishop's University College, Lennoxville. In 1880, he received the honor for a second time, from Université Laval. In 1865, at a private meeting of the board of governors of Bishop's University he was unanimously elected to become the university's new Chancellor, but due to his existing official duties he declined the position. His youngest son, Frederick Edmund Meredith, would hold the position from 1926 to 1932.
Meredith's friend Sir John Abbott, who had studied law under him and later became Prime Minister of Canada, was a reluctant supporter of Canadian Confederation in 1866. Abbott feared that it would reduce the English-speaking inhabitants of Lower Canada to political impotence. Among others, he consulted with Meredith and Meredith's former business partner, Christopher Dunkin. They drafted a resolution calling on the government to protect the electoral borders of twelve English Quebec constituencies. Subsequently, Alexander Tilloch Galt endorsed the proposal, had the London Conference of 1866 accept it, and included it as Article 80 of the British North America Act, 1867.
In 1866, following the death of one of Meredith's closest friends, Edward Bowen, Sir George-Étienne Cartier appointed him Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec. Judge Caron rivalled him for the position, but the influential and affable D'Arcy McGee (then Minister of Agriculture), a close associate of Meredith's brother (Edmund Allen Meredith), made a few favourable representations on Meredith's behalf, easing the way for his appointment to the position. In the years before his retirement he was the oldest judge on the Bench in Canada, 'still going with his characteristic energy and ability'. Chief Justice Meredith finally retired for health reasons, in this his final office, October 1, 1884. The government did their best to keep him from resigning his post, but Meredith declined their offers to accept leave of absence with the understanding that his full salary would be paid and his resignation subsequently accepted. Two years later he was created a Knight Bachelor by Queen Victoria. Meredith had been as popular among the French as he was among the English, which was extremely rare for the time. This is made clear from an article written in the French journal L'Electeur at his retirement,
La retraite de M. le juge Meredith va creer un vif chagrin dans le barreau comme parmi le public. Jamais en effet un magistrat ne sut mieux se concilier leftie des avocats sans cesse en rapport avec lui et la confiance du public. Jurisconsulte eminent, magistrat dont la reputation d'honorabilite a toujours ete au-dessus du soupcon, bienveillent pour tout la monde, d'un politesse vraiment exquise, M. le juge en chef va laisser une vide bien difficile a remplir.
In 1887, on the retirement of Louis-Rodrigue Masson as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Liberal government favoured an English-speaking replacement. Along with his wife's cousin, George Irvine, Meredith was named as one of the two men, who if appointed, would bring the greatest satisfaction to the English-speaking minority. Neither Meredith nor Irvine were appointed, the new government instead choosing another French-speaking Quebecer, Sir Auguste-Réal Angers. At Meredith's death in 1894, the Legal News printed: The late Chief Justice was a diligent advocate and judge, and conscientious and painstaking in the performance of every duty. The opinions delivered by him from the bench have always been cited with the greatest respect and many of them are models of what a judicial opinion should be. They excel in clearness, are ample without ceasing to be concise, and bring light and satisfaction to the reader.
Family
William Collis Meredith was married at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, May 20, 1847, to Sophia Naters Holmes (1820–1898). She was the eldest daughter of the late 'well-known and popular' William Edward Holmes (1796–1825), a Quebec surgeon (son of William Holmes) and a brother-in-law of Sydney Robert Bellingham. Mrs Meredith's mother, Ann Johnston (1788–1865), was the daughter of Lt.-Colonel James Johnston and his wife Margaret, sister of John MacNider. Mrs Meredith was one of seven siblings and half-siblings, but other than her only two were married: Her brother, William Holmes, married a daughter of Colonel Bartholomew Gugy, and their half-sister, Eliza Paul, married Major Stephen Heward (1776–1828), brother-in-law of Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto. The Merediths were the parents of ten children:
Sophia Elizabeth Meredith (1848–1927), married Henry Nicholas (Monck) Middleton (1845–1928) J.P., D.L., of Dissington Hall, Northumberland, and later Lowood House, near Melrose, Scotland. He was a brother of Sir Arthur Middleton, 7th Baronet, of Belsay Hall. Their son married a daughter of Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey.
William Henry Meredith (1849–1895), director of the Bank of Montreal. He died at a comparatively young age, unmarried, at the apartments he kept in the Windsor Hotel (Montreal).
Matilda Anne Meredith (1851–1875), died young, unmarried, at Cannes, France.
Edward Graves Meredith (1852–1938) N.P., of Quebec, married Isabella Agnes Housman (1858–1949), daughter of The Rev. George Vernon Housman (1820–1887), for 25 years Rector of Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Quebec City, by his wife Eliza Izza Maria Reeves (1823–1865) of Hanover Square, London. George Housman was the uncle of the poet A.E. Housman and the grandson of Thomas Shrawley Vernon of Hanbury Hall.
Harriet Meredith (1854–1941), married Harry Stanley Smith (1850–1916), a native of Seaforth near Liverpool, who retired to Addington House, Wimbledon.
Hylda Graves Meredith (1856–1931), married George Hamilton Thomson (1857–1929), grandson of George Hamilton.
Richard Holmes Meredith (1858–1868), died young.
Louisa Meredith (1860–1938), married her half first cousin Lt.-Col. Edward Hampden Turner Heward (1852–1930). His brother married the sister of Lord Atholstan.
Frederick Edmund Meredith (1862–1941) K.C., D.C.L., of Montreal, married Anne Madeleine VanKoughnet (1863–1945), granddaughter of Colonel Philip VanKoughnet. They were the parents of William Campbell James Meredith.
Evaline Bertha Meredith (1863–1868), died young.
Private life
On moving from their house in Montreal to Quebec City in 1849, the Merediths lived at 19 St. Ursule Street, a large, three storey, brick house with room for five live-in servants. In Christmas 1853, they entertained the author William Henry Giles Kingston and his new wife, Agnes Kinloch. In 1866, they built a summer house, 'Rosecliff' in the hamlet of St. Patrick, outside Rivière-du-Loup (where they owned 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) of farmland), which is still occupied by his descendants today. In Quebec City, they owned three further houses and two barn stables; keeping five pleasure carriages, sleighs, two wagon-sleds, three horses and one milk cow. When he became financially independent in 1830, Meredith had purchased four town lots in Kent County, Upper Canada, that turned out to be an important investment in consequence of the railway that was built there.
Frances (known as Feo) Monck was the maternal granddaughter of Henry Monck, 1st Earl of Rathdowne and the sister-in-law of the then Governor-General Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck. 'Not generally given to benevolence in her judgments,' she gave an unusually long account of a party - or 'drum' as it was known - given by Judge Meredith in her book, My Canadian Leaves, An Account of a Visit to Canada, 1864–1865:
Dick (her husband, Lt-General Richard Monck) and I, and Captain Pem. (Sir Wykeham Leigh Pemberton) are going, I hope, to-night to a 'drum' at Judge Meredith's.... There was a very large party, and the house is large. I was much amused and talked to many people, among others to M. Duvergier-d'Hauranne, a young Frenchman, who is come over here to travel, and has brought a letter to the Governor-General from Lord Clarendon. His father (Prosper Duvergier de Hauranne) was a well-known man in France under Louis Philippe I. My friend, Sir R.M. (Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, William's first cousin who spent a year in Canada as Governor of Nova Scotia in 1864) rushed to me, and asked me to walk about with him, and invited us to Government House (Nova Scotia) at H. (Halifax), which he told me was much finer and larger than 'Spencer's Wood'. Lady M (Lady Blanche MacDonnell) and Dick flirted together for a long time; she is so pretty and pleasant. A Miss Tilstone sang—a handsome girl with a pretty voice. Then a Madame Taschereau (a daughter of Robert Unwin Harwood) sang—good voice; and then THE man sang, Mr Antoine Chartier de Lotbinière Harwood (brother of Madame Taschereau) an M.P.P., half French. He has a very fine voice, and is a pupil of Garcia's. He was offered an engagement at the Italian Opera, London. The large rooms were too small for his voice, which wants modulation. I got quite giddy with the loudness of it ! He sang from operas; he wants expression and more teaching. Judge Meredith introduced him to me, and he sang again, for me !
Meredith frequently returned to Europe, either touring the continent with members of his family or visiting friends and relatives in Ireland. Rather than their stepfather, he and the rest of his siblings regarded their uncle, Rev. Dr Richard MacDonnell, as a second father. In 1853, Edmund Allen Meredith wrote in his diary that 'the doctor (as they referred to MacDonnell) spoke much of the splendid apples and cider William had sent him'. In return 'the doctor' insisted on opening bottle after bottle of claret for Edmund, 'to prove to William that it is now possible to find good claret in Ireland!'
Obituaries
Chief Justice Meredith was 'a gentleman with exemplary charm and manners', and 'a man of fine scholarly attainments'. He possessed 'troops' of friends and was 'held in the highest respect in the City and Province of Quebec, by all classes of the community' and even more extraordinary for the time, was described as being as popular among the French as the English. This is noticeably apparent in an article written about him in L'Opinion Publique on 10 July 1879 :
Le Juge-en-Chef est l'urbanite meme, il est attentive comme un Francais de l'ancien regime. A cette grande affabilite qui n'est nulle part plus appreciable que sur le banc d'un tribunal. Le Juge Meredith joint un savoir etendu, un tact parfait, un judgement tres sur. Il voit au fond s'egarent, les avocats qui brouillent les faits, aux elements fondamentaux dont il faut s'inspirer pour retrouver la verite. Tout cela avec infiniment de benevolence et toutes les formes de la politesse.
"Esteemed for his high character, wide knowledge and amiable disposition", "his lofty conception of duty, his great learning, and his gentleness of character commanded the admiration and affection of the bench and bar of Quebec." Sir William Colles Meredith died 26 February 1894, aged eighty two after a short illness, and he was buried with many of his family at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Sillery. Part of the inscription on his gravestone reads, "... Thoughtful consideration for others marked all his acts and made bright his daily walk through life."
References
Le Revue du Bar, Quebec
Les Juges de la Province de Québec (1933), P.G. Roy
Quebec National Archives
McGill University Archives, Montreal
McCord Museum, Montreal
Quebec Literary and Historical Society
Laval University Archives, Quebec
Bishop's University Archives, Lennoxville
Burkes Landed Gentry of Ireland
The Private Capital (1989), Sandra Gwynn
Rawdon Historical Society
Correspondence of Edgar Allan Collard
The Canadian Legal News
The Canadian Dictionary of National Biography
My Canadian Leaves: An account of a visit to Canada (1864–1865), Feo Monck
Archives of the Montreal Star
Archives of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
Archives of L'Electeur
Archives of the L'Opinion Publique
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child
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{
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7747
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Sir William Collis Meredith, (23 May 1812 – 26 February 1894) was Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec from 1866 to 1884. In 1844, he was offered but refused the positions of Solicitor General of Canada and then Attorney-General for Canada East - the latter position he turned down again in 1847. In 1887, he was one of the two English-speaking candidates considered by the Liberals for the role of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. The home he commissioned and lived in at Montreal from 1845 to 1849 still stands today, known as the Notman House.
Early life
Born May 23, 1812, at No.1 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, second son of the Rev. Thomas Meredith and his wife Elizabeth Maria Graves, the eldest daughter of the Very Rev. Richard Graves, Dean of Ardagh. He was named for his father's first cousin, William Collis (1788–1866) J.P., of Tieraclea House, High Sheriff of Kerry, a first cousin of Lord Monteagle. Meredith was a nephew of Robert James Graves and a brother of Edmund Allen Meredith. His first cousins included John Walsingham Cooke Meredith, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, John Dawson Mayne, Francis Brinkley, Major-General Arthur Robert MacDonnell and Sir James Creed Meredith.
A year after Meredith was born his family moved up to Ardtrea, near Cookstown, County Tyrone, his father having resigned his fellowship in Dublin to take up the position of Rector there. In 1819, Meredith's father died of 'a sudden and awful visitation' at his home while attempting to shoot a ghost with a silver bullet. His mother returned to Harcourt Street, Dublin, and he joined his Meredith and Redmond cousins at Dr Behan's school in County Wexford. Five years later, against her parents wishes, Meredith's mother remarried her mother's cousin, James Edmund Burton (1776–1850), a first cousin of Henry Peard Driscoll and an uncle of Sir Richard Francis Burton and Lady Stisted. Formerly a magistrate at Tuam, Meredith's step-father had "wasted every farthing of his Irish property" and so attracted by the land grants he took the position of the Church of England's first missionary to Terrebonne, Quebec.
In the summer of 1824, Meredith arrived at 'Burtonville', his stepfather's house and farm outside Rawdon, Quebec, then a four-day journey north of Montreal. He was tutored there by Burton himself or by whatever tutor his stepfather could procure, who were few and far between. In 1828, William's mother, "a lady of much culture and refinement, and possessed also of great energy and force of character", sent him back to Ireland to complete his studies at Trinity College Dublin.
In 1831, a year before his mother and stepfather returned permanently to Cloyne, Co. Cork, he chose to return to Montreal to commence his legal studies there. He articled under The Hon. Clement-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury and then James Charles Grant, QC, before being called to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1836.
Duel and rebellion
On Monday, August 9, 1837, at eight o'clock in the evening, Meredith fought a duel with pistols against James Scott, no stranger to such events. Earlier that day, following a dispute over legal costs, Meredith challenged Scott. He chose James McGill Blackwood (son of John Blackwood) to second him, while Scott's choice was Joseph-Ferreol Pelletier. The duel took place behind Mount Royal, and the pistols used were Meredith's which he had bought in London, on a previous trip to England. On the first exchange Scott took a bullet high up in the thigh, and the duel was called to a stop. List of duels Meredith v Scott, 1837, under 'Canadian Duels'.
The bullet in Scott's thigh bone lodged itself in such a way that it could not be removed by doctors, causing him great discomfort for the rest of his days. Ironically for Scott, this was exactly where he had shot Sweeney Campbell in a duel when they were students. In the early 1850s (Scott died in 1852), when both the adversaries had become judges, one of the sights then to see was Meredith helping his brother judge up the steep Court House steps, Scott being still hindered by the lameness in his leg since their encounter.
Not long after the duel, his career was interrupted again by the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. Under the command of Lt.-Colonel Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury, with whom he had articled with a few years previously, Meredith joined the Montreal Rifles as a Lieutenant and saw action against the French rebels at the Battle of Saint-Eustache, reaching the rank of Major in the militia.
Montreal
From the late 1830s Meredith, "a careful, shrewd lawyer", was senior partner of the firm Meredith & Bethune (a relation through the explorer Alexander Henry the elder) and subsequently Meredith, Bethune & Dunkin. Their offices were situated at 33 Little St. James Street and the firm was described in the 1840s as the most influential in Montreal, having brought together the largest legal business by any one firm in the Province of Quebec. In 1843, he commissioned John Wells, to build him a home beyond the walls of Old Montreal on a spacious plot of land surrounded by fields, Elm and Maple trees. It still stands today, known as the Notman House.
In 1844, he was created a Queen's Counsel (Q.C.), declining the office of Solicitor General, and subsequently that of Attorney-General, which he declined again for the second time in 1847 during the Draper administration. Meredith disliked politics. In the same year Chief Justice Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal offered him the position of Dean of Law at McGill University, which he also turned down - a position his grandson, William Campbell James Meredith, later held.
He was one of the founding members and a director of the High School of Montreal, which was established with his help in 1843 and soon superseded the Royal Grammar School. He was counsel to the board of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning and on the committee to save McGill University in the early 1840s. He conducted a good deal of business for the university, and it was with his influence that his younger brother, Edmund Allen Meredith, became the sixth principal of McGill from 1846 to 1853. In 1848, he was a founding director and trustee of the Montreal Mining Company along with Peter McGill, George Moffatt, Sir George Simpson, Sir Allan Napier MacNab and James Ferrier.
Quebec
In December 1849, Meredith was appointed to be one of the first ten judges of the newly established Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, by the Lafontaine–Baldwin government, a position he held for ten years. However, this meant abandoning with some reluctance the practice of a profession to which he was greatly attached, and in doing so relinquished a profitable business in Montreal. During Lord Elgin's term as Governor General of Canada (1847–1854), Meredith was elected one of the judges of the Seigneurial Court. In 1859, 'at the earnest solicitation of the government and in compliance with the members of the Montreal bar', he accepted a seat from Sir George-Étienne Cartier, as a judge in the Court of Queen's Bench, that being the Court of Appeals for the province. Several of his judgments were spoken of very highly by the lords of the Privy Council in England. He filled the position for seven years 'with marked ability and success'. On December 28, 1854, he was given an honorary D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Bishop's University College, Lennoxville. In 1880, he received the honor for a second time, from Université Laval. In 1865, at a private meeting of the board of governors of Bishop's University he was unanimously elected to become the university's new Chancellor, but due to his existing official duties he declined the position. His youngest son, Frederick Edmund Meredith, would hold the position from 1926 to 1932.
Meredith's friend Sir John Abbott, who had studied law under him and later became Prime Minister of Canada, was a reluctant supporter of Canadian Confederation in 1866. Abbott feared that it would reduce the English-speaking inhabitants of Lower Canada to political impotence. Among others, he consulted with Meredith and Meredith's former business partner, Christopher Dunkin. They drafted a resolution calling on the government to protect the electoral borders of twelve English Quebec constituencies. Subsequently, Alexander Tilloch Galt endorsed the proposal, had the London Conference of 1866 accept it, and included it as Article 80 of the British North America Act, 1867.
In 1866, following the death of one of Meredith's closest friends, Edward Bowen, Sir George-Étienne Cartier appointed him Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec. Judge Caron rivalled him for the position, but the influential and affable D'Arcy McGee (then Minister of Agriculture), a close associate of Meredith's brother (Edmund Allen Meredith), made a few favourable representations on Meredith's behalf, easing the way for his appointment to the position. In the years before his retirement he was the oldest judge on the Bench in Canada, 'still going with his characteristic energy and ability'. Chief Justice Meredith finally retired for health reasons, in this his final office, October 1, 1884. The government did their best to keep him from resigning his post, but Meredith declined their offers to accept leave of absence with the understanding that his full salary would be paid and his resignation subsequently accepted. Two years later he was created a Knight Bachelor by Queen Victoria. Meredith had been as popular among the French as he was among the English, which was extremely rare for the time. This is made clear from an article written in the French journal L'Electeur at his retirement,
La retraite de M. le juge Meredith va creer un vif chagrin dans le barreau comme parmi le public. Jamais en effet un magistrat ne sut mieux se concilier leftie des avocats sans cesse en rapport avec lui et la confiance du public. Jurisconsulte eminent, magistrat dont la reputation d'honorabilite a toujours ete au-dessus du soupcon, bienveillent pour tout la monde, d'un politesse vraiment exquise, M. le juge en chef va laisser une vide bien difficile a remplir.
In 1887, on the retirement of Louis-Rodrigue Masson as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Liberal government favoured an English-speaking replacement. Along with his wife's cousin, George Irvine, Meredith was named as one of the two men, who if appointed, would bring the greatest satisfaction to the English-speaking minority. Neither Meredith nor Irvine were appointed, the new government instead choosing another French-speaking Quebecer, Sir Auguste-Réal Angers. At Meredith's death in 1894, the Legal News printed: The late Chief Justice was a diligent advocate and judge, and conscientious and painstaking in the performance of every duty. The opinions delivered by him from the bench have always been cited with the greatest respect and many of them are models of what a judicial opinion should be. They excel in clearness, are ample without ceasing to be concise, and bring light and satisfaction to the reader.
Family
William Collis Meredith was married at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, May 20, 1847, to Sophia Naters Holmes (1820–1898). She was the eldest daughter of the late 'well-known and popular' William Edward Holmes (1796–1825), a Quebec surgeon (son of William Holmes) and a brother-in-law of Sydney Robert Bellingham. Mrs Meredith's mother, Ann Johnston (1788–1865), was the daughter of Lt.-Colonel James Johnston and his wife Margaret, sister of John MacNider. Mrs Meredith was one of seven siblings and half-siblings, but other than her only two were married: Her brother, William Holmes, married a daughter of Colonel Bartholomew Gugy, and their half-sister, Eliza Paul, married Major Stephen Heward (1776–1828), brother-in-law of Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto. The Merediths were the parents of ten children:
Sophia Elizabeth Meredith (1848–1927), married Henry Nicholas (Monck) Middleton (1845–1928) J.P., D.L., of Dissington Hall, Northumberland, and later Lowood House, near Melrose, Scotland. He was a brother of Sir Arthur Middleton, 7th Baronet, of Belsay Hall. Their son married a daughter of Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey.
William Henry Meredith (1849–1895), director of the Bank of Montreal. He died at a comparatively young age, unmarried, at the apartments he kept in the Windsor Hotel (Montreal).
Matilda Anne Meredith (1851–1875), died young, unmarried, at Cannes, France.
Edward Graves Meredith (1852–1938) N.P., of Quebec, married Isabella Agnes Housman (1858–1949), daughter of The Rev. George Vernon Housman (1820–1887), for 25 years Rector of Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Quebec City, by his wife Eliza Izza Maria Reeves (1823–1865) of Hanover Square, London. George Housman was the uncle of the poet A.E. Housman and the grandson of Thomas Shrawley Vernon of Hanbury Hall.
Harriet Meredith (1854–1941), married Harry Stanley Smith (1850–1916), a native of Seaforth near Liverpool, who retired to Addington House, Wimbledon.
Hylda Graves Meredith (1856–1931), married George Hamilton Thomson (1857–1929), grandson of George Hamilton.
Richard Holmes Meredith (1858–1868), died young.
Louisa Meredith (1860–1938), married her half first cousin Lt.-Col. Edward Hampden Turner Heward (1852–1930). His brother married the sister of Lord Atholstan.
Frederick Edmund Meredith (1862–1941) K.C., D.C.L., of Montreal, married Anne Madeleine VanKoughnet (1863–1945), granddaughter of Colonel Philip VanKoughnet. They were the parents of William Campbell James Meredith.
Evaline Bertha Meredith (1863–1868), died young.
Private life
On moving from their house in Montreal to Quebec City in 1849, the Merediths lived at 19 St. Ursule Street, a large, three storey, brick house with room for five live-in servants. In Christmas 1853, they entertained the author William Henry Giles Kingston and his new wife, Agnes Kinloch. In 1866, they built a summer house, 'Rosecliff' in the hamlet of St. Patrick, outside Rivière-du-Loup (where they owned 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) of farmland), which is still occupied by his descendants today. In Quebec City, they owned three further houses and two barn stables; keeping five pleasure carriages, sleighs, two wagon-sleds, three horses and one milk cow. When he became financially independent in 1830, Meredith had purchased four town lots in Kent County, Upper Canada, that turned out to be an important investment in consequence of the railway that was built there.
Frances (known as Feo) Monck was the maternal granddaughter of Henry Monck, 1st Earl of Rathdowne and the sister-in-law of the then Governor-General Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck. 'Not generally given to benevolence in her judgments,' she gave an unusually long account of a party - or 'drum' as it was known - given by Judge Meredith in her book, My Canadian Leaves, An Account of a Visit to Canada, 1864–1865:
Dick (her husband, Lt-General Richard Monck) and I, and Captain Pem. (Sir Wykeham Leigh Pemberton) are going, I hope, to-night to a 'drum' at Judge Meredith's.... There was a very large party, and the house is large. I was much amused and talked to many people, among others to M. Duvergier-d'Hauranne, a young Frenchman, who is come over here to travel, and has brought a letter to the Governor-General from Lord Clarendon. His father (Prosper Duvergier de Hauranne) was a well-known man in France under Louis Philippe I. My friend, Sir R.M. (Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, William's first cousin who spent a year in Canada as Governor of Nova Scotia in 1864) rushed to me, and asked me to walk about with him, and invited us to Government House (Nova Scotia) at H. (Halifax), which he told me was much finer and larger than 'Spencer's Wood'. Lady M (Lady Blanche MacDonnell) and Dick flirted together for a long time; she is so pretty and pleasant. A Miss Tilstone sang—a handsome girl with a pretty voice. Then a Madame Taschereau (a daughter of Robert Unwin Harwood) sang—good voice; and then THE man sang, Mr Antoine Chartier de Lotbinière Harwood (brother of Madame Taschereau) an M.P.P., half French. He has a very fine voice, and is a pupil of Garcia's. He was offered an engagement at the Italian Opera, London. The large rooms were too small for his voice, which wants modulation. I got quite giddy with the loudness of it ! He sang from operas; he wants expression and more teaching. Judge Meredith introduced him to me, and he sang again, for me !
Meredith frequently returned to Europe, either touring the continent with members of his family or visiting friends and relatives in Ireland. Rather than their stepfather, he and the rest of his siblings regarded their uncle, Rev. Dr Richard MacDonnell, as a second father. In 1853, Edmund Allen Meredith wrote in his diary that 'the doctor (as they referred to MacDonnell) spoke much of the splendid apples and cider William had sent him'. In return 'the doctor' insisted on opening bottle after bottle of claret for Edmund, 'to prove to William that it is now possible to find good claret in Ireland!'
Obituaries
Chief Justice Meredith was 'a gentleman with exemplary charm and manners', and 'a man of fine scholarly attainments'. He possessed 'troops' of friends and was 'held in the highest respect in the City and Province of Quebec, by all classes of the community' and even more extraordinary for the time, was described as being as popular among the French as the English. This is noticeably apparent in an article written about him in L'Opinion Publique on 10 July 1879 :
Le Juge-en-Chef est l'urbanite meme, il est attentive comme un Francais de l'ancien regime. A cette grande affabilite qui n'est nulle part plus appreciable que sur le banc d'un tribunal. Le Juge Meredith joint un savoir etendu, un tact parfait, un judgement tres sur. Il voit au fond s'egarent, les avocats qui brouillent les faits, aux elements fondamentaux dont il faut s'inspirer pour retrouver la verite. Tout cela avec infiniment de benevolence et toutes les formes de la politesse.
"Esteemed for his high character, wide knowledge and amiable disposition", "his lofty conception of duty, his great learning, and his gentleness of character commanded the admiration and affection of the bench and bar of Quebec." Sir William Colles Meredith died 26 February 1894, aged eighty two after a short illness, and he was buried with many of his family at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Sillery. Part of the inscription on his gravestone reads, "... Thoughtful consideration for others marked all his acts and made bright his daily walk through life."
References
Le Revue du Bar, Quebec
Les Juges de la Province de Québec (1933), P.G. Roy
Quebec National Archives
McGill University Archives, Montreal
McCord Museum, Montreal
Quebec Literary and Historical Society
Laval University Archives, Quebec
Bishop's University Archives, Lennoxville
Burkes Landed Gentry of Ireland
The Private Capital (1989), Sandra Gwynn
Rawdon Historical Society
Correspondence of Edgar Allan Collard
The Canadian Legal News
The Canadian Dictionary of National Biography
My Canadian Leaves: An account of a visit to Canada (1864–1865), Feo Monck
Archives of the Montreal Star
Archives of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
Archives of L'Electeur
Archives of the L'Opinion Publique
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|
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"text": [
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Sir William Collis Meredith, (23 May 1812 – 26 February 1894) was Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec from 1866 to 1884. In 1844, he was offered but refused the positions of Solicitor General of Canada and then Attorney-General for Canada East - the latter position he turned down again in 1847. In 1887, he was one of the two English-speaking candidates considered by the Liberals for the role of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. The home he commissioned and lived in at Montreal from 1845 to 1849 still stands today, known as the Notman House.
Early life
Born May 23, 1812, at No.1 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, second son of the Rev. Thomas Meredith and his wife Elizabeth Maria Graves, the eldest daughter of the Very Rev. Richard Graves, Dean of Ardagh. He was named for his father's first cousin, William Collis (1788–1866) J.P., of Tieraclea House, High Sheriff of Kerry, a first cousin of Lord Monteagle. Meredith was a nephew of Robert James Graves and a brother of Edmund Allen Meredith. His first cousins included John Walsingham Cooke Meredith, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, John Dawson Mayne, Francis Brinkley, Major-General Arthur Robert MacDonnell and Sir James Creed Meredith.
A year after Meredith was born his family moved up to Ardtrea, near Cookstown, County Tyrone, his father having resigned his fellowship in Dublin to take up the position of Rector there. In 1819, Meredith's father died of 'a sudden and awful visitation' at his home while attempting to shoot a ghost with a silver bullet. His mother returned to Harcourt Street, Dublin, and he joined his Meredith and Redmond cousins at Dr Behan's school in County Wexford. Five years later, against her parents wishes, Meredith's mother remarried her mother's cousin, James Edmund Burton (1776–1850), a first cousin of Henry Peard Driscoll and an uncle of Sir Richard Francis Burton and Lady Stisted. Formerly a magistrate at Tuam, Meredith's step-father had "wasted every farthing of his Irish property" and so attracted by the land grants he took the position of the Church of England's first missionary to Terrebonne, Quebec.
In the summer of 1824, Meredith arrived at 'Burtonville', his stepfather's house and farm outside Rawdon, Quebec, then a four-day journey north of Montreal. He was tutored there by Burton himself or by whatever tutor his stepfather could procure, who were few and far between. In 1828, William's mother, "a lady of much culture and refinement, and possessed also of great energy and force of character", sent him back to Ireland to complete his studies at Trinity College Dublin.
In 1831, a year before his mother and stepfather returned permanently to Cloyne, Co. Cork, he chose to return to Montreal to commence his legal studies there. He articled under The Hon. Clement-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury and then James Charles Grant, QC, before being called to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1836.
Duel and rebellion
On Monday, August 9, 1837, at eight o'clock in the evening, Meredith fought a duel with pistols against James Scott, no stranger to such events. Earlier that day, following a dispute over legal costs, Meredith challenged Scott. He chose James McGill Blackwood (son of John Blackwood) to second him, while Scott's choice was Joseph-Ferreol Pelletier. The duel took place behind Mount Royal, and the pistols used were Meredith's which he had bought in London, on a previous trip to England. On the first exchange Scott took a bullet high up in the thigh, and the duel was called to a stop. List of duels Meredith v Scott, 1837, under 'Canadian Duels'.
The bullet in Scott's thigh bone lodged itself in such a way that it could not be removed by doctors, causing him great discomfort for the rest of his days. Ironically for Scott, this was exactly where he had shot Sweeney Campbell in a duel when they were students. In the early 1850s (Scott died in 1852), when both the adversaries had become judges, one of the sights then to see was Meredith helping his brother judge up the steep Court House steps, Scott being still hindered by the lameness in his leg since their encounter.
Not long after the duel, his career was interrupted again by the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. Under the command of Lt.-Colonel Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury, with whom he had articled with a few years previously, Meredith joined the Montreal Rifles as a Lieutenant and saw action against the French rebels at the Battle of Saint-Eustache, reaching the rank of Major in the militia.
Montreal
From the late 1830s Meredith, "a careful, shrewd lawyer", was senior partner of the firm Meredith & Bethune (a relation through the explorer Alexander Henry the elder) and subsequently Meredith, Bethune & Dunkin. Their offices were situated at 33 Little St. James Street and the firm was described in the 1840s as the most influential in Montreal, having brought together the largest legal business by any one firm in the Province of Quebec. In 1843, he commissioned John Wells, to build him a home beyond the walls of Old Montreal on a spacious plot of land surrounded by fields, Elm and Maple trees. It still stands today, known as the Notman House.
In 1844, he was created a Queen's Counsel (Q.C.), declining the office of Solicitor General, and subsequently that of Attorney-General, which he declined again for the second time in 1847 during the Draper administration. Meredith disliked politics. In the same year Chief Justice Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal offered him the position of Dean of Law at McGill University, which he also turned down - a position his grandson, William Campbell James Meredith, later held.
He was one of the founding members and a director of the High School of Montreal, which was established with his help in 1843 and soon superseded the Royal Grammar School. He was counsel to the board of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning and on the committee to save McGill University in the early 1840s. He conducted a good deal of business for the university, and it was with his influence that his younger brother, Edmund Allen Meredith, became the sixth principal of McGill from 1846 to 1853. In 1848, he was a founding director and trustee of the Montreal Mining Company along with Peter McGill, George Moffatt, Sir George Simpson, Sir Allan Napier MacNab and James Ferrier.
Quebec
In December 1849, Meredith was appointed to be one of the first ten judges of the newly established Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, by the Lafontaine–Baldwin government, a position he held for ten years. However, this meant abandoning with some reluctance the practice of a profession to which he was greatly attached, and in doing so relinquished a profitable business in Montreal. During Lord Elgin's term as Governor General of Canada (1847–1854), Meredith was elected one of the judges of the Seigneurial Court. In 1859, 'at the earnest solicitation of the government and in compliance with the members of the Montreal bar', he accepted a seat from Sir George-Étienne Cartier, as a judge in the Court of Queen's Bench, that being the Court of Appeals for the province. Several of his judgments were spoken of very highly by the lords of the Privy Council in England. He filled the position for seven years 'with marked ability and success'. On December 28, 1854, he was given an honorary D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Bishop's University College, Lennoxville. In 1880, he received the honor for a second time, from Université Laval. In 1865, at a private meeting of the board of governors of Bishop's University he was unanimously elected to become the university's new Chancellor, but due to his existing official duties he declined the position. His youngest son, Frederick Edmund Meredith, would hold the position from 1926 to 1932.
Meredith's friend Sir John Abbott, who had studied law under him and later became Prime Minister of Canada, was a reluctant supporter of Canadian Confederation in 1866. Abbott feared that it would reduce the English-speaking inhabitants of Lower Canada to political impotence. Among others, he consulted with Meredith and Meredith's former business partner, Christopher Dunkin. They drafted a resolution calling on the government to protect the electoral borders of twelve English Quebec constituencies. Subsequently, Alexander Tilloch Galt endorsed the proposal, had the London Conference of 1866 accept it, and included it as Article 80 of the British North America Act, 1867.
In 1866, following the death of one of Meredith's closest friends, Edward Bowen, Sir George-Étienne Cartier appointed him Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec. Judge Caron rivalled him for the position, but the influential and affable D'Arcy McGee (then Minister of Agriculture), a close associate of Meredith's brother (Edmund Allen Meredith), made a few favourable representations on Meredith's behalf, easing the way for his appointment to the position. In the years before his retirement he was the oldest judge on the Bench in Canada, 'still going with his characteristic energy and ability'. Chief Justice Meredith finally retired for health reasons, in this his final office, October 1, 1884. The government did their best to keep him from resigning his post, but Meredith declined their offers to accept leave of absence with the understanding that his full salary would be paid and his resignation subsequently accepted. Two years later he was created a Knight Bachelor by Queen Victoria. Meredith had been as popular among the French as he was among the English, which was extremely rare for the time. This is made clear from an article written in the French journal L'Electeur at his retirement,
La retraite de M. le juge Meredith va creer un vif chagrin dans le barreau comme parmi le public. Jamais en effet un magistrat ne sut mieux se concilier leftie des avocats sans cesse en rapport avec lui et la confiance du public. Jurisconsulte eminent, magistrat dont la reputation d'honorabilite a toujours ete au-dessus du soupcon, bienveillent pour tout la monde, d'un politesse vraiment exquise, M. le juge en chef va laisser une vide bien difficile a remplir.
In 1887, on the retirement of Louis-Rodrigue Masson as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Liberal government favoured an English-speaking replacement. Along with his wife's cousin, George Irvine, Meredith was named as one of the two men, who if appointed, would bring the greatest satisfaction to the English-speaking minority. Neither Meredith nor Irvine were appointed, the new government instead choosing another French-speaking Quebecer, Sir Auguste-Réal Angers. At Meredith's death in 1894, the Legal News printed: The late Chief Justice was a diligent advocate and judge, and conscientious and painstaking in the performance of every duty. The opinions delivered by him from the bench have always been cited with the greatest respect and many of them are models of what a judicial opinion should be. They excel in clearness, are ample without ceasing to be concise, and bring light and satisfaction to the reader.
Family
William Collis Meredith was married at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, May 20, 1847, to Sophia Naters Holmes (1820–1898). She was the eldest daughter of the late 'well-known and popular' William Edward Holmes (1796–1825), a Quebec surgeon (son of William Holmes) and a brother-in-law of Sydney Robert Bellingham. Mrs Meredith's mother, Ann Johnston (1788–1865), was the daughter of Lt.-Colonel James Johnston and his wife Margaret, sister of John MacNider. Mrs Meredith was one of seven siblings and half-siblings, but other than her only two were married: Her brother, William Holmes, married a daughter of Colonel Bartholomew Gugy, and their half-sister, Eliza Paul, married Major Stephen Heward (1776–1828), brother-in-law of Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto. The Merediths were the parents of ten children:
Sophia Elizabeth Meredith (1848–1927), married Henry Nicholas (Monck) Middleton (1845–1928) J.P., D.L., of Dissington Hall, Northumberland, and later Lowood House, near Melrose, Scotland. He was a brother of Sir Arthur Middleton, 7th Baronet, of Belsay Hall. Their son married a daughter of Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey.
William Henry Meredith (1849–1895), director of the Bank of Montreal. He died at a comparatively young age, unmarried, at the apartments he kept in the Windsor Hotel (Montreal).
Matilda Anne Meredith (1851–1875), died young, unmarried, at Cannes, France.
Edward Graves Meredith (1852–1938) N.P., of Quebec, married Isabella Agnes Housman (1858–1949), daughter of The Rev. George Vernon Housman (1820–1887), for 25 years Rector of Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Quebec City, by his wife Eliza Izza Maria Reeves (1823–1865) of Hanover Square, London. George Housman was the uncle of the poet A.E. Housman and the grandson of Thomas Shrawley Vernon of Hanbury Hall.
Harriet Meredith (1854–1941), married Harry Stanley Smith (1850–1916), a native of Seaforth near Liverpool, who retired to Addington House, Wimbledon.
Hylda Graves Meredith (1856–1931), married George Hamilton Thomson (1857–1929), grandson of George Hamilton.
Richard Holmes Meredith (1858–1868), died young.
Louisa Meredith (1860–1938), married her half first cousin Lt.-Col. Edward Hampden Turner Heward (1852–1930). His brother married the sister of Lord Atholstan.
Frederick Edmund Meredith (1862–1941) K.C., D.C.L., of Montreal, married Anne Madeleine VanKoughnet (1863–1945), granddaughter of Colonel Philip VanKoughnet. They were the parents of William Campbell James Meredith.
Evaline Bertha Meredith (1863–1868), died young.
Private life
On moving from their house in Montreal to Quebec City in 1849, the Merediths lived at 19 St. Ursule Street, a large, three storey, brick house with room for five live-in servants. In Christmas 1853, they entertained the author William Henry Giles Kingston and his new wife, Agnes Kinloch. In 1866, they built a summer house, 'Rosecliff' in the hamlet of St. Patrick, outside Rivière-du-Loup (where they owned 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) of farmland), which is still occupied by his descendants today. In Quebec City, they owned three further houses and two barn stables; keeping five pleasure carriages, sleighs, two wagon-sleds, three horses and one milk cow. When he became financially independent in 1830, Meredith had purchased four town lots in Kent County, Upper Canada, that turned out to be an important investment in consequence of the railway that was built there.
Frances (known as Feo) Monck was the maternal granddaughter of Henry Monck, 1st Earl of Rathdowne and the sister-in-law of the then Governor-General Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck. 'Not generally given to benevolence in her judgments,' she gave an unusually long account of a party - or 'drum' as it was known - given by Judge Meredith in her book, My Canadian Leaves, An Account of a Visit to Canada, 1864–1865:
Dick (her husband, Lt-General Richard Monck) and I, and Captain Pem. (Sir Wykeham Leigh Pemberton) are going, I hope, to-night to a 'drum' at Judge Meredith's.... There was a very large party, and the house is large. I was much amused and talked to many people, among others to M. Duvergier-d'Hauranne, a young Frenchman, who is come over here to travel, and has brought a letter to the Governor-General from Lord Clarendon. His father (Prosper Duvergier de Hauranne) was a well-known man in France under Louis Philippe I. My friend, Sir R.M. (Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, William's first cousin who spent a year in Canada as Governor of Nova Scotia in 1864) rushed to me, and asked me to walk about with him, and invited us to Government House (Nova Scotia) at H. (Halifax), which he told me was much finer and larger than 'Spencer's Wood'. Lady M (Lady Blanche MacDonnell) and Dick flirted together for a long time; she is so pretty and pleasant. A Miss Tilstone sang—a handsome girl with a pretty voice. Then a Madame Taschereau (a daughter of Robert Unwin Harwood) sang—good voice; and then THE man sang, Mr Antoine Chartier de Lotbinière Harwood (brother of Madame Taschereau) an M.P.P., half French. He has a very fine voice, and is a pupil of Garcia's. He was offered an engagement at the Italian Opera, London. The large rooms were too small for his voice, which wants modulation. I got quite giddy with the loudness of it ! He sang from operas; he wants expression and more teaching. Judge Meredith introduced him to me, and he sang again, for me !
Meredith frequently returned to Europe, either touring the continent with members of his family or visiting friends and relatives in Ireland. Rather than their stepfather, he and the rest of his siblings regarded their uncle, Rev. Dr Richard MacDonnell, as a second father. In 1853, Edmund Allen Meredith wrote in his diary that 'the doctor (as they referred to MacDonnell) spoke much of the splendid apples and cider William had sent him'. In return 'the doctor' insisted on opening bottle after bottle of claret for Edmund, 'to prove to William that it is now possible to find good claret in Ireland!'
Obituaries
Chief Justice Meredith was 'a gentleman with exemplary charm and manners', and 'a man of fine scholarly attainments'. He possessed 'troops' of friends and was 'held in the highest respect in the City and Province of Quebec, by all classes of the community' and even more extraordinary for the time, was described as being as popular among the French as the English. This is noticeably apparent in an article written about him in L'Opinion Publique on 10 July 1879 :
Le Juge-en-Chef est l'urbanite meme, il est attentive comme un Francais de l'ancien regime. A cette grande affabilite qui n'est nulle part plus appreciable que sur le banc d'un tribunal. Le Juge Meredith joint un savoir etendu, un tact parfait, un judgement tres sur. Il voit au fond s'egarent, les avocats qui brouillent les faits, aux elements fondamentaux dont il faut s'inspirer pour retrouver la verite. Tout cela avec infiniment de benevolence et toutes les formes de la politesse.
"Esteemed for his high character, wide knowledge and amiable disposition", "his lofty conception of duty, his great learning, and his gentleness of character commanded the admiration and affection of the bench and bar of Quebec." Sir William Colles Meredith died 26 February 1894, aged eighty two after a short illness, and he was buried with many of his family at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Sillery. Part of the inscription on his gravestone reads, "... Thoughtful consideration for others marked all his acts and made bright his daily walk through life."
References
Le Revue du Bar, Quebec
Les Juges de la Province de Québec (1933), P.G. Roy
Quebec National Archives
McGill University Archives, Montreal
McCord Museum, Montreal
Quebec Literary and Historical Society
Laval University Archives, Quebec
Bishop's University Archives, Lennoxville
Burkes Landed Gentry of Ireland
The Private Capital (1989), Sandra Gwynn
Rawdon Historical Society
Correspondence of Edgar Allan Collard
The Canadian Legal News
The Canadian Dictionary of National Biography
My Canadian Leaves: An account of a visit to Canada (1864–1865), Feo Monck
Archives of the Montreal Star
Archives of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
Archives of L'Electeur
Archives of the L'Opinion Publique
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Sir William Collis Meredith, (23 May 1812 – 26 February 1894) was Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec from 1866 to 1884. In 1844, he was offered but refused the positions of Solicitor General of Canada and then Attorney-General for Canada East - the latter position he turned down again in 1847. In 1887, he was one of the two English-speaking candidates considered by the Liberals for the role of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. The home he commissioned and lived in at Montreal from 1845 to 1849 still stands today, known as the Notman House.
Early life
Born May 23, 1812, at No.1 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, second son of the Rev. Thomas Meredith and his wife Elizabeth Maria Graves, the eldest daughter of the Very Rev. Richard Graves, Dean of Ardagh. He was named for his father's first cousin, William Collis (1788–1866) J.P., of Tieraclea House, High Sheriff of Kerry, a first cousin of Lord Monteagle. Meredith was a nephew of Robert James Graves and a brother of Edmund Allen Meredith. His first cousins included John Walsingham Cooke Meredith, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, John Dawson Mayne, Francis Brinkley, Major-General Arthur Robert MacDonnell and Sir James Creed Meredith.
A year after Meredith was born his family moved up to Ardtrea, near Cookstown, County Tyrone, his father having resigned his fellowship in Dublin to take up the position of Rector there. In 1819, Meredith's father died of 'a sudden and awful visitation' at his home while attempting to shoot a ghost with a silver bullet. His mother returned to Harcourt Street, Dublin, and he joined his Meredith and Redmond cousins at Dr Behan's school in County Wexford. Five years later, against her parents wishes, Meredith's mother remarried her mother's cousin, James Edmund Burton (1776–1850), a first cousin of Henry Peard Driscoll and an uncle of Sir Richard Francis Burton and Lady Stisted. Formerly a magistrate at Tuam, Meredith's step-father had "wasted every farthing of his Irish property" and so attracted by the land grants he took the position of the Church of England's first missionary to Terrebonne, Quebec.
In the summer of 1824, Meredith arrived at 'Burtonville', his stepfather's house and farm outside Rawdon, Quebec, then a four-day journey north of Montreal. He was tutored there by Burton himself or by whatever tutor his stepfather could procure, who were few and far between. In 1828, William's mother, "a lady of much culture and refinement, and possessed also of great energy and force of character", sent him back to Ireland to complete his studies at Trinity College Dublin.
In 1831, a year before his mother and stepfather returned permanently to Cloyne, Co. Cork, he chose to return to Montreal to commence his legal studies there. He articled under The Hon. Clement-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury and then James Charles Grant, QC, before being called to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1836.
Duel and rebellion
On Monday, August 9, 1837, at eight o'clock in the evening, Meredith fought a duel with pistols against James Scott, no stranger to such events. Earlier that day, following a dispute over legal costs, Meredith challenged Scott. He chose James McGill Blackwood (son of John Blackwood) to second him, while Scott's choice was Joseph-Ferreol Pelletier. The duel took place behind Mount Royal, and the pistols used were Meredith's which he had bought in London, on a previous trip to England. On the first exchange Scott took a bullet high up in the thigh, and the duel was called to a stop. List of duels Meredith v Scott, 1837, under 'Canadian Duels'.
The bullet in Scott's thigh bone lodged itself in such a way that it could not be removed by doctors, causing him great discomfort for the rest of his days. Ironically for Scott, this was exactly where he had shot Sweeney Campbell in a duel when they were students. In the early 1850s (Scott died in 1852), when both the adversaries had become judges, one of the sights then to see was Meredith helping his brother judge up the steep Court House steps, Scott being still hindered by the lameness in his leg since their encounter.
Not long after the duel, his career was interrupted again by the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. Under the command of Lt.-Colonel Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury, with whom he had articled with a few years previously, Meredith joined the Montreal Rifles as a Lieutenant and saw action against the French rebels at the Battle of Saint-Eustache, reaching the rank of Major in the militia.
Montreal
From the late 1830s Meredith, "a careful, shrewd lawyer", was senior partner of the firm Meredith & Bethune (a relation through the explorer Alexander Henry the elder) and subsequently Meredith, Bethune & Dunkin. Their offices were situated at 33 Little St. James Street and the firm was described in the 1840s as the most influential in Montreal, having brought together the largest legal business by any one firm in the Province of Quebec. In 1843, he commissioned John Wells, to build him a home beyond the walls of Old Montreal on a spacious plot of land surrounded by fields, Elm and Maple trees. It still stands today, known as the Notman House.
In 1844, he was created a Queen's Counsel (Q.C.), declining the office of Solicitor General, and subsequently that of Attorney-General, which he declined again for the second time in 1847 during the Draper administration. Meredith disliked politics. In the same year Chief Justice Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal offered him the position of Dean of Law at McGill University, which he also turned down - a position his grandson, William Campbell James Meredith, later held.
He was one of the founding members and a director of the High School of Montreal, which was established with his help in 1843 and soon superseded the Royal Grammar School. He was counsel to the board of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning and on the committee to save McGill University in the early 1840s. He conducted a good deal of business for the university, and it was with his influence that his younger brother, Edmund Allen Meredith, became the sixth principal of McGill from 1846 to 1853. In 1848, he was a founding director and trustee of the Montreal Mining Company along with Peter McGill, George Moffatt, Sir George Simpson, Sir Allan Napier MacNab and James Ferrier.
Quebec
In December 1849, Meredith was appointed to be one of the first ten judges of the newly established Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, by the Lafontaine–Baldwin government, a position he held for ten years. However, this meant abandoning with some reluctance the practice of a profession to which he was greatly attached, and in doing so relinquished a profitable business in Montreal. During Lord Elgin's term as Governor General of Canada (1847–1854), Meredith was elected one of the judges of the Seigneurial Court. In 1859, 'at the earnest solicitation of the government and in compliance with the members of the Montreal bar', he accepted a seat from Sir George-Étienne Cartier, as a judge in the Court of Queen's Bench, that being the Court of Appeals for the province. Several of his judgments were spoken of very highly by the lords of the Privy Council in England. He filled the position for seven years 'with marked ability and success'. On December 28, 1854, he was given an honorary D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Bishop's University College, Lennoxville. In 1880, he received the honor for a second time, from Université Laval. In 1865, at a private meeting of the board of governors of Bishop's University he was unanimously elected to become the university's new Chancellor, but due to his existing official duties he declined the position. His youngest son, Frederick Edmund Meredith, would hold the position from 1926 to 1932.
Meredith's friend Sir John Abbott, who had studied law under him and later became Prime Minister of Canada, was a reluctant supporter of Canadian Confederation in 1866. Abbott feared that it would reduce the English-speaking inhabitants of Lower Canada to political impotence. Among others, he consulted with Meredith and Meredith's former business partner, Christopher Dunkin. They drafted a resolution calling on the government to protect the electoral borders of twelve English Quebec constituencies. Subsequently, Alexander Tilloch Galt endorsed the proposal, had the London Conference of 1866 accept it, and included it as Article 80 of the British North America Act, 1867.
In 1866, following the death of one of Meredith's closest friends, Edward Bowen, Sir George-Étienne Cartier appointed him Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec. Judge Caron rivalled him for the position, but the influential and affable D'Arcy McGee (then Minister of Agriculture), a close associate of Meredith's brother (Edmund Allen Meredith), made a few favourable representations on Meredith's behalf, easing the way for his appointment to the position. In the years before his retirement he was the oldest judge on the Bench in Canada, 'still going with his characteristic energy and ability'. Chief Justice Meredith finally retired for health reasons, in this his final office, October 1, 1884. The government did their best to keep him from resigning his post, but Meredith declined their offers to accept leave of absence with the understanding that his full salary would be paid and his resignation subsequently accepted. Two years later he was created a Knight Bachelor by Queen Victoria. Meredith had been as popular among the French as he was among the English, which was extremely rare for the time. This is made clear from an article written in the French journal L'Electeur at his retirement,
La retraite de M. le juge Meredith va creer un vif chagrin dans le barreau comme parmi le public. Jamais en effet un magistrat ne sut mieux se concilier leftie des avocats sans cesse en rapport avec lui et la confiance du public. Jurisconsulte eminent, magistrat dont la reputation d'honorabilite a toujours ete au-dessus du soupcon, bienveillent pour tout la monde, d'un politesse vraiment exquise, M. le juge en chef va laisser une vide bien difficile a remplir.
In 1887, on the retirement of Louis-Rodrigue Masson as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Liberal government favoured an English-speaking replacement. Along with his wife's cousin, George Irvine, Meredith was named as one of the two men, who if appointed, would bring the greatest satisfaction to the English-speaking minority. Neither Meredith nor Irvine were appointed, the new government instead choosing another French-speaking Quebecer, Sir Auguste-Réal Angers. At Meredith's death in 1894, the Legal News printed: The late Chief Justice was a diligent advocate and judge, and conscientious and painstaking in the performance of every duty. The opinions delivered by him from the bench have always been cited with the greatest respect and many of them are models of what a judicial opinion should be. They excel in clearness, are ample without ceasing to be concise, and bring light and satisfaction to the reader.
Family
William Collis Meredith was married at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, May 20, 1847, to Sophia Naters Holmes (1820–1898). She was the eldest daughter of the late 'well-known and popular' William Edward Holmes (1796–1825), a Quebec surgeon (son of William Holmes) and a brother-in-law of Sydney Robert Bellingham. Mrs Meredith's mother, Ann Johnston (1788–1865), was the daughter of Lt.-Colonel James Johnston and his wife Margaret, sister of John MacNider. Mrs Meredith was one of seven siblings and half-siblings, but other than her only two were married: Her brother, William Holmes, married a daughter of Colonel Bartholomew Gugy, and their half-sister, Eliza Paul, married Major Stephen Heward (1776–1828), brother-in-law of Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto. The Merediths were the parents of ten children:
Sophia Elizabeth Meredith (1848–1927), married Henry Nicholas (Monck) Middleton (1845–1928) J.P., D.L., of Dissington Hall, Northumberland, and later Lowood House, near Melrose, Scotland. He was a brother of Sir Arthur Middleton, 7th Baronet, of Belsay Hall. Their son married a daughter of Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey.
William Henry Meredith (1849–1895), director of the Bank of Montreal. He died at a comparatively young age, unmarried, at the apartments he kept in the Windsor Hotel (Montreal).
Matilda Anne Meredith (1851–1875), died young, unmarried, at Cannes, France.
Edward Graves Meredith (1852–1938) N.P., of Quebec, married Isabella Agnes Housman (1858–1949), daughter of The Rev. George Vernon Housman (1820–1887), for 25 years Rector of Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Quebec City, by his wife Eliza Izza Maria Reeves (1823–1865) of Hanover Square, London. George Housman was the uncle of the poet A.E. Housman and the grandson of Thomas Shrawley Vernon of Hanbury Hall.
Harriet Meredith (1854–1941), married Harry Stanley Smith (1850–1916), a native of Seaforth near Liverpool, who retired to Addington House, Wimbledon.
Hylda Graves Meredith (1856–1931), married George Hamilton Thomson (1857–1929), grandson of George Hamilton.
Richard Holmes Meredith (1858–1868), died young.
Louisa Meredith (1860–1938), married her half first cousin Lt.-Col. Edward Hampden Turner Heward (1852–1930). His brother married the sister of Lord Atholstan.
Frederick Edmund Meredith (1862–1941) K.C., D.C.L., of Montreal, married Anne Madeleine VanKoughnet (1863–1945), granddaughter of Colonel Philip VanKoughnet. They were the parents of William Campbell James Meredith.
Evaline Bertha Meredith (1863–1868), died young.
Private life
On moving from their house in Montreal to Quebec City in 1849, the Merediths lived at 19 St. Ursule Street, a large, three storey, brick house with room for five live-in servants. In Christmas 1853, they entertained the author William Henry Giles Kingston and his new wife, Agnes Kinloch. In 1866, they built a summer house, 'Rosecliff' in the hamlet of St. Patrick, outside Rivière-du-Loup (where they owned 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) of farmland), which is still occupied by his descendants today. In Quebec City, they owned three further houses and two barn stables; keeping five pleasure carriages, sleighs, two wagon-sleds, three horses and one milk cow. When he became financially independent in 1830, Meredith had purchased four town lots in Kent County, Upper Canada, that turned out to be an important investment in consequence of the railway that was built there.
Frances (known as Feo) Monck was the maternal granddaughter of Henry Monck, 1st Earl of Rathdowne and the sister-in-law of the then Governor-General Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck. 'Not generally given to benevolence in her judgments,' she gave an unusually long account of a party - or 'drum' as it was known - given by Judge Meredith in her book, My Canadian Leaves, An Account of a Visit to Canada, 1864–1865:
Dick (her husband, Lt-General Richard Monck) and I, and Captain Pem. (Sir Wykeham Leigh Pemberton) are going, I hope, to-night to a 'drum' at Judge Meredith's.... There was a very large party, and the house is large. I was much amused and talked to many people, among others to M. Duvergier-d'Hauranne, a young Frenchman, who is come over here to travel, and has brought a letter to the Governor-General from Lord Clarendon. His father (Prosper Duvergier de Hauranne) was a well-known man in France under Louis Philippe I. My friend, Sir R.M. (Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, William's first cousin who spent a year in Canada as Governor of Nova Scotia in 1864) rushed to me, and asked me to walk about with him, and invited us to Government House (Nova Scotia) at H. (Halifax), which he told me was much finer and larger than 'Spencer's Wood'. Lady M (Lady Blanche MacDonnell) and Dick flirted together for a long time; she is so pretty and pleasant. A Miss Tilstone sang—a handsome girl with a pretty voice. Then a Madame Taschereau (a daughter of Robert Unwin Harwood) sang—good voice; and then THE man sang, Mr Antoine Chartier de Lotbinière Harwood (brother of Madame Taschereau) an M.P.P., half French. He has a very fine voice, and is a pupil of Garcia's. He was offered an engagement at the Italian Opera, London. The large rooms were too small for his voice, which wants modulation. I got quite giddy with the loudness of it ! He sang from operas; he wants expression and more teaching. Judge Meredith introduced him to me, and he sang again, for me !
Meredith frequently returned to Europe, either touring the continent with members of his family or visiting friends and relatives in Ireland. Rather than their stepfather, he and the rest of his siblings regarded their uncle, Rev. Dr Richard MacDonnell, as a second father. In 1853, Edmund Allen Meredith wrote in his diary that 'the doctor (as they referred to MacDonnell) spoke much of the splendid apples and cider William had sent him'. In return 'the doctor' insisted on opening bottle after bottle of claret for Edmund, 'to prove to William that it is now possible to find good claret in Ireland!'
Obituaries
Chief Justice Meredith was 'a gentleman with exemplary charm and manners', and 'a man of fine scholarly attainments'. He possessed 'troops' of friends and was 'held in the highest respect in the City and Province of Quebec, by all classes of the community' and even more extraordinary for the time, was described as being as popular among the French as the English. This is noticeably apparent in an article written about him in L'Opinion Publique on 10 July 1879 :
Le Juge-en-Chef est l'urbanite meme, il est attentive comme un Francais de l'ancien regime. A cette grande affabilite qui n'est nulle part plus appreciable que sur le banc d'un tribunal. Le Juge Meredith joint un savoir etendu, un tact parfait, un judgement tres sur. Il voit au fond s'egarent, les avocats qui brouillent les faits, aux elements fondamentaux dont il faut s'inspirer pour retrouver la verite. Tout cela avec infiniment de benevolence et toutes les formes de la politesse.
"Esteemed for his high character, wide knowledge and amiable disposition", "his lofty conception of duty, his great learning, and his gentleness of character commanded the admiration and affection of the bench and bar of Quebec." Sir William Colles Meredith died 26 February 1894, aged eighty two after a short illness, and he was buried with many of his family at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Sillery. Part of the inscription on his gravestone reads, "... Thoughtful consideration for others marked all his acts and made bright his daily walk through life."
References
Le Revue du Bar, Quebec
Les Juges de la Province de Québec (1933), P.G. Roy
Quebec National Archives
McGill University Archives, Montreal
McCord Museum, Montreal
Quebec Literary and Historical Society
Laval University Archives, Quebec
Bishop's University Archives, Lennoxville
Burkes Landed Gentry of Ireland
The Private Capital (1989), Sandra Gwynn
Rawdon Historical Society
Correspondence of Edgar Allan Collard
The Canadian Legal News
The Canadian Dictionary of National Biography
My Canadian Leaves: An account of a visit to Canada (1864–1865), Feo Monck
Archives of the Montreal Star
Archives of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
Archives of L'Electeur
Archives of the L'Opinion Publique
|
place of burial
|
{
"answer_start": [
18468
],
"text": [
"Mount Hermon Cemetery"
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}
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Sir William Collis Meredith, (23 May 1812 – 26 February 1894) was Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec from 1866 to 1884. In 1844, he was offered but refused the positions of Solicitor General of Canada and then Attorney-General for Canada East - the latter position he turned down again in 1847. In 1887, he was one of the two English-speaking candidates considered by the Liberals for the role of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. The home he commissioned and lived in at Montreal from 1845 to 1849 still stands today, known as the Notman House.
Early life
Born May 23, 1812, at No.1 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, second son of the Rev. Thomas Meredith and his wife Elizabeth Maria Graves, the eldest daughter of the Very Rev. Richard Graves, Dean of Ardagh. He was named for his father's first cousin, William Collis (1788–1866) J.P., of Tieraclea House, High Sheriff of Kerry, a first cousin of Lord Monteagle. Meredith was a nephew of Robert James Graves and a brother of Edmund Allen Meredith. His first cousins included John Walsingham Cooke Meredith, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, John Dawson Mayne, Francis Brinkley, Major-General Arthur Robert MacDonnell and Sir James Creed Meredith.
A year after Meredith was born his family moved up to Ardtrea, near Cookstown, County Tyrone, his father having resigned his fellowship in Dublin to take up the position of Rector there. In 1819, Meredith's father died of 'a sudden and awful visitation' at his home while attempting to shoot a ghost with a silver bullet. His mother returned to Harcourt Street, Dublin, and he joined his Meredith and Redmond cousins at Dr Behan's school in County Wexford. Five years later, against her parents wishes, Meredith's mother remarried her mother's cousin, James Edmund Burton (1776–1850), a first cousin of Henry Peard Driscoll and an uncle of Sir Richard Francis Burton and Lady Stisted. Formerly a magistrate at Tuam, Meredith's step-father had "wasted every farthing of his Irish property" and so attracted by the land grants he took the position of the Church of England's first missionary to Terrebonne, Quebec.
In the summer of 1824, Meredith arrived at 'Burtonville', his stepfather's house and farm outside Rawdon, Quebec, then a four-day journey north of Montreal. He was tutored there by Burton himself or by whatever tutor his stepfather could procure, who were few and far between. In 1828, William's mother, "a lady of much culture and refinement, and possessed also of great energy and force of character", sent him back to Ireland to complete his studies at Trinity College Dublin.
In 1831, a year before his mother and stepfather returned permanently to Cloyne, Co. Cork, he chose to return to Montreal to commence his legal studies there. He articled under The Hon. Clement-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury and then James Charles Grant, QC, before being called to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1836.
Duel and rebellion
On Monday, August 9, 1837, at eight o'clock in the evening, Meredith fought a duel with pistols against James Scott, no stranger to such events. Earlier that day, following a dispute over legal costs, Meredith challenged Scott. He chose James McGill Blackwood (son of John Blackwood) to second him, while Scott's choice was Joseph-Ferreol Pelletier. The duel took place behind Mount Royal, and the pistols used were Meredith's which he had bought in London, on a previous trip to England. On the first exchange Scott took a bullet high up in the thigh, and the duel was called to a stop. List of duels Meredith v Scott, 1837, under 'Canadian Duels'.
The bullet in Scott's thigh bone lodged itself in such a way that it could not be removed by doctors, causing him great discomfort for the rest of his days. Ironically for Scott, this was exactly where he had shot Sweeney Campbell in a duel when they were students. In the early 1850s (Scott died in 1852), when both the adversaries had become judges, one of the sights then to see was Meredith helping his brother judge up the steep Court House steps, Scott being still hindered by the lameness in his leg since their encounter.
Not long after the duel, his career was interrupted again by the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. Under the command of Lt.-Colonel Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury, with whom he had articled with a few years previously, Meredith joined the Montreal Rifles as a Lieutenant and saw action against the French rebels at the Battle of Saint-Eustache, reaching the rank of Major in the militia.
Montreal
From the late 1830s Meredith, "a careful, shrewd lawyer", was senior partner of the firm Meredith & Bethune (a relation through the explorer Alexander Henry the elder) and subsequently Meredith, Bethune & Dunkin. Their offices were situated at 33 Little St. James Street and the firm was described in the 1840s as the most influential in Montreal, having brought together the largest legal business by any one firm in the Province of Quebec. In 1843, he commissioned John Wells, to build him a home beyond the walls of Old Montreal on a spacious plot of land surrounded by fields, Elm and Maple trees. It still stands today, known as the Notman House.
In 1844, he was created a Queen's Counsel (Q.C.), declining the office of Solicitor General, and subsequently that of Attorney-General, which he declined again for the second time in 1847 during the Draper administration. Meredith disliked politics. In the same year Chief Justice Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal offered him the position of Dean of Law at McGill University, which he also turned down - a position his grandson, William Campbell James Meredith, later held.
He was one of the founding members and a director of the High School of Montreal, which was established with his help in 1843 and soon superseded the Royal Grammar School. He was counsel to the board of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning and on the committee to save McGill University in the early 1840s. He conducted a good deal of business for the university, and it was with his influence that his younger brother, Edmund Allen Meredith, became the sixth principal of McGill from 1846 to 1853. In 1848, he was a founding director and trustee of the Montreal Mining Company along with Peter McGill, George Moffatt, Sir George Simpson, Sir Allan Napier MacNab and James Ferrier.
Quebec
In December 1849, Meredith was appointed to be one of the first ten judges of the newly established Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, by the Lafontaine–Baldwin government, a position he held for ten years. However, this meant abandoning with some reluctance the practice of a profession to which he was greatly attached, and in doing so relinquished a profitable business in Montreal. During Lord Elgin's term as Governor General of Canada (1847–1854), Meredith was elected one of the judges of the Seigneurial Court. In 1859, 'at the earnest solicitation of the government and in compliance with the members of the Montreal bar', he accepted a seat from Sir George-Étienne Cartier, as a judge in the Court of Queen's Bench, that being the Court of Appeals for the province. Several of his judgments were spoken of very highly by the lords of the Privy Council in England. He filled the position for seven years 'with marked ability and success'. On December 28, 1854, he was given an honorary D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Bishop's University College, Lennoxville. In 1880, he received the honor for a second time, from Université Laval. In 1865, at a private meeting of the board of governors of Bishop's University he was unanimously elected to become the university's new Chancellor, but due to his existing official duties he declined the position. His youngest son, Frederick Edmund Meredith, would hold the position from 1926 to 1932.
Meredith's friend Sir John Abbott, who had studied law under him and later became Prime Minister of Canada, was a reluctant supporter of Canadian Confederation in 1866. Abbott feared that it would reduce the English-speaking inhabitants of Lower Canada to political impotence. Among others, he consulted with Meredith and Meredith's former business partner, Christopher Dunkin. They drafted a resolution calling on the government to protect the electoral borders of twelve English Quebec constituencies. Subsequently, Alexander Tilloch Galt endorsed the proposal, had the London Conference of 1866 accept it, and included it as Article 80 of the British North America Act, 1867.
In 1866, following the death of one of Meredith's closest friends, Edward Bowen, Sir George-Étienne Cartier appointed him Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec. Judge Caron rivalled him for the position, but the influential and affable D'Arcy McGee (then Minister of Agriculture), a close associate of Meredith's brother (Edmund Allen Meredith), made a few favourable representations on Meredith's behalf, easing the way for his appointment to the position. In the years before his retirement he was the oldest judge on the Bench in Canada, 'still going with his characteristic energy and ability'. Chief Justice Meredith finally retired for health reasons, in this his final office, October 1, 1884. The government did their best to keep him from resigning his post, but Meredith declined their offers to accept leave of absence with the understanding that his full salary would be paid and his resignation subsequently accepted. Two years later he was created a Knight Bachelor by Queen Victoria. Meredith had been as popular among the French as he was among the English, which was extremely rare for the time. This is made clear from an article written in the French journal L'Electeur at his retirement,
La retraite de M. le juge Meredith va creer un vif chagrin dans le barreau comme parmi le public. Jamais en effet un magistrat ne sut mieux se concilier leftie des avocats sans cesse en rapport avec lui et la confiance du public. Jurisconsulte eminent, magistrat dont la reputation d'honorabilite a toujours ete au-dessus du soupcon, bienveillent pour tout la monde, d'un politesse vraiment exquise, M. le juge en chef va laisser une vide bien difficile a remplir.
In 1887, on the retirement of Louis-Rodrigue Masson as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Liberal government favoured an English-speaking replacement. Along with his wife's cousin, George Irvine, Meredith was named as one of the two men, who if appointed, would bring the greatest satisfaction to the English-speaking minority. Neither Meredith nor Irvine were appointed, the new government instead choosing another French-speaking Quebecer, Sir Auguste-Réal Angers. At Meredith's death in 1894, the Legal News printed: The late Chief Justice was a diligent advocate and judge, and conscientious and painstaking in the performance of every duty. The opinions delivered by him from the bench have always been cited with the greatest respect and many of them are models of what a judicial opinion should be. They excel in clearness, are ample without ceasing to be concise, and bring light and satisfaction to the reader.
Family
William Collis Meredith was married at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, May 20, 1847, to Sophia Naters Holmes (1820–1898). She was the eldest daughter of the late 'well-known and popular' William Edward Holmes (1796–1825), a Quebec surgeon (son of William Holmes) and a brother-in-law of Sydney Robert Bellingham. Mrs Meredith's mother, Ann Johnston (1788–1865), was the daughter of Lt.-Colonel James Johnston and his wife Margaret, sister of John MacNider. Mrs Meredith was one of seven siblings and half-siblings, but other than her only two were married: Her brother, William Holmes, married a daughter of Colonel Bartholomew Gugy, and their half-sister, Eliza Paul, married Major Stephen Heward (1776–1828), brother-in-law of Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto. The Merediths were the parents of ten children:
Sophia Elizabeth Meredith (1848–1927), married Henry Nicholas (Monck) Middleton (1845–1928) J.P., D.L., of Dissington Hall, Northumberland, and later Lowood House, near Melrose, Scotland. He was a brother of Sir Arthur Middleton, 7th Baronet, of Belsay Hall. Their son married a daughter of Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey.
William Henry Meredith (1849–1895), director of the Bank of Montreal. He died at a comparatively young age, unmarried, at the apartments he kept in the Windsor Hotel (Montreal).
Matilda Anne Meredith (1851–1875), died young, unmarried, at Cannes, France.
Edward Graves Meredith (1852–1938) N.P., of Quebec, married Isabella Agnes Housman (1858–1949), daughter of The Rev. George Vernon Housman (1820–1887), for 25 years Rector of Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Quebec City, by his wife Eliza Izza Maria Reeves (1823–1865) of Hanover Square, London. George Housman was the uncle of the poet A.E. Housman and the grandson of Thomas Shrawley Vernon of Hanbury Hall.
Harriet Meredith (1854–1941), married Harry Stanley Smith (1850–1916), a native of Seaforth near Liverpool, who retired to Addington House, Wimbledon.
Hylda Graves Meredith (1856–1931), married George Hamilton Thomson (1857–1929), grandson of George Hamilton.
Richard Holmes Meredith (1858–1868), died young.
Louisa Meredith (1860–1938), married her half first cousin Lt.-Col. Edward Hampden Turner Heward (1852–1930). His brother married the sister of Lord Atholstan.
Frederick Edmund Meredith (1862–1941) K.C., D.C.L., of Montreal, married Anne Madeleine VanKoughnet (1863–1945), granddaughter of Colonel Philip VanKoughnet. They were the parents of William Campbell James Meredith.
Evaline Bertha Meredith (1863–1868), died young.
Private life
On moving from their house in Montreal to Quebec City in 1849, the Merediths lived at 19 St. Ursule Street, a large, three storey, brick house with room for five live-in servants. In Christmas 1853, they entertained the author William Henry Giles Kingston and his new wife, Agnes Kinloch. In 1866, they built a summer house, 'Rosecliff' in the hamlet of St. Patrick, outside Rivière-du-Loup (where they owned 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) of farmland), which is still occupied by his descendants today. In Quebec City, they owned three further houses and two barn stables; keeping five pleasure carriages, sleighs, two wagon-sleds, three horses and one milk cow. When he became financially independent in 1830, Meredith had purchased four town lots in Kent County, Upper Canada, that turned out to be an important investment in consequence of the railway that was built there.
Frances (known as Feo) Monck was the maternal granddaughter of Henry Monck, 1st Earl of Rathdowne and the sister-in-law of the then Governor-General Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck. 'Not generally given to benevolence in her judgments,' she gave an unusually long account of a party - or 'drum' as it was known - given by Judge Meredith in her book, My Canadian Leaves, An Account of a Visit to Canada, 1864–1865:
Dick (her husband, Lt-General Richard Monck) and I, and Captain Pem. (Sir Wykeham Leigh Pemberton) are going, I hope, to-night to a 'drum' at Judge Meredith's.... There was a very large party, and the house is large. I was much amused and talked to many people, among others to M. Duvergier-d'Hauranne, a young Frenchman, who is come over here to travel, and has brought a letter to the Governor-General from Lord Clarendon. His father (Prosper Duvergier de Hauranne) was a well-known man in France under Louis Philippe I. My friend, Sir R.M. (Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, William's first cousin who spent a year in Canada as Governor of Nova Scotia in 1864) rushed to me, and asked me to walk about with him, and invited us to Government House (Nova Scotia) at H. (Halifax), which he told me was much finer and larger than 'Spencer's Wood'. Lady M (Lady Blanche MacDonnell) and Dick flirted together for a long time; she is so pretty and pleasant. A Miss Tilstone sang—a handsome girl with a pretty voice. Then a Madame Taschereau (a daughter of Robert Unwin Harwood) sang—good voice; and then THE man sang, Mr Antoine Chartier de Lotbinière Harwood (brother of Madame Taschereau) an M.P.P., half French. He has a very fine voice, and is a pupil of Garcia's. He was offered an engagement at the Italian Opera, London. The large rooms were too small for his voice, which wants modulation. I got quite giddy with the loudness of it ! He sang from operas; he wants expression and more teaching. Judge Meredith introduced him to me, and he sang again, for me !
Meredith frequently returned to Europe, either touring the continent with members of his family or visiting friends and relatives in Ireland. Rather than their stepfather, he and the rest of his siblings regarded their uncle, Rev. Dr Richard MacDonnell, as a second father. In 1853, Edmund Allen Meredith wrote in his diary that 'the doctor (as they referred to MacDonnell) spoke much of the splendid apples and cider William had sent him'. In return 'the doctor' insisted on opening bottle after bottle of claret for Edmund, 'to prove to William that it is now possible to find good claret in Ireland!'
Obituaries
Chief Justice Meredith was 'a gentleman with exemplary charm and manners', and 'a man of fine scholarly attainments'. He possessed 'troops' of friends and was 'held in the highest respect in the City and Province of Quebec, by all classes of the community' and even more extraordinary for the time, was described as being as popular among the French as the English. This is noticeably apparent in an article written about him in L'Opinion Publique on 10 July 1879 :
Le Juge-en-Chef est l'urbanite meme, il est attentive comme un Francais de l'ancien regime. A cette grande affabilite qui n'est nulle part plus appreciable que sur le banc d'un tribunal. Le Juge Meredith joint un savoir etendu, un tact parfait, un judgement tres sur. Il voit au fond s'egarent, les avocats qui brouillent les faits, aux elements fondamentaux dont il faut s'inspirer pour retrouver la verite. Tout cela avec infiniment de benevolence et toutes les formes de la politesse.
"Esteemed for his high character, wide knowledge and amiable disposition", "his lofty conception of duty, his great learning, and his gentleness of character commanded the admiration and affection of the bench and bar of Quebec." Sir William Colles Meredith died 26 February 1894, aged eighty two after a short illness, and he was buried with many of his family at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Sillery. Part of the inscription on his gravestone reads, "... Thoughtful consideration for others marked all his acts and made bright his daily walk through life."
References
Le Revue du Bar, Quebec
Les Juges de la Province de Québec (1933), P.G. Roy
Quebec National Archives
McGill University Archives, Montreal
McCord Museum, Montreal
Quebec Literary and Historical Society
Laval University Archives, Quebec
Bishop's University Archives, Lennoxville
Burkes Landed Gentry of Ireland
The Private Capital (1989), Sandra Gwynn
Rawdon Historical Society
Correspondence of Edgar Allan Collard
The Canadian Legal News
The Canadian Dictionary of National Biography
My Canadian Leaves: An account of a visit to Canada (1864–1865), Feo Monck
Archives of the Montreal Star
Archives of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
Archives of L'Electeur
Archives of the L'Opinion Publique
|
award received
|
{
"answer_start": [
9485
],
"text": [
"Knight Bachelor"
]
}
|
Sir William Collis Meredith, (23 May 1812 – 26 February 1894) was Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec from 1866 to 1884. In 1844, he was offered but refused the positions of Solicitor General of Canada and then Attorney-General for Canada East - the latter position he turned down again in 1847. In 1887, he was one of the two English-speaking candidates considered by the Liberals for the role of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. The home he commissioned and lived in at Montreal from 1845 to 1849 still stands today, known as the Notman House.
Early life
Born May 23, 1812, at No.1 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, second son of the Rev. Thomas Meredith and his wife Elizabeth Maria Graves, the eldest daughter of the Very Rev. Richard Graves, Dean of Ardagh. He was named for his father's first cousin, William Collis (1788–1866) J.P., of Tieraclea House, High Sheriff of Kerry, a first cousin of Lord Monteagle. Meredith was a nephew of Robert James Graves and a brother of Edmund Allen Meredith. His first cousins included John Walsingham Cooke Meredith, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, John Dawson Mayne, Francis Brinkley, Major-General Arthur Robert MacDonnell and Sir James Creed Meredith.
A year after Meredith was born his family moved up to Ardtrea, near Cookstown, County Tyrone, his father having resigned his fellowship in Dublin to take up the position of Rector there. In 1819, Meredith's father died of 'a sudden and awful visitation' at his home while attempting to shoot a ghost with a silver bullet. His mother returned to Harcourt Street, Dublin, and he joined his Meredith and Redmond cousins at Dr Behan's school in County Wexford. Five years later, against her parents wishes, Meredith's mother remarried her mother's cousin, James Edmund Burton (1776–1850), a first cousin of Henry Peard Driscoll and an uncle of Sir Richard Francis Burton and Lady Stisted. Formerly a magistrate at Tuam, Meredith's step-father had "wasted every farthing of his Irish property" and so attracted by the land grants he took the position of the Church of England's first missionary to Terrebonne, Quebec.
In the summer of 1824, Meredith arrived at 'Burtonville', his stepfather's house and farm outside Rawdon, Quebec, then a four-day journey north of Montreal. He was tutored there by Burton himself or by whatever tutor his stepfather could procure, who were few and far between. In 1828, William's mother, "a lady of much culture and refinement, and possessed also of great energy and force of character", sent him back to Ireland to complete his studies at Trinity College Dublin.
In 1831, a year before his mother and stepfather returned permanently to Cloyne, Co. Cork, he chose to return to Montreal to commence his legal studies there. He articled under The Hon. Clement-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury and then James Charles Grant, QC, before being called to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1836.
Duel and rebellion
On Monday, August 9, 1837, at eight o'clock in the evening, Meredith fought a duel with pistols against James Scott, no stranger to such events. Earlier that day, following a dispute over legal costs, Meredith challenged Scott. He chose James McGill Blackwood (son of John Blackwood) to second him, while Scott's choice was Joseph-Ferreol Pelletier. The duel took place behind Mount Royal, and the pistols used were Meredith's which he had bought in London, on a previous trip to England. On the first exchange Scott took a bullet high up in the thigh, and the duel was called to a stop. List of duels Meredith v Scott, 1837, under 'Canadian Duels'.
The bullet in Scott's thigh bone lodged itself in such a way that it could not be removed by doctors, causing him great discomfort for the rest of his days. Ironically for Scott, this was exactly where he had shot Sweeney Campbell in a duel when they were students. In the early 1850s (Scott died in 1852), when both the adversaries had become judges, one of the sights then to see was Meredith helping his brother judge up the steep Court House steps, Scott being still hindered by the lameness in his leg since their encounter.
Not long after the duel, his career was interrupted again by the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. Under the command of Lt.-Colonel Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury, with whom he had articled with a few years previously, Meredith joined the Montreal Rifles as a Lieutenant and saw action against the French rebels at the Battle of Saint-Eustache, reaching the rank of Major in the militia.
Montreal
From the late 1830s Meredith, "a careful, shrewd lawyer", was senior partner of the firm Meredith & Bethune (a relation through the explorer Alexander Henry the elder) and subsequently Meredith, Bethune & Dunkin. Their offices were situated at 33 Little St. James Street and the firm was described in the 1840s as the most influential in Montreal, having brought together the largest legal business by any one firm in the Province of Quebec. In 1843, he commissioned John Wells, to build him a home beyond the walls of Old Montreal on a spacious plot of land surrounded by fields, Elm and Maple trees. It still stands today, known as the Notman House.
In 1844, he was created a Queen's Counsel (Q.C.), declining the office of Solicitor General, and subsequently that of Attorney-General, which he declined again for the second time in 1847 during the Draper administration. Meredith disliked politics. In the same year Chief Justice Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal offered him the position of Dean of Law at McGill University, which he also turned down - a position his grandson, William Campbell James Meredith, later held.
He was one of the founding members and a director of the High School of Montreal, which was established with his help in 1843 and soon superseded the Royal Grammar School. He was counsel to the board of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning and on the committee to save McGill University in the early 1840s. He conducted a good deal of business for the university, and it was with his influence that his younger brother, Edmund Allen Meredith, became the sixth principal of McGill from 1846 to 1853. In 1848, he was a founding director and trustee of the Montreal Mining Company along with Peter McGill, George Moffatt, Sir George Simpson, Sir Allan Napier MacNab and James Ferrier.
Quebec
In December 1849, Meredith was appointed to be one of the first ten judges of the newly established Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, by the Lafontaine–Baldwin government, a position he held for ten years. However, this meant abandoning with some reluctance the practice of a profession to which he was greatly attached, and in doing so relinquished a profitable business in Montreal. During Lord Elgin's term as Governor General of Canada (1847–1854), Meredith was elected one of the judges of the Seigneurial Court. In 1859, 'at the earnest solicitation of the government and in compliance with the members of the Montreal bar', he accepted a seat from Sir George-Étienne Cartier, as a judge in the Court of Queen's Bench, that being the Court of Appeals for the province. Several of his judgments were spoken of very highly by the lords of the Privy Council in England. He filled the position for seven years 'with marked ability and success'. On December 28, 1854, he was given an honorary D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Bishop's University College, Lennoxville. In 1880, he received the honor for a second time, from Université Laval. In 1865, at a private meeting of the board of governors of Bishop's University he was unanimously elected to become the university's new Chancellor, but due to his existing official duties he declined the position. His youngest son, Frederick Edmund Meredith, would hold the position from 1926 to 1932.
Meredith's friend Sir John Abbott, who had studied law under him and later became Prime Minister of Canada, was a reluctant supporter of Canadian Confederation in 1866. Abbott feared that it would reduce the English-speaking inhabitants of Lower Canada to political impotence. Among others, he consulted with Meredith and Meredith's former business partner, Christopher Dunkin. They drafted a resolution calling on the government to protect the electoral borders of twelve English Quebec constituencies. Subsequently, Alexander Tilloch Galt endorsed the proposal, had the London Conference of 1866 accept it, and included it as Article 80 of the British North America Act, 1867.
In 1866, following the death of one of Meredith's closest friends, Edward Bowen, Sir George-Étienne Cartier appointed him Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec. Judge Caron rivalled him for the position, but the influential and affable D'Arcy McGee (then Minister of Agriculture), a close associate of Meredith's brother (Edmund Allen Meredith), made a few favourable representations on Meredith's behalf, easing the way for his appointment to the position. In the years before his retirement he was the oldest judge on the Bench in Canada, 'still going with his characteristic energy and ability'. Chief Justice Meredith finally retired for health reasons, in this his final office, October 1, 1884. The government did their best to keep him from resigning his post, but Meredith declined their offers to accept leave of absence with the understanding that his full salary would be paid and his resignation subsequently accepted. Two years later he was created a Knight Bachelor by Queen Victoria. Meredith had been as popular among the French as he was among the English, which was extremely rare for the time. This is made clear from an article written in the French journal L'Electeur at his retirement,
La retraite de M. le juge Meredith va creer un vif chagrin dans le barreau comme parmi le public. Jamais en effet un magistrat ne sut mieux se concilier leftie des avocats sans cesse en rapport avec lui et la confiance du public. Jurisconsulte eminent, magistrat dont la reputation d'honorabilite a toujours ete au-dessus du soupcon, bienveillent pour tout la monde, d'un politesse vraiment exquise, M. le juge en chef va laisser une vide bien difficile a remplir.
In 1887, on the retirement of Louis-Rodrigue Masson as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Liberal government favoured an English-speaking replacement. Along with his wife's cousin, George Irvine, Meredith was named as one of the two men, who if appointed, would bring the greatest satisfaction to the English-speaking minority. Neither Meredith nor Irvine were appointed, the new government instead choosing another French-speaking Quebecer, Sir Auguste-Réal Angers. At Meredith's death in 1894, the Legal News printed: The late Chief Justice was a diligent advocate and judge, and conscientious and painstaking in the performance of every duty. The opinions delivered by him from the bench have always been cited with the greatest respect and many of them are models of what a judicial opinion should be. They excel in clearness, are ample without ceasing to be concise, and bring light and satisfaction to the reader.
Family
William Collis Meredith was married at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, May 20, 1847, to Sophia Naters Holmes (1820–1898). She was the eldest daughter of the late 'well-known and popular' William Edward Holmes (1796–1825), a Quebec surgeon (son of William Holmes) and a brother-in-law of Sydney Robert Bellingham. Mrs Meredith's mother, Ann Johnston (1788–1865), was the daughter of Lt.-Colonel James Johnston and his wife Margaret, sister of John MacNider. Mrs Meredith was one of seven siblings and half-siblings, but other than her only two were married: Her brother, William Holmes, married a daughter of Colonel Bartholomew Gugy, and their half-sister, Eliza Paul, married Major Stephen Heward (1776–1828), brother-in-law of Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto. The Merediths were the parents of ten children:
Sophia Elizabeth Meredith (1848–1927), married Henry Nicholas (Monck) Middleton (1845–1928) J.P., D.L., of Dissington Hall, Northumberland, and later Lowood House, near Melrose, Scotland. He was a brother of Sir Arthur Middleton, 7th Baronet, of Belsay Hall. Their son married a daughter of Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey.
William Henry Meredith (1849–1895), director of the Bank of Montreal. He died at a comparatively young age, unmarried, at the apartments he kept in the Windsor Hotel (Montreal).
Matilda Anne Meredith (1851–1875), died young, unmarried, at Cannes, France.
Edward Graves Meredith (1852–1938) N.P., of Quebec, married Isabella Agnes Housman (1858–1949), daughter of The Rev. George Vernon Housman (1820–1887), for 25 years Rector of Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Quebec City, by his wife Eliza Izza Maria Reeves (1823–1865) of Hanover Square, London. George Housman was the uncle of the poet A.E. Housman and the grandson of Thomas Shrawley Vernon of Hanbury Hall.
Harriet Meredith (1854–1941), married Harry Stanley Smith (1850–1916), a native of Seaforth near Liverpool, who retired to Addington House, Wimbledon.
Hylda Graves Meredith (1856–1931), married George Hamilton Thomson (1857–1929), grandson of George Hamilton.
Richard Holmes Meredith (1858–1868), died young.
Louisa Meredith (1860–1938), married her half first cousin Lt.-Col. Edward Hampden Turner Heward (1852–1930). His brother married the sister of Lord Atholstan.
Frederick Edmund Meredith (1862–1941) K.C., D.C.L., of Montreal, married Anne Madeleine VanKoughnet (1863–1945), granddaughter of Colonel Philip VanKoughnet. They were the parents of William Campbell James Meredith.
Evaline Bertha Meredith (1863–1868), died young.
Private life
On moving from their house in Montreal to Quebec City in 1849, the Merediths lived at 19 St. Ursule Street, a large, three storey, brick house with room for five live-in servants. In Christmas 1853, they entertained the author William Henry Giles Kingston and his new wife, Agnes Kinloch. In 1866, they built a summer house, 'Rosecliff' in the hamlet of St. Patrick, outside Rivière-du-Loup (where they owned 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) of farmland), which is still occupied by his descendants today. In Quebec City, they owned three further houses and two barn stables; keeping five pleasure carriages, sleighs, two wagon-sleds, three horses and one milk cow. When he became financially independent in 1830, Meredith had purchased four town lots in Kent County, Upper Canada, that turned out to be an important investment in consequence of the railway that was built there.
Frances (known as Feo) Monck was the maternal granddaughter of Henry Monck, 1st Earl of Rathdowne and the sister-in-law of the then Governor-General Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck. 'Not generally given to benevolence in her judgments,' she gave an unusually long account of a party - or 'drum' as it was known - given by Judge Meredith in her book, My Canadian Leaves, An Account of a Visit to Canada, 1864–1865:
Dick (her husband, Lt-General Richard Monck) and I, and Captain Pem. (Sir Wykeham Leigh Pemberton) are going, I hope, to-night to a 'drum' at Judge Meredith's.... There was a very large party, and the house is large. I was much amused and talked to many people, among others to M. Duvergier-d'Hauranne, a young Frenchman, who is come over here to travel, and has brought a letter to the Governor-General from Lord Clarendon. His father (Prosper Duvergier de Hauranne) was a well-known man in France under Louis Philippe I. My friend, Sir R.M. (Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, William's first cousin who spent a year in Canada as Governor of Nova Scotia in 1864) rushed to me, and asked me to walk about with him, and invited us to Government House (Nova Scotia) at H. (Halifax), which he told me was much finer and larger than 'Spencer's Wood'. Lady M (Lady Blanche MacDonnell) and Dick flirted together for a long time; she is so pretty and pleasant. A Miss Tilstone sang—a handsome girl with a pretty voice. Then a Madame Taschereau (a daughter of Robert Unwin Harwood) sang—good voice; and then THE man sang, Mr Antoine Chartier de Lotbinière Harwood (brother of Madame Taschereau) an M.P.P., half French. He has a very fine voice, and is a pupil of Garcia's. He was offered an engagement at the Italian Opera, London. The large rooms were too small for his voice, which wants modulation. I got quite giddy with the loudness of it ! He sang from operas; he wants expression and more teaching. Judge Meredith introduced him to me, and he sang again, for me !
Meredith frequently returned to Europe, either touring the continent with members of his family or visiting friends and relatives in Ireland. Rather than their stepfather, he and the rest of his siblings regarded their uncle, Rev. Dr Richard MacDonnell, as a second father. In 1853, Edmund Allen Meredith wrote in his diary that 'the doctor (as they referred to MacDonnell) spoke much of the splendid apples and cider William had sent him'. In return 'the doctor' insisted on opening bottle after bottle of claret for Edmund, 'to prove to William that it is now possible to find good claret in Ireland!'
Obituaries
Chief Justice Meredith was 'a gentleman with exemplary charm and manners', and 'a man of fine scholarly attainments'. He possessed 'troops' of friends and was 'held in the highest respect in the City and Province of Quebec, by all classes of the community' and even more extraordinary for the time, was described as being as popular among the French as the English. This is noticeably apparent in an article written about him in L'Opinion Publique on 10 July 1879 :
Le Juge-en-Chef est l'urbanite meme, il est attentive comme un Francais de l'ancien regime. A cette grande affabilite qui n'est nulle part plus appreciable que sur le banc d'un tribunal. Le Juge Meredith joint un savoir etendu, un tact parfait, un judgement tres sur. Il voit au fond s'egarent, les avocats qui brouillent les faits, aux elements fondamentaux dont il faut s'inspirer pour retrouver la verite. Tout cela avec infiniment de benevolence et toutes les formes de la politesse.
"Esteemed for his high character, wide knowledge and amiable disposition", "his lofty conception of duty, his great learning, and his gentleness of character commanded the admiration and affection of the bench and bar of Quebec." Sir William Colles Meredith died 26 February 1894, aged eighty two after a short illness, and he was buried with many of his family at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Sillery. Part of the inscription on his gravestone reads, "... Thoughtful consideration for others marked all his acts and made bright his daily walk through life."
References
Le Revue du Bar, Quebec
Les Juges de la Province de Québec (1933), P.G. Roy
Quebec National Archives
McGill University Archives, Montreal
McCord Museum, Montreal
Quebec Literary and Historical Society
Laval University Archives, Quebec
Bishop's University Archives, Lennoxville
Burkes Landed Gentry of Ireland
The Private Capital (1989), Sandra Gwynn
Rawdon Historical Society
Correspondence of Edgar Allan Collard
The Canadian Legal News
The Canadian Dictionary of National Biography
My Canadian Leaves: An account of a visit to Canada (1864–1865), Feo Monck
Archives of the Montreal Star
Archives of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
Archives of L'Electeur
Archives of the L'Opinion Publique
|
Commons category
|
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Sir William Collis Meredith, (23 May 1812 – 26 February 1894) was Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec from 1866 to 1884. In 1844, he was offered but refused the positions of Solicitor General of Canada and then Attorney-General for Canada East - the latter position he turned down again in 1847. In 1887, he was one of the two English-speaking candidates considered by the Liberals for the role of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. The home he commissioned and lived in at Montreal from 1845 to 1849 still stands today, known as the Notman House.
Early life
Born May 23, 1812, at No.1 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, second son of the Rev. Thomas Meredith and his wife Elizabeth Maria Graves, the eldest daughter of the Very Rev. Richard Graves, Dean of Ardagh. He was named for his father's first cousin, William Collis (1788–1866) J.P., of Tieraclea House, High Sheriff of Kerry, a first cousin of Lord Monteagle. Meredith was a nephew of Robert James Graves and a brother of Edmund Allen Meredith. His first cousins included John Walsingham Cooke Meredith, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, John Dawson Mayne, Francis Brinkley, Major-General Arthur Robert MacDonnell and Sir James Creed Meredith.
A year after Meredith was born his family moved up to Ardtrea, near Cookstown, County Tyrone, his father having resigned his fellowship in Dublin to take up the position of Rector there. In 1819, Meredith's father died of 'a sudden and awful visitation' at his home while attempting to shoot a ghost with a silver bullet. His mother returned to Harcourt Street, Dublin, and he joined his Meredith and Redmond cousins at Dr Behan's school in County Wexford. Five years later, against her parents wishes, Meredith's mother remarried her mother's cousin, James Edmund Burton (1776–1850), a first cousin of Henry Peard Driscoll and an uncle of Sir Richard Francis Burton and Lady Stisted. Formerly a magistrate at Tuam, Meredith's step-father had "wasted every farthing of his Irish property" and so attracted by the land grants he took the position of the Church of England's first missionary to Terrebonne, Quebec.
In the summer of 1824, Meredith arrived at 'Burtonville', his stepfather's house and farm outside Rawdon, Quebec, then a four-day journey north of Montreal. He was tutored there by Burton himself or by whatever tutor his stepfather could procure, who were few and far between. In 1828, William's mother, "a lady of much culture and refinement, and possessed also of great energy and force of character", sent him back to Ireland to complete his studies at Trinity College Dublin.
In 1831, a year before his mother and stepfather returned permanently to Cloyne, Co. Cork, he chose to return to Montreal to commence his legal studies there. He articled under The Hon. Clement-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury and then James Charles Grant, QC, before being called to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1836.
Duel and rebellion
On Monday, August 9, 1837, at eight o'clock in the evening, Meredith fought a duel with pistols against James Scott, no stranger to such events. Earlier that day, following a dispute over legal costs, Meredith challenged Scott. He chose James McGill Blackwood (son of John Blackwood) to second him, while Scott's choice was Joseph-Ferreol Pelletier. The duel took place behind Mount Royal, and the pistols used were Meredith's which he had bought in London, on a previous trip to England. On the first exchange Scott took a bullet high up in the thigh, and the duel was called to a stop. List of duels Meredith v Scott, 1837, under 'Canadian Duels'.
The bullet in Scott's thigh bone lodged itself in such a way that it could not be removed by doctors, causing him great discomfort for the rest of his days. Ironically for Scott, this was exactly where he had shot Sweeney Campbell in a duel when they were students. In the early 1850s (Scott died in 1852), when both the adversaries had become judges, one of the sights then to see was Meredith helping his brother judge up the steep Court House steps, Scott being still hindered by the lameness in his leg since their encounter.
Not long after the duel, his career was interrupted again by the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. Under the command of Lt.-Colonel Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury, with whom he had articled with a few years previously, Meredith joined the Montreal Rifles as a Lieutenant and saw action against the French rebels at the Battle of Saint-Eustache, reaching the rank of Major in the militia.
Montreal
From the late 1830s Meredith, "a careful, shrewd lawyer", was senior partner of the firm Meredith & Bethune (a relation through the explorer Alexander Henry the elder) and subsequently Meredith, Bethune & Dunkin. Their offices were situated at 33 Little St. James Street and the firm was described in the 1840s as the most influential in Montreal, having brought together the largest legal business by any one firm in the Province of Quebec. In 1843, he commissioned John Wells, to build him a home beyond the walls of Old Montreal on a spacious plot of land surrounded by fields, Elm and Maple trees. It still stands today, known as the Notman House.
In 1844, he was created a Queen's Counsel (Q.C.), declining the office of Solicitor General, and subsequently that of Attorney-General, which he declined again for the second time in 1847 during the Draper administration. Meredith disliked politics. In the same year Chief Justice Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal offered him the position of Dean of Law at McGill University, which he also turned down - a position his grandson, William Campbell James Meredith, later held.
He was one of the founding members and a director of the High School of Montreal, which was established with his help in 1843 and soon superseded the Royal Grammar School. He was counsel to the board of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning and on the committee to save McGill University in the early 1840s. He conducted a good deal of business for the university, and it was with his influence that his younger brother, Edmund Allen Meredith, became the sixth principal of McGill from 1846 to 1853. In 1848, he was a founding director and trustee of the Montreal Mining Company along with Peter McGill, George Moffatt, Sir George Simpson, Sir Allan Napier MacNab and James Ferrier.
Quebec
In December 1849, Meredith was appointed to be one of the first ten judges of the newly established Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, by the Lafontaine–Baldwin government, a position he held for ten years. However, this meant abandoning with some reluctance the practice of a profession to which he was greatly attached, and in doing so relinquished a profitable business in Montreal. During Lord Elgin's term as Governor General of Canada (1847–1854), Meredith was elected one of the judges of the Seigneurial Court. In 1859, 'at the earnest solicitation of the government and in compliance with the members of the Montreal bar', he accepted a seat from Sir George-Étienne Cartier, as a judge in the Court of Queen's Bench, that being the Court of Appeals for the province. Several of his judgments were spoken of very highly by the lords of the Privy Council in England. He filled the position for seven years 'with marked ability and success'. On December 28, 1854, he was given an honorary D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Bishop's University College, Lennoxville. In 1880, he received the honor for a second time, from Université Laval. In 1865, at a private meeting of the board of governors of Bishop's University he was unanimously elected to become the university's new Chancellor, but due to his existing official duties he declined the position. His youngest son, Frederick Edmund Meredith, would hold the position from 1926 to 1932.
Meredith's friend Sir John Abbott, who had studied law under him and later became Prime Minister of Canada, was a reluctant supporter of Canadian Confederation in 1866. Abbott feared that it would reduce the English-speaking inhabitants of Lower Canada to political impotence. Among others, he consulted with Meredith and Meredith's former business partner, Christopher Dunkin. They drafted a resolution calling on the government to protect the electoral borders of twelve English Quebec constituencies. Subsequently, Alexander Tilloch Galt endorsed the proposal, had the London Conference of 1866 accept it, and included it as Article 80 of the British North America Act, 1867.
In 1866, following the death of one of Meredith's closest friends, Edward Bowen, Sir George-Étienne Cartier appointed him Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec. Judge Caron rivalled him for the position, but the influential and affable D'Arcy McGee (then Minister of Agriculture), a close associate of Meredith's brother (Edmund Allen Meredith), made a few favourable representations on Meredith's behalf, easing the way for his appointment to the position. In the years before his retirement he was the oldest judge on the Bench in Canada, 'still going with his characteristic energy and ability'. Chief Justice Meredith finally retired for health reasons, in this his final office, October 1, 1884. The government did their best to keep him from resigning his post, but Meredith declined their offers to accept leave of absence with the understanding that his full salary would be paid and his resignation subsequently accepted. Two years later he was created a Knight Bachelor by Queen Victoria. Meredith had been as popular among the French as he was among the English, which was extremely rare for the time. This is made clear from an article written in the French journal L'Electeur at his retirement,
La retraite de M. le juge Meredith va creer un vif chagrin dans le barreau comme parmi le public. Jamais en effet un magistrat ne sut mieux se concilier leftie des avocats sans cesse en rapport avec lui et la confiance du public. Jurisconsulte eminent, magistrat dont la reputation d'honorabilite a toujours ete au-dessus du soupcon, bienveillent pour tout la monde, d'un politesse vraiment exquise, M. le juge en chef va laisser une vide bien difficile a remplir.
In 1887, on the retirement of Louis-Rodrigue Masson as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Liberal government favoured an English-speaking replacement. Along with his wife's cousin, George Irvine, Meredith was named as one of the two men, who if appointed, would bring the greatest satisfaction to the English-speaking minority. Neither Meredith nor Irvine were appointed, the new government instead choosing another French-speaking Quebecer, Sir Auguste-Réal Angers. At Meredith's death in 1894, the Legal News printed: The late Chief Justice was a diligent advocate and judge, and conscientious and painstaking in the performance of every duty. The opinions delivered by him from the bench have always been cited with the greatest respect and many of them are models of what a judicial opinion should be. They excel in clearness, are ample without ceasing to be concise, and bring light and satisfaction to the reader.
Family
William Collis Meredith was married at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, May 20, 1847, to Sophia Naters Holmes (1820–1898). She was the eldest daughter of the late 'well-known and popular' William Edward Holmes (1796–1825), a Quebec surgeon (son of William Holmes) and a brother-in-law of Sydney Robert Bellingham. Mrs Meredith's mother, Ann Johnston (1788–1865), was the daughter of Lt.-Colonel James Johnston and his wife Margaret, sister of John MacNider. Mrs Meredith was one of seven siblings and half-siblings, but other than her only two were married: Her brother, William Holmes, married a daughter of Colonel Bartholomew Gugy, and their half-sister, Eliza Paul, married Major Stephen Heward (1776–1828), brother-in-law of Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto. The Merediths were the parents of ten children:
Sophia Elizabeth Meredith (1848–1927), married Henry Nicholas (Monck) Middleton (1845–1928) J.P., D.L., of Dissington Hall, Northumberland, and later Lowood House, near Melrose, Scotland. He was a brother of Sir Arthur Middleton, 7th Baronet, of Belsay Hall. Their son married a daughter of Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey.
William Henry Meredith (1849–1895), director of the Bank of Montreal. He died at a comparatively young age, unmarried, at the apartments he kept in the Windsor Hotel (Montreal).
Matilda Anne Meredith (1851–1875), died young, unmarried, at Cannes, France.
Edward Graves Meredith (1852–1938) N.P., of Quebec, married Isabella Agnes Housman (1858–1949), daughter of The Rev. George Vernon Housman (1820–1887), for 25 years Rector of Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Quebec City, by his wife Eliza Izza Maria Reeves (1823–1865) of Hanover Square, London. George Housman was the uncle of the poet A.E. Housman and the grandson of Thomas Shrawley Vernon of Hanbury Hall.
Harriet Meredith (1854–1941), married Harry Stanley Smith (1850–1916), a native of Seaforth near Liverpool, who retired to Addington House, Wimbledon.
Hylda Graves Meredith (1856–1931), married George Hamilton Thomson (1857–1929), grandson of George Hamilton.
Richard Holmes Meredith (1858–1868), died young.
Louisa Meredith (1860–1938), married her half first cousin Lt.-Col. Edward Hampden Turner Heward (1852–1930). His brother married the sister of Lord Atholstan.
Frederick Edmund Meredith (1862–1941) K.C., D.C.L., of Montreal, married Anne Madeleine VanKoughnet (1863–1945), granddaughter of Colonel Philip VanKoughnet. They were the parents of William Campbell James Meredith.
Evaline Bertha Meredith (1863–1868), died young.
Private life
On moving from their house in Montreal to Quebec City in 1849, the Merediths lived at 19 St. Ursule Street, a large, three storey, brick house with room for five live-in servants. In Christmas 1853, they entertained the author William Henry Giles Kingston and his new wife, Agnes Kinloch. In 1866, they built a summer house, 'Rosecliff' in the hamlet of St. Patrick, outside Rivière-du-Loup (where they owned 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) of farmland), which is still occupied by his descendants today. In Quebec City, they owned three further houses and two barn stables; keeping five pleasure carriages, sleighs, two wagon-sleds, three horses and one milk cow. When he became financially independent in 1830, Meredith had purchased four town lots in Kent County, Upper Canada, that turned out to be an important investment in consequence of the railway that was built there.
Frances (known as Feo) Monck was the maternal granddaughter of Henry Monck, 1st Earl of Rathdowne and the sister-in-law of the then Governor-General Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck. 'Not generally given to benevolence in her judgments,' she gave an unusually long account of a party - or 'drum' as it was known - given by Judge Meredith in her book, My Canadian Leaves, An Account of a Visit to Canada, 1864–1865:
Dick (her husband, Lt-General Richard Monck) and I, and Captain Pem. (Sir Wykeham Leigh Pemberton) are going, I hope, to-night to a 'drum' at Judge Meredith's.... There was a very large party, and the house is large. I was much amused and talked to many people, among others to M. Duvergier-d'Hauranne, a young Frenchman, who is come over here to travel, and has brought a letter to the Governor-General from Lord Clarendon. His father (Prosper Duvergier de Hauranne) was a well-known man in France under Louis Philippe I. My friend, Sir R.M. (Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, William's first cousin who spent a year in Canada as Governor of Nova Scotia in 1864) rushed to me, and asked me to walk about with him, and invited us to Government House (Nova Scotia) at H. (Halifax), which he told me was much finer and larger than 'Spencer's Wood'. Lady M (Lady Blanche MacDonnell) and Dick flirted together for a long time; she is so pretty and pleasant. A Miss Tilstone sang—a handsome girl with a pretty voice. Then a Madame Taschereau (a daughter of Robert Unwin Harwood) sang—good voice; and then THE man sang, Mr Antoine Chartier de Lotbinière Harwood (brother of Madame Taschereau) an M.P.P., half French. He has a very fine voice, and is a pupil of Garcia's. He was offered an engagement at the Italian Opera, London. The large rooms were too small for his voice, which wants modulation. I got quite giddy with the loudness of it ! He sang from operas; he wants expression and more teaching. Judge Meredith introduced him to me, and he sang again, for me !
Meredith frequently returned to Europe, either touring the continent with members of his family or visiting friends and relatives in Ireland. Rather than their stepfather, he and the rest of his siblings regarded their uncle, Rev. Dr Richard MacDonnell, as a second father. In 1853, Edmund Allen Meredith wrote in his diary that 'the doctor (as they referred to MacDonnell) spoke much of the splendid apples and cider William had sent him'. In return 'the doctor' insisted on opening bottle after bottle of claret for Edmund, 'to prove to William that it is now possible to find good claret in Ireland!'
Obituaries
Chief Justice Meredith was 'a gentleman with exemplary charm and manners', and 'a man of fine scholarly attainments'. He possessed 'troops' of friends and was 'held in the highest respect in the City and Province of Quebec, by all classes of the community' and even more extraordinary for the time, was described as being as popular among the French as the English. This is noticeably apparent in an article written about him in L'Opinion Publique on 10 July 1879 :
Le Juge-en-Chef est l'urbanite meme, il est attentive comme un Francais de l'ancien regime. A cette grande affabilite qui n'est nulle part plus appreciable que sur le banc d'un tribunal. Le Juge Meredith joint un savoir etendu, un tact parfait, un judgement tres sur. Il voit au fond s'egarent, les avocats qui brouillent les faits, aux elements fondamentaux dont il faut s'inspirer pour retrouver la verite. Tout cela avec infiniment de benevolence et toutes les formes de la politesse.
"Esteemed for his high character, wide knowledge and amiable disposition", "his lofty conception of duty, his great learning, and his gentleness of character commanded the admiration and affection of the bench and bar of Quebec." Sir William Colles Meredith died 26 February 1894, aged eighty two after a short illness, and he was buried with many of his family at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Sillery. Part of the inscription on his gravestone reads, "... Thoughtful consideration for others marked all his acts and made bright his daily walk through life."
References
Le Revue du Bar, Quebec
Les Juges de la Province de Québec (1933), P.G. Roy
Quebec National Archives
McGill University Archives, Montreal
McCord Museum, Montreal
Quebec Literary and Historical Society
Laval University Archives, Quebec
Bishop's University Archives, Lennoxville
Burkes Landed Gentry of Ireland
The Private Capital (1989), Sandra Gwynn
Rawdon Historical Society
Correspondence of Edgar Allan Collard
The Canadian Legal News
The Canadian Dictionary of National Biography
My Canadian Leaves: An account of a visit to Canada (1864–1865), Feo Monck
Archives of the Montreal Star
Archives of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
Archives of L'Electeur
Archives of the L'Opinion Publique
|
residence
|
{
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Sir William Collis Meredith, (23 May 1812 – 26 February 1894) was Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec from 1866 to 1884. In 1844, he was offered but refused the positions of Solicitor General of Canada and then Attorney-General for Canada East - the latter position he turned down again in 1847. In 1887, he was one of the two English-speaking candidates considered by the Liberals for the role of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. The home he commissioned and lived in at Montreal from 1845 to 1849 still stands today, known as the Notman House.
Early life
Born May 23, 1812, at No.1 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, second son of the Rev. Thomas Meredith and his wife Elizabeth Maria Graves, the eldest daughter of the Very Rev. Richard Graves, Dean of Ardagh. He was named for his father's first cousin, William Collis (1788–1866) J.P., of Tieraclea House, High Sheriff of Kerry, a first cousin of Lord Monteagle. Meredith was a nephew of Robert James Graves and a brother of Edmund Allen Meredith. His first cousins included John Walsingham Cooke Meredith, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, John Dawson Mayne, Francis Brinkley, Major-General Arthur Robert MacDonnell and Sir James Creed Meredith.
A year after Meredith was born his family moved up to Ardtrea, near Cookstown, County Tyrone, his father having resigned his fellowship in Dublin to take up the position of Rector there. In 1819, Meredith's father died of 'a sudden and awful visitation' at his home while attempting to shoot a ghost with a silver bullet. His mother returned to Harcourt Street, Dublin, and he joined his Meredith and Redmond cousins at Dr Behan's school in County Wexford. Five years later, against her parents wishes, Meredith's mother remarried her mother's cousin, James Edmund Burton (1776–1850), a first cousin of Henry Peard Driscoll and an uncle of Sir Richard Francis Burton and Lady Stisted. Formerly a magistrate at Tuam, Meredith's step-father had "wasted every farthing of his Irish property" and so attracted by the land grants he took the position of the Church of England's first missionary to Terrebonne, Quebec.
In the summer of 1824, Meredith arrived at 'Burtonville', his stepfather's house and farm outside Rawdon, Quebec, then a four-day journey north of Montreal. He was tutored there by Burton himself or by whatever tutor his stepfather could procure, who were few and far between. In 1828, William's mother, "a lady of much culture and refinement, and possessed also of great energy and force of character", sent him back to Ireland to complete his studies at Trinity College Dublin.
In 1831, a year before his mother and stepfather returned permanently to Cloyne, Co. Cork, he chose to return to Montreal to commence his legal studies there. He articled under The Hon. Clement-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury and then James Charles Grant, QC, before being called to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1836.
Duel and rebellion
On Monday, August 9, 1837, at eight o'clock in the evening, Meredith fought a duel with pistols against James Scott, no stranger to such events. Earlier that day, following a dispute over legal costs, Meredith challenged Scott. He chose James McGill Blackwood (son of John Blackwood) to second him, while Scott's choice was Joseph-Ferreol Pelletier. The duel took place behind Mount Royal, and the pistols used were Meredith's which he had bought in London, on a previous trip to England. On the first exchange Scott took a bullet high up in the thigh, and the duel was called to a stop. List of duels Meredith v Scott, 1837, under 'Canadian Duels'.
The bullet in Scott's thigh bone lodged itself in such a way that it could not be removed by doctors, causing him great discomfort for the rest of his days. Ironically for Scott, this was exactly where he had shot Sweeney Campbell in a duel when they were students. In the early 1850s (Scott died in 1852), when both the adversaries had become judges, one of the sights then to see was Meredith helping his brother judge up the steep Court House steps, Scott being still hindered by the lameness in his leg since their encounter.
Not long after the duel, his career was interrupted again by the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. Under the command of Lt.-Colonel Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury, with whom he had articled with a few years previously, Meredith joined the Montreal Rifles as a Lieutenant and saw action against the French rebels at the Battle of Saint-Eustache, reaching the rank of Major in the militia.
Montreal
From the late 1830s Meredith, "a careful, shrewd lawyer", was senior partner of the firm Meredith & Bethune (a relation through the explorer Alexander Henry the elder) and subsequently Meredith, Bethune & Dunkin. Their offices were situated at 33 Little St. James Street and the firm was described in the 1840s as the most influential in Montreal, having brought together the largest legal business by any one firm in the Province of Quebec. In 1843, he commissioned John Wells, to build him a home beyond the walls of Old Montreal on a spacious plot of land surrounded by fields, Elm and Maple trees. It still stands today, known as the Notman House.
In 1844, he was created a Queen's Counsel (Q.C.), declining the office of Solicitor General, and subsequently that of Attorney-General, which he declined again for the second time in 1847 during the Draper administration. Meredith disliked politics. In the same year Chief Justice Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal offered him the position of Dean of Law at McGill University, which he also turned down - a position his grandson, William Campbell James Meredith, later held.
He was one of the founding members and a director of the High School of Montreal, which was established with his help in 1843 and soon superseded the Royal Grammar School. He was counsel to the board of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning and on the committee to save McGill University in the early 1840s. He conducted a good deal of business for the university, and it was with his influence that his younger brother, Edmund Allen Meredith, became the sixth principal of McGill from 1846 to 1853. In 1848, he was a founding director and trustee of the Montreal Mining Company along with Peter McGill, George Moffatt, Sir George Simpson, Sir Allan Napier MacNab and James Ferrier.
Quebec
In December 1849, Meredith was appointed to be one of the first ten judges of the newly established Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, by the Lafontaine–Baldwin government, a position he held for ten years. However, this meant abandoning with some reluctance the practice of a profession to which he was greatly attached, and in doing so relinquished a profitable business in Montreal. During Lord Elgin's term as Governor General of Canada (1847–1854), Meredith was elected one of the judges of the Seigneurial Court. In 1859, 'at the earnest solicitation of the government and in compliance with the members of the Montreal bar', he accepted a seat from Sir George-Étienne Cartier, as a judge in the Court of Queen's Bench, that being the Court of Appeals for the province. Several of his judgments were spoken of very highly by the lords of the Privy Council in England. He filled the position for seven years 'with marked ability and success'. On December 28, 1854, he was given an honorary D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Bishop's University College, Lennoxville. In 1880, he received the honor for a second time, from Université Laval. In 1865, at a private meeting of the board of governors of Bishop's University he was unanimously elected to become the university's new Chancellor, but due to his existing official duties he declined the position. His youngest son, Frederick Edmund Meredith, would hold the position from 1926 to 1932.
Meredith's friend Sir John Abbott, who had studied law under him and later became Prime Minister of Canada, was a reluctant supporter of Canadian Confederation in 1866. Abbott feared that it would reduce the English-speaking inhabitants of Lower Canada to political impotence. Among others, he consulted with Meredith and Meredith's former business partner, Christopher Dunkin. They drafted a resolution calling on the government to protect the electoral borders of twelve English Quebec constituencies. Subsequently, Alexander Tilloch Galt endorsed the proposal, had the London Conference of 1866 accept it, and included it as Article 80 of the British North America Act, 1867.
In 1866, following the death of one of Meredith's closest friends, Edward Bowen, Sir George-Étienne Cartier appointed him Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec. Judge Caron rivalled him for the position, but the influential and affable D'Arcy McGee (then Minister of Agriculture), a close associate of Meredith's brother (Edmund Allen Meredith), made a few favourable representations on Meredith's behalf, easing the way for his appointment to the position. In the years before his retirement he was the oldest judge on the Bench in Canada, 'still going with his characteristic energy and ability'. Chief Justice Meredith finally retired for health reasons, in this his final office, October 1, 1884. The government did their best to keep him from resigning his post, but Meredith declined their offers to accept leave of absence with the understanding that his full salary would be paid and his resignation subsequently accepted. Two years later he was created a Knight Bachelor by Queen Victoria. Meredith had been as popular among the French as he was among the English, which was extremely rare for the time. This is made clear from an article written in the French journal L'Electeur at his retirement,
La retraite de M. le juge Meredith va creer un vif chagrin dans le barreau comme parmi le public. Jamais en effet un magistrat ne sut mieux se concilier leftie des avocats sans cesse en rapport avec lui et la confiance du public. Jurisconsulte eminent, magistrat dont la reputation d'honorabilite a toujours ete au-dessus du soupcon, bienveillent pour tout la monde, d'un politesse vraiment exquise, M. le juge en chef va laisser une vide bien difficile a remplir.
In 1887, on the retirement of Louis-Rodrigue Masson as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Liberal government favoured an English-speaking replacement. Along with his wife's cousin, George Irvine, Meredith was named as one of the two men, who if appointed, would bring the greatest satisfaction to the English-speaking minority. Neither Meredith nor Irvine were appointed, the new government instead choosing another French-speaking Quebecer, Sir Auguste-Réal Angers. At Meredith's death in 1894, the Legal News printed: The late Chief Justice was a diligent advocate and judge, and conscientious and painstaking in the performance of every duty. The opinions delivered by him from the bench have always been cited with the greatest respect and many of them are models of what a judicial opinion should be. They excel in clearness, are ample without ceasing to be concise, and bring light and satisfaction to the reader.
Family
William Collis Meredith was married at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, May 20, 1847, to Sophia Naters Holmes (1820–1898). She was the eldest daughter of the late 'well-known and popular' William Edward Holmes (1796–1825), a Quebec surgeon (son of William Holmes) and a brother-in-law of Sydney Robert Bellingham. Mrs Meredith's mother, Ann Johnston (1788–1865), was the daughter of Lt.-Colonel James Johnston and his wife Margaret, sister of John MacNider. Mrs Meredith was one of seven siblings and half-siblings, but other than her only two were married: Her brother, William Holmes, married a daughter of Colonel Bartholomew Gugy, and their half-sister, Eliza Paul, married Major Stephen Heward (1776–1828), brother-in-law of Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto. The Merediths were the parents of ten children:
Sophia Elizabeth Meredith (1848–1927), married Henry Nicholas (Monck) Middleton (1845–1928) J.P., D.L., of Dissington Hall, Northumberland, and later Lowood House, near Melrose, Scotland. He was a brother of Sir Arthur Middleton, 7th Baronet, of Belsay Hall. Their son married a daughter of Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey.
William Henry Meredith (1849–1895), director of the Bank of Montreal. He died at a comparatively young age, unmarried, at the apartments he kept in the Windsor Hotel (Montreal).
Matilda Anne Meredith (1851–1875), died young, unmarried, at Cannes, France.
Edward Graves Meredith (1852–1938) N.P., of Quebec, married Isabella Agnes Housman (1858–1949), daughter of The Rev. George Vernon Housman (1820–1887), for 25 years Rector of Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Quebec City, by his wife Eliza Izza Maria Reeves (1823–1865) of Hanover Square, London. George Housman was the uncle of the poet A.E. Housman and the grandson of Thomas Shrawley Vernon of Hanbury Hall.
Harriet Meredith (1854–1941), married Harry Stanley Smith (1850–1916), a native of Seaforth near Liverpool, who retired to Addington House, Wimbledon.
Hylda Graves Meredith (1856–1931), married George Hamilton Thomson (1857–1929), grandson of George Hamilton.
Richard Holmes Meredith (1858–1868), died young.
Louisa Meredith (1860–1938), married her half first cousin Lt.-Col. Edward Hampden Turner Heward (1852–1930). His brother married the sister of Lord Atholstan.
Frederick Edmund Meredith (1862–1941) K.C., D.C.L., of Montreal, married Anne Madeleine VanKoughnet (1863–1945), granddaughter of Colonel Philip VanKoughnet. They were the parents of William Campbell James Meredith.
Evaline Bertha Meredith (1863–1868), died young.
Private life
On moving from their house in Montreal to Quebec City in 1849, the Merediths lived at 19 St. Ursule Street, a large, three storey, brick house with room for five live-in servants. In Christmas 1853, they entertained the author William Henry Giles Kingston and his new wife, Agnes Kinloch. In 1866, they built a summer house, 'Rosecliff' in the hamlet of St. Patrick, outside Rivière-du-Loup (where they owned 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) of farmland), which is still occupied by his descendants today. In Quebec City, they owned three further houses and two barn stables; keeping five pleasure carriages, sleighs, two wagon-sleds, three horses and one milk cow. When he became financially independent in 1830, Meredith had purchased four town lots in Kent County, Upper Canada, that turned out to be an important investment in consequence of the railway that was built there.
Frances (known as Feo) Monck was the maternal granddaughter of Henry Monck, 1st Earl of Rathdowne and the sister-in-law of the then Governor-General Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck. 'Not generally given to benevolence in her judgments,' she gave an unusually long account of a party - or 'drum' as it was known - given by Judge Meredith in her book, My Canadian Leaves, An Account of a Visit to Canada, 1864–1865:
Dick (her husband, Lt-General Richard Monck) and I, and Captain Pem. (Sir Wykeham Leigh Pemberton) are going, I hope, to-night to a 'drum' at Judge Meredith's.... There was a very large party, and the house is large. I was much amused and talked to many people, among others to M. Duvergier-d'Hauranne, a young Frenchman, who is come over here to travel, and has brought a letter to the Governor-General from Lord Clarendon. His father (Prosper Duvergier de Hauranne) was a well-known man in France under Louis Philippe I. My friend, Sir R.M. (Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, William's first cousin who spent a year in Canada as Governor of Nova Scotia in 1864) rushed to me, and asked me to walk about with him, and invited us to Government House (Nova Scotia) at H. (Halifax), which he told me was much finer and larger than 'Spencer's Wood'. Lady M (Lady Blanche MacDonnell) and Dick flirted together for a long time; she is so pretty and pleasant. A Miss Tilstone sang—a handsome girl with a pretty voice. Then a Madame Taschereau (a daughter of Robert Unwin Harwood) sang—good voice; and then THE man sang, Mr Antoine Chartier de Lotbinière Harwood (brother of Madame Taschereau) an M.P.P., half French. He has a very fine voice, and is a pupil of Garcia's. He was offered an engagement at the Italian Opera, London. The large rooms were too small for his voice, which wants modulation. I got quite giddy with the loudness of it ! He sang from operas; he wants expression and more teaching. Judge Meredith introduced him to me, and he sang again, for me !
Meredith frequently returned to Europe, either touring the continent with members of his family or visiting friends and relatives in Ireland. Rather than their stepfather, he and the rest of his siblings regarded their uncle, Rev. Dr Richard MacDonnell, as a second father. In 1853, Edmund Allen Meredith wrote in his diary that 'the doctor (as they referred to MacDonnell) spoke much of the splendid apples and cider William had sent him'. In return 'the doctor' insisted on opening bottle after bottle of claret for Edmund, 'to prove to William that it is now possible to find good claret in Ireland!'
Obituaries
Chief Justice Meredith was 'a gentleman with exemplary charm and manners', and 'a man of fine scholarly attainments'. He possessed 'troops' of friends and was 'held in the highest respect in the City and Province of Quebec, by all classes of the community' and even more extraordinary for the time, was described as being as popular among the French as the English. This is noticeably apparent in an article written about him in L'Opinion Publique on 10 July 1879 :
Le Juge-en-Chef est l'urbanite meme, il est attentive comme un Francais de l'ancien regime. A cette grande affabilite qui n'est nulle part plus appreciable que sur le banc d'un tribunal. Le Juge Meredith joint un savoir etendu, un tact parfait, un judgement tres sur. Il voit au fond s'egarent, les avocats qui brouillent les faits, aux elements fondamentaux dont il faut s'inspirer pour retrouver la verite. Tout cela avec infiniment de benevolence et toutes les formes de la politesse.
"Esteemed for his high character, wide knowledge and amiable disposition", "his lofty conception of duty, his great learning, and his gentleness of character commanded the admiration and affection of the bench and bar of Quebec." Sir William Colles Meredith died 26 February 1894, aged eighty two after a short illness, and he was buried with many of his family at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Sillery. Part of the inscription on his gravestone reads, "... Thoughtful consideration for others marked all his acts and made bright his daily walk through life."
References
Le Revue du Bar, Quebec
Les Juges de la Province de Québec (1933), P.G. Roy
Quebec National Archives
McGill University Archives, Montreal
McCord Museum, Montreal
Quebec Literary and Historical Society
Laval University Archives, Quebec
Bishop's University Archives, Lennoxville
Burkes Landed Gentry of Ireland
The Private Capital (1989), Sandra Gwynn
Rawdon Historical Society
Correspondence of Edgar Allan Collard
The Canadian Legal News
The Canadian Dictionary of National Biography
My Canadian Leaves: An account of a visit to Canada (1864–1865), Feo Monck
Archives of the Montreal Star
Archives of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
Archives of L'Electeur
Archives of the L'Opinion Publique
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Sir William Collis Meredith, (23 May 1812 – 26 February 1894) was Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec from 1866 to 1884. In 1844, he was offered but refused the positions of Solicitor General of Canada and then Attorney-General for Canada East - the latter position he turned down again in 1847. In 1887, he was one of the two English-speaking candidates considered by the Liberals for the role of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. The home he commissioned and lived in at Montreal from 1845 to 1849 still stands today, known as the Notman House.
Early life
Born May 23, 1812, at No.1 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, second son of the Rev. Thomas Meredith and his wife Elizabeth Maria Graves, the eldest daughter of the Very Rev. Richard Graves, Dean of Ardagh. He was named for his father's first cousin, William Collis (1788–1866) J.P., of Tieraclea House, High Sheriff of Kerry, a first cousin of Lord Monteagle. Meredith was a nephew of Robert James Graves and a brother of Edmund Allen Meredith. His first cousins included John Walsingham Cooke Meredith, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, John Dawson Mayne, Francis Brinkley, Major-General Arthur Robert MacDonnell and Sir James Creed Meredith.
A year after Meredith was born his family moved up to Ardtrea, near Cookstown, County Tyrone, his father having resigned his fellowship in Dublin to take up the position of Rector there. In 1819, Meredith's father died of 'a sudden and awful visitation' at his home while attempting to shoot a ghost with a silver bullet. His mother returned to Harcourt Street, Dublin, and he joined his Meredith and Redmond cousins at Dr Behan's school in County Wexford. Five years later, against her parents wishes, Meredith's mother remarried her mother's cousin, James Edmund Burton (1776–1850), a first cousin of Henry Peard Driscoll and an uncle of Sir Richard Francis Burton and Lady Stisted. Formerly a magistrate at Tuam, Meredith's step-father had "wasted every farthing of his Irish property" and so attracted by the land grants he took the position of the Church of England's first missionary to Terrebonne, Quebec.
In the summer of 1824, Meredith arrived at 'Burtonville', his stepfather's house and farm outside Rawdon, Quebec, then a four-day journey north of Montreal. He was tutored there by Burton himself or by whatever tutor his stepfather could procure, who were few and far between. In 1828, William's mother, "a lady of much culture and refinement, and possessed also of great energy and force of character", sent him back to Ireland to complete his studies at Trinity College Dublin.
In 1831, a year before his mother and stepfather returned permanently to Cloyne, Co. Cork, he chose to return to Montreal to commence his legal studies there. He articled under The Hon. Clement-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury and then James Charles Grant, QC, before being called to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1836.
Duel and rebellion
On Monday, August 9, 1837, at eight o'clock in the evening, Meredith fought a duel with pistols against James Scott, no stranger to such events. Earlier that day, following a dispute over legal costs, Meredith challenged Scott. He chose James McGill Blackwood (son of John Blackwood) to second him, while Scott's choice was Joseph-Ferreol Pelletier. The duel took place behind Mount Royal, and the pistols used were Meredith's which he had bought in London, on a previous trip to England. On the first exchange Scott took a bullet high up in the thigh, and the duel was called to a stop. List of duels Meredith v Scott, 1837, under 'Canadian Duels'.
The bullet in Scott's thigh bone lodged itself in such a way that it could not be removed by doctors, causing him great discomfort for the rest of his days. Ironically for Scott, this was exactly where he had shot Sweeney Campbell in a duel when they were students. In the early 1850s (Scott died in 1852), when both the adversaries had become judges, one of the sights then to see was Meredith helping his brother judge up the steep Court House steps, Scott being still hindered by the lameness in his leg since their encounter.
Not long after the duel, his career was interrupted again by the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. Under the command of Lt.-Colonel Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury, with whom he had articled with a few years previously, Meredith joined the Montreal Rifles as a Lieutenant and saw action against the French rebels at the Battle of Saint-Eustache, reaching the rank of Major in the militia.
Montreal
From the late 1830s Meredith, "a careful, shrewd lawyer", was senior partner of the firm Meredith & Bethune (a relation through the explorer Alexander Henry the elder) and subsequently Meredith, Bethune & Dunkin. Their offices were situated at 33 Little St. James Street and the firm was described in the 1840s as the most influential in Montreal, having brought together the largest legal business by any one firm in the Province of Quebec. In 1843, he commissioned John Wells, to build him a home beyond the walls of Old Montreal on a spacious plot of land surrounded by fields, Elm and Maple trees. It still stands today, known as the Notman House.
In 1844, he was created a Queen's Counsel (Q.C.), declining the office of Solicitor General, and subsequently that of Attorney-General, which he declined again for the second time in 1847 during the Draper administration. Meredith disliked politics. In the same year Chief Justice Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal offered him the position of Dean of Law at McGill University, which he also turned down - a position his grandson, William Campbell James Meredith, later held.
He was one of the founding members and a director of the High School of Montreal, which was established with his help in 1843 and soon superseded the Royal Grammar School. He was counsel to the board of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning and on the committee to save McGill University in the early 1840s. He conducted a good deal of business for the university, and it was with his influence that his younger brother, Edmund Allen Meredith, became the sixth principal of McGill from 1846 to 1853. In 1848, he was a founding director and trustee of the Montreal Mining Company along with Peter McGill, George Moffatt, Sir George Simpson, Sir Allan Napier MacNab and James Ferrier.
Quebec
In December 1849, Meredith was appointed to be one of the first ten judges of the newly established Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, by the Lafontaine–Baldwin government, a position he held for ten years. However, this meant abandoning with some reluctance the practice of a profession to which he was greatly attached, and in doing so relinquished a profitable business in Montreal. During Lord Elgin's term as Governor General of Canada (1847–1854), Meredith was elected one of the judges of the Seigneurial Court. In 1859, 'at the earnest solicitation of the government and in compliance with the members of the Montreal bar', he accepted a seat from Sir George-Étienne Cartier, as a judge in the Court of Queen's Bench, that being the Court of Appeals for the province. Several of his judgments were spoken of very highly by the lords of the Privy Council in England. He filled the position for seven years 'with marked ability and success'. On December 28, 1854, he was given an honorary D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Bishop's University College, Lennoxville. In 1880, he received the honor for a second time, from Université Laval. In 1865, at a private meeting of the board of governors of Bishop's University he was unanimously elected to become the university's new Chancellor, but due to his existing official duties he declined the position. His youngest son, Frederick Edmund Meredith, would hold the position from 1926 to 1932.
Meredith's friend Sir John Abbott, who had studied law under him and later became Prime Minister of Canada, was a reluctant supporter of Canadian Confederation in 1866. Abbott feared that it would reduce the English-speaking inhabitants of Lower Canada to political impotence. Among others, he consulted with Meredith and Meredith's former business partner, Christopher Dunkin. They drafted a resolution calling on the government to protect the electoral borders of twelve English Quebec constituencies. Subsequently, Alexander Tilloch Galt endorsed the proposal, had the London Conference of 1866 accept it, and included it as Article 80 of the British North America Act, 1867.
In 1866, following the death of one of Meredith's closest friends, Edward Bowen, Sir George-Étienne Cartier appointed him Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec. Judge Caron rivalled him for the position, but the influential and affable D'Arcy McGee (then Minister of Agriculture), a close associate of Meredith's brother (Edmund Allen Meredith), made a few favourable representations on Meredith's behalf, easing the way for his appointment to the position. In the years before his retirement he was the oldest judge on the Bench in Canada, 'still going with his characteristic energy and ability'. Chief Justice Meredith finally retired for health reasons, in this his final office, October 1, 1884. The government did their best to keep him from resigning his post, but Meredith declined their offers to accept leave of absence with the understanding that his full salary would be paid and his resignation subsequently accepted. Two years later he was created a Knight Bachelor by Queen Victoria. Meredith had been as popular among the French as he was among the English, which was extremely rare for the time. This is made clear from an article written in the French journal L'Electeur at his retirement,
La retraite de M. le juge Meredith va creer un vif chagrin dans le barreau comme parmi le public. Jamais en effet un magistrat ne sut mieux se concilier leftie des avocats sans cesse en rapport avec lui et la confiance du public. Jurisconsulte eminent, magistrat dont la reputation d'honorabilite a toujours ete au-dessus du soupcon, bienveillent pour tout la monde, d'un politesse vraiment exquise, M. le juge en chef va laisser une vide bien difficile a remplir.
In 1887, on the retirement of Louis-Rodrigue Masson as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Liberal government favoured an English-speaking replacement. Along with his wife's cousin, George Irvine, Meredith was named as one of the two men, who if appointed, would bring the greatest satisfaction to the English-speaking minority. Neither Meredith nor Irvine were appointed, the new government instead choosing another French-speaking Quebecer, Sir Auguste-Réal Angers. At Meredith's death in 1894, the Legal News printed: The late Chief Justice was a diligent advocate and judge, and conscientious and painstaking in the performance of every duty. The opinions delivered by him from the bench have always been cited with the greatest respect and many of them are models of what a judicial opinion should be. They excel in clearness, are ample without ceasing to be concise, and bring light and satisfaction to the reader.
Family
William Collis Meredith was married at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, May 20, 1847, to Sophia Naters Holmes (1820–1898). She was the eldest daughter of the late 'well-known and popular' William Edward Holmes (1796–1825), a Quebec surgeon (son of William Holmes) and a brother-in-law of Sydney Robert Bellingham. Mrs Meredith's mother, Ann Johnston (1788–1865), was the daughter of Lt.-Colonel James Johnston and his wife Margaret, sister of John MacNider. Mrs Meredith was one of seven siblings and half-siblings, but other than her only two were married: Her brother, William Holmes, married a daughter of Colonel Bartholomew Gugy, and their half-sister, Eliza Paul, married Major Stephen Heward (1776–1828), brother-in-law of Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto. The Merediths were the parents of ten children:
Sophia Elizabeth Meredith (1848–1927), married Henry Nicholas (Monck) Middleton (1845–1928) J.P., D.L., of Dissington Hall, Northumberland, and later Lowood House, near Melrose, Scotland. He was a brother of Sir Arthur Middleton, 7th Baronet, of Belsay Hall. Their son married a daughter of Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey.
William Henry Meredith (1849–1895), director of the Bank of Montreal. He died at a comparatively young age, unmarried, at the apartments he kept in the Windsor Hotel (Montreal).
Matilda Anne Meredith (1851–1875), died young, unmarried, at Cannes, France.
Edward Graves Meredith (1852–1938) N.P., of Quebec, married Isabella Agnes Housman (1858–1949), daughter of The Rev. George Vernon Housman (1820–1887), for 25 years Rector of Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Quebec City, by his wife Eliza Izza Maria Reeves (1823–1865) of Hanover Square, London. George Housman was the uncle of the poet A.E. Housman and the grandson of Thomas Shrawley Vernon of Hanbury Hall.
Harriet Meredith (1854–1941), married Harry Stanley Smith (1850–1916), a native of Seaforth near Liverpool, who retired to Addington House, Wimbledon.
Hylda Graves Meredith (1856–1931), married George Hamilton Thomson (1857–1929), grandson of George Hamilton.
Richard Holmes Meredith (1858–1868), died young.
Louisa Meredith (1860–1938), married her half first cousin Lt.-Col. Edward Hampden Turner Heward (1852–1930). His brother married the sister of Lord Atholstan.
Frederick Edmund Meredith (1862–1941) K.C., D.C.L., of Montreal, married Anne Madeleine VanKoughnet (1863–1945), granddaughter of Colonel Philip VanKoughnet. They were the parents of William Campbell James Meredith.
Evaline Bertha Meredith (1863–1868), died young.
Private life
On moving from their house in Montreal to Quebec City in 1849, the Merediths lived at 19 St. Ursule Street, a large, three storey, brick house with room for five live-in servants. In Christmas 1853, they entertained the author William Henry Giles Kingston and his new wife, Agnes Kinloch. In 1866, they built a summer house, 'Rosecliff' in the hamlet of St. Patrick, outside Rivière-du-Loup (where they owned 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) of farmland), which is still occupied by his descendants today. In Quebec City, they owned three further houses and two barn stables; keeping five pleasure carriages, sleighs, two wagon-sleds, three horses and one milk cow. When he became financially independent in 1830, Meredith had purchased four town lots in Kent County, Upper Canada, that turned out to be an important investment in consequence of the railway that was built there.
Frances (known as Feo) Monck was the maternal granddaughter of Henry Monck, 1st Earl of Rathdowne and the sister-in-law of the then Governor-General Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck. 'Not generally given to benevolence in her judgments,' she gave an unusually long account of a party - or 'drum' as it was known - given by Judge Meredith in her book, My Canadian Leaves, An Account of a Visit to Canada, 1864–1865:
Dick (her husband, Lt-General Richard Monck) and I, and Captain Pem. (Sir Wykeham Leigh Pemberton) are going, I hope, to-night to a 'drum' at Judge Meredith's.... There was a very large party, and the house is large. I was much amused and talked to many people, among others to M. Duvergier-d'Hauranne, a young Frenchman, who is come over here to travel, and has brought a letter to the Governor-General from Lord Clarendon. His father (Prosper Duvergier de Hauranne) was a well-known man in France under Louis Philippe I. My friend, Sir R.M. (Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, William's first cousin who spent a year in Canada as Governor of Nova Scotia in 1864) rushed to me, and asked me to walk about with him, and invited us to Government House (Nova Scotia) at H. (Halifax), which he told me was much finer and larger than 'Spencer's Wood'. Lady M (Lady Blanche MacDonnell) and Dick flirted together for a long time; she is so pretty and pleasant. A Miss Tilstone sang—a handsome girl with a pretty voice. Then a Madame Taschereau (a daughter of Robert Unwin Harwood) sang—good voice; and then THE man sang, Mr Antoine Chartier de Lotbinière Harwood (brother of Madame Taschereau) an M.P.P., half French. He has a very fine voice, and is a pupil of Garcia's. He was offered an engagement at the Italian Opera, London. The large rooms were too small for his voice, which wants modulation. I got quite giddy with the loudness of it ! He sang from operas; he wants expression and more teaching. Judge Meredith introduced him to me, and he sang again, for me !
Meredith frequently returned to Europe, either touring the continent with members of his family or visiting friends and relatives in Ireland. Rather than their stepfather, he and the rest of his siblings regarded their uncle, Rev. Dr Richard MacDonnell, as a second father. In 1853, Edmund Allen Meredith wrote in his diary that 'the doctor (as they referred to MacDonnell) spoke much of the splendid apples and cider William had sent him'. In return 'the doctor' insisted on opening bottle after bottle of claret for Edmund, 'to prove to William that it is now possible to find good claret in Ireland!'
Obituaries
Chief Justice Meredith was 'a gentleman with exemplary charm and manners', and 'a man of fine scholarly attainments'. He possessed 'troops' of friends and was 'held in the highest respect in the City and Province of Quebec, by all classes of the community' and even more extraordinary for the time, was described as being as popular among the French as the English. This is noticeably apparent in an article written about him in L'Opinion Publique on 10 July 1879 :
Le Juge-en-Chef est l'urbanite meme, il est attentive comme un Francais de l'ancien regime. A cette grande affabilite qui n'est nulle part plus appreciable que sur le banc d'un tribunal. Le Juge Meredith joint un savoir etendu, un tact parfait, un judgement tres sur. Il voit au fond s'egarent, les avocats qui brouillent les faits, aux elements fondamentaux dont il faut s'inspirer pour retrouver la verite. Tout cela avec infiniment de benevolence et toutes les formes de la politesse.
"Esteemed for his high character, wide knowledge and amiable disposition", "his lofty conception of duty, his great learning, and his gentleness of character commanded the admiration and affection of the bench and bar of Quebec." Sir William Colles Meredith died 26 February 1894, aged eighty two after a short illness, and he was buried with many of his family at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Sillery. Part of the inscription on his gravestone reads, "... Thoughtful consideration for others marked all his acts and made bright his daily walk through life."
References
Le Revue du Bar, Quebec
Les Juges de la Province de Québec (1933), P.G. Roy
Quebec National Archives
McGill University Archives, Montreal
McCord Museum, Montreal
Quebec Literary and Historical Society
Laval University Archives, Quebec
Bishop's University Archives, Lennoxville
Burkes Landed Gentry of Ireland
The Private Capital (1989), Sandra Gwynn
Rawdon Historical Society
Correspondence of Edgar Allan Collard
The Canadian Legal News
The Canadian Dictionary of National Biography
My Canadian Leaves: An account of a visit to Canada (1864–1865), Feo Monck
Archives of the Montreal Star
Archives of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
Archives of L'Electeur
Archives of the L'Opinion Publique
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Sir William Collis Meredith, (23 May 1812 – 26 February 1894) was Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec from 1866 to 1884. In 1844, he was offered but refused the positions of Solicitor General of Canada and then Attorney-General for Canada East - the latter position he turned down again in 1847. In 1887, he was one of the two English-speaking candidates considered by the Liberals for the role of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. The home he commissioned and lived in at Montreal from 1845 to 1849 still stands today, known as the Notman House.
Early life
Born May 23, 1812, at No.1 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, second son of the Rev. Thomas Meredith and his wife Elizabeth Maria Graves, the eldest daughter of the Very Rev. Richard Graves, Dean of Ardagh. He was named for his father's first cousin, William Collis (1788–1866) J.P., of Tieraclea House, High Sheriff of Kerry, a first cousin of Lord Monteagle. Meredith was a nephew of Robert James Graves and a brother of Edmund Allen Meredith. His first cousins included John Walsingham Cooke Meredith, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, John Dawson Mayne, Francis Brinkley, Major-General Arthur Robert MacDonnell and Sir James Creed Meredith.
A year after Meredith was born his family moved up to Ardtrea, near Cookstown, County Tyrone, his father having resigned his fellowship in Dublin to take up the position of Rector there. In 1819, Meredith's father died of 'a sudden and awful visitation' at his home while attempting to shoot a ghost with a silver bullet. His mother returned to Harcourt Street, Dublin, and he joined his Meredith and Redmond cousins at Dr Behan's school in County Wexford. Five years later, against her parents wishes, Meredith's mother remarried her mother's cousin, James Edmund Burton (1776–1850), a first cousin of Henry Peard Driscoll and an uncle of Sir Richard Francis Burton and Lady Stisted. Formerly a magistrate at Tuam, Meredith's step-father had "wasted every farthing of his Irish property" and so attracted by the land grants he took the position of the Church of England's first missionary to Terrebonne, Quebec.
In the summer of 1824, Meredith arrived at 'Burtonville', his stepfather's house and farm outside Rawdon, Quebec, then a four-day journey north of Montreal. He was tutored there by Burton himself or by whatever tutor his stepfather could procure, who were few and far between. In 1828, William's mother, "a lady of much culture and refinement, and possessed also of great energy and force of character", sent him back to Ireland to complete his studies at Trinity College Dublin.
In 1831, a year before his mother and stepfather returned permanently to Cloyne, Co. Cork, he chose to return to Montreal to commence his legal studies there. He articled under The Hon. Clement-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury and then James Charles Grant, QC, before being called to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1836.
Duel and rebellion
On Monday, August 9, 1837, at eight o'clock in the evening, Meredith fought a duel with pistols against James Scott, no stranger to such events. Earlier that day, following a dispute over legal costs, Meredith challenged Scott. He chose James McGill Blackwood (son of John Blackwood) to second him, while Scott's choice was Joseph-Ferreol Pelletier. The duel took place behind Mount Royal, and the pistols used were Meredith's which he had bought in London, on a previous trip to England. On the first exchange Scott took a bullet high up in the thigh, and the duel was called to a stop. List of duels Meredith v Scott, 1837, under 'Canadian Duels'.
The bullet in Scott's thigh bone lodged itself in such a way that it could not be removed by doctors, causing him great discomfort for the rest of his days. Ironically for Scott, this was exactly where he had shot Sweeney Campbell in a duel when they were students. In the early 1850s (Scott died in 1852), when both the adversaries had become judges, one of the sights then to see was Meredith helping his brother judge up the steep Court House steps, Scott being still hindered by the lameness in his leg since their encounter.
Not long after the duel, his career was interrupted again by the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. Under the command of Lt.-Colonel Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury, with whom he had articled with a few years previously, Meredith joined the Montreal Rifles as a Lieutenant and saw action against the French rebels at the Battle of Saint-Eustache, reaching the rank of Major in the militia.
Montreal
From the late 1830s Meredith, "a careful, shrewd lawyer", was senior partner of the firm Meredith & Bethune (a relation through the explorer Alexander Henry the elder) and subsequently Meredith, Bethune & Dunkin. Their offices were situated at 33 Little St. James Street and the firm was described in the 1840s as the most influential in Montreal, having brought together the largest legal business by any one firm in the Province of Quebec. In 1843, he commissioned John Wells, to build him a home beyond the walls of Old Montreal on a spacious plot of land surrounded by fields, Elm and Maple trees. It still stands today, known as the Notman House.
In 1844, he was created a Queen's Counsel (Q.C.), declining the office of Solicitor General, and subsequently that of Attorney-General, which he declined again for the second time in 1847 during the Draper administration. Meredith disliked politics. In the same year Chief Justice Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal offered him the position of Dean of Law at McGill University, which he also turned down - a position his grandson, William Campbell James Meredith, later held.
He was one of the founding members and a director of the High School of Montreal, which was established with his help in 1843 and soon superseded the Royal Grammar School. He was counsel to the board of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning and on the committee to save McGill University in the early 1840s. He conducted a good deal of business for the university, and it was with his influence that his younger brother, Edmund Allen Meredith, became the sixth principal of McGill from 1846 to 1853. In 1848, he was a founding director and trustee of the Montreal Mining Company along with Peter McGill, George Moffatt, Sir George Simpson, Sir Allan Napier MacNab and James Ferrier.
Quebec
In December 1849, Meredith was appointed to be one of the first ten judges of the newly established Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, by the Lafontaine–Baldwin government, a position he held for ten years. However, this meant abandoning with some reluctance the practice of a profession to which he was greatly attached, and in doing so relinquished a profitable business in Montreal. During Lord Elgin's term as Governor General of Canada (1847–1854), Meredith was elected one of the judges of the Seigneurial Court. In 1859, 'at the earnest solicitation of the government and in compliance with the members of the Montreal bar', he accepted a seat from Sir George-Étienne Cartier, as a judge in the Court of Queen's Bench, that being the Court of Appeals for the province. Several of his judgments were spoken of very highly by the lords of the Privy Council in England. He filled the position for seven years 'with marked ability and success'. On December 28, 1854, he was given an honorary D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Bishop's University College, Lennoxville. In 1880, he received the honor for a second time, from Université Laval. In 1865, at a private meeting of the board of governors of Bishop's University he was unanimously elected to become the university's new Chancellor, but due to his existing official duties he declined the position. His youngest son, Frederick Edmund Meredith, would hold the position from 1926 to 1932.
Meredith's friend Sir John Abbott, who had studied law under him and later became Prime Minister of Canada, was a reluctant supporter of Canadian Confederation in 1866. Abbott feared that it would reduce the English-speaking inhabitants of Lower Canada to political impotence. Among others, he consulted with Meredith and Meredith's former business partner, Christopher Dunkin. They drafted a resolution calling on the government to protect the electoral borders of twelve English Quebec constituencies. Subsequently, Alexander Tilloch Galt endorsed the proposal, had the London Conference of 1866 accept it, and included it as Article 80 of the British North America Act, 1867.
In 1866, following the death of one of Meredith's closest friends, Edward Bowen, Sir George-Étienne Cartier appointed him Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec. Judge Caron rivalled him for the position, but the influential and affable D'Arcy McGee (then Minister of Agriculture), a close associate of Meredith's brother (Edmund Allen Meredith), made a few favourable representations on Meredith's behalf, easing the way for his appointment to the position. In the years before his retirement he was the oldest judge on the Bench in Canada, 'still going with his characteristic energy and ability'. Chief Justice Meredith finally retired for health reasons, in this his final office, October 1, 1884. The government did their best to keep him from resigning his post, but Meredith declined their offers to accept leave of absence with the understanding that his full salary would be paid and his resignation subsequently accepted. Two years later he was created a Knight Bachelor by Queen Victoria. Meredith had been as popular among the French as he was among the English, which was extremely rare for the time. This is made clear from an article written in the French journal L'Electeur at his retirement,
La retraite de M. le juge Meredith va creer un vif chagrin dans le barreau comme parmi le public. Jamais en effet un magistrat ne sut mieux se concilier leftie des avocats sans cesse en rapport avec lui et la confiance du public. Jurisconsulte eminent, magistrat dont la reputation d'honorabilite a toujours ete au-dessus du soupcon, bienveillent pour tout la monde, d'un politesse vraiment exquise, M. le juge en chef va laisser une vide bien difficile a remplir.
In 1887, on the retirement of Louis-Rodrigue Masson as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Liberal government favoured an English-speaking replacement. Along with his wife's cousin, George Irvine, Meredith was named as one of the two men, who if appointed, would bring the greatest satisfaction to the English-speaking minority. Neither Meredith nor Irvine were appointed, the new government instead choosing another French-speaking Quebecer, Sir Auguste-Réal Angers. At Meredith's death in 1894, the Legal News printed: The late Chief Justice was a diligent advocate and judge, and conscientious and painstaking in the performance of every duty. The opinions delivered by him from the bench have always been cited with the greatest respect and many of them are models of what a judicial opinion should be. They excel in clearness, are ample without ceasing to be concise, and bring light and satisfaction to the reader.
Family
William Collis Meredith was married at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, May 20, 1847, to Sophia Naters Holmes (1820–1898). She was the eldest daughter of the late 'well-known and popular' William Edward Holmes (1796–1825), a Quebec surgeon (son of William Holmes) and a brother-in-law of Sydney Robert Bellingham. Mrs Meredith's mother, Ann Johnston (1788–1865), was the daughter of Lt.-Colonel James Johnston and his wife Margaret, sister of John MacNider. Mrs Meredith was one of seven siblings and half-siblings, but other than her only two were married: Her brother, William Holmes, married a daughter of Colonel Bartholomew Gugy, and their half-sister, Eliza Paul, married Major Stephen Heward (1776–1828), brother-in-law of Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto. The Merediths were the parents of ten children:
Sophia Elizabeth Meredith (1848–1927), married Henry Nicholas (Monck) Middleton (1845–1928) J.P., D.L., of Dissington Hall, Northumberland, and later Lowood House, near Melrose, Scotland. He was a brother of Sir Arthur Middleton, 7th Baronet, of Belsay Hall. Their son married a daughter of Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey.
William Henry Meredith (1849–1895), director of the Bank of Montreal. He died at a comparatively young age, unmarried, at the apartments he kept in the Windsor Hotel (Montreal).
Matilda Anne Meredith (1851–1875), died young, unmarried, at Cannes, France.
Edward Graves Meredith (1852–1938) N.P., of Quebec, married Isabella Agnes Housman (1858–1949), daughter of The Rev. George Vernon Housman (1820–1887), for 25 years Rector of Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Quebec City, by his wife Eliza Izza Maria Reeves (1823–1865) of Hanover Square, London. George Housman was the uncle of the poet A.E. Housman and the grandson of Thomas Shrawley Vernon of Hanbury Hall.
Harriet Meredith (1854–1941), married Harry Stanley Smith (1850–1916), a native of Seaforth near Liverpool, who retired to Addington House, Wimbledon.
Hylda Graves Meredith (1856–1931), married George Hamilton Thomson (1857–1929), grandson of George Hamilton.
Richard Holmes Meredith (1858–1868), died young.
Louisa Meredith (1860–1938), married her half first cousin Lt.-Col. Edward Hampden Turner Heward (1852–1930). His brother married the sister of Lord Atholstan.
Frederick Edmund Meredith (1862–1941) K.C., D.C.L., of Montreal, married Anne Madeleine VanKoughnet (1863–1945), granddaughter of Colonel Philip VanKoughnet. They were the parents of William Campbell James Meredith.
Evaline Bertha Meredith (1863–1868), died young.
Private life
On moving from their house in Montreal to Quebec City in 1849, the Merediths lived at 19 St. Ursule Street, a large, three storey, brick house with room for five live-in servants. In Christmas 1853, they entertained the author William Henry Giles Kingston and his new wife, Agnes Kinloch. In 1866, they built a summer house, 'Rosecliff' in the hamlet of St. Patrick, outside Rivière-du-Loup (where they owned 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) of farmland), which is still occupied by his descendants today. In Quebec City, they owned three further houses and two barn stables; keeping five pleasure carriages, sleighs, two wagon-sleds, three horses and one milk cow. When he became financially independent in 1830, Meredith had purchased four town lots in Kent County, Upper Canada, that turned out to be an important investment in consequence of the railway that was built there.
Frances (known as Feo) Monck was the maternal granddaughter of Henry Monck, 1st Earl of Rathdowne and the sister-in-law of the then Governor-General Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck. 'Not generally given to benevolence in her judgments,' she gave an unusually long account of a party - or 'drum' as it was known - given by Judge Meredith in her book, My Canadian Leaves, An Account of a Visit to Canada, 1864–1865:
Dick (her husband, Lt-General Richard Monck) and I, and Captain Pem. (Sir Wykeham Leigh Pemberton) are going, I hope, to-night to a 'drum' at Judge Meredith's.... There was a very large party, and the house is large. I was much amused and talked to many people, among others to M. Duvergier-d'Hauranne, a young Frenchman, who is come over here to travel, and has brought a letter to the Governor-General from Lord Clarendon. His father (Prosper Duvergier de Hauranne) was a well-known man in France under Louis Philippe I. My friend, Sir R.M. (Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, William's first cousin who spent a year in Canada as Governor of Nova Scotia in 1864) rushed to me, and asked me to walk about with him, and invited us to Government House (Nova Scotia) at H. (Halifax), which he told me was much finer and larger than 'Spencer's Wood'. Lady M (Lady Blanche MacDonnell) and Dick flirted together for a long time; she is so pretty and pleasant. A Miss Tilstone sang—a handsome girl with a pretty voice. Then a Madame Taschereau (a daughter of Robert Unwin Harwood) sang—good voice; and then THE man sang, Mr Antoine Chartier de Lotbinière Harwood (brother of Madame Taschereau) an M.P.P., half French. He has a very fine voice, and is a pupil of Garcia's. He was offered an engagement at the Italian Opera, London. The large rooms were too small for his voice, which wants modulation. I got quite giddy with the loudness of it ! He sang from operas; he wants expression and more teaching. Judge Meredith introduced him to me, and he sang again, for me !
Meredith frequently returned to Europe, either touring the continent with members of his family or visiting friends and relatives in Ireland. Rather than their stepfather, he and the rest of his siblings regarded their uncle, Rev. Dr Richard MacDonnell, as a second father. In 1853, Edmund Allen Meredith wrote in his diary that 'the doctor (as they referred to MacDonnell) spoke much of the splendid apples and cider William had sent him'. In return 'the doctor' insisted on opening bottle after bottle of claret for Edmund, 'to prove to William that it is now possible to find good claret in Ireland!'
Obituaries
Chief Justice Meredith was 'a gentleman with exemplary charm and manners', and 'a man of fine scholarly attainments'. He possessed 'troops' of friends and was 'held in the highest respect in the City and Province of Quebec, by all classes of the community' and even more extraordinary for the time, was described as being as popular among the French as the English. This is noticeably apparent in an article written about him in L'Opinion Publique on 10 July 1879 :
Le Juge-en-Chef est l'urbanite meme, il est attentive comme un Francais de l'ancien regime. A cette grande affabilite qui n'est nulle part plus appreciable que sur le banc d'un tribunal. Le Juge Meredith joint un savoir etendu, un tact parfait, un judgement tres sur. Il voit au fond s'egarent, les avocats qui brouillent les faits, aux elements fondamentaux dont il faut s'inspirer pour retrouver la verite. Tout cela avec infiniment de benevolence et toutes les formes de la politesse.
"Esteemed for his high character, wide knowledge and amiable disposition", "his lofty conception of duty, his great learning, and his gentleness of character commanded the admiration and affection of the bench and bar of Quebec." Sir William Colles Meredith died 26 February 1894, aged eighty two after a short illness, and he was buried with many of his family at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Sillery. Part of the inscription on his gravestone reads, "... Thoughtful consideration for others marked all his acts and made bright his daily walk through life."
References
Le Revue du Bar, Quebec
Les Juges de la Province de Québec (1933), P.G. Roy
Quebec National Archives
McGill University Archives, Montreal
McCord Museum, Montreal
Quebec Literary and Historical Society
Laval University Archives, Quebec
Bishop's University Archives, Lennoxville
Burkes Landed Gentry of Ireland
The Private Capital (1989), Sandra Gwynn
Rawdon Historical Society
Correspondence of Edgar Allan Collard
The Canadian Legal News
The Canadian Dictionary of National Biography
My Canadian Leaves: An account of a visit to Canada (1864–1865), Feo Monck
Archives of the Montreal Star
Archives of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
Archives of L'Electeur
Archives of the L'Opinion Publique
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Sir William Collis Meredith, (23 May 1812 – 26 February 1894) was Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec from 1866 to 1884. In 1844, he was offered but refused the positions of Solicitor General of Canada and then Attorney-General for Canada East - the latter position he turned down again in 1847. In 1887, he was one of the two English-speaking candidates considered by the Liberals for the role of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. The home he commissioned and lived in at Montreal from 1845 to 1849 still stands today, known as the Notman House.
Early life
Born May 23, 1812, at No.1 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, second son of the Rev. Thomas Meredith and his wife Elizabeth Maria Graves, the eldest daughter of the Very Rev. Richard Graves, Dean of Ardagh. He was named for his father's first cousin, William Collis (1788–1866) J.P., of Tieraclea House, High Sheriff of Kerry, a first cousin of Lord Monteagle. Meredith was a nephew of Robert James Graves and a brother of Edmund Allen Meredith. His first cousins included John Walsingham Cooke Meredith, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, John Dawson Mayne, Francis Brinkley, Major-General Arthur Robert MacDonnell and Sir James Creed Meredith.
A year after Meredith was born his family moved up to Ardtrea, near Cookstown, County Tyrone, his father having resigned his fellowship in Dublin to take up the position of Rector there. In 1819, Meredith's father died of 'a sudden and awful visitation' at his home while attempting to shoot a ghost with a silver bullet. His mother returned to Harcourt Street, Dublin, and he joined his Meredith and Redmond cousins at Dr Behan's school in County Wexford. Five years later, against her parents wishes, Meredith's mother remarried her mother's cousin, James Edmund Burton (1776–1850), a first cousin of Henry Peard Driscoll and an uncle of Sir Richard Francis Burton and Lady Stisted. Formerly a magistrate at Tuam, Meredith's step-father had "wasted every farthing of his Irish property" and so attracted by the land grants he took the position of the Church of England's first missionary to Terrebonne, Quebec.
In the summer of 1824, Meredith arrived at 'Burtonville', his stepfather's house and farm outside Rawdon, Quebec, then a four-day journey north of Montreal. He was tutored there by Burton himself or by whatever tutor his stepfather could procure, who were few and far between. In 1828, William's mother, "a lady of much culture and refinement, and possessed also of great energy and force of character", sent him back to Ireland to complete his studies at Trinity College Dublin.
In 1831, a year before his mother and stepfather returned permanently to Cloyne, Co. Cork, he chose to return to Montreal to commence his legal studies there. He articled under The Hon. Clement-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury and then James Charles Grant, QC, before being called to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1836.
Duel and rebellion
On Monday, August 9, 1837, at eight o'clock in the evening, Meredith fought a duel with pistols against James Scott, no stranger to such events. Earlier that day, following a dispute over legal costs, Meredith challenged Scott. He chose James McGill Blackwood (son of John Blackwood) to second him, while Scott's choice was Joseph-Ferreol Pelletier. The duel took place behind Mount Royal, and the pistols used were Meredith's which he had bought in London, on a previous trip to England. On the first exchange Scott took a bullet high up in the thigh, and the duel was called to a stop. List of duels Meredith v Scott, 1837, under 'Canadian Duels'.
The bullet in Scott's thigh bone lodged itself in such a way that it could not be removed by doctors, causing him great discomfort for the rest of his days. Ironically for Scott, this was exactly where he had shot Sweeney Campbell in a duel when they were students. In the early 1850s (Scott died in 1852), when both the adversaries had become judges, one of the sights then to see was Meredith helping his brother judge up the steep Court House steps, Scott being still hindered by the lameness in his leg since their encounter.
Not long after the duel, his career was interrupted again by the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. Under the command of Lt.-Colonel Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury, with whom he had articled with a few years previously, Meredith joined the Montreal Rifles as a Lieutenant and saw action against the French rebels at the Battle of Saint-Eustache, reaching the rank of Major in the militia.
Montreal
From the late 1830s Meredith, "a careful, shrewd lawyer", was senior partner of the firm Meredith & Bethune (a relation through the explorer Alexander Henry the elder) and subsequently Meredith, Bethune & Dunkin. Their offices were situated at 33 Little St. James Street and the firm was described in the 1840s as the most influential in Montreal, having brought together the largest legal business by any one firm in the Province of Quebec. In 1843, he commissioned John Wells, to build him a home beyond the walls of Old Montreal on a spacious plot of land surrounded by fields, Elm and Maple trees. It still stands today, known as the Notman House.
In 1844, he was created a Queen's Counsel (Q.C.), declining the office of Solicitor General, and subsequently that of Attorney-General, which he declined again for the second time in 1847 during the Draper administration. Meredith disliked politics. In the same year Chief Justice Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal offered him the position of Dean of Law at McGill University, which he also turned down - a position his grandson, William Campbell James Meredith, later held.
He was one of the founding members and a director of the High School of Montreal, which was established with his help in 1843 and soon superseded the Royal Grammar School. He was counsel to the board of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning and on the committee to save McGill University in the early 1840s. He conducted a good deal of business for the university, and it was with his influence that his younger brother, Edmund Allen Meredith, became the sixth principal of McGill from 1846 to 1853. In 1848, he was a founding director and trustee of the Montreal Mining Company along with Peter McGill, George Moffatt, Sir George Simpson, Sir Allan Napier MacNab and James Ferrier.
Quebec
In December 1849, Meredith was appointed to be one of the first ten judges of the newly established Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, by the Lafontaine–Baldwin government, a position he held for ten years. However, this meant abandoning with some reluctance the practice of a profession to which he was greatly attached, and in doing so relinquished a profitable business in Montreal. During Lord Elgin's term as Governor General of Canada (1847–1854), Meredith was elected one of the judges of the Seigneurial Court. In 1859, 'at the earnest solicitation of the government and in compliance with the members of the Montreal bar', he accepted a seat from Sir George-Étienne Cartier, as a judge in the Court of Queen's Bench, that being the Court of Appeals for the province. Several of his judgments were spoken of very highly by the lords of the Privy Council in England. He filled the position for seven years 'with marked ability and success'. On December 28, 1854, he was given an honorary D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Bishop's University College, Lennoxville. In 1880, he received the honor for a second time, from Université Laval. In 1865, at a private meeting of the board of governors of Bishop's University he was unanimously elected to become the university's new Chancellor, but due to his existing official duties he declined the position. His youngest son, Frederick Edmund Meredith, would hold the position from 1926 to 1932.
Meredith's friend Sir John Abbott, who had studied law under him and later became Prime Minister of Canada, was a reluctant supporter of Canadian Confederation in 1866. Abbott feared that it would reduce the English-speaking inhabitants of Lower Canada to political impotence. Among others, he consulted with Meredith and Meredith's former business partner, Christopher Dunkin. They drafted a resolution calling on the government to protect the electoral borders of twelve English Quebec constituencies. Subsequently, Alexander Tilloch Galt endorsed the proposal, had the London Conference of 1866 accept it, and included it as Article 80 of the British North America Act, 1867.
In 1866, following the death of one of Meredith's closest friends, Edward Bowen, Sir George-Étienne Cartier appointed him Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec. Judge Caron rivalled him for the position, but the influential and affable D'Arcy McGee (then Minister of Agriculture), a close associate of Meredith's brother (Edmund Allen Meredith), made a few favourable representations on Meredith's behalf, easing the way for his appointment to the position. In the years before his retirement he was the oldest judge on the Bench in Canada, 'still going with his characteristic energy and ability'. Chief Justice Meredith finally retired for health reasons, in this his final office, October 1, 1884. The government did their best to keep him from resigning his post, but Meredith declined their offers to accept leave of absence with the understanding that his full salary would be paid and his resignation subsequently accepted. Two years later he was created a Knight Bachelor by Queen Victoria. Meredith had been as popular among the French as he was among the English, which was extremely rare for the time. This is made clear from an article written in the French journal L'Electeur at his retirement,
La retraite de M. le juge Meredith va creer un vif chagrin dans le barreau comme parmi le public. Jamais en effet un magistrat ne sut mieux se concilier leftie des avocats sans cesse en rapport avec lui et la confiance du public. Jurisconsulte eminent, magistrat dont la reputation d'honorabilite a toujours ete au-dessus du soupcon, bienveillent pour tout la monde, d'un politesse vraiment exquise, M. le juge en chef va laisser une vide bien difficile a remplir.
In 1887, on the retirement of Louis-Rodrigue Masson as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Liberal government favoured an English-speaking replacement. Along with his wife's cousin, George Irvine, Meredith was named as one of the two men, who if appointed, would bring the greatest satisfaction to the English-speaking minority. Neither Meredith nor Irvine were appointed, the new government instead choosing another French-speaking Quebecer, Sir Auguste-Réal Angers. At Meredith's death in 1894, the Legal News printed: The late Chief Justice was a diligent advocate and judge, and conscientious and painstaking in the performance of every duty. The opinions delivered by him from the bench have always been cited with the greatest respect and many of them are models of what a judicial opinion should be. They excel in clearness, are ample without ceasing to be concise, and bring light and satisfaction to the reader.
Family
William Collis Meredith was married at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, May 20, 1847, to Sophia Naters Holmes (1820–1898). She was the eldest daughter of the late 'well-known and popular' William Edward Holmes (1796–1825), a Quebec surgeon (son of William Holmes) and a brother-in-law of Sydney Robert Bellingham. Mrs Meredith's mother, Ann Johnston (1788–1865), was the daughter of Lt.-Colonel James Johnston and his wife Margaret, sister of John MacNider. Mrs Meredith was one of seven siblings and half-siblings, but other than her only two were married: Her brother, William Holmes, married a daughter of Colonel Bartholomew Gugy, and their half-sister, Eliza Paul, married Major Stephen Heward (1776–1828), brother-in-law of Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto. The Merediths were the parents of ten children:
Sophia Elizabeth Meredith (1848–1927), married Henry Nicholas (Monck) Middleton (1845–1928) J.P., D.L., of Dissington Hall, Northumberland, and later Lowood House, near Melrose, Scotland. He was a brother of Sir Arthur Middleton, 7th Baronet, of Belsay Hall. Their son married a daughter of Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey.
William Henry Meredith (1849–1895), director of the Bank of Montreal. He died at a comparatively young age, unmarried, at the apartments he kept in the Windsor Hotel (Montreal).
Matilda Anne Meredith (1851–1875), died young, unmarried, at Cannes, France.
Edward Graves Meredith (1852–1938) N.P., of Quebec, married Isabella Agnes Housman (1858–1949), daughter of The Rev. George Vernon Housman (1820–1887), for 25 years Rector of Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Quebec City, by his wife Eliza Izza Maria Reeves (1823–1865) of Hanover Square, London. George Housman was the uncle of the poet A.E. Housman and the grandson of Thomas Shrawley Vernon of Hanbury Hall.
Harriet Meredith (1854–1941), married Harry Stanley Smith (1850–1916), a native of Seaforth near Liverpool, who retired to Addington House, Wimbledon.
Hylda Graves Meredith (1856–1931), married George Hamilton Thomson (1857–1929), grandson of George Hamilton.
Richard Holmes Meredith (1858–1868), died young.
Louisa Meredith (1860–1938), married her half first cousin Lt.-Col. Edward Hampden Turner Heward (1852–1930). His brother married the sister of Lord Atholstan.
Frederick Edmund Meredith (1862–1941) K.C., D.C.L., of Montreal, married Anne Madeleine VanKoughnet (1863–1945), granddaughter of Colonel Philip VanKoughnet. They were the parents of William Campbell James Meredith.
Evaline Bertha Meredith (1863–1868), died young.
Private life
On moving from their house in Montreal to Quebec City in 1849, the Merediths lived at 19 St. Ursule Street, a large, three storey, brick house with room for five live-in servants. In Christmas 1853, they entertained the author William Henry Giles Kingston and his new wife, Agnes Kinloch. In 1866, they built a summer house, 'Rosecliff' in the hamlet of St. Patrick, outside Rivière-du-Loup (where they owned 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) of farmland), which is still occupied by his descendants today. In Quebec City, they owned three further houses and two barn stables; keeping five pleasure carriages, sleighs, two wagon-sleds, three horses and one milk cow. When he became financially independent in 1830, Meredith had purchased four town lots in Kent County, Upper Canada, that turned out to be an important investment in consequence of the railway that was built there.
Frances (known as Feo) Monck was the maternal granddaughter of Henry Monck, 1st Earl of Rathdowne and the sister-in-law of the then Governor-General Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck. 'Not generally given to benevolence in her judgments,' she gave an unusually long account of a party - or 'drum' as it was known - given by Judge Meredith in her book, My Canadian Leaves, An Account of a Visit to Canada, 1864–1865:
Dick (her husband, Lt-General Richard Monck) and I, and Captain Pem. (Sir Wykeham Leigh Pemberton) are going, I hope, to-night to a 'drum' at Judge Meredith's.... There was a very large party, and the house is large. I was much amused and talked to many people, among others to M. Duvergier-d'Hauranne, a young Frenchman, who is come over here to travel, and has brought a letter to the Governor-General from Lord Clarendon. His father (Prosper Duvergier de Hauranne) was a well-known man in France under Louis Philippe I. My friend, Sir R.M. (Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, William's first cousin who spent a year in Canada as Governor of Nova Scotia in 1864) rushed to me, and asked me to walk about with him, and invited us to Government House (Nova Scotia) at H. (Halifax), which he told me was much finer and larger than 'Spencer's Wood'. Lady M (Lady Blanche MacDonnell) and Dick flirted together for a long time; she is so pretty and pleasant. A Miss Tilstone sang—a handsome girl with a pretty voice. Then a Madame Taschereau (a daughter of Robert Unwin Harwood) sang—good voice; and then THE man sang, Mr Antoine Chartier de Lotbinière Harwood (brother of Madame Taschereau) an M.P.P., half French. He has a very fine voice, and is a pupil of Garcia's. He was offered an engagement at the Italian Opera, London. The large rooms were too small for his voice, which wants modulation. I got quite giddy with the loudness of it ! He sang from operas; he wants expression and more teaching. Judge Meredith introduced him to me, and he sang again, for me !
Meredith frequently returned to Europe, either touring the continent with members of his family or visiting friends and relatives in Ireland. Rather than their stepfather, he and the rest of his siblings regarded their uncle, Rev. Dr Richard MacDonnell, as a second father. In 1853, Edmund Allen Meredith wrote in his diary that 'the doctor (as they referred to MacDonnell) spoke much of the splendid apples and cider William had sent him'. In return 'the doctor' insisted on opening bottle after bottle of claret for Edmund, 'to prove to William that it is now possible to find good claret in Ireland!'
Obituaries
Chief Justice Meredith was 'a gentleman with exemplary charm and manners', and 'a man of fine scholarly attainments'. He possessed 'troops' of friends and was 'held in the highest respect in the City and Province of Quebec, by all classes of the community' and even more extraordinary for the time, was described as being as popular among the French as the English. This is noticeably apparent in an article written about him in L'Opinion Publique on 10 July 1879 :
Le Juge-en-Chef est l'urbanite meme, il est attentive comme un Francais de l'ancien regime. A cette grande affabilite qui n'est nulle part plus appreciable que sur le banc d'un tribunal. Le Juge Meredith joint un savoir etendu, un tact parfait, un judgement tres sur. Il voit au fond s'egarent, les avocats qui brouillent les faits, aux elements fondamentaux dont il faut s'inspirer pour retrouver la verite. Tout cela avec infiniment de benevolence et toutes les formes de la politesse.
"Esteemed for his high character, wide knowledge and amiable disposition", "his lofty conception of duty, his great learning, and his gentleness of character commanded the admiration and affection of the bench and bar of Quebec." Sir William Colles Meredith died 26 February 1894, aged eighty two after a short illness, and he was buried with many of his family at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Sillery. Part of the inscription on his gravestone reads, "... Thoughtful consideration for others marked all his acts and made bright his daily walk through life."
References
Le Revue du Bar, Quebec
Les Juges de la Province de Québec (1933), P.G. Roy
Quebec National Archives
McGill University Archives, Montreal
McCord Museum, Montreal
Quebec Literary and Historical Society
Laval University Archives, Quebec
Bishop's University Archives, Lennoxville
Burkes Landed Gentry of Ireland
The Private Capital (1989), Sandra Gwynn
Rawdon Historical Society
Correspondence of Edgar Allan Collard
The Canadian Legal News
The Canadian Dictionary of National Biography
My Canadian Leaves: An account of a visit to Canada (1864–1865), Feo Monck
Archives of the Montreal Star
Archives of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph
Archives of L'Electeur
Archives of the L'Opinion Publique
|
sibling
|
{
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The 1998 World Fencing Championships were held in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.
Medal summary
Men's events
Women's events
Medal table
References
FIE Results
|
country
|
{
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"text": [
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The 1998 World Fencing Championships were held in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.
Medal summary
Men's events
Women's events
Medal table
References
FIE Results
|
instance of
|
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The 1998 World Fencing Championships were held in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.
Medal summary
Men's events
Women's events
Medal table
References
FIE Results
|
location
|
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The 1998 World Fencing Championships were held in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.
Medal summary
Men's events
Women's events
Medal table
References
FIE Results
|
sports season of league or competition
|
{
"answer_start": [
9
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"text": [
"World Fencing Championships"
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|
Many places in Hong Kong got their names from rivers. With urban development, many of these rivers are converted into sewers, as it is difficult to stop them flowing downhill.
List of subterranean rivers
Kwai Chung
Kai Tak Nullah (partly)
Sai Wan Ho
Tai Hang
Tsak Yue Chung (lower course)
Tsui Ping Nullah (middle course)
Wong Nai Chung
See also
Subterranean river
Subterranean rivers of London
|
located in the administrative territorial entity
|
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Lithuania competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008.
Medalists
Athletics
Men
Track & road eventsField eventsWomen
Track & road eventsField eventsCombined events – Heptathlon
Badminton
Basketball
Men's tournament
Lithuania's men's basketball team qualified for the Olympics by placing third at Eurobasket 2007. Because the reigning world champions (and automatic qualifiers), Spain, were second at that tournament, Lithuania joined Russia to fill out Europe's two continental qualification spots. The Lithuanian team will seek to get past the semifinal round for the first time since beginning to compete separately—in the four tournaments since then, Lithuania has taken three bronze medals and a fourth-place finish.
RosterThe following is the Lithuania roster in the men's basketball tournament of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Group play
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Bronze medal game
Boxing
Lithuania qualified three boxers for the Olympic boxing tournament. Semiotas qualified at the 2007 World Championships. Kavaliauskas and Jakšto both earned spots at the second European tournament.
Canoeing
Sprint
Qualification Legend: QS = Qualify to semi-final; QF = Qualify directly to final
Cycling
Road
Track
SprintPursuitOmnium
Gymnastics
Artistic
Women
Judo
Modern pentathlon
Rowing
MenQualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage
Sailing
WomenM = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race; CAN = Race cancelled;
Shooting
Women
Swimming
MenWomen
Table tennis
Weightlifting
Wrestling
Men's Greco-RomanMindaugas Mizgaitis originally finished third, but in November 2016, he was promoted to second place due to disqualification of Khasan Baroyev.
See also
Lithuania at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
== References ==
|
country
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Lithuania"
]
}
|
Lithuania competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008.
Medalists
Athletics
Men
Track & road eventsField eventsWomen
Track & road eventsField eventsCombined events – Heptathlon
Badminton
Basketball
Men's tournament
Lithuania's men's basketball team qualified for the Olympics by placing third at Eurobasket 2007. Because the reigning world champions (and automatic qualifiers), Spain, were second at that tournament, Lithuania joined Russia to fill out Europe's two continental qualification spots. The Lithuanian team will seek to get past the semifinal round for the first time since beginning to compete separately—in the four tournaments since then, Lithuania has taken three bronze medals and a fourth-place finish.
RosterThe following is the Lithuania roster in the men's basketball tournament of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Group play
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Bronze medal game
Boxing
Lithuania qualified three boxers for the Olympic boxing tournament. Semiotas qualified at the 2007 World Championships. Kavaliauskas and Jakšto both earned spots at the second European tournament.
Canoeing
Sprint
Qualification Legend: QS = Qualify to semi-final; QF = Qualify directly to final
Cycling
Road
Track
SprintPursuitOmnium
Gymnastics
Artistic
Women
Judo
Modern pentathlon
Rowing
MenQualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage
Sailing
WomenM = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race; CAN = Race cancelled;
Shooting
Women
Swimming
MenWomen
Table tennis
Weightlifting
Wrestling
Men's Greco-RomanMindaugas Mizgaitis originally finished third, but in November 2016, he was promoted to second place due to disqualification of Khasan Baroyev.
See also
Lithuania at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
== References ==
|
participant in
|
{
"answer_start": [
26
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"text": [
"2008 Summer Olympics"
]
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|
Ojrzanów-Towarzystwo [ɔi̯ˈʐanuf tɔvaˈʐɨstfɔ] is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Żabia Wola, within Grodzisk Mazowiecki County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland.
== References ==
|
country
|
{
"answer_start": [
183
],
"text": [
"Poland"
]
}
|
Ojrzanów-Towarzystwo [ɔi̯ˈʐanuf tɔvaˈʐɨstfɔ] is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Żabia Wola, within Grodzisk Mazowiecki County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland.
== References ==
|
located in the administrative territorial entity
|
{
"answer_start": [
92
],
"text": [
"Gmina Żabia Wola"
]
}
|
Ojrzanów-Towarzystwo [ɔi̯ˈʐanuf tɔvaˈʐɨstfɔ] is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Żabia Wola, within Grodzisk Mazowiecki County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland.
== References ==
|
Commons category
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Ojrzanów-Towarzystwo"
]
}
|
Sahil may refer to:
Sahil, Azerbaijan, a municipality in Baku, Azerbaijan
Sahil (Baku Metro), a metro station of the Baku Metro
Sahil, Saudi Arabia, a city in the governorate of Bareq, Saudi Arabia
Sahil, Somaliland, a region of Somaliland
Sahil (name), an Indian name (including a list of people with the name)
Sahil (film), a 1959 Indian film
|
country
|
{
"answer_start": [
206
],
"text": [
"Somaliland"
]
}
|
Sahil may refer to:
Sahil, Azerbaijan, a municipality in Baku, Azerbaijan
Sahil (Baku Metro), a metro station of the Baku Metro
Sahil, Saudi Arabia, a city in the governorate of Bareq, Saudi Arabia
Sahil, Somaliland, a region of Somaliland
Sahil (name), an Indian name (including a list of people with the name)
Sahil (film), a 1959 Indian film
|
different from
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Sahil"
]
}
|
Sahil may refer to:
Sahil, Azerbaijan, a municipality in Baku, Azerbaijan
Sahil (Baku Metro), a metro station of the Baku Metro
Sahil, Saudi Arabia, a city in the governorate of Bareq, Saudi Arabia
Sahil, Somaliland, a region of Somaliland
Sahil (name), an Indian name (including a list of people with the name)
Sahil (film), a 1959 Indian film
|
transport network
|
{
"answer_start": [
82
],
"text": [
"Baku Metro"
]
}
|
Sahil may refer to:
Sahil, Azerbaijan, a municipality in Baku, Azerbaijan
Sahil (Baku Metro), a metro station of the Baku Metro
Sahil, Saudi Arabia, a city in the governorate of Bareq, Saudi Arabia
Sahil, Somaliland, a region of Somaliland
Sahil (name), an Indian name (including a list of people with the name)
Sahil (film), a 1959 Indian film
|
instance of
|
{
"answer_start": [
97
],
"text": [
"metro station"
]
}
|
Sahil may refer to:
Sahil, Azerbaijan, a municipality in Baku, Azerbaijan
Sahil (Baku Metro), a metro station of the Baku Metro
Sahil, Saudi Arabia, a city in the governorate of Bareq, Saudi Arabia
Sahil, Somaliland, a region of Somaliland
Sahil (name), an Indian name (including a list of people with the name)
Sahil (film), a 1959 Indian film
|
located in the administrative territorial entity
|
{
"answer_start": [
58
],
"text": [
"Baku"
]
}
|
Sahil may refer to:
Sahil, Azerbaijan, a municipality in Baku, Azerbaijan
Sahil (Baku Metro), a metro station of the Baku Metro
Sahil, Saudi Arabia, a city in the governorate of Bareq, Saudi Arabia
Sahil, Somaliland, a region of Somaliland
Sahil (name), an Indian name (including a list of people with the name)
Sahil (film), a 1959 Indian film
|
Commons category
|
{
"answer_start": [
75
],
"text": [
"Sahil (Baku Metro)"
]
}
|
Sahil may refer to:
Sahil, Azerbaijan, a municipality in Baku, Azerbaijan
Sahil (Baku Metro), a metro station of the Baku Metro
Sahil, Saudi Arabia, a city in the governorate of Bareq, Saudi Arabia
Sahil, Somaliland, a region of Somaliland
Sahil (name), an Indian name (including a list of people with the name)
Sahil (film), a 1959 Indian film
|
country of origin
|
{
"answer_start": [
258
],
"text": [
"India"
]
}
|
Sahil may refer to:
Sahil, Azerbaijan, a municipality in Baku, Azerbaijan
Sahil (Baku Metro), a metro station of the Baku Metro
Sahil, Saudi Arabia, a city in the governorate of Bareq, Saudi Arabia
Sahil, Somaliland, a region of Somaliland
Sahil (name), an Indian name (including a list of people with the name)
Sahil (film), a 1959 Indian film
|
native label
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Sahil"
]
}
|
Gabrielle "Gaby" Solis () is a fictional character portrayed by Eva Longoria on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. Longoria was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her performance.
Storylines
Backstory
Gabrielle Márquez was born in Las Colinas, Texas. Her family is from Guadalajara, Mexico. Born on December 8, 1976, she has a brother and a sister. Her father died of cancer when she was five years old. From that point on, her mother, Lucía Márquez (María Conchita Alonso), married Alejandro Perez (Tony Plana) who sexually abused Gabrielle throughout her teenage years. According to Gabrielle, her mother overlooked the matter, and a nun at her school refused to believe her claims of having been raped. When she was fifteen, Gabrielle ran away to New York City to pursue a career in modeling. Gabrielle achieved significant success but earned a reputation for being difficult. As her career began to fade, she married wealthy businessman Carlos Solis (Ricardo Antonio Chavira), who proposed after only three dates. They then relocated to Wisteria Lane in the fictional suburb of Fairview, Eagle State, where Gabrielle befriended Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher), Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman), Bree Van de Kamp (Marcia Cross), and Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong).
Season 1
In the pilot episode, Gabrielle is unhappy with her marriage to Carlos, whose priority is work. She is shown to be extremely lonely while Carlos is money-minded and oblivious to her unhappiness. To keep herself entertained, she has an affair with John Rowland (Jesse Metcalfe), her teenage gardener. Carlos suspects that Gabrielle is being unfaithful and he enlists the help of his mother, Juanita "Mama" Solis (Lupe Ontiveros). Mama Solis catches Gabrielle and John having sex and takes a photograph to document Gabrielle's betrayal. However, while fleeing the house, she is hit by a car driven by Andrew Van de Kamp, and Gabrielle is able to dispose of the evidence against her. Mama Solis falls into a coma and dies a few months later without having the opportunity to tell Carlos about Gabrielle's affair. Gabrielle and John end the affair after Susan and Helen (Kathryn Harrold), John's mother, find out about it. Soon after, Carlos is indicted for importing goods made by slave labor. The government freezes the Solis' bank accounts, forcing Gabrielle to perform low-wage modeling jobs to pay bills. Carlos is eventually released under house arrest while awaiting trial, during which time the couple faces several financial crises.Carlos continually asks Gabrielle for a child, as well as a post-nuptial agreement that she will not divorce him while he is in jail. After Carlos physically forces Gabrielle to sign the documents, she reignites her affair with John. Later, Gabrielle discovers that she is pregnant and is unsure of who the father is. John hopes to help take care of the baby, but Gabrielle tells him she will only acknowledge Carlos as the father. Later, Gabrielle finds out that Carlos had tampered with her birth control in order to orchestrate her pregnancy. While Carlos is facing a separate trial for assaulting two different gay men he mistook for being Gabrielle's lovers (the first being a cable repairman who slipped in their bathroom after interrupting a tryst between Gabrielle and John, the second being John's roommate Justin), John admits to his affair with Gabrielle. Carlos attempts to attack John in court, and is subsequently convicted for hate crimes.
Season 2
With Carlos now in jail and a child on the way, Gabrielle alienates John and attempts to salvage her marriage. Gabrielle and Carlos continue sparring until she apologizes for the affair wholeheartedly for the first time. Hoping to be granted a conjugal visit and eventually get Carlos released on parole, Gabrielle hires David Bradley (Adrian Pasdar), a womanizing lawyer who later professes his love to Gabrielle, to get Carlos' hate crime conviction overturned. Later, Caleb Applewhite (Page Kennedy), Betty Applewhite's (Alfre Woodard) allegedly violent and mentally ill son, breaks into Gabrielle's home and chases her. She falls down the stairs, resulting in a miscarriage. Afterwards, Carlos is paroled thanks to the influence of a nun named Sister Mary Bernard (Melinda Page Hamilton). Gabrielle objects to Carlos' attempts to become a better and more spiritual man, as it threatens her lavish lifestyle, thus prompting Sister Mary to suggest Carlos annul his marriage to Gabrielle. Gabrielle intervenes when Carlos attempts to accompany Sister Mary on a charity trip to Botswana. To rid herself of Sister Mary permanently, Gabrielle tells a priest at the church that Sister Mary and Carlos had an affair. Consequently, Sister Mary is transferred to Alaska.Gabrielle agrees to have a child with Carlos, but her miscarriage leads to complications, forcing them to consider adoption. They prepare to adopt the unborn baby of pole dancer Libby Collins (Nichole Hiltz). However, Libby's boyfriend, Frank Helm (Eddie McClintock), and his teenaged brother and the baby's father, Dale (Sam Horrigan), try to intervene. When the baby, Lily, is born, a judge grants Carlos and Gabrielle temporary custody; however, Libby ultimately decides to take Lily back and raise her with Frank. Meanwhile, Gabrielle learns that her maid, Xiao-Mei (Gwendoline Yeo), is in danger of being deported to China. Xiao-Mei agrees to be Gabrielle and Carlos' surrogate in order to stay in the country. As the pregnancy progresses, Gabrielle suspects that Carlos and Xiao-Mei are having an affair. When she catches them having sex, she kicks Carlos out of the house and informs Xiao-Mei that she is not allowed to leave until the baby is born.
Season 3
The third season opens six months later, near the end of Xiao-Mei's pregnancy and in the midst of Gabrielle and Carlos' divorce proceedings. When Xiao-Mei gives birth, doctors discover that they had accidentally switched the Solis' embryo with another couple's and the Solis' embryo was not successfully inseminated. Xiao-Mei moves out and Gabrielle and Carlos are left without a child. Despite this, their divorce proceedings become complicated and vindictive. Following Gabrielle's divorce, she teams up with her personal shopper Vern (Alec Mapa) to coach a group of young misfit girls for the Little Miss Snowflake Beauty Pageant. She briefly dates Bill Pearce (Mark Deklin) the widowed father of a girl in the pageant, before realizing that she is not yet ready to date again. Soon after, Zach Young (Cody Kasch) the recently wealthy son of Gabrielle's deceased friend, Mary Alice, begins pursuing Gabrielle. Though Gabrielle refuses to date him, she agrees to befriend the irresponsible and disturbed Zach. When Zach proposes to Gabrielle at the grand opening of the Scavos' new pizzeria, she rejects him and terminates their friendship.Later, Victor Lang (John Slattery), a candidate for the mayor of Fairview, takes notice of Gabrielle, and arranges an encounter with her by having his chauffeur intentionally rear-end her car with his limo. They date casually, but Gabrielle insists that she is not interested. Nevertheless, they have mutual feelings of love. When Gabrielle learns that Carlos has started dating her neighbor, the promiscuous Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan), she accepts Victor's marriage proposal. As the wedding draws near, Gabrielle begins to have second thoughts about marrying Victor, especially after he wins the election and neglects her for his political career. Despite this, she marries Victor. However, after the wedding, Gabrielle overhears a conversation Victor has with his father Milton (Mike Farrell), where he admits to only having married her for his political gain, thus; prompting her to reignite her relationship with Carlos.
Season 4
The season premiere, "Now You Know", opens with Gaby and Carlos' plan to run away together on Gaby's wedding night; however, after Edie stages a suicide attempt, Carlos calls off the plan. One month later, Gaby and Carlos reignite their affair despite their commitments to Victor and Edie, respectively. Edie soon becomes suspicious of Carlos, and eventually pieces together that he is cheating on her with Gabrielle when she, Carlos, and Victor all come down with crabs. She hires a private investigator, who photographs the couple sharing a final kiss after having just decided to end their affair. Edie shows the photographs to Victor. Victor takes Gabrielle on his boat, where she learns that he has found about the affair. Fearing that he might try to kill her, she knocks him overboard twice (first by herself and then with Carlos' help) and leaves him at sea. Victor survives the ordeal and vows to get revenge on Gabrielle and Carlos. He attempts to kill Carlos during a tornado, only to be killed when he is impaled from behind by a fencepost. In the same storm, Carlos is blinded while the only documents giving him access to an offshore bank account are destroyed. The couple remarries soon after.While Gabrielle learns to cope with Carlos' blindness, the Solises rent out a room in their house to Ellie Leonard (Justine Bateman) to improve their financial circumstances. Gabrielle later discovers that Ellie is a drug dealer and alerts the authorities; however, after she and Ellie bond, Gabrielle helps her escape before the police arrest her. Gabrielle later discovers several thousand dollars in Ellie's abandoned belongings. Ellie comes back to retrieve it, but Gabrielle tries to keep it from her. When police arrive to the Solis home, Ellie escapes and seeks refuge in Katherine Mayfair's house, where she is shot and killed by Wayne Davis (Gary Cole).
Season 5
Five years after the events in season four, Gabrielle is not as beautiful, Carlos is still blind, and they are now raising two disobedient daughters, Juanita (Madison De La Garza) and Celia (Daniella Baltodano). The family struggles financially, forcing Carlos to take a job as a masseur at a local country club, which further alienates them from high society. One of Carlos' elderly and wealthy clients, Virginia Hildebrand (Frances Conroy), offers him a job as her personal masseur. Virginia becomes close with the Solises. Initially, Gabrielle does not mind, as she enjoys the luxuries Virginia provides for them; however, she starts to feel uncomfortable. Virginia revises her will to make the Solises the sole heirs to her estate, but Gabrielle eventually rejects the offer when Virginia tries to make important decisions in Juanita and Celia's lives. Later, Carlos regains his sight after having surgery.Carlos plans to take a job at the community center to help blind people. Tired of struggling, Gabrielle forces Carlos to take a high-salary office job. Meanwhile, Gabrielle works to lose weight and return to her model figure. When Gabrielle discovers that Carlos' new boss, Bradley Scott (David Starzyk), is cheating on his wife, she promises to remain silent so long as Carlos receives a generous salary bonus. Eventually, Bradley's wife, Maria Scott (Ion Overman), finds out about his affair and kills him. As a result of Bradley's death, Carlos is promoted. Later, Gabrielle hesitantly agrees to take in Carlos' teenage niece, Ana (Maiara Walsh), when her grandmother can no longer care for her. Gabrielle attempts to foster a positive relationship with Ana; however, she soon sees how entitled and manipulative Ana is.
Season 6
Gabrielle's relationship with Ana becomes more problematic, as Ana shows no regard for the household rules. Ana begins pursuing Danny Bolen (Beau Mirchoff), the teenage son of their new neighbors, Angie (Drea de Matteo) and Nick Bolen (Jeffrey Nordling). When Danny is accused of strangling Susan's daughter, Julie Mayer (Andrea Bowen), Ana attempts to provide him a false alibi until Gabrielle forces her to tell the truth. Later, Ana gets a job at John Rowland's restaurant. John attempts to win Gabrielle back, forcing her to question whether or not she still has feelings for him. She ultimately decides that she is happy with her life, and Ana quits her job after Gabrielle confesses to her affair with John in the first season. Gabrielle also begins experiencing difficulties in her relationship with Juanita: her poor parenting skills make other parents reluctant to let their children play with Juanita; Gabrielle's hot temper gets Juanita expelled from school; and her attempts to home school Juanita only strain their relationship further. Gabrielle and Carlos then enroll Juanita in private school. Later, Gabrielle discovers that Lynette has been hiding her pregnancy in order to secure a promotion at Carlos' company. Feeling betrayed, Gabrielle ends their friendship and Carlos tries to drive Lynette to quit her job. However, when a small plane hired by Karl Mayer makes a crash landing on Wisteria Lane, Lynette saves Celia from its path, thus restoring her friendship with Gabrielle.Gabrielle's friendship with Angie is complicated when Ana and Danny begin dating, especially when Gabrielle and Carlos discover that the Bolens are keeping a dangerous secret. To break up Ana and Danny, Gabrielle and Carlos send her to a modeling academy in New York; unbeknownst to them or the Bolens, however, Danny follows her there. Gabrielle accompanies Angie to New York to retrieve Danny, during which time she learns about Angie's mysterious past, which involves Danny's biological father. Patrick Logan (John Barrowman), an environmental terrorist and Danny's real father, tracks them down to Wisteria Lane. He runs over Nick, placing him in the hospital, and holds Angie and Danny hostage. Gabrielle helps rescue the Bolens and send them to Atlanta, as the government is still searching for them due to their involvement in Patrick's terrorism.
Season 7
Gabrielle is told the truth of Andrew killing Carlos' mother but decides to keep it quiet, fearing Carlos' reaction and not wanting to hurt him. She is sent to the hospital after Bree accidentally hits Juanita with her car. She finds out later that Juanita is not her real daughter due to a hospital mix-up. Gabrielle soon realizes she wants to meet her true daughter and convinces a lawyer to find the other family. Carlos is angered when he finds out, telling her that the family could take Juanita away and if that happens, he'll never forgive Gabrielle. When they meet the family, they automatically know that Grace is Gaby's daughter as she is throwing a fit over a jumper. Gabrielle grows closer to Grace, causing jealousy in Juanita, who doesn't know the truth. When Grace's legal parents are discovered to be illegal immigrants, her legal father Hector is arrested and her legal mother Carmen is forced to go on the run. Since Grace was born in the United States, she is a citizen and Gabrielle and Carlos agree to take her in to raise her.
To make sure they can get Grace to live with them, Gabrielle turns Grace's legal mother into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) but then has second thoughts when ICE shows up, posing as Carmen and letting Carmen get away. But when Gabrielle and Carlos go to pick up Grace, Carmen insists on taking Grace. Distraught over losing Grace, Gabrielle confides in Lynette, the only person she knows who has lost a child. Lynette tells Gabrielle that she wrote a letter to the child she lost, and that this might help Gabrielle, who wouldn't have to actually send it. Gabrielle writes the letter; Juanita finds it and runs away, hiding in the back of Bob and Lee's car, where Gabrielle sees her just in time for her to be rescued during a riot. A therapist suggests that Carlos and Gabrielle cut off all ties and reminders of Grace in order to let the tension with Juanita heal. Gabrielle is reluctant, keeping photos of Grace but Carlos demands she do this for Juanita.
Gabrielle seems to agree, but goes to a boutique and buys a doll that resembles Grace and keeps it hidden from her family. After Juanita and Celia find it and play with it, ultimately breaking its arm, Gabrielle goes back to the boutique and has the owner repair "Princess Valerie". The owner promises to repair it, and Gabrielle, feeling she is too attached to the doll, asks the owner if she thinks Gabrielle is strange. The owner disagrees, and shows Gabrielle her own doll, Mrs. Humphreys. The owner tells Gabrielle that she fell in love with the doll and bought it, ultimately learning the doll's "story". The owner says that Mrs. Humphreys is a music teacher whose sister died around the same time the owner's did (hinting that the owner bought the doll as a replacement for her passed on sister, much as Gabrielle did). Gabrielle sees the owner's pain, and the owner asks Gabrielle about Princess Valerie's story. Although reluctant, Gabrielle emotionally tells her that the doll was a princess who was accidentally given to the wrong family, but she found her way back eventually, and her mother, the Queen, had her hid so that no one could take her away again. When she gets home, Gabrielle puts Princess Valerie in a box behind her closet. Carlos finds out about Gabrielle's obsession with the doll so they go out to get rid of it and get carjacked by an unknown gunman. Gabrielle tries to take Princess Valerie out of the car but she had to let her go because the gunman threatened to kill her.
Carlos insists she go to therapy but she ignores it, going to spa treatments instead. Eventually, Carlos goes with her as she confesses to the therapist how she was molested as a child. At the therapist's suggestion, Gabrielle and Carlos go to her hometown where Gaby is surprised to learn she is a celebrity. She enjoys being admired by the townspeople until she meets the nun she had once confided in about her abuse as a child. The nun had then refused to believe Gabrielle's story and remains stubborn as Gabrielle lets out the shame she has long since been forced to feel by the cold nun's words; passing it back onto this woman who was in a position to prevent a childhood of torment and failed to do anything, gives Gaby the sense of closure she has been seeking. Finally Gabrielle tells Carlos she is ready to go home and leave the past behind. Making amends for his past while in AA, Andrew decides to tell Carlos about running over his mother. While Carlos does forgive Andrew, he is furious with Gabrielle over keeping the secret from him. He tells Bree that he won't forgive her for hiding the truth and bans Gabrielle from seeing Bree again. Gabrielle takes her girls and temporarily moves in with Bree. She shortly returns to Carlos.
Gabrielle shows a horror movie to Juanita, which gives her nightmares. She claims that a man is standing on the family's front lawn every night. Gabrielle is doubtful of this until she too notices the mysterious stranger. She sees him while shopping one day and asks a security officer to see a security camera. She realizes that her stalker is the stepfather who raped her as a child. This horrifies Gabrielle, especially because she thought that he was dead. Gabrielle learns her stepfather has been following her everywhere she goes. She drives to a deserted area when she knows he is following her, and walks into a clearing, armed with a gun that she acquired for her protection. She confronts him about raping her as a young girl. He admits to the terrible deed. During Susan's coming home dinner, Gabrielle runs home to begin preparations for dessert course. Once she enters her house, her stepfather confronts her again, pretending to have her gun. He begins to attack her and attempts to rape her. However, Carlos comes home and intervenes, accidentally killing him with a blow to the head from a candlestick. Bree, Susan, and Lynette come into the house and discover the body. With help from Bree, they are able to clean up before the rest of the guests arrive. The group agrees to keep the situation secret.
Season 8
Gabrielle and Carlos deal with keeping the murder of her stepfather quiet, Carlos unable to be intimate due to his guilt. Gabrielle challenges the antagonistic PTA head at Juanita's school after a parking dispute only to accidentally hit the woman with her car. The woman gets revenge by making Gabrielle her replacement, warning her that being PTA head will drive Gabrielle crazy. The first meeting does not go well as Gabrielle is late due to a spa appointment and the other members berate her over putting her high-living lifestyle over her responsibilities. Assuming they're jealous, Gabrielle gives them massages and makeovers but they still refuse to help. They snap that Gabrielle has no idea how people like them live and her life is so perfect. However, when a drunken Carlos comes in, the PTA members realize that Gabrielle faces many struggles as well and she really isn't that different from them after all. They take over the luncheon project and allow Gabrielle to help her husband. When Carlos gets drunk before work, Gabrielle attempts to cover for him but his boss figures it out. Rather than be upset, the man tells Carlos he understands, being a recovering alcoholic himself, and urges Carlos to get help. Carlos checks himself into a rehab center but vanishes the same night detective Chuck Vance is killed, making Gabrielle worry Carlos might have done it while drunk. When a guilty Susan checks in on Alejandro's family, his suspicious widow, Claudia, follows her, believing Susan is having an affair with her husband. Gabrielle is upset with Susan until she hears Susan's suspicion that Claudia's daughter, Marisa, was also molested. Gabrielle invites Claudia over, telling her the truth about Alejandro. Claudia refuses to believe it until Marisa finally confesses what the man did to her, Claudia distraught to have had her daughter hurt like that. She later comes to Gabrielle, thanking her for letting her see the truth. She spots the rug stained with Alejandro's blood that Gabrielle was having replaced and tells Gabrielle to get rid of it, clearly knowing what happened to Alejandro and willing to keep it quiet.
When Carlos gets out of rehab, he surprises Gabrielle by having a new attitude of giving away money, not wanting to be so greedy anymore. Gabrielle is upset at first but at Mike's funeral, realizes it's better to let Carlos do what makes him happy. She tries to calm her nerves by shopping and ends up being offered a job as a "personal shopper." At first, Gabrielle is good with it but also has to pretend to be single to win over male shoppers. Carlos is upset with this and Gabrielle tells him she is doing what she wants and is enjoying it. When Bree is put on trial for killing Alejandro, both Carlos and Gabrielle want to tell the truth but Karen McCluskey (overhearing them talking about it) confesses on the stand to killing Alejandro herself. Gabrielle is eventually offered a promotion at her job with Carlos upset at first but coming to accept it. In the final moments of the series, it's stated that Carlos helps Gabrielle start her own online shopper company, which earns her a show on the Home Shopping Network. They eventually move to a mansion in Los Angeles where "they argued happily ever after."
Trivia
Roselyn Sánchez auditioned for the role also but the producers thought she wasn't right for the role because of her heavy Puerto Rican accent. Sánchez did make a cameo in the series finale as the new gardener Carlos hires for their house and became a main character in the spin-off series Devious Maids as Carmen Luna.
Laura Harring also auditioned for the role of Gabrielle.
When Marc Cherry was casting, he asked Eva, "Do you like the script?" She said, "not meaning to be conceited, but I only read my part," then he thought "she's Gaby."
Gabrielle is one of two housewives to cheat on their husbands with the other being Bree.
Gabrielle is the youngest of the housewives from the main four, but Angie is the youngest housewife from all ten.
Gabrielle is allergic to lilies, likes to dance salsa and drink merlot.
Gabrielle and Carlos have O+ blood group.
Gabrielle is the only main housewife to not have a stepchild:
Zach Young is Susan's stepson.
Kayla Huntington Scavo is Lynette's stepdaughter.
Sam Allen is Bree's stepson.
Gabrielle has experienced the loss of a child four times:
her first pregnancy ended in miscarriage when she fell down a flight of stairs,
Libby Collins, biological mother of her adopted daughter Lily, decided to take her back,
The Surrogacy ended in failure,
And she let go of her biological daughter Grace Sánchez.
She is also the only main housewife who is not a grandmother by the series finale.
Gabrielle is the housewife with the most times changed hair colour, as her hair starts out dark brown (season 1, first half of season 2, season 3; episodes 10–23), lightens to medium brown with copper highlights (second half of season 2, seasons 6, 7 and 8). After season 2, Gabrielle seems to dye her hair light brown with blond streaks for the first nine episodes of season 3, with the exception of the episode Bang, (honey blond with blond highlights). In season 4, after changing back to dark brown in season 3, Gabrielle lightens her hair yet again to medium brown with blond highlights. At some point during the time jump between seasons 4 and 5, Gabrielle replaces her blond highlights for caramel. Despite wearing her hair straight most of the time during the first five seasons, she completely stops wearing them straight for seasons 6 and 7, and starts again during the end of season 8.
Reception
Gabrielle has been generally well received by fans. Aya Tsintziras from Screen Rant called Gabrielle as the best character in the series, praising her character arc as the "biggest" and her change from "a spoiled brat who only cares about hair, makeup, and clothing to a caring mother and friend". She also called Gaby's struggle on whether to have children "interesting" and stated that her children change her outlook on life. Tsintziras also said that Gaby's affair with John "makes sense" due to her feeling "trapped" in her marriage and Carlos not understanding her.Gabrielle Rockson from The Things called Gabrielle a household name and a "favourite", stating that people loved her "charm, diva attitude, and witty humor". Longoria has received several awards for her role as Gaby.
== References ==
|
spouse
|
{
"answer_start": [
1014
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"text": [
"Carlos Solis"
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Gabrielle "Gaby" Solis () is a fictional character portrayed by Eva Longoria on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. Longoria was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her performance.
Storylines
Backstory
Gabrielle Márquez was born in Las Colinas, Texas. Her family is from Guadalajara, Mexico. Born on December 8, 1976, she has a brother and a sister. Her father died of cancer when she was five years old. From that point on, her mother, Lucía Márquez (María Conchita Alonso), married Alejandro Perez (Tony Plana) who sexually abused Gabrielle throughout her teenage years. According to Gabrielle, her mother overlooked the matter, and a nun at her school refused to believe her claims of having been raped. When she was fifteen, Gabrielle ran away to New York City to pursue a career in modeling. Gabrielle achieved significant success but earned a reputation for being difficult. As her career began to fade, she married wealthy businessman Carlos Solis (Ricardo Antonio Chavira), who proposed after only three dates. They then relocated to Wisteria Lane in the fictional suburb of Fairview, Eagle State, where Gabrielle befriended Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher), Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman), Bree Van de Kamp (Marcia Cross), and Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong).
Season 1
In the pilot episode, Gabrielle is unhappy with her marriage to Carlos, whose priority is work. She is shown to be extremely lonely while Carlos is money-minded and oblivious to her unhappiness. To keep herself entertained, she has an affair with John Rowland (Jesse Metcalfe), her teenage gardener. Carlos suspects that Gabrielle is being unfaithful and he enlists the help of his mother, Juanita "Mama" Solis (Lupe Ontiveros). Mama Solis catches Gabrielle and John having sex and takes a photograph to document Gabrielle's betrayal. However, while fleeing the house, she is hit by a car driven by Andrew Van de Kamp, and Gabrielle is able to dispose of the evidence against her. Mama Solis falls into a coma and dies a few months later without having the opportunity to tell Carlos about Gabrielle's affair. Gabrielle and John end the affair after Susan and Helen (Kathryn Harrold), John's mother, find out about it. Soon after, Carlos is indicted for importing goods made by slave labor. The government freezes the Solis' bank accounts, forcing Gabrielle to perform low-wage modeling jobs to pay bills. Carlos is eventually released under house arrest while awaiting trial, during which time the couple faces several financial crises.Carlos continually asks Gabrielle for a child, as well as a post-nuptial agreement that she will not divorce him while he is in jail. After Carlos physically forces Gabrielle to sign the documents, she reignites her affair with John. Later, Gabrielle discovers that she is pregnant and is unsure of who the father is. John hopes to help take care of the baby, but Gabrielle tells him she will only acknowledge Carlos as the father. Later, Gabrielle finds out that Carlos had tampered with her birth control in order to orchestrate her pregnancy. While Carlos is facing a separate trial for assaulting two different gay men he mistook for being Gabrielle's lovers (the first being a cable repairman who slipped in their bathroom after interrupting a tryst between Gabrielle and John, the second being John's roommate Justin), John admits to his affair with Gabrielle. Carlos attempts to attack John in court, and is subsequently convicted for hate crimes.
Season 2
With Carlos now in jail and a child on the way, Gabrielle alienates John and attempts to salvage her marriage. Gabrielle and Carlos continue sparring until she apologizes for the affair wholeheartedly for the first time. Hoping to be granted a conjugal visit and eventually get Carlos released on parole, Gabrielle hires David Bradley (Adrian Pasdar), a womanizing lawyer who later professes his love to Gabrielle, to get Carlos' hate crime conviction overturned. Later, Caleb Applewhite (Page Kennedy), Betty Applewhite's (Alfre Woodard) allegedly violent and mentally ill son, breaks into Gabrielle's home and chases her. She falls down the stairs, resulting in a miscarriage. Afterwards, Carlos is paroled thanks to the influence of a nun named Sister Mary Bernard (Melinda Page Hamilton). Gabrielle objects to Carlos' attempts to become a better and more spiritual man, as it threatens her lavish lifestyle, thus prompting Sister Mary to suggest Carlos annul his marriage to Gabrielle. Gabrielle intervenes when Carlos attempts to accompany Sister Mary on a charity trip to Botswana. To rid herself of Sister Mary permanently, Gabrielle tells a priest at the church that Sister Mary and Carlos had an affair. Consequently, Sister Mary is transferred to Alaska.Gabrielle agrees to have a child with Carlos, but her miscarriage leads to complications, forcing them to consider adoption. They prepare to adopt the unborn baby of pole dancer Libby Collins (Nichole Hiltz). However, Libby's boyfriend, Frank Helm (Eddie McClintock), and his teenaged brother and the baby's father, Dale (Sam Horrigan), try to intervene. When the baby, Lily, is born, a judge grants Carlos and Gabrielle temporary custody; however, Libby ultimately decides to take Lily back and raise her with Frank. Meanwhile, Gabrielle learns that her maid, Xiao-Mei (Gwendoline Yeo), is in danger of being deported to China. Xiao-Mei agrees to be Gabrielle and Carlos' surrogate in order to stay in the country. As the pregnancy progresses, Gabrielle suspects that Carlos and Xiao-Mei are having an affair. When she catches them having sex, she kicks Carlos out of the house and informs Xiao-Mei that she is not allowed to leave until the baby is born.
Season 3
The third season opens six months later, near the end of Xiao-Mei's pregnancy and in the midst of Gabrielle and Carlos' divorce proceedings. When Xiao-Mei gives birth, doctors discover that they had accidentally switched the Solis' embryo with another couple's and the Solis' embryo was not successfully inseminated. Xiao-Mei moves out and Gabrielle and Carlos are left without a child. Despite this, their divorce proceedings become complicated and vindictive. Following Gabrielle's divorce, she teams up with her personal shopper Vern (Alec Mapa) to coach a group of young misfit girls for the Little Miss Snowflake Beauty Pageant. She briefly dates Bill Pearce (Mark Deklin) the widowed father of a girl in the pageant, before realizing that she is not yet ready to date again. Soon after, Zach Young (Cody Kasch) the recently wealthy son of Gabrielle's deceased friend, Mary Alice, begins pursuing Gabrielle. Though Gabrielle refuses to date him, she agrees to befriend the irresponsible and disturbed Zach. When Zach proposes to Gabrielle at the grand opening of the Scavos' new pizzeria, she rejects him and terminates their friendship.Later, Victor Lang (John Slattery), a candidate for the mayor of Fairview, takes notice of Gabrielle, and arranges an encounter with her by having his chauffeur intentionally rear-end her car with his limo. They date casually, but Gabrielle insists that she is not interested. Nevertheless, they have mutual feelings of love. When Gabrielle learns that Carlos has started dating her neighbor, the promiscuous Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan), she accepts Victor's marriage proposal. As the wedding draws near, Gabrielle begins to have second thoughts about marrying Victor, especially after he wins the election and neglects her for his political career. Despite this, she marries Victor. However, after the wedding, Gabrielle overhears a conversation Victor has with his father Milton (Mike Farrell), where he admits to only having married her for his political gain, thus; prompting her to reignite her relationship with Carlos.
Season 4
The season premiere, "Now You Know", opens with Gaby and Carlos' plan to run away together on Gaby's wedding night; however, after Edie stages a suicide attempt, Carlos calls off the plan. One month later, Gaby and Carlos reignite their affair despite their commitments to Victor and Edie, respectively. Edie soon becomes suspicious of Carlos, and eventually pieces together that he is cheating on her with Gabrielle when she, Carlos, and Victor all come down with crabs. She hires a private investigator, who photographs the couple sharing a final kiss after having just decided to end their affair. Edie shows the photographs to Victor. Victor takes Gabrielle on his boat, where she learns that he has found about the affair. Fearing that he might try to kill her, she knocks him overboard twice (first by herself and then with Carlos' help) and leaves him at sea. Victor survives the ordeal and vows to get revenge on Gabrielle and Carlos. He attempts to kill Carlos during a tornado, only to be killed when he is impaled from behind by a fencepost. In the same storm, Carlos is blinded while the only documents giving him access to an offshore bank account are destroyed. The couple remarries soon after.While Gabrielle learns to cope with Carlos' blindness, the Solises rent out a room in their house to Ellie Leonard (Justine Bateman) to improve their financial circumstances. Gabrielle later discovers that Ellie is a drug dealer and alerts the authorities; however, after she and Ellie bond, Gabrielle helps her escape before the police arrest her. Gabrielle later discovers several thousand dollars in Ellie's abandoned belongings. Ellie comes back to retrieve it, but Gabrielle tries to keep it from her. When police arrive to the Solis home, Ellie escapes and seeks refuge in Katherine Mayfair's house, where she is shot and killed by Wayne Davis (Gary Cole).
Season 5
Five years after the events in season four, Gabrielle is not as beautiful, Carlos is still blind, and they are now raising two disobedient daughters, Juanita (Madison De La Garza) and Celia (Daniella Baltodano). The family struggles financially, forcing Carlos to take a job as a masseur at a local country club, which further alienates them from high society. One of Carlos' elderly and wealthy clients, Virginia Hildebrand (Frances Conroy), offers him a job as her personal masseur. Virginia becomes close with the Solises. Initially, Gabrielle does not mind, as she enjoys the luxuries Virginia provides for them; however, she starts to feel uncomfortable. Virginia revises her will to make the Solises the sole heirs to her estate, but Gabrielle eventually rejects the offer when Virginia tries to make important decisions in Juanita and Celia's lives. Later, Carlos regains his sight after having surgery.Carlos plans to take a job at the community center to help blind people. Tired of struggling, Gabrielle forces Carlos to take a high-salary office job. Meanwhile, Gabrielle works to lose weight and return to her model figure. When Gabrielle discovers that Carlos' new boss, Bradley Scott (David Starzyk), is cheating on his wife, she promises to remain silent so long as Carlos receives a generous salary bonus. Eventually, Bradley's wife, Maria Scott (Ion Overman), finds out about his affair and kills him. As a result of Bradley's death, Carlos is promoted. Later, Gabrielle hesitantly agrees to take in Carlos' teenage niece, Ana (Maiara Walsh), when her grandmother can no longer care for her. Gabrielle attempts to foster a positive relationship with Ana; however, she soon sees how entitled and manipulative Ana is.
Season 6
Gabrielle's relationship with Ana becomes more problematic, as Ana shows no regard for the household rules. Ana begins pursuing Danny Bolen (Beau Mirchoff), the teenage son of their new neighbors, Angie (Drea de Matteo) and Nick Bolen (Jeffrey Nordling). When Danny is accused of strangling Susan's daughter, Julie Mayer (Andrea Bowen), Ana attempts to provide him a false alibi until Gabrielle forces her to tell the truth. Later, Ana gets a job at John Rowland's restaurant. John attempts to win Gabrielle back, forcing her to question whether or not she still has feelings for him. She ultimately decides that she is happy with her life, and Ana quits her job after Gabrielle confesses to her affair with John in the first season. Gabrielle also begins experiencing difficulties in her relationship with Juanita: her poor parenting skills make other parents reluctant to let their children play with Juanita; Gabrielle's hot temper gets Juanita expelled from school; and her attempts to home school Juanita only strain their relationship further. Gabrielle and Carlos then enroll Juanita in private school. Later, Gabrielle discovers that Lynette has been hiding her pregnancy in order to secure a promotion at Carlos' company. Feeling betrayed, Gabrielle ends their friendship and Carlos tries to drive Lynette to quit her job. However, when a small plane hired by Karl Mayer makes a crash landing on Wisteria Lane, Lynette saves Celia from its path, thus restoring her friendship with Gabrielle.Gabrielle's friendship with Angie is complicated when Ana and Danny begin dating, especially when Gabrielle and Carlos discover that the Bolens are keeping a dangerous secret. To break up Ana and Danny, Gabrielle and Carlos send her to a modeling academy in New York; unbeknownst to them or the Bolens, however, Danny follows her there. Gabrielle accompanies Angie to New York to retrieve Danny, during which time she learns about Angie's mysterious past, which involves Danny's biological father. Patrick Logan (John Barrowman), an environmental terrorist and Danny's real father, tracks them down to Wisteria Lane. He runs over Nick, placing him in the hospital, and holds Angie and Danny hostage. Gabrielle helps rescue the Bolens and send them to Atlanta, as the government is still searching for them due to their involvement in Patrick's terrorism.
Season 7
Gabrielle is told the truth of Andrew killing Carlos' mother but decides to keep it quiet, fearing Carlos' reaction and not wanting to hurt him. She is sent to the hospital after Bree accidentally hits Juanita with her car. She finds out later that Juanita is not her real daughter due to a hospital mix-up. Gabrielle soon realizes she wants to meet her true daughter and convinces a lawyer to find the other family. Carlos is angered when he finds out, telling her that the family could take Juanita away and if that happens, he'll never forgive Gabrielle. When they meet the family, they automatically know that Grace is Gaby's daughter as she is throwing a fit over a jumper. Gabrielle grows closer to Grace, causing jealousy in Juanita, who doesn't know the truth. When Grace's legal parents are discovered to be illegal immigrants, her legal father Hector is arrested and her legal mother Carmen is forced to go on the run. Since Grace was born in the United States, she is a citizen and Gabrielle and Carlos agree to take her in to raise her.
To make sure they can get Grace to live with them, Gabrielle turns Grace's legal mother into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) but then has second thoughts when ICE shows up, posing as Carmen and letting Carmen get away. But when Gabrielle and Carlos go to pick up Grace, Carmen insists on taking Grace. Distraught over losing Grace, Gabrielle confides in Lynette, the only person she knows who has lost a child. Lynette tells Gabrielle that she wrote a letter to the child she lost, and that this might help Gabrielle, who wouldn't have to actually send it. Gabrielle writes the letter; Juanita finds it and runs away, hiding in the back of Bob and Lee's car, where Gabrielle sees her just in time for her to be rescued during a riot. A therapist suggests that Carlos and Gabrielle cut off all ties and reminders of Grace in order to let the tension with Juanita heal. Gabrielle is reluctant, keeping photos of Grace but Carlos demands she do this for Juanita.
Gabrielle seems to agree, but goes to a boutique and buys a doll that resembles Grace and keeps it hidden from her family. After Juanita and Celia find it and play with it, ultimately breaking its arm, Gabrielle goes back to the boutique and has the owner repair "Princess Valerie". The owner promises to repair it, and Gabrielle, feeling she is too attached to the doll, asks the owner if she thinks Gabrielle is strange. The owner disagrees, and shows Gabrielle her own doll, Mrs. Humphreys. The owner tells Gabrielle that she fell in love with the doll and bought it, ultimately learning the doll's "story". The owner says that Mrs. Humphreys is a music teacher whose sister died around the same time the owner's did (hinting that the owner bought the doll as a replacement for her passed on sister, much as Gabrielle did). Gabrielle sees the owner's pain, and the owner asks Gabrielle about Princess Valerie's story. Although reluctant, Gabrielle emotionally tells her that the doll was a princess who was accidentally given to the wrong family, but she found her way back eventually, and her mother, the Queen, had her hid so that no one could take her away again. When she gets home, Gabrielle puts Princess Valerie in a box behind her closet. Carlos finds out about Gabrielle's obsession with the doll so they go out to get rid of it and get carjacked by an unknown gunman. Gabrielle tries to take Princess Valerie out of the car but she had to let her go because the gunman threatened to kill her.
Carlos insists she go to therapy but she ignores it, going to spa treatments instead. Eventually, Carlos goes with her as she confesses to the therapist how she was molested as a child. At the therapist's suggestion, Gabrielle and Carlos go to her hometown where Gaby is surprised to learn she is a celebrity. She enjoys being admired by the townspeople until she meets the nun she had once confided in about her abuse as a child. The nun had then refused to believe Gabrielle's story and remains stubborn as Gabrielle lets out the shame she has long since been forced to feel by the cold nun's words; passing it back onto this woman who was in a position to prevent a childhood of torment and failed to do anything, gives Gaby the sense of closure she has been seeking. Finally Gabrielle tells Carlos she is ready to go home and leave the past behind. Making amends for his past while in AA, Andrew decides to tell Carlos about running over his mother. While Carlos does forgive Andrew, he is furious with Gabrielle over keeping the secret from him. He tells Bree that he won't forgive her for hiding the truth and bans Gabrielle from seeing Bree again. Gabrielle takes her girls and temporarily moves in with Bree. She shortly returns to Carlos.
Gabrielle shows a horror movie to Juanita, which gives her nightmares. She claims that a man is standing on the family's front lawn every night. Gabrielle is doubtful of this until she too notices the mysterious stranger. She sees him while shopping one day and asks a security officer to see a security camera. She realizes that her stalker is the stepfather who raped her as a child. This horrifies Gabrielle, especially because she thought that he was dead. Gabrielle learns her stepfather has been following her everywhere she goes. She drives to a deserted area when she knows he is following her, and walks into a clearing, armed with a gun that she acquired for her protection. She confronts him about raping her as a young girl. He admits to the terrible deed. During Susan's coming home dinner, Gabrielle runs home to begin preparations for dessert course. Once she enters her house, her stepfather confronts her again, pretending to have her gun. He begins to attack her and attempts to rape her. However, Carlos comes home and intervenes, accidentally killing him with a blow to the head from a candlestick. Bree, Susan, and Lynette come into the house and discover the body. With help from Bree, they are able to clean up before the rest of the guests arrive. The group agrees to keep the situation secret.
Season 8
Gabrielle and Carlos deal with keeping the murder of her stepfather quiet, Carlos unable to be intimate due to his guilt. Gabrielle challenges the antagonistic PTA head at Juanita's school after a parking dispute only to accidentally hit the woman with her car. The woman gets revenge by making Gabrielle her replacement, warning her that being PTA head will drive Gabrielle crazy. The first meeting does not go well as Gabrielle is late due to a spa appointment and the other members berate her over putting her high-living lifestyle over her responsibilities. Assuming they're jealous, Gabrielle gives them massages and makeovers but they still refuse to help. They snap that Gabrielle has no idea how people like them live and her life is so perfect. However, when a drunken Carlos comes in, the PTA members realize that Gabrielle faces many struggles as well and she really isn't that different from them after all. They take over the luncheon project and allow Gabrielle to help her husband. When Carlos gets drunk before work, Gabrielle attempts to cover for him but his boss figures it out. Rather than be upset, the man tells Carlos he understands, being a recovering alcoholic himself, and urges Carlos to get help. Carlos checks himself into a rehab center but vanishes the same night detective Chuck Vance is killed, making Gabrielle worry Carlos might have done it while drunk. When a guilty Susan checks in on Alejandro's family, his suspicious widow, Claudia, follows her, believing Susan is having an affair with her husband. Gabrielle is upset with Susan until she hears Susan's suspicion that Claudia's daughter, Marisa, was also molested. Gabrielle invites Claudia over, telling her the truth about Alejandro. Claudia refuses to believe it until Marisa finally confesses what the man did to her, Claudia distraught to have had her daughter hurt like that. She later comes to Gabrielle, thanking her for letting her see the truth. She spots the rug stained with Alejandro's blood that Gabrielle was having replaced and tells Gabrielle to get rid of it, clearly knowing what happened to Alejandro and willing to keep it quiet.
When Carlos gets out of rehab, he surprises Gabrielle by having a new attitude of giving away money, not wanting to be so greedy anymore. Gabrielle is upset at first but at Mike's funeral, realizes it's better to let Carlos do what makes him happy. She tries to calm her nerves by shopping and ends up being offered a job as a "personal shopper." At first, Gabrielle is good with it but also has to pretend to be single to win over male shoppers. Carlos is upset with this and Gabrielle tells him she is doing what she wants and is enjoying it. When Bree is put on trial for killing Alejandro, both Carlos and Gabrielle want to tell the truth but Karen McCluskey (overhearing them talking about it) confesses on the stand to killing Alejandro herself. Gabrielle is eventually offered a promotion at her job with Carlos upset at first but coming to accept it. In the final moments of the series, it's stated that Carlos helps Gabrielle start her own online shopper company, which earns her a show on the Home Shopping Network. They eventually move to a mansion in Los Angeles where "they argued happily ever after."
Trivia
Roselyn Sánchez auditioned for the role also but the producers thought she wasn't right for the role because of her heavy Puerto Rican accent. Sánchez did make a cameo in the series finale as the new gardener Carlos hires for their house and became a main character in the spin-off series Devious Maids as Carmen Luna.
Laura Harring also auditioned for the role of Gabrielle.
When Marc Cherry was casting, he asked Eva, "Do you like the script?" She said, "not meaning to be conceited, but I only read my part," then he thought "she's Gaby."
Gabrielle is one of two housewives to cheat on their husbands with the other being Bree.
Gabrielle is the youngest of the housewives from the main four, but Angie is the youngest housewife from all ten.
Gabrielle is allergic to lilies, likes to dance salsa and drink merlot.
Gabrielle and Carlos have O+ blood group.
Gabrielle is the only main housewife to not have a stepchild:
Zach Young is Susan's stepson.
Kayla Huntington Scavo is Lynette's stepdaughter.
Sam Allen is Bree's stepson.
Gabrielle has experienced the loss of a child four times:
her first pregnancy ended in miscarriage when she fell down a flight of stairs,
Libby Collins, biological mother of her adopted daughter Lily, decided to take her back,
The Surrogacy ended in failure,
And she let go of her biological daughter Grace Sánchez.
She is also the only main housewife who is not a grandmother by the series finale.
Gabrielle is the housewife with the most times changed hair colour, as her hair starts out dark brown (season 1, first half of season 2, season 3; episodes 10–23), lightens to medium brown with copper highlights (second half of season 2, seasons 6, 7 and 8). After season 2, Gabrielle seems to dye her hair light brown with blond streaks for the first nine episodes of season 3, with the exception of the episode Bang, (honey blond with blond highlights). In season 4, after changing back to dark brown in season 3, Gabrielle lightens her hair yet again to medium brown with blond highlights. At some point during the time jump between seasons 4 and 5, Gabrielle replaces her blond highlights for caramel. Despite wearing her hair straight most of the time during the first five seasons, she completely stops wearing them straight for seasons 6 and 7, and starts again during the end of season 8.
Reception
Gabrielle has been generally well received by fans. Aya Tsintziras from Screen Rant called Gabrielle as the best character in the series, praising her character arc as the "biggest" and her change from "a spoiled brat who only cares about hair, makeup, and clothing to a caring mother and friend". She also called Gaby's struggle on whether to have children "interesting" and stated that her children change her outlook on life. Tsintziras also said that Gaby's affair with John "makes sense" due to her feeling "trapped" in her marriage and Carlos not understanding her.Gabrielle Rockson from The Things called Gabrielle a household name and a "favourite", stating that people loved her "charm, diva attitude, and witty humor". Longoria has received several awards for her role as Gaby.
== References ==
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occupation
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Gabrielle "Gaby" Solis () is a fictional character portrayed by Eva Longoria on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. Longoria was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her performance.
Storylines
Backstory
Gabrielle Márquez was born in Las Colinas, Texas. Her family is from Guadalajara, Mexico. Born on December 8, 1976, she has a brother and a sister. Her father died of cancer when she was five years old. From that point on, her mother, Lucía Márquez (María Conchita Alonso), married Alejandro Perez (Tony Plana) who sexually abused Gabrielle throughout her teenage years. According to Gabrielle, her mother overlooked the matter, and a nun at her school refused to believe her claims of having been raped. When she was fifteen, Gabrielle ran away to New York City to pursue a career in modeling. Gabrielle achieved significant success but earned a reputation for being difficult. As her career began to fade, she married wealthy businessman Carlos Solis (Ricardo Antonio Chavira), who proposed after only three dates. They then relocated to Wisteria Lane in the fictional suburb of Fairview, Eagle State, where Gabrielle befriended Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher), Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman), Bree Van de Kamp (Marcia Cross), and Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong).
Season 1
In the pilot episode, Gabrielle is unhappy with her marriage to Carlos, whose priority is work. She is shown to be extremely lonely while Carlos is money-minded and oblivious to her unhappiness. To keep herself entertained, she has an affair with John Rowland (Jesse Metcalfe), her teenage gardener. Carlos suspects that Gabrielle is being unfaithful and he enlists the help of his mother, Juanita "Mama" Solis (Lupe Ontiveros). Mama Solis catches Gabrielle and John having sex and takes a photograph to document Gabrielle's betrayal. However, while fleeing the house, she is hit by a car driven by Andrew Van de Kamp, and Gabrielle is able to dispose of the evidence against her. Mama Solis falls into a coma and dies a few months later without having the opportunity to tell Carlos about Gabrielle's affair. Gabrielle and John end the affair after Susan and Helen (Kathryn Harrold), John's mother, find out about it. Soon after, Carlos is indicted for importing goods made by slave labor. The government freezes the Solis' bank accounts, forcing Gabrielle to perform low-wage modeling jobs to pay bills. Carlos is eventually released under house arrest while awaiting trial, during which time the couple faces several financial crises.Carlos continually asks Gabrielle for a child, as well as a post-nuptial agreement that she will not divorce him while he is in jail. After Carlos physically forces Gabrielle to sign the documents, she reignites her affair with John. Later, Gabrielle discovers that she is pregnant and is unsure of who the father is. John hopes to help take care of the baby, but Gabrielle tells him she will only acknowledge Carlos as the father. Later, Gabrielle finds out that Carlos had tampered with her birth control in order to orchestrate her pregnancy. While Carlos is facing a separate trial for assaulting two different gay men he mistook for being Gabrielle's lovers (the first being a cable repairman who slipped in their bathroom after interrupting a tryst between Gabrielle and John, the second being John's roommate Justin), John admits to his affair with Gabrielle. Carlos attempts to attack John in court, and is subsequently convicted for hate crimes.
Season 2
With Carlos now in jail and a child on the way, Gabrielle alienates John and attempts to salvage her marriage. Gabrielle and Carlos continue sparring until she apologizes for the affair wholeheartedly for the first time. Hoping to be granted a conjugal visit and eventually get Carlos released on parole, Gabrielle hires David Bradley (Adrian Pasdar), a womanizing lawyer who later professes his love to Gabrielle, to get Carlos' hate crime conviction overturned. Later, Caleb Applewhite (Page Kennedy), Betty Applewhite's (Alfre Woodard) allegedly violent and mentally ill son, breaks into Gabrielle's home and chases her. She falls down the stairs, resulting in a miscarriage. Afterwards, Carlos is paroled thanks to the influence of a nun named Sister Mary Bernard (Melinda Page Hamilton). Gabrielle objects to Carlos' attempts to become a better and more spiritual man, as it threatens her lavish lifestyle, thus prompting Sister Mary to suggest Carlos annul his marriage to Gabrielle. Gabrielle intervenes when Carlos attempts to accompany Sister Mary on a charity trip to Botswana. To rid herself of Sister Mary permanently, Gabrielle tells a priest at the church that Sister Mary and Carlos had an affair. Consequently, Sister Mary is transferred to Alaska.Gabrielle agrees to have a child with Carlos, but her miscarriage leads to complications, forcing them to consider adoption. They prepare to adopt the unborn baby of pole dancer Libby Collins (Nichole Hiltz). However, Libby's boyfriend, Frank Helm (Eddie McClintock), and his teenaged brother and the baby's father, Dale (Sam Horrigan), try to intervene. When the baby, Lily, is born, a judge grants Carlos and Gabrielle temporary custody; however, Libby ultimately decides to take Lily back and raise her with Frank. Meanwhile, Gabrielle learns that her maid, Xiao-Mei (Gwendoline Yeo), is in danger of being deported to China. Xiao-Mei agrees to be Gabrielle and Carlos' surrogate in order to stay in the country. As the pregnancy progresses, Gabrielle suspects that Carlos and Xiao-Mei are having an affair. When she catches them having sex, she kicks Carlos out of the house and informs Xiao-Mei that she is not allowed to leave until the baby is born.
Season 3
The third season opens six months later, near the end of Xiao-Mei's pregnancy and in the midst of Gabrielle and Carlos' divorce proceedings. When Xiao-Mei gives birth, doctors discover that they had accidentally switched the Solis' embryo with another couple's and the Solis' embryo was not successfully inseminated. Xiao-Mei moves out and Gabrielle and Carlos are left without a child. Despite this, their divorce proceedings become complicated and vindictive. Following Gabrielle's divorce, she teams up with her personal shopper Vern (Alec Mapa) to coach a group of young misfit girls for the Little Miss Snowflake Beauty Pageant. She briefly dates Bill Pearce (Mark Deklin) the widowed father of a girl in the pageant, before realizing that she is not yet ready to date again. Soon after, Zach Young (Cody Kasch) the recently wealthy son of Gabrielle's deceased friend, Mary Alice, begins pursuing Gabrielle. Though Gabrielle refuses to date him, she agrees to befriend the irresponsible and disturbed Zach. When Zach proposes to Gabrielle at the grand opening of the Scavos' new pizzeria, she rejects him and terminates their friendship.Later, Victor Lang (John Slattery), a candidate for the mayor of Fairview, takes notice of Gabrielle, and arranges an encounter with her by having his chauffeur intentionally rear-end her car with his limo. They date casually, but Gabrielle insists that she is not interested. Nevertheless, they have mutual feelings of love. When Gabrielle learns that Carlos has started dating her neighbor, the promiscuous Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan), she accepts Victor's marriage proposal. As the wedding draws near, Gabrielle begins to have second thoughts about marrying Victor, especially after he wins the election and neglects her for his political career. Despite this, she marries Victor. However, after the wedding, Gabrielle overhears a conversation Victor has with his father Milton (Mike Farrell), where he admits to only having married her for his political gain, thus; prompting her to reignite her relationship with Carlos.
Season 4
The season premiere, "Now You Know", opens with Gaby and Carlos' plan to run away together on Gaby's wedding night; however, after Edie stages a suicide attempt, Carlos calls off the plan. One month later, Gaby and Carlos reignite their affair despite their commitments to Victor and Edie, respectively. Edie soon becomes suspicious of Carlos, and eventually pieces together that he is cheating on her with Gabrielle when she, Carlos, and Victor all come down with crabs. She hires a private investigator, who photographs the couple sharing a final kiss after having just decided to end their affair. Edie shows the photographs to Victor. Victor takes Gabrielle on his boat, where she learns that he has found about the affair. Fearing that he might try to kill her, she knocks him overboard twice (first by herself and then with Carlos' help) and leaves him at sea. Victor survives the ordeal and vows to get revenge on Gabrielle and Carlos. He attempts to kill Carlos during a tornado, only to be killed when he is impaled from behind by a fencepost. In the same storm, Carlos is blinded while the only documents giving him access to an offshore bank account are destroyed. The couple remarries soon after.While Gabrielle learns to cope with Carlos' blindness, the Solises rent out a room in their house to Ellie Leonard (Justine Bateman) to improve their financial circumstances. Gabrielle later discovers that Ellie is a drug dealer and alerts the authorities; however, after she and Ellie bond, Gabrielle helps her escape before the police arrest her. Gabrielle later discovers several thousand dollars in Ellie's abandoned belongings. Ellie comes back to retrieve it, but Gabrielle tries to keep it from her. When police arrive to the Solis home, Ellie escapes and seeks refuge in Katherine Mayfair's house, where she is shot and killed by Wayne Davis (Gary Cole).
Season 5
Five years after the events in season four, Gabrielle is not as beautiful, Carlos is still blind, and they are now raising two disobedient daughters, Juanita (Madison De La Garza) and Celia (Daniella Baltodano). The family struggles financially, forcing Carlos to take a job as a masseur at a local country club, which further alienates them from high society. One of Carlos' elderly and wealthy clients, Virginia Hildebrand (Frances Conroy), offers him a job as her personal masseur. Virginia becomes close with the Solises. Initially, Gabrielle does not mind, as she enjoys the luxuries Virginia provides for them; however, she starts to feel uncomfortable. Virginia revises her will to make the Solises the sole heirs to her estate, but Gabrielle eventually rejects the offer when Virginia tries to make important decisions in Juanita and Celia's lives. Later, Carlos regains his sight after having surgery.Carlos plans to take a job at the community center to help blind people. Tired of struggling, Gabrielle forces Carlos to take a high-salary office job. Meanwhile, Gabrielle works to lose weight and return to her model figure. When Gabrielle discovers that Carlos' new boss, Bradley Scott (David Starzyk), is cheating on his wife, she promises to remain silent so long as Carlos receives a generous salary bonus. Eventually, Bradley's wife, Maria Scott (Ion Overman), finds out about his affair and kills him. As a result of Bradley's death, Carlos is promoted. Later, Gabrielle hesitantly agrees to take in Carlos' teenage niece, Ana (Maiara Walsh), when her grandmother can no longer care for her. Gabrielle attempts to foster a positive relationship with Ana; however, she soon sees how entitled and manipulative Ana is.
Season 6
Gabrielle's relationship with Ana becomes more problematic, as Ana shows no regard for the household rules. Ana begins pursuing Danny Bolen (Beau Mirchoff), the teenage son of their new neighbors, Angie (Drea de Matteo) and Nick Bolen (Jeffrey Nordling). When Danny is accused of strangling Susan's daughter, Julie Mayer (Andrea Bowen), Ana attempts to provide him a false alibi until Gabrielle forces her to tell the truth. Later, Ana gets a job at John Rowland's restaurant. John attempts to win Gabrielle back, forcing her to question whether or not she still has feelings for him. She ultimately decides that she is happy with her life, and Ana quits her job after Gabrielle confesses to her affair with John in the first season. Gabrielle also begins experiencing difficulties in her relationship with Juanita: her poor parenting skills make other parents reluctant to let their children play with Juanita; Gabrielle's hot temper gets Juanita expelled from school; and her attempts to home school Juanita only strain their relationship further. Gabrielle and Carlos then enroll Juanita in private school. Later, Gabrielle discovers that Lynette has been hiding her pregnancy in order to secure a promotion at Carlos' company. Feeling betrayed, Gabrielle ends their friendship and Carlos tries to drive Lynette to quit her job. However, when a small plane hired by Karl Mayer makes a crash landing on Wisteria Lane, Lynette saves Celia from its path, thus restoring her friendship with Gabrielle.Gabrielle's friendship with Angie is complicated when Ana and Danny begin dating, especially when Gabrielle and Carlos discover that the Bolens are keeping a dangerous secret. To break up Ana and Danny, Gabrielle and Carlos send her to a modeling academy in New York; unbeknownst to them or the Bolens, however, Danny follows her there. Gabrielle accompanies Angie to New York to retrieve Danny, during which time she learns about Angie's mysterious past, which involves Danny's biological father. Patrick Logan (John Barrowman), an environmental terrorist and Danny's real father, tracks them down to Wisteria Lane. He runs over Nick, placing him in the hospital, and holds Angie and Danny hostage. Gabrielle helps rescue the Bolens and send them to Atlanta, as the government is still searching for them due to their involvement in Patrick's terrorism.
Season 7
Gabrielle is told the truth of Andrew killing Carlos' mother but decides to keep it quiet, fearing Carlos' reaction and not wanting to hurt him. She is sent to the hospital after Bree accidentally hits Juanita with her car. She finds out later that Juanita is not her real daughter due to a hospital mix-up. Gabrielle soon realizes she wants to meet her true daughter and convinces a lawyer to find the other family. Carlos is angered when he finds out, telling her that the family could take Juanita away and if that happens, he'll never forgive Gabrielle. When they meet the family, they automatically know that Grace is Gaby's daughter as she is throwing a fit over a jumper. Gabrielle grows closer to Grace, causing jealousy in Juanita, who doesn't know the truth. When Grace's legal parents are discovered to be illegal immigrants, her legal father Hector is arrested and her legal mother Carmen is forced to go on the run. Since Grace was born in the United States, she is a citizen and Gabrielle and Carlos agree to take her in to raise her.
To make sure they can get Grace to live with them, Gabrielle turns Grace's legal mother into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) but then has second thoughts when ICE shows up, posing as Carmen and letting Carmen get away. But when Gabrielle and Carlos go to pick up Grace, Carmen insists on taking Grace. Distraught over losing Grace, Gabrielle confides in Lynette, the only person she knows who has lost a child. Lynette tells Gabrielle that she wrote a letter to the child she lost, and that this might help Gabrielle, who wouldn't have to actually send it. Gabrielle writes the letter; Juanita finds it and runs away, hiding in the back of Bob and Lee's car, where Gabrielle sees her just in time for her to be rescued during a riot. A therapist suggests that Carlos and Gabrielle cut off all ties and reminders of Grace in order to let the tension with Juanita heal. Gabrielle is reluctant, keeping photos of Grace but Carlos demands she do this for Juanita.
Gabrielle seems to agree, but goes to a boutique and buys a doll that resembles Grace and keeps it hidden from her family. After Juanita and Celia find it and play with it, ultimately breaking its arm, Gabrielle goes back to the boutique and has the owner repair "Princess Valerie". The owner promises to repair it, and Gabrielle, feeling she is too attached to the doll, asks the owner if she thinks Gabrielle is strange. The owner disagrees, and shows Gabrielle her own doll, Mrs. Humphreys. The owner tells Gabrielle that she fell in love with the doll and bought it, ultimately learning the doll's "story". The owner says that Mrs. Humphreys is a music teacher whose sister died around the same time the owner's did (hinting that the owner bought the doll as a replacement for her passed on sister, much as Gabrielle did). Gabrielle sees the owner's pain, and the owner asks Gabrielle about Princess Valerie's story. Although reluctant, Gabrielle emotionally tells her that the doll was a princess who was accidentally given to the wrong family, but she found her way back eventually, and her mother, the Queen, had her hid so that no one could take her away again. When she gets home, Gabrielle puts Princess Valerie in a box behind her closet. Carlos finds out about Gabrielle's obsession with the doll so they go out to get rid of it and get carjacked by an unknown gunman. Gabrielle tries to take Princess Valerie out of the car but she had to let her go because the gunman threatened to kill her.
Carlos insists she go to therapy but she ignores it, going to spa treatments instead. Eventually, Carlos goes with her as she confesses to the therapist how she was molested as a child. At the therapist's suggestion, Gabrielle and Carlos go to her hometown where Gaby is surprised to learn she is a celebrity. She enjoys being admired by the townspeople until she meets the nun she had once confided in about her abuse as a child. The nun had then refused to believe Gabrielle's story and remains stubborn as Gabrielle lets out the shame she has long since been forced to feel by the cold nun's words; passing it back onto this woman who was in a position to prevent a childhood of torment and failed to do anything, gives Gaby the sense of closure she has been seeking. Finally Gabrielle tells Carlos she is ready to go home and leave the past behind. Making amends for his past while in AA, Andrew decides to tell Carlos about running over his mother. While Carlos does forgive Andrew, he is furious with Gabrielle over keeping the secret from him. He tells Bree that he won't forgive her for hiding the truth and bans Gabrielle from seeing Bree again. Gabrielle takes her girls and temporarily moves in with Bree. She shortly returns to Carlos.
Gabrielle shows a horror movie to Juanita, which gives her nightmares. She claims that a man is standing on the family's front lawn every night. Gabrielle is doubtful of this until she too notices the mysterious stranger. She sees him while shopping one day and asks a security officer to see a security camera. She realizes that her stalker is the stepfather who raped her as a child. This horrifies Gabrielle, especially because she thought that he was dead. Gabrielle learns her stepfather has been following her everywhere she goes. She drives to a deserted area when she knows he is following her, and walks into a clearing, armed with a gun that she acquired for her protection. She confronts him about raping her as a young girl. He admits to the terrible deed. During Susan's coming home dinner, Gabrielle runs home to begin preparations for dessert course. Once she enters her house, her stepfather confronts her again, pretending to have her gun. He begins to attack her and attempts to rape her. However, Carlos comes home and intervenes, accidentally killing him with a blow to the head from a candlestick. Bree, Susan, and Lynette come into the house and discover the body. With help from Bree, they are able to clean up before the rest of the guests arrive. The group agrees to keep the situation secret.
Season 8
Gabrielle and Carlos deal with keeping the murder of her stepfather quiet, Carlos unable to be intimate due to his guilt. Gabrielle challenges the antagonistic PTA head at Juanita's school after a parking dispute only to accidentally hit the woman with her car. The woman gets revenge by making Gabrielle her replacement, warning her that being PTA head will drive Gabrielle crazy. The first meeting does not go well as Gabrielle is late due to a spa appointment and the other members berate her over putting her high-living lifestyle over her responsibilities. Assuming they're jealous, Gabrielle gives them massages and makeovers but they still refuse to help. They snap that Gabrielle has no idea how people like them live and her life is so perfect. However, when a drunken Carlos comes in, the PTA members realize that Gabrielle faces many struggles as well and she really isn't that different from them after all. They take over the luncheon project and allow Gabrielle to help her husband. When Carlos gets drunk before work, Gabrielle attempts to cover for him but his boss figures it out. Rather than be upset, the man tells Carlos he understands, being a recovering alcoholic himself, and urges Carlos to get help. Carlos checks himself into a rehab center but vanishes the same night detective Chuck Vance is killed, making Gabrielle worry Carlos might have done it while drunk. When a guilty Susan checks in on Alejandro's family, his suspicious widow, Claudia, follows her, believing Susan is having an affair with her husband. Gabrielle is upset with Susan until she hears Susan's suspicion that Claudia's daughter, Marisa, was also molested. Gabrielle invites Claudia over, telling her the truth about Alejandro. Claudia refuses to believe it until Marisa finally confesses what the man did to her, Claudia distraught to have had her daughter hurt like that. She later comes to Gabrielle, thanking her for letting her see the truth. She spots the rug stained with Alejandro's blood that Gabrielle was having replaced and tells Gabrielle to get rid of it, clearly knowing what happened to Alejandro and willing to keep it quiet.
When Carlos gets out of rehab, he surprises Gabrielle by having a new attitude of giving away money, not wanting to be so greedy anymore. Gabrielle is upset at first but at Mike's funeral, realizes it's better to let Carlos do what makes him happy. She tries to calm her nerves by shopping and ends up being offered a job as a "personal shopper." At first, Gabrielle is good with it but also has to pretend to be single to win over male shoppers. Carlos is upset with this and Gabrielle tells him she is doing what she wants and is enjoying it. When Bree is put on trial for killing Alejandro, both Carlos and Gabrielle want to tell the truth but Karen McCluskey (overhearing them talking about it) confesses on the stand to killing Alejandro herself. Gabrielle is eventually offered a promotion at her job with Carlos upset at first but coming to accept it. In the final moments of the series, it's stated that Carlos helps Gabrielle start her own online shopper company, which earns her a show on the Home Shopping Network. They eventually move to a mansion in Los Angeles where "they argued happily ever after."
Trivia
Roselyn Sánchez auditioned for the role also but the producers thought she wasn't right for the role because of her heavy Puerto Rican accent. Sánchez did make a cameo in the series finale as the new gardener Carlos hires for their house and became a main character in the spin-off series Devious Maids as Carmen Luna.
Laura Harring also auditioned for the role of Gabrielle.
When Marc Cherry was casting, he asked Eva, "Do you like the script?" She said, "not meaning to be conceited, but I only read my part," then he thought "she's Gaby."
Gabrielle is one of two housewives to cheat on their husbands with the other being Bree.
Gabrielle is the youngest of the housewives from the main four, but Angie is the youngest housewife from all ten.
Gabrielle is allergic to lilies, likes to dance salsa and drink merlot.
Gabrielle and Carlos have O+ blood group.
Gabrielle is the only main housewife to not have a stepchild:
Zach Young is Susan's stepson.
Kayla Huntington Scavo is Lynette's stepdaughter.
Sam Allen is Bree's stepson.
Gabrielle has experienced the loss of a child four times:
her first pregnancy ended in miscarriage when she fell down a flight of stairs,
Libby Collins, biological mother of her adopted daughter Lily, decided to take her back,
The Surrogacy ended in failure,
And she let go of her biological daughter Grace Sánchez.
She is also the only main housewife who is not a grandmother by the series finale.
Gabrielle is the housewife with the most times changed hair colour, as her hair starts out dark brown (season 1, first half of season 2, season 3; episodes 10–23), lightens to medium brown with copper highlights (second half of season 2, seasons 6, 7 and 8). After season 2, Gabrielle seems to dye her hair light brown with blond streaks for the first nine episodes of season 3, with the exception of the episode Bang, (honey blond with blond highlights). In season 4, after changing back to dark brown in season 3, Gabrielle lightens her hair yet again to medium brown with blond highlights. At some point during the time jump between seasons 4 and 5, Gabrielle replaces her blond highlights for caramel. Despite wearing her hair straight most of the time during the first five seasons, she completely stops wearing them straight for seasons 6 and 7, and starts again during the end of season 8.
Reception
Gabrielle has been generally well received by fans. Aya Tsintziras from Screen Rant called Gabrielle as the best character in the series, praising her character arc as the "biggest" and her change from "a spoiled brat who only cares about hair, makeup, and clothing to a caring mother and friend". She also called Gaby's struggle on whether to have children "interesting" and stated that her children change her outlook on life. Tsintziras also said that Gaby's affair with John "makes sense" due to her feeling "trapped" in her marriage and Carlos not understanding her.Gabrielle Rockson from The Things called Gabrielle a household name and a "favourite", stating that people loved her "charm, diva attitude, and witty humor". Longoria has received several awards for her role as Gaby.
== References ==
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performer
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64
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"text": [
"Eva Longoria"
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Gabrielle "Gaby" Solis () is a fictional character portrayed by Eva Longoria on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. Longoria was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her performance.
Storylines
Backstory
Gabrielle Márquez was born in Las Colinas, Texas. Her family is from Guadalajara, Mexico. Born on December 8, 1976, she has a brother and a sister. Her father died of cancer when she was five years old. From that point on, her mother, Lucía Márquez (María Conchita Alonso), married Alejandro Perez (Tony Plana) who sexually abused Gabrielle throughout her teenage years. According to Gabrielle, her mother overlooked the matter, and a nun at her school refused to believe her claims of having been raped. When she was fifteen, Gabrielle ran away to New York City to pursue a career in modeling. Gabrielle achieved significant success but earned a reputation for being difficult. As her career began to fade, she married wealthy businessman Carlos Solis (Ricardo Antonio Chavira), who proposed after only three dates. They then relocated to Wisteria Lane in the fictional suburb of Fairview, Eagle State, where Gabrielle befriended Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher), Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman), Bree Van de Kamp (Marcia Cross), and Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong).
Season 1
In the pilot episode, Gabrielle is unhappy with her marriage to Carlos, whose priority is work. She is shown to be extremely lonely while Carlos is money-minded and oblivious to her unhappiness. To keep herself entertained, she has an affair with John Rowland (Jesse Metcalfe), her teenage gardener. Carlos suspects that Gabrielle is being unfaithful and he enlists the help of his mother, Juanita "Mama" Solis (Lupe Ontiveros). Mama Solis catches Gabrielle and John having sex and takes a photograph to document Gabrielle's betrayal. However, while fleeing the house, she is hit by a car driven by Andrew Van de Kamp, and Gabrielle is able to dispose of the evidence against her. Mama Solis falls into a coma and dies a few months later without having the opportunity to tell Carlos about Gabrielle's affair. Gabrielle and John end the affair after Susan and Helen (Kathryn Harrold), John's mother, find out about it. Soon after, Carlos is indicted for importing goods made by slave labor. The government freezes the Solis' bank accounts, forcing Gabrielle to perform low-wage modeling jobs to pay bills. Carlos is eventually released under house arrest while awaiting trial, during which time the couple faces several financial crises.Carlos continually asks Gabrielle for a child, as well as a post-nuptial agreement that she will not divorce him while he is in jail. After Carlos physically forces Gabrielle to sign the documents, she reignites her affair with John. Later, Gabrielle discovers that she is pregnant and is unsure of who the father is. John hopes to help take care of the baby, but Gabrielle tells him she will only acknowledge Carlos as the father. Later, Gabrielle finds out that Carlos had tampered with her birth control in order to orchestrate her pregnancy. While Carlos is facing a separate trial for assaulting two different gay men he mistook for being Gabrielle's lovers (the first being a cable repairman who slipped in their bathroom after interrupting a tryst between Gabrielle and John, the second being John's roommate Justin), John admits to his affair with Gabrielle. Carlos attempts to attack John in court, and is subsequently convicted for hate crimes.
Season 2
With Carlos now in jail and a child on the way, Gabrielle alienates John and attempts to salvage her marriage. Gabrielle and Carlos continue sparring until she apologizes for the affair wholeheartedly for the first time. Hoping to be granted a conjugal visit and eventually get Carlos released on parole, Gabrielle hires David Bradley (Adrian Pasdar), a womanizing lawyer who later professes his love to Gabrielle, to get Carlos' hate crime conviction overturned. Later, Caleb Applewhite (Page Kennedy), Betty Applewhite's (Alfre Woodard) allegedly violent and mentally ill son, breaks into Gabrielle's home and chases her. She falls down the stairs, resulting in a miscarriage. Afterwards, Carlos is paroled thanks to the influence of a nun named Sister Mary Bernard (Melinda Page Hamilton). Gabrielle objects to Carlos' attempts to become a better and more spiritual man, as it threatens her lavish lifestyle, thus prompting Sister Mary to suggest Carlos annul his marriage to Gabrielle. Gabrielle intervenes when Carlos attempts to accompany Sister Mary on a charity trip to Botswana. To rid herself of Sister Mary permanently, Gabrielle tells a priest at the church that Sister Mary and Carlos had an affair. Consequently, Sister Mary is transferred to Alaska.Gabrielle agrees to have a child with Carlos, but her miscarriage leads to complications, forcing them to consider adoption. They prepare to adopt the unborn baby of pole dancer Libby Collins (Nichole Hiltz). However, Libby's boyfriend, Frank Helm (Eddie McClintock), and his teenaged brother and the baby's father, Dale (Sam Horrigan), try to intervene. When the baby, Lily, is born, a judge grants Carlos and Gabrielle temporary custody; however, Libby ultimately decides to take Lily back and raise her with Frank. Meanwhile, Gabrielle learns that her maid, Xiao-Mei (Gwendoline Yeo), is in danger of being deported to China. Xiao-Mei agrees to be Gabrielle and Carlos' surrogate in order to stay in the country. As the pregnancy progresses, Gabrielle suspects that Carlos and Xiao-Mei are having an affair. When she catches them having sex, she kicks Carlos out of the house and informs Xiao-Mei that she is not allowed to leave until the baby is born.
Season 3
The third season opens six months later, near the end of Xiao-Mei's pregnancy and in the midst of Gabrielle and Carlos' divorce proceedings. When Xiao-Mei gives birth, doctors discover that they had accidentally switched the Solis' embryo with another couple's and the Solis' embryo was not successfully inseminated. Xiao-Mei moves out and Gabrielle and Carlos are left without a child. Despite this, their divorce proceedings become complicated and vindictive. Following Gabrielle's divorce, she teams up with her personal shopper Vern (Alec Mapa) to coach a group of young misfit girls for the Little Miss Snowflake Beauty Pageant. She briefly dates Bill Pearce (Mark Deklin) the widowed father of a girl in the pageant, before realizing that she is not yet ready to date again. Soon after, Zach Young (Cody Kasch) the recently wealthy son of Gabrielle's deceased friend, Mary Alice, begins pursuing Gabrielle. Though Gabrielle refuses to date him, she agrees to befriend the irresponsible and disturbed Zach. When Zach proposes to Gabrielle at the grand opening of the Scavos' new pizzeria, she rejects him and terminates their friendship.Later, Victor Lang (John Slattery), a candidate for the mayor of Fairview, takes notice of Gabrielle, and arranges an encounter with her by having his chauffeur intentionally rear-end her car with his limo. They date casually, but Gabrielle insists that she is not interested. Nevertheless, they have mutual feelings of love. When Gabrielle learns that Carlos has started dating her neighbor, the promiscuous Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan), she accepts Victor's marriage proposal. As the wedding draws near, Gabrielle begins to have second thoughts about marrying Victor, especially after he wins the election and neglects her for his political career. Despite this, she marries Victor. However, after the wedding, Gabrielle overhears a conversation Victor has with his father Milton (Mike Farrell), where he admits to only having married her for his political gain, thus; prompting her to reignite her relationship with Carlos.
Season 4
The season premiere, "Now You Know", opens with Gaby and Carlos' plan to run away together on Gaby's wedding night; however, after Edie stages a suicide attempt, Carlos calls off the plan. One month later, Gaby and Carlos reignite their affair despite their commitments to Victor and Edie, respectively. Edie soon becomes suspicious of Carlos, and eventually pieces together that he is cheating on her with Gabrielle when she, Carlos, and Victor all come down with crabs. She hires a private investigator, who photographs the couple sharing a final kiss after having just decided to end their affair. Edie shows the photographs to Victor. Victor takes Gabrielle on his boat, where she learns that he has found about the affair. Fearing that he might try to kill her, she knocks him overboard twice (first by herself and then with Carlos' help) and leaves him at sea. Victor survives the ordeal and vows to get revenge on Gabrielle and Carlos. He attempts to kill Carlos during a tornado, only to be killed when he is impaled from behind by a fencepost. In the same storm, Carlos is blinded while the only documents giving him access to an offshore bank account are destroyed. The couple remarries soon after.While Gabrielle learns to cope with Carlos' blindness, the Solises rent out a room in their house to Ellie Leonard (Justine Bateman) to improve their financial circumstances. Gabrielle later discovers that Ellie is a drug dealer and alerts the authorities; however, after she and Ellie bond, Gabrielle helps her escape before the police arrest her. Gabrielle later discovers several thousand dollars in Ellie's abandoned belongings. Ellie comes back to retrieve it, but Gabrielle tries to keep it from her. When police arrive to the Solis home, Ellie escapes and seeks refuge in Katherine Mayfair's house, where she is shot and killed by Wayne Davis (Gary Cole).
Season 5
Five years after the events in season four, Gabrielle is not as beautiful, Carlos is still blind, and they are now raising two disobedient daughters, Juanita (Madison De La Garza) and Celia (Daniella Baltodano). The family struggles financially, forcing Carlos to take a job as a masseur at a local country club, which further alienates them from high society. One of Carlos' elderly and wealthy clients, Virginia Hildebrand (Frances Conroy), offers him a job as her personal masseur. Virginia becomes close with the Solises. Initially, Gabrielle does not mind, as she enjoys the luxuries Virginia provides for them; however, she starts to feel uncomfortable. Virginia revises her will to make the Solises the sole heirs to her estate, but Gabrielle eventually rejects the offer when Virginia tries to make important decisions in Juanita and Celia's lives. Later, Carlos regains his sight after having surgery.Carlos plans to take a job at the community center to help blind people. Tired of struggling, Gabrielle forces Carlos to take a high-salary office job. Meanwhile, Gabrielle works to lose weight and return to her model figure. When Gabrielle discovers that Carlos' new boss, Bradley Scott (David Starzyk), is cheating on his wife, she promises to remain silent so long as Carlos receives a generous salary bonus. Eventually, Bradley's wife, Maria Scott (Ion Overman), finds out about his affair and kills him. As a result of Bradley's death, Carlos is promoted. Later, Gabrielle hesitantly agrees to take in Carlos' teenage niece, Ana (Maiara Walsh), when her grandmother can no longer care for her. Gabrielle attempts to foster a positive relationship with Ana; however, she soon sees how entitled and manipulative Ana is.
Season 6
Gabrielle's relationship with Ana becomes more problematic, as Ana shows no regard for the household rules. Ana begins pursuing Danny Bolen (Beau Mirchoff), the teenage son of their new neighbors, Angie (Drea de Matteo) and Nick Bolen (Jeffrey Nordling). When Danny is accused of strangling Susan's daughter, Julie Mayer (Andrea Bowen), Ana attempts to provide him a false alibi until Gabrielle forces her to tell the truth. Later, Ana gets a job at John Rowland's restaurant. John attempts to win Gabrielle back, forcing her to question whether or not she still has feelings for him. She ultimately decides that she is happy with her life, and Ana quits her job after Gabrielle confesses to her affair with John in the first season. Gabrielle also begins experiencing difficulties in her relationship with Juanita: her poor parenting skills make other parents reluctant to let their children play with Juanita; Gabrielle's hot temper gets Juanita expelled from school; and her attempts to home school Juanita only strain their relationship further. Gabrielle and Carlos then enroll Juanita in private school. Later, Gabrielle discovers that Lynette has been hiding her pregnancy in order to secure a promotion at Carlos' company. Feeling betrayed, Gabrielle ends their friendship and Carlos tries to drive Lynette to quit her job. However, when a small plane hired by Karl Mayer makes a crash landing on Wisteria Lane, Lynette saves Celia from its path, thus restoring her friendship with Gabrielle.Gabrielle's friendship with Angie is complicated when Ana and Danny begin dating, especially when Gabrielle and Carlos discover that the Bolens are keeping a dangerous secret. To break up Ana and Danny, Gabrielle and Carlos send her to a modeling academy in New York; unbeknownst to them or the Bolens, however, Danny follows her there. Gabrielle accompanies Angie to New York to retrieve Danny, during which time she learns about Angie's mysterious past, which involves Danny's biological father. Patrick Logan (John Barrowman), an environmental terrorist and Danny's real father, tracks them down to Wisteria Lane. He runs over Nick, placing him in the hospital, and holds Angie and Danny hostage. Gabrielle helps rescue the Bolens and send them to Atlanta, as the government is still searching for them due to their involvement in Patrick's terrorism.
Season 7
Gabrielle is told the truth of Andrew killing Carlos' mother but decides to keep it quiet, fearing Carlos' reaction and not wanting to hurt him. She is sent to the hospital after Bree accidentally hits Juanita with her car. She finds out later that Juanita is not her real daughter due to a hospital mix-up. Gabrielle soon realizes she wants to meet her true daughter and convinces a lawyer to find the other family. Carlos is angered when he finds out, telling her that the family could take Juanita away and if that happens, he'll never forgive Gabrielle. When they meet the family, they automatically know that Grace is Gaby's daughter as she is throwing a fit over a jumper. Gabrielle grows closer to Grace, causing jealousy in Juanita, who doesn't know the truth. When Grace's legal parents are discovered to be illegal immigrants, her legal father Hector is arrested and her legal mother Carmen is forced to go on the run. Since Grace was born in the United States, she is a citizen and Gabrielle and Carlos agree to take her in to raise her.
To make sure they can get Grace to live with them, Gabrielle turns Grace's legal mother into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) but then has second thoughts when ICE shows up, posing as Carmen and letting Carmen get away. But when Gabrielle and Carlos go to pick up Grace, Carmen insists on taking Grace. Distraught over losing Grace, Gabrielle confides in Lynette, the only person she knows who has lost a child. Lynette tells Gabrielle that she wrote a letter to the child she lost, and that this might help Gabrielle, who wouldn't have to actually send it. Gabrielle writes the letter; Juanita finds it and runs away, hiding in the back of Bob and Lee's car, where Gabrielle sees her just in time for her to be rescued during a riot. A therapist suggests that Carlos and Gabrielle cut off all ties and reminders of Grace in order to let the tension with Juanita heal. Gabrielle is reluctant, keeping photos of Grace but Carlos demands she do this for Juanita.
Gabrielle seems to agree, but goes to a boutique and buys a doll that resembles Grace and keeps it hidden from her family. After Juanita and Celia find it and play with it, ultimately breaking its arm, Gabrielle goes back to the boutique and has the owner repair "Princess Valerie". The owner promises to repair it, and Gabrielle, feeling she is too attached to the doll, asks the owner if she thinks Gabrielle is strange. The owner disagrees, and shows Gabrielle her own doll, Mrs. Humphreys. The owner tells Gabrielle that she fell in love with the doll and bought it, ultimately learning the doll's "story". The owner says that Mrs. Humphreys is a music teacher whose sister died around the same time the owner's did (hinting that the owner bought the doll as a replacement for her passed on sister, much as Gabrielle did). Gabrielle sees the owner's pain, and the owner asks Gabrielle about Princess Valerie's story. Although reluctant, Gabrielle emotionally tells her that the doll was a princess who was accidentally given to the wrong family, but she found her way back eventually, and her mother, the Queen, had her hid so that no one could take her away again. When she gets home, Gabrielle puts Princess Valerie in a box behind her closet. Carlos finds out about Gabrielle's obsession with the doll so they go out to get rid of it and get carjacked by an unknown gunman. Gabrielle tries to take Princess Valerie out of the car but she had to let her go because the gunman threatened to kill her.
Carlos insists she go to therapy but she ignores it, going to spa treatments instead. Eventually, Carlos goes with her as she confesses to the therapist how she was molested as a child. At the therapist's suggestion, Gabrielle and Carlos go to her hometown where Gaby is surprised to learn she is a celebrity. She enjoys being admired by the townspeople until she meets the nun she had once confided in about her abuse as a child. The nun had then refused to believe Gabrielle's story and remains stubborn as Gabrielle lets out the shame she has long since been forced to feel by the cold nun's words; passing it back onto this woman who was in a position to prevent a childhood of torment and failed to do anything, gives Gaby the sense of closure she has been seeking. Finally Gabrielle tells Carlos she is ready to go home and leave the past behind. Making amends for his past while in AA, Andrew decides to tell Carlos about running over his mother. While Carlos does forgive Andrew, he is furious with Gabrielle over keeping the secret from him. He tells Bree that he won't forgive her for hiding the truth and bans Gabrielle from seeing Bree again. Gabrielle takes her girls and temporarily moves in with Bree. She shortly returns to Carlos.
Gabrielle shows a horror movie to Juanita, which gives her nightmares. She claims that a man is standing on the family's front lawn every night. Gabrielle is doubtful of this until she too notices the mysterious stranger. She sees him while shopping one day and asks a security officer to see a security camera. She realizes that her stalker is the stepfather who raped her as a child. This horrifies Gabrielle, especially because she thought that he was dead. Gabrielle learns her stepfather has been following her everywhere she goes. She drives to a deserted area when she knows he is following her, and walks into a clearing, armed with a gun that she acquired for her protection. She confronts him about raping her as a young girl. He admits to the terrible deed. During Susan's coming home dinner, Gabrielle runs home to begin preparations for dessert course. Once she enters her house, her stepfather confronts her again, pretending to have her gun. He begins to attack her and attempts to rape her. However, Carlos comes home and intervenes, accidentally killing him with a blow to the head from a candlestick. Bree, Susan, and Lynette come into the house and discover the body. With help from Bree, they are able to clean up before the rest of the guests arrive. The group agrees to keep the situation secret.
Season 8
Gabrielle and Carlos deal with keeping the murder of her stepfather quiet, Carlos unable to be intimate due to his guilt. Gabrielle challenges the antagonistic PTA head at Juanita's school after a parking dispute only to accidentally hit the woman with her car. The woman gets revenge by making Gabrielle her replacement, warning her that being PTA head will drive Gabrielle crazy. The first meeting does not go well as Gabrielle is late due to a spa appointment and the other members berate her over putting her high-living lifestyle over her responsibilities. Assuming they're jealous, Gabrielle gives them massages and makeovers but they still refuse to help. They snap that Gabrielle has no idea how people like them live and her life is so perfect. However, when a drunken Carlos comes in, the PTA members realize that Gabrielle faces many struggles as well and she really isn't that different from them after all. They take over the luncheon project and allow Gabrielle to help her husband. When Carlos gets drunk before work, Gabrielle attempts to cover for him but his boss figures it out. Rather than be upset, the man tells Carlos he understands, being a recovering alcoholic himself, and urges Carlos to get help. Carlos checks himself into a rehab center but vanishes the same night detective Chuck Vance is killed, making Gabrielle worry Carlos might have done it while drunk. When a guilty Susan checks in on Alejandro's family, his suspicious widow, Claudia, follows her, believing Susan is having an affair with her husband. Gabrielle is upset with Susan until she hears Susan's suspicion that Claudia's daughter, Marisa, was also molested. Gabrielle invites Claudia over, telling her the truth about Alejandro. Claudia refuses to believe it until Marisa finally confesses what the man did to her, Claudia distraught to have had her daughter hurt like that. She later comes to Gabrielle, thanking her for letting her see the truth. She spots the rug stained with Alejandro's blood that Gabrielle was having replaced and tells Gabrielle to get rid of it, clearly knowing what happened to Alejandro and willing to keep it quiet.
When Carlos gets out of rehab, he surprises Gabrielle by having a new attitude of giving away money, not wanting to be so greedy anymore. Gabrielle is upset at first but at Mike's funeral, realizes it's better to let Carlos do what makes him happy. She tries to calm her nerves by shopping and ends up being offered a job as a "personal shopper." At first, Gabrielle is good with it but also has to pretend to be single to win over male shoppers. Carlos is upset with this and Gabrielle tells him she is doing what she wants and is enjoying it. When Bree is put on trial for killing Alejandro, both Carlos and Gabrielle want to tell the truth but Karen McCluskey (overhearing them talking about it) confesses on the stand to killing Alejandro herself. Gabrielle is eventually offered a promotion at her job with Carlos upset at first but coming to accept it. In the final moments of the series, it's stated that Carlos helps Gabrielle start her own online shopper company, which earns her a show on the Home Shopping Network. They eventually move to a mansion in Los Angeles where "they argued happily ever after."
Trivia
Roselyn Sánchez auditioned for the role also but the producers thought she wasn't right for the role because of her heavy Puerto Rican accent. Sánchez did make a cameo in the series finale as the new gardener Carlos hires for their house and became a main character in the spin-off series Devious Maids as Carmen Luna.
Laura Harring also auditioned for the role of Gabrielle.
When Marc Cherry was casting, he asked Eva, "Do you like the script?" She said, "not meaning to be conceited, but I only read my part," then he thought "she's Gaby."
Gabrielle is one of two housewives to cheat on their husbands with the other being Bree.
Gabrielle is the youngest of the housewives from the main four, but Angie is the youngest housewife from all ten.
Gabrielle is allergic to lilies, likes to dance salsa and drink merlot.
Gabrielle and Carlos have O+ blood group.
Gabrielle is the only main housewife to not have a stepchild:
Zach Young is Susan's stepson.
Kayla Huntington Scavo is Lynette's stepdaughter.
Sam Allen is Bree's stepson.
Gabrielle has experienced the loss of a child four times:
her first pregnancy ended in miscarriage when she fell down a flight of stairs,
Libby Collins, biological mother of her adopted daughter Lily, decided to take her back,
The Surrogacy ended in failure,
And she let go of her biological daughter Grace Sánchez.
She is also the only main housewife who is not a grandmother by the series finale.
Gabrielle is the housewife with the most times changed hair colour, as her hair starts out dark brown (season 1, first half of season 2, season 3; episodes 10–23), lightens to medium brown with copper highlights (second half of season 2, seasons 6, 7 and 8). After season 2, Gabrielle seems to dye her hair light brown with blond streaks for the first nine episodes of season 3, with the exception of the episode Bang, (honey blond with blond highlights). In season 4, after changing back to dark brown in season 3, Gabrielle lightens her hair yet again to medium brown with blond highlights. At some point during the time jump between seasons 4 and 5, Gabrielle replaces her blond highlights for caramel. Despite wearing her hair straight most of the time during the first five seasons, she completely stops wearing them straight for seasons 6 and 7, and starts again during the end of season 8.
Reception
Gabrielle has been generally well received by fans. Aya Tsintziras from Screen Rant called Gabrielle as the best character in the series, praising her character arc as the "biggest" and her change from "a spoiled brat who only cares about hair, makeup, and clothing to a caring mother and friend". She also called Gaby's struggle on whether to have children "interesting" and stated that her children change her outlook on life. Tsintziras also said that Gaby's affair with John "makes sense" due to her feeling "trapped" in her marriage and Carlos not understanding her.Gabrielle Rockson from The Things called Gabrielle a household name and a "favourite", stating that people loved her "charm, diva attitude, and witty humor". Longoria has received several awards for her role as Gaby.
== References ==
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unmarried partner
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Gabrielle "Gaby" Solis () is a fictional character portrayed by Eva Longoria on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. Longoria was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her performance.
Storylines
Backstory
Gabrielle Márquez was born in Las Colinas, Texas. Her family is from Guadalajara, Mexico. Born on December 8, 1976, she has a brother and a sister. Her father died of cancer when she was five years old. From that point on, her mother, Lucía Márquez (María Conchita Alonso), married Alejandro Perez (Tony Plana) who sexually abused Gabrielle throughout her teenage years. According to Gabrielle, her mother overlooked the matter, and a nun at her school refused to believe her claims of having been raped. When she was fifteen, Gabrielle ran away to New York City to pursue a career in modeling. Gabrielle achieved significant success but earned a reputation for being difficult. As her career began to fade, she married wealthy businessman Carlos Solis (Ricardo Antonio Chavira), who proposed after only three dates. They then relocated to Wisteria Lane in the fictional suburb of Fairview, Eagle State, where Gabrielle befriended Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher), Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman), Bree Van de Kamp (Marcia Cross), and Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong).
Season 1
In the pilot episode, Gabrielle is unhappy with her marriage to Carlos, whose priority is work. She is shown to be extremely lonely while Carlos is money-minded and oblivious to her unhappiness. To keep herself entertained, she has an affair with John Rowland (Jesse Metcalfe), her teenage gardener. Carlos suspects that Gabrielle is being unfaithful and he enlists the help of his mother, Juanita "Mama" Solis (Lupe Ontiveros). Mama Solis catches Gabrielle and John having sex and takes a photograph to document Gabrielle's betrayal. However, while fleeing the house, she is hit by a car driven by Andrew Van de Kamp, and Gabrielle is able to dispose of the evidence against her. Mama Solis falls into a coma and dies a few months later without having the opportunity to tell Carlos about Gabrielle's affair. Gabrielle and John end the affair after Susan and Helen (Kathryn Harrold), John's mother, find out about it. Soon after, Carlos is indicted for importing goods made by slave labor. The government freezes the Solis' bank accounts, forcing Gabrielle to perform low-wage modeling jobs to pay bills. Carlos is eventually released under house arrest while awaiting trial, during which time the couple faces several financial crises.Carlos continually asks Gabrielle for a child, as well as a post-nuptial agreement that she will not divorce him while he is in jail. After Carlos physically forces Gabrielle to sign the documents, she reignites her affair with John. Later, Gabrielle discovers that she is pregnant and is unsure of who the father is. John hopes to help take care of the baby, but Gabrielle tells him she will only acknowledge Carlos as the father. Later, Gabrielle finds out that Carlos had tampered with her birth control in order to orchestrate her pregnancy. While Carlos is facing a separate trial for assaulting two different gay men he mistook for being Gabrielle's lovers (the first being a cable repairman who slipped in their bathroom after interrupting a tryst between Gabrielle and John, the second being John's roommate Justin), John admits to his affair with Gabrielle. Carlos attempts to attack John in court, and is subsequently convicted for hate crimes.
Season 2
With Carlos now in jail and a child on the way, Gabrielle alienates John and attempts to salvage her marriage. Gabrielle and Carlos continue sparring until she apologizes for the affair wholeheartedly for the first time. Hoping to be granted a conjugal visit and eventually get Carlos released on parole, Gabrielle hires David Bradley (Adrian Pasdar), a womanizing lawyer who later professes his love to Gabrielle, to get Carlos' hate crime conviction overturned. Later, Caleb Applewhite (Page Kennedy), Betty Applewhite's (Alfre Woodard) allegedly violent and mentally ill son, breaks into Gabrielle's home and chases her. She falls down the stairs, resulting in a miscarriage. Afterwards, Carlos is paroled thanks to the influence of a nun named Sister Mary Bernard (Melinda Page Hamilton). Gabrielle objects to Carlos' attempts to become a better and more spiritual man, as it threatens her lavish lifestyle, thus prompting Sister Mary to suggest Carlos annul his marriage to Gabrielle. Gabrielle intervenes when Carlos attempts to accompany Sister Mary on a charity trip to Botswana. To rid herself of Sister Mary permanently, Gabrielle tells a priest at the church that Sister Mary and Carlos had an affair. Consequently, Sister Mary is transferred to Alaska.Gabrielle agrees to have a child with Carlos, but her miscarriage leads to complications, forcing them to consider adoption. They prepare to adopt the unborn baby of pole dancer Libby Collins (Nichole Hiltz). However, Libby's boyfriend, Frank Helm (Eddie McClintock), and his teenaged brother and the baby's father, Dale (Sam Horrigan), try to intervene. When the baby, Lily, is born, a judge grants Carlos and Gabrielle temporary custody; however, Libby ultimately decides to take Lily back and raise her with Frank. Meanwhile, Gabrielle learns that her maid, Xiao-Mei (Gwendoline Yeo), is in danger of being deported to China. Xiao-Mei agrees to be Gabrielle and Carlos' surrogate in order to stay in the country. As the pregnancy progresses, Gabrielle suspects that Carlos and Xiao-Mei are having an affair. When she catches them having sex, she kicks Carlos out of the house and informs Xiao-Mei that she is not allowed to leave until the baby is born.
Season 3
The third season opens six months later, near the end of Xiao-Mei's pregnancy and in the midst of Gabrielle and Carlos' divorce proceedings. When Xiao-Mei gives birth, doctors discover that they had accidentally switched the Solis' embryo with another couple's and the Solis' embryo was not successfully inseminated. Xiao-Mei moves out and Gabrielle and Carlos are left without a child. Despite this, their divorce proceedings become complicated and vindictive. Following Gabrielle's divorce, she teams up with her personal shopper Vern (Alec Mapa) to coach a group of young misfit girls for the Little Miss Snowflake Beauty Pageant. She briefly dates Bill Pearce (Mark Deklin) the widowed father of a girl in the pageant, before realizing that she is not yet ready to date again. Soon after, Zach Young (Cody Kasch) the recently wealthy son of Gabrielle's deceased friend, Mary Alice, begins pursuing Gabrielle. Though Gabrielle refuses to date him, she agrees to befriend the irresponsible and disturbed Zach. When Zach proposes to Gabrielle at the grand opening of the Scavos' new pizzeria, she rejects him and terminates their friendship.Later, Victor Lang (John Slattery), a candidate for the mayor of Fairview, takes notice of Gabrielle, and arranges an encounter with her by having his chauffeur intentionally rear-end her car with his limo. They date casually, but Gabrielle insists that she is not interested. Nevertheless, they have mutual feelings of love. When Gabrielle learns that Carlos has started dating her neighbor, the promiscuous Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan), she accepts Victor's marriage proposal. As the wedding draws near, Gabrielle begins to have second thoughts about marrying Victor, especially after he wins the election and neglects her for his political career. Despite this, she marries Victor. However, after the wedding, Gabrielle overhears a conversation Victor has with his father Milton (Mike Farrell), where he admits to only having married her for his political gain, thus; prompting her to reignite her relationship with Carlos.
Season 4
The season premiere, "Now You Know", opens with Gaby and Carlos' plan to run away together on Gaby's wedding night; however, after Edie stages a suicide attempt, Carlos calls off the plan. One month later, Gaby and Carlos reignite their affair despite their commitments to Victor and Edie, respectively. Edie soon becomes suspicious of Carlos, and eventually pieces together that he is cheating on her with Gabrielle when she, Carlos, and Victor all come down with crabs. She hires a private investigator, who photographs the couple sharing a final kiss after having just decided to end their affair. Edie shows the photographs to Victor. Victor takes Gabrielle on his boat, where she learns that he has found about the affair. Fearing that he might try to kill her, she knocks him overboard twice (first by herself and then with Carlos' help) and leaves him at sea. Victor survives the ordeal and vows to get revenge on Gabrielle and Carlos. He attempts to kill Carlos during a tornado, only to be killed when he is impaled from behind by a fencepost. In the same storm, Carlos is blinded while the only documents giving him access to an offshore bank account are destroyed. The couple remarries soon after.While Gabrielle learns to cope with Carlos' blindness, the Solises rent out a room in their house to Ellie Leonard (Justine Bateman) to improve their financial circumstances. Gabrielle later discovers that Ellie is a drug dealer and alerts the authorities; however, after she and Ellie bond, Gabrielle helps her escape before the police arrest her. Gabrielle later discovers several thousand dollars in Ellie's abandoned belongings. Ellie comes back to retrieve it, but Gabrielle tries to keep it from her. When police arrive to the Solis home, Ellie escapes and seeks refuge in Katherine Mayfair's house, where she is shot and killed by Wayne Davis (Gary Cole).
Season 5
Five years after the events in season four, Gabrielle is not as beautiful, Carlos is still blind, and they are now raising two disobedient daughters, Juanita (Madison De La Garza) and Celia (Daniella Baltodano). The family struggles financially, forcing Carlos to take a job as a masseur at a local country club, which further alienates them from high society. One of Carlos' elderly and wealthy clients, Virginia Hildebrand (Frances Conroy), offers him a job as her personal masseur. Virginia becomes close with the Solises. Initially, Gabrielle does not mind, as she enjoys the luxuries Virginia provides for them; however, she starts to feel uncomfortable. Virginia revises her will to make the Solises the sole heirs to her estate, but Gabrielle eventually rejects the offer when Virginia tries to make important decisions in Juanita and Celia's lives. Later, Carlos regains his sight after having surgery.Carlos plans to take a job at the community center to help blind people. Tired of struggling, Gabrielle forces Carlos to take a high-salary office job. Meanwhile, Gabrielle works to lose weight and return to her model figure. When Gabrielle discovers that Carlos' new boss, Bradley Scott (David Starzyk), is cheating on his wife, she promises to remain silent so long as Carlos receives a generous salary bonus. Eventually, Bradley's wife, Maria Scott (Ion Overman), finds out about his affair and kills him. As a result of Bradley's death, Carlos is promoted. Later, Gabrielle hesitantly agrees to take in Carlos' teenage niece, Ana (Maiara Walsh), when her grandmother can no longer care for her. Gabrielle attempts to foster a positive relationship with Ana; however, she soon sees how entitled and manipulative Ana is.
Season 6
Gabrielle's relationship with Ana becomes more problematic, as Ana shows no regard for the household rules. Ana begins pursuing Danny Bolen (Beau Mirchoff), the teenage son of their new neighbors, Angie (Drea de Matteo) and Nick Bolen (Jeffrey Nordling). When Danny is accused of strangling Susan's daughter, Julie Mayer (Andrea Bowen), Ana attempts to provide him a false alibi until Gabrielle forces her to tell the truth. Later, Ana gets a job at John Rowland's restaurant. John attempts to win Gabrielle back, forcing her to question whether or not she still has feelings for him. She ultimately decides that she is happy with her life, and Ana quits her job after Gabrielle confesses to her affair with John in the first season. Gabrielle also begins experiencing difficulties in her relationship with Juanita: her poor parenting skills make other parents reluctant to let their children play with Juanita; Gabrielle's hot temper gets Juanita expelled from school; and her attempts to home school Juanita only strain their relationship further. Gabrielle and Carlos then enroll Juanita in private school. Later, Gabrielle discovers that Lynette has been hiding her pregnancy in order to secure a promotion at Carlos' company. Feeling betrayed, Gabrielle ends their friendship and Carlos tries to drive Lynette to quit her job. However, when a small plane hired by Karl Mayer makes a crash landing on Wisteria Lane, Lynette saves Celia from its path, thus restoring her friendship with Gabrielle.Gabrielle's friendship with Angie is complicated when Ana and Danny begin dating, especially when Gabrielle and Carlos discover that the Bolens are keeping a dangerous secret. To break up Ana and Danny, Gabrielle and Carlos send her to a modeling academy in New York; unbeknownst to them or the Bolens, however, Danny follows her there. Gabrielle accompanies Angie to New York to retrieve Danny, during which time she learns about Angie's mysterious past, which involves Danny's biological father. Patrick Logan (John Barrowman), an environmental terrorist and Danny's real father, tracks them down to Wisteria Lane. He runs over Nick, placing him in the hospital, and holds Angie and Danny hostage. Gabrielle helps rescue the Bolens and send them to Atlanta, as the government is still searching for them due to their involvement in Patrick's terrorism.
Season 7
Gabrielle is told the truth of Andrew killing Carlos' mother but decides to keep it quiet, fearing Carlos' reaction and not wanting to hurt him. She is sent to the hospital after Bree accidentally hits Juanita with her car. She finds out later that Juanita is not her real daughter due to a hospital mix-up. Gabrielle soon realizes she wants to meet her true daughter and convinces a lawyer to find the other family. Carlos is angered when he finds out, telling her that the family could take Juanita away and if that happens, he'll never forgive Gabrielle. When they meet the family, they automatically know that Grace is Gaby's daughter as she is throwing a fit over a jumper. Gabrielle grows closer to Grace, causing jealousy in Juanita, who doesn't know the truth. When Grace's legal parents are discovered to be illegal immigrants, her legal father Hector is arrested and her legal mother Carmen is forced to go on the run. Since Grace was born in the United States, she is a citizen and Gabrielle and Carlos agree to take her in to raise her.
To make sure they can get Grace to live with them, Gabrielle turns Grace's legal mother into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) but then has second thoughts when ICE shows up, posing as Carmen and letting Carmen get away. But when Gabrielle and Carlos go to pick up Grace, Carmen insists on taking Grace. Distraught over losing Grace, Gabrielle confides in Lynette, the only person she knows who has lost a child. Lynette tells Gabrielle that she wrote a letter to the child she lost, and that this might help Gabrielle, who wouldn't have to actually send it. Gabrielle writes the letter; Juanita finds it and runs away, hiding in the back of Bob and Lee's car, where Gabrielle sees her just in time for her to be rescued during a riot. A therapist suggests that Carlos and Gabrielle cut off all ties and reminders of Grace in order to let the tension with Juanita heal. Gabrielle is reluctant, keeping photos of Grace but Carlos demands she do this for Juanita.
Gabrielle seems to agree, but goes to a boutique and buys a doll that resembles Grace and keeps it hidden from her family. After Juanita and Celia find it and play with it, ultimately breaking its arm, Gabrielle goes back to the boutique and has the owner repair "Princess Valerie". The owner promises to repair it, and Gabrielle, feeling she is too attached to the doll, asks the owner if she thinks Gabrielle is strange. The owner disagrees, and shows Gabrielle her own doll, Mrs. Humphreys. The owner tells Gabrielle that she fell in love with the doll and bought it, ultimately learning the doll's "story". The owner says that Mrs. Humphreys is a music teacher whose sister died around the same time the owner's did (hinting that the owner bought the doll as a replacement for her passed on sister, much as Gabrielle did). Gabrielle sees the owner's pain, and the owner asks Gabrielle about Princess Valerie's story. Although reluctant, Gabrielle emotionally tells her that the doll was a princess who was accidentally given to the wrong family, but she found her way back eventually, and her mother, the Queen, had her hid so that no one could take her away again. When she gets home, Gabrielle puts Princess Valerie in a box behind her closet. Carlos finds out about Gabrielle's obsession with the doll so they go out to get rid of it and get carjacked by an unknown gunman. Gabrielle tries to take Princess Valerie out of the car but she had to let her go because the gunman threatened to kill her.
Carlos insists she go to therapy but she ignores it, going to spa treatments instead. Eventually, Carlos goes with her as she confesses to the therapist how she was molested as a child. At the therapist's suggestion, Gabrielle and Carlos go to her hometown where Gaby is surprised to learn she is a celebrity. She enjoys being admired by the townspeople until she meets the nun she had once confided in about her abuse as a child. The nun had then refused to believe Gabrielle's story and remains stubborn as Gabrielle lets out the shame she has long since been forced to feel by the cold nun's words; passing it back onto this woman who was in a position to prevent a childhood of torment and failed to do anything, gives Gaby the sense of closure she has been seeking. Finally Gabrielle tells Carlos she is ready to go home and leave the past behind. Making amends for his past while in AA, Andrew decides to tell Carlos about running over his mother. While Carlos does forgive Andrew, he is furious with Gabrielle over keeping the secret from him. He tells Bree that he won't forgive her for hiding the truth and bans Gabrielle from seeing Bree again. Gabrielle takes her girls and temporarily moves in with Bree. She shortly returns to Carlos.
Gabrielle shows a horror movie to Juanita, which gives her nightmares. She claims that a man is standing on the family's front lawn every night. Gabrielle is doubtful of this until she too notices the mysterious stranger. She sees him while shopping one day and asks a security officer to see a security camera. She realizes that her stalker is the stepfather who raped her as a child. This horrifies Gabrielle, especially because she thought that he was dead. Gabrielle learns her stepfather has been following her everywhere she goes. She drives to a deserted area when she knows he is following her, and walks into a clearing, armed with a gun that she acquired for her protection. She confronts him about raping her as a young girl. He admits to the terrible deed. During Susan's coming home dinner, Gabrielle runs home to begin preparations for dessert course. Once she enters her house, her stepfather confronts her again, pretending to have her gun. He begins to attack her and attempts to rape her. However, Carlos comes home and intervenes, accidentally killing him with a blow to the head from a candlestick. Bree, Susan, and Lynette come into the house and discover the body. With help from Bree, they are able to clean up before the rest of the guests arrive. The group agrees to keep the situation secret.
Season 8
Gabrielle and Carlos deal with keeping the murder of her stepfather quiet, Carlos unable to be intimate due to his guilt. Gabrielle challenges the antagonistic PTA head at Juanita's school after a parking dispute only to accidentally hit the woman with her car. The woman gets revenge by making Gabrielle her replacement, warning her that being PTA head will drive Gabrielle crazy. The first meeting does not go well as Gabrielle is late due to a spa appointment and the other members berate her over putting her high-living lifestyle over her responsibilities. Assuming they're jealous, Gabrielle gives them massages and makeovers but they still refuse to help. They snap that Gabrielle has no idea how people like them live and her life is so perfect. However, when a drunken Carlos comes in, the PTA members realize that Gabrielle faces many struggles as well and she really isn't that different from them after all. They take over the luncheon project and allow Gabrielle to help her husband. When Carlos gets drunk before work, Gabrielle attempts to cover for him but his boss figures it out. Rather than be upset, the man tells Carlos he understands, being a recovering alcoholic himself, and urges Carlos to get help. Carlos checks himself into a rehab center but vanishes the same night detective Chuck Vance is killed, making Gabrielle worry Carlos might have done it while drunk. When a guilty Susan checks in on Alejandro's family, his suspicious widow, Claudia, follows her, believing Susan is having an affair with her husband. Gabrielle is upset with Susan until she hears Susan's suspicion that Claudia's daughter, Marisa, was also molested. Gabrielle invites Claudia over, telling her the truth about Alejandro. Claudia refuses to believe it until Marisa finally confesses what the man did to her, Claudia distraught to have had her daughter hurt like that. She later comes to Gabrielle, thanking her for letting her see the truth. She spots the rug stained with Alejandro's blood that Gabrielle was having replaced and tells Gabrielle to get rid of it, clearly knowing what happened to Alejandro and willing to keep it quiet.
When Carlos gets out of rehab, he surprises Gabrielle by having a new attitude of giving away money, not wanting to be so greedy anymore. Gabrielle is upset at first but at Mike's funeral, realizes it's better to let Carlos do what makes him happy. She tries to calm her nerves by shopping and ends up being offered a job as a "personal shopper." At first, Gabrielle is good with it but also has to pretend to be single to win over male shoppers. Carlos is upset with this and Gabrielle tells him she is doing what she wants and is enjoying it. When Bree is put on trial for killing Alejandro, both Carlos and Gabrielle want to tell the truth but Karen McCluskey (overhearing them talking about it) confesses on the stand to killing Alejandro herself. Gabrielle is eventually offered a promotion at her job with Carlos upset at first but coming to accept it. In the final moments of the series, it's stated that Carlos helps Gabrielle start her own online shopper company, which earns her a show on the Home Shopping Network. They eventually move to a mansion in Los Angeles where "they argued happily ever after."
Trivia
Roselyn Sánchez auditioned for the role also but the producers thought she wasn't right for the role because of her heavy Puerto Rican accent. Sánchez did make a cameo in the series finale as the new gardener Carlos hires for their house and became a main character in the spin-off series Devious Maids as Carmen Luna.
Laura Harring also auditioned for the role of Gabrielle.
When Marc Cherry was casting, he asked Eva, "Do you like the script?" She said, "not meaning to be conceited, but I only read my part," then he thought "she's Gaby."
Gabrielle is one of two housewives to cheat on their husbands with the other being Bree.
Gabrielle is the youngest of the housewives from the main four, but Angie is the youngest housewife from all ten.
Gabrielle is allergic to lilies, likes to dance salsa and drink merlot.
Gabrielle and Carlos have O+ blood group.
Gabrielle is the only main housewife to not have a stepchild:
Zach Young is Susan's stepson.
Kayla Huntington Scavo is Lynette's stepdaughter.
Sam Allen is Bree's stepson.
Gabrielle has experienced the loss of a child four times:
her first pregnancy ended in miscarriage when she fell down a flight of stairs,
Libby Collins, biological mother of her adopted daughter Lily, decided to take her back,
The Surrogacy ended in failure,
And she let go of her biological daughter Grace Sánchez.
She is also the only main housewife who is not a grandmother by the series finale.
Gabrielle is the housewife with the most times changed hair colour, as her hair starts out dark brown (season 1, first half of season 2, season 3; episodes 10–23), lightens to medium brown with copper highlights (second half of season 2, seasons 6, 7 and 8). After season 2, Gabrielle seems to dye her hair light brown with blond streaks for the first nine episodes of season 3, with the exception of the episode Bang, (honey blond with blond highlights). In season 4, after changing back to dark brown in season 3, Gabrielle lightens her hair yet again to medium brown with blond highlights. At some point during the time jump between seasons 4 and 5, Gabrielle replaces her blond highlights for caramel. Despite wearing her hair straight most of the time during the first five seasons, she completely stops wearing them straight for seasons 6 and 7, and starts again during the end of season 8.
Reception
Gabrielle has been generally well received by fans. Aya Tsintziras from Screen Rant called Gabrielle as the best character in the series, praising her character arc as the "biggest" and her change from "a spoiled brat who only cares about hair, makeup, and clothing to a caring mother and friend". She also called Gaby's struggle on whether to have children "interesting" and stated that her children change her outlook on life. Tsintziras also said that Gaby's affair with John "makes sense" due to her feeling "trapped" in her marriage and Carlos not understanding her.Gabrielle Rockson from The Things called Gabrielle a household name and a "favourite", stating that people loved her "charm, diva attitude, and witty humor". Longoria has received several awards for her role as Gaby.
== References ==
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given name
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Gabrielle "Gaby" Solis () is a fictional character portrayed by Eva Longoria on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. Longoria was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her performance.
Storylines
Backstory
Gabrielle Márquez was born in Las Colinas, Texas. Her family is from Guadalajara, Mexico. Born on December 8, 1976, she has a brother and a sister. Her father died of cancer when she was five years old. From that point on, her mother, Lucía Márquez (María Conchita Alonso), married Alejandro Perez (Tony Plana) who sexually abused Gabrielle throughout her teenage years. According to Gabrielle, her mother overlooked the matter, and a nun at her school refused to believe her claims of having been raped. When she was fifteen, Gabrielle ran away to New York City to pursue a career in modeling. Gabrielle achieved significant success but earned a reputation for being difficult. As her career began to fade, she married wealthy businessman Carlos Solis (Ricardo Antonio Chavira), who proposed after only three dates. They then relocated to Wisteria Lane in the fictional suburb of Fairview, Eagle State, where Gabrielle befriended Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher), Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman), Bree Van de Kamp (Marcia Cross), and Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong).
Season 1
In the pilot episode, Gabrielle is unhappy with her marriage to Carlos, whose priority is work. She is shown to be extremely lonely while Carlos is money-minded and oblivious to her unhappiness. To keep herself entertained, she has an affair with John Rowland (Jesse Metcalfe), her teenage gardener. Carlos suspects that Gabrielle is being unfaithful and he enlists the help of his mother, Juanita "Mama" Solis (Lupe Ontiveros). Mama Solis catches Gabrielle and John having sex and takes a photograph to document Gabrielle's betrayal. However, while fleeing the house, she is hit by a car driven by Andrew Van de Kamp, and Gabrielle is able to dispose of the evidence against her. Mama Solis falls into a coma and dies a few months later without having the opportunity to tell Carlos about Gabrielle's affair. Gabrielle and John end the affair after Susan and Helen (Kathryn Harrold), John's mother, find out about it. Soon after, Carlos is indicted for importing goods made by slave labor. The government freezes the Solis' bank accounts, forcing Gabrielle to perform low-wage modeling jobs to pay bills. Carlos is eventually released under house arrest while awaiting trial, during which time the couple faces several financial crises.Carlos continually asks Gabrielle for a child, as well as a post-nuptial agreement that she will not divorce him while he is in jail. After Carlos physically forces Gabrielle to sign the documents, she reignites her affair with John. Later, Gabrielle discovers that she is pregnant and is unsure of who the father is. John hopes to help take care of the baby, but Gabrielle tells him she will only acknowledge Carlos as the father. Later, Gabrielle finds out that Carlos had tampered with her birth control in order to orchestrate her pregnancy. While Carlos is facing a separate trial for assaulting two different gay men he mistook for being Gabrielle's lovers (the first being a cable repairman who slipped in their bathroom after interrupting a tryst between Gabrielle and John, the second being John's roommate Justin), John admits to his affair with Gabrielle. Carlos attempts to attack John in court, and is subsequently convicted for hate crimes.
Season 2
With Carlos now in jail and a child on the way, Gabrielle alienates John and attempts to salvage her marriage. Gabrielle and Carlos continue sparring until she apologizes for the affair wholeheartedly for the first time. Hoping to be granted a conjugal visit and eventually get Carlos released on parole, Gabrielle hires David Bradley (Adrian Pasdar), a womanizing lawyer who later professes his love to Gabrielle, to get Carlos' hate crime conviction overturned. Later, Caleb Applewhite (Page Kennedy), Betty Applewhite's (Alfre Woodard) allegedly violent and mentally ill son, breaks into Gabrielle's home and chases her. She falls down the stairs, resulting in a miscarriage. Afterwards, Carlos is paroled thanks to the influence of a nun named Sister Mary Bernard (Melinda Page Hamilton). Gabrielle objects to Carlos' attempts to become a better and more spiritual man, as it threatens her lavish lifestyle, thus prompting Sister Mary to suggest Carlos annul his marriage to Gabrielle. Gabrielle intervenes when Carlos attempts to accompany Sister Mary on a charity trip to Botswana. To rid herself of Sister Mary permanently, Gabrielle tells a priest at the church that Sister Mary and Carlos had an affair. Consequently, Sister Mary is transferred to Alaska.Gabrielle agrees to have a child with Carlos, but her miscarriage leads to complications, forcing them to consider adoption. They prepare to adopt the unborn baby of pole dancer Libby Collins (Nichole Hiltz). However, Libby's boyfriend, Frank Helm (Eddie McClintock), and his teenaged brother and the baby's father, Dale (Sam Horrigan), try to intervene. When the baby, Lily, is born, a judge grants Carlos and Gabrielle temporary custody; however, Libby ultimately decides to take Lily back and raise her with Frank. Meanwhile, Gabrielle learns that her maid, Xiao-Mei (Gwendoline Yeo), is in danger of being deported to China. Xiao-Mei agrees to be Gabrielle and Carlos' surrogate in order to stay in the country. As the pregnancy progresses, Gabrielle suspects that Carlos and Xiao-Mei are having an affair. When she catches them having sex, she kicks Carlos out of the house and informs Xiao-Mei that she is not allowed to leave until the baby is born.
Season 3
The third season opens six months later, near the end of Xiao-Mei's pregnancy and in the midst of Gabrielle and Carlos' divorce proceedings. When Xiao-Mei gives birth, doctors discover that they had accidentally switched the Solis' embryo with another couple's and the Solis' embryo was not successfully inseminated. Xiao-Mei moves out and Gabrielle and Carlos are left without a child. Despite this, their divorce proceedings become complicated and vindictive. Following Gabrielle's divorce, she teams up with her personal shopper Vern (Alec Mapa) to coach a group of young misfit girls for the Little Miss Snowflake Beauty Pageant. She briefly dates Bill Pearce (Mark Deklin) the widowed father of a girl in the pageant, before realizing that she is not yet ready to date again. Soon after, Zach Young (Cody Kasch) the recently wealthy son of Gabrielle's deceased friend, Mary Alice, begins pursuing Gabrielle. Though Gabrielle refuses to date him, she agrees to befriend the irresponsible and disturbed Zach. When Zach proposes to Gabrielle at the grand opening of the Scavos' new pizzeria, she rejects him and terminates their friendship.Later, Victor Lang (John Slattery), a candidate for the mayor of Fairview, takes notice of Gabrielle, and arranges an encounter with her by having his chauffeur intentionally rear-end her car with his limo. They date casually, but Gabrielle insists that she is not interested. Nevertheless, they have mutual feelings of love. When Gabrielle learns that Carlos has started dating her neighbor, the promiscuous Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan), she accepts Victor's marriage proposal. As the wedding draws near, Gabrielle begins to have second thoughts about marrying Victor, especially after he wins the election and neglects her for his political career. Despite this, she marries Victor. However, after the wedding, Gabrielle overhears a conversation Victor has with his father Milton (Mike Farrell), where he admits to only having married her for his political gain, thus; prompting her to reignite her relationship with Carlos.
Season 4
The season premiere, "Now You Know", opens with Gaby and Carlos' plan to run away together on Gaby's wedding night; however, after Edie stages a suicide attempt, Carlos calls off the plan. One month later, Gaby and Carlos reignite their affair despite their commitments to Victor and Edie, respectively. Edie soon becomes suspicious of Carlos, and eventually pieces together that he is cheating on her with Gabrielle when she, Carlos, and Victor all come down with crabs. She hires a private investigator, who photographs the couple sharing a final kiss after having just decided to end their affair. Edie shows the photographs to Victor. Victor takes Gabrielle on his boat, where she learns that he has found about the affair. Fearing that he might try to kill her, she knocks him overboard twice (first by herself and then with Carlos' help) and leaves him at sea. Victor survives the ordeal and vows to get revenge on Gabrielle and Carlos. He attempts to kill Carlos during a tornado, only to be killed when he is impaled from behind by a fencepost. In the same storm, Carlos is blinded while the only documents giving him access to an offshore bank account are destroyed. The couple remarries soon after.While Gabrielle learns to cope with Carlos' blindness, the Solises rent out a room in their house to Ellie Leonard (Justine Bateman) to improve their financial circumstances. Gabrielle later discovers that Ellie is a drug dealer and alerts the authorities; however, after she and Ellie bond, Gabrielle helps her escape before the police arrest her. Gabrielle later discovers several thousand dollars in Ellie's abandoned belongings. Ellie comes back to retrieve it, but Gabrielle tries to keep it from her. When police arrive to the Solis home, Ellie escapes and seeks refuge in Katherine Mayfair's house, where she is shot and killed by Wayne Davis (Gary Cole).
Season 5
Five years after the events in season four, Gabrielle is not as beautiful, Carlos is still blind, and they are now raising two disobedient daughters, Juanita (Madison De La Garza) and Celia (Daniella Baltodano). The family struggles financially, forcing Carlos to take a job as a masseur at a local country club, which further alienates them from high society. One of Carlos' elderly and wealthy clients, Virginia Hildebrand (Frances Conroy), offers him a job as her personal masseur. Virginia becomes close with the Solises. Initially, Gabrielle does not mind, as she enjoys the luxuries Virginia provides for them; however, she starts to feel uncomfortable. Virginia revises her will to make the Solises the sole heirs to her estate, but Gabrielle eventually rejects the offer when Virginia tries to make important decisions in Juanita and Celia's lives. Later, Carlos regains his sight after having surgery.Carlos plans to take a job at the community center to help blind people. Tired of struggling, Gabrielle forces Carlos to take a high-salary office job. Meanwhile, Gabrielle works to lose weight and return to her model figure. When Gabrielle discovers that Carlos' new boss, Bradley Scott (David Starzyk), is cheating on his wife, she promises to remain silent so long as Carlos receives a generous salary bonus. Eventually, Bradley's wife, Maria Scott (Ion Overman), finds out about his affair and kills him. As a result of Bradley's death, Carlos is promoted. Later, Gabrielle hesitantly agrees to take in Carlos' teenage niece, Ana (Maiara Walsh), when her grandmother can no longer care for her. Gabrielle attempts to foster a positive relationship with Ana; however, she soon sees how entitled and manipulative Ana is.
Season 6
Gabrielle's relationship with Ana becomes more problematic, as Ana shows no regard for the household rules. Ana begins pursuing Danny Bolen (Beau Mirchoff), the teenage son of their new neighbors, Angie (Drea de Matteo) and Nick Bolen (Jeffrey Nordling). When Danny is accused of strangling Susan's daughter, Julie Mayer (Andrea Bowen), Ana attempts to provide him a false alibi until Gabrielle forces her to tell the truth. Later, Ana gets a job at John Rowland's restaurant. John attempts to win Gabrielle back, forcing her to question whether or not she still has feelings for him. She ultimately decides that she is happy with her life, and Ana quits her job after Gabrielle confesses to her affair with John in the first season. Gabrielle also begins experiencing difficulties in her relationship with Juanita: her poor parenting skills make other parents reluctant to let their children play with Juanita; Gabrielle's hot temper gets Juanita expelled from school; and her attempts to home school Juanita only strain their relationship further. Gabrielle and Carlos then enroll Juanita in private school. Later, Gabrielle discovers that Lynette has been hiding her pregnancy in order to secure a promotion at Carlos' company. Feeling betrayed, Gabrielle ends their friendship and Carlos tries to drive Lynette to quit her job. However, when a small plane hired by Karl Mayer makes a crash landing on Wisteria Lane, Lynette saves Celia from its path, thus restoring her friendship with Gabrielle.Gabrielle's friendship with Angie is complicated when Ana and Danny begin dating, especially when Gabrielle and Carlos discover that the Bolens are keeping a dangerous secret. To break up Ana and Danny, Gabrielle and Carlos send her to a modeling academy in New York; unbeknownst to them or the Bolens, however, Danny follows her there. Gabrielle accompanies Angie to New York to retrieve Danny, during which time she learns about Angie's mysterious past, which involves Danny's biological father. Patrick Logan (John Barrowman), an environmental terrorist and Danny's real father, tracks them down to Wisteria Lane. He runs over Nick, placing him in the hospital, and holds Angie and Danny hostage. Gabrielle helps rescue the Bolens and send them to Atlanta, as the government is still searching for them due to their involvement in Patrick's terrorism.
Season 7
Gabrielle is told the truth of Andrew killing Carlos' mother but decides to keep it quiet, fearing Carlos' reaction and not wanting to hurt him. She is sent to the hospital after Bree accidentally hits Juanita with her car. She finds out later that Juanita is not her real daughter due to a hospital mix-up. Gabrielle soon realizes she wants to meet her true daughter and convinces a lawyer to find the other family. Carlos is angered when he finds out, telling her that the family could take Juanita away and if that happens, he'll never forgive Gabrielle. When they meet the family, they automatically know that Grace is Gaby's daughter as she is throwing a fit over a jumper. Gabrielle grows closer to Grace, causing jealousy in Juanita, who doesn't know the truth. When Grace's legal parents are discovered to be illegal immigrants, her legal father Hector is arrested and her legal mother Carmen is forced to go on the run. Since Grace was born in the United States, she is a citizen and Gabrielle and Carlos agree to take her in to raise her.
To make sure they can get Grace to live with them, Gabrielle turns Grace's legal mother into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) but then has second thoughts when ICE shows up, posing as Carmen and letting Carmen get away. But when Gabrielle and Carlos go to pick up Grace, Carmen insists on taking Grace. Distraught over losing Grace, Gabrielle confides in Lynette, the only person she knows who has lost a child. Lynette tells Gabrielle that she wrote a letter to the child she lost, and that this might help Gabrielle, who wouldn't have to actually send it. Gabrielle writes the letter; Juanita finds it and runs away, hiding in the back of Bob and Lee's car, where Gabrielle sees her just in time for her to be rescued during a riot. A therapist suggests that Carlos and Gabrielle cut off all ties and reminders of Grace in order to let the tension with Juanita heal. Gabrielle is reluctant, keeping photos of Grace but Carlos demands she do this for Juanita.
Gabrielle seems to agree, but goes to a boutique and buys a doll that resembles Grace and keeps it hidden from her family. After Juanita and Celia find it and play with it, ultimately breaking its arm, Gabrielle goes back to the boutique and has the owner repair "Princess Valerie". The owner promises to repair it, and Gabrielle, feeling she is too attached to the doll, asks the owner if she thinks Gabrielle is strange. The owner disagrees, and shows Gabrielle her own doll, Mrs. Humphreys. The owner tells Gabrielle that she fell in love with the doll and bought it, ultimately learning the doll's "story". The owner says that Mrs. Humphreys is a music teacher whose sister died around the same time the owner's did (hinting that the owner bought the doll as a replacement for her passed on sister, much as Gabrielle did). Gabrielle sees the owner's pain, and the owner asks Gabrielle about Princess Valerie's story. Although reluctant, Gabrielle emotionally tells her that the doll was a princess who was accidentally given to the wrong family, but she found her way back eventually, and her mother, the Queen, had her hid so that no one could take her away again. When she gets home, Gabrielle puts Princess Valerie in a box behind her closet. Carlos finds out about Gabrielle's obsession with the doll so they go out to get rid of it and get carjacked by an unknown gunman. Gabrielle tries to take Princess Valerie out of the car but she had to let her go because the gunman threatened to kill her.
Carlos insists she go to therapy but she ignores it, going to spa treatments instead. Eventually, Carlos goes with her as she confesses to the therapist how she was molested as a child. At the therapist's suggestion, Gabrielle and Carlos go to her hometown where Gaby is surprised to learn she is a celebrity. She enjoys being admired by the townspeople until she meets the nun she had once confided in about her abuse as a child. The nun had then refused to believe Gabrielle's story and remains stubborn as Gabrielle lets out the shame she has long since been forced to feel by the cold nun's words; passing it back onto this woman who was in a position to prevent a childhood of torment and failed to do anything, gives Gaby the sense of closure she has been seeking. Finally Gabrielle tells Carlos she is ready to go home and leave the past behind. Making amends for his past while in AA, Andrew decides to tell Carlos about running over his mother. While Carlos does forgive Andrew, he is furious with Gabrielle over keeping the secret from him. He tells Bree that he won't forgive her for hiding the truth and bans Gabrielle from seeing Bree again. Gabrielle takes her girls and temporarily moves in with Bree. She shortly returns to Carlos.
Gabrielle shows a horror movie to Juanita, which gives her nightmares. She claims that a man is standing on the family's front lawn every night. Gabrielle is doubtful of this until she too notices the mysterious stranger. She sees him while shopping one day and asks a security officer to see a security camera. She realizes that her stalker is the stepfather who raped her as a child. This horrifies Gabrielle, especially because she thought that he was dead. Gabrielle learns her stepfather has been following her everywhere she goes. She drives to a deserted area when she knows he is following her, and walks into a clearing, armed with a gun that she acquired for her protection. She confronts him about raping her as a young girl. He admits to the terrible deed. During Susan's coming home dinner, Gabrielle runs home to begin preparations for dessert course. Once she enters her house, her stepfather confronts her again, pretending to have her gun. He begins to attack her and attempts to rape her. However, Carlos comes home and intervenes, accidentally killing him with a blow to the head from a candlestick. Bree, Susan, and Lynette come into the house and discover the body. With help from Bree, they are able to clean up before the rest of the guests arrive. The group agrees to keep the situation secret.
Season 8
Gabrielle and Carlos deal with keeping the murder of her stepfather quiet, Carlos unable to be intimate due to his guilt. Gabrielle challenges the antagonistic PTA head at Juanita's school after a parking dispute only to accidentally hit the woman with her car. The woman gets revenge by making Gabrielle her replacement, warning her that being PTA head will drive Gabrielle crazy. The first meeting does not go well as Gabrielle is late due to a spa appointment and the other members berate her over putting her high-living lifestyle over her responsibilities. Assuming they're jealous, Gabrielle gives them massages and makeovers but they still refuse to help. They snap that Gabrielle has no idea how people like them live and her life is so perfect. However, when a drunken Carlos comes in, the PTA members realize that Gabrielle faces many struggles as well and she really isn't that different from them after all. They take over the luncheon project and allow Gabrielle to help her husband. When Carlos gets drunk before work, Gabrielle attempts to cover for him but his boss figures it out. Rather than be upset, the man tells Carlos he understands, being a recovering alcoholic himself, and urges Carlos to get help. Carlos checks himself into a rehab center but vanishes the same night detective Chuck Vance is killed, making Gabrielle worry Carlos might have done it while drunk. When a guilty Susan checks in on Alejandro's family, his suspicious widow, Claudia, follows her, believing Susan is having an affair with her husband. Gabrielle is upset with Susan until she hears Susan's suspicion that Claudia's daughter, Marisa, was also molested. Gabrielle invites Claudia over, telling her the truth about Alejandro. Claudia refuses to believe it until Marisa finally confesses what the man did to her, Claudia distraught to have had her daughter hurt like that. She later comes to Gabrielle, thanking her for letting her see the truth. She spots the rug stained with Alejandro's blood that Gabrielle was having replaced and tells Gabrielle to get rid of it, clearly knowing what happened to Alejandro and willing to keep it quiet.
When Carlos gets out of rehab, he surprises Gabrielle by having a new attitude of giving away money, not wanting to be so greedy anymore. Gabrielle is upset at first but at Mike's funeral, realizes it's better to let Carlos do what makes him happy. She tries to calm her nerves by shopping and ends up being offered a job as a "personal shopper." At first, Gabrielle is good with it but also has to pretend to be single to win over male shoppers. Carlos is upset with this and Gabrielle tells him she is doing what she wants and is enjoying it. When Bree is put on trial for killing Alejandro, both Carlos and Gabrielle want to tell the truth but Karen McCluskey (overhearing them talking about it) confesses on the stand to killing Alejandro herself. Gabrielle is eventually offered a promotion at her job with Carlos upset at first but coming to accept it. In the final moments of the series, it's stated that Carlos helps Gabrielle start her own online shopper company, which earns her a show on the Home Shopping Network. They eventually move to a mansion in Los Angeles where "they argued happily ever after."
Trivia
Roselyn Sánchez auditioned for the role also but the producers thought she wasn't right for the role because of her heavy Puerto Rican accent. Sánchez did make a cameo in the series finale as the new gardener Carlos hires for their house and became a main character in the spin-off series Devious Maids as Carmen Luna.
Laura Harring also auditioned for the role of Gabrielle.
When Marc Cherry was casting, he asked Eva, "Do you like the script?" She said, "not meaning to be conceited, but I only read my part," then he thought "she's Gaby."
Gabrielle is one of two housewives to cheat on their husbands with the other being Bree.
Gabrielle is the youngest of the housewives from the main four, but Angie is the youngest housewife from all ten.
Gabrielle is allergic to lilies, likes to dance salsa and drink merlot.
Gabrielle and Carlos have O+ blood group.
Gabrielle is the only main housewife to not have a stepchild:
Zach Young is Susan's stepson.
Kayla Huntington Scavo is Lynette's stepdaughter.
Sam Allen is Bree's stepson.
Gabrielle has experienced the loss of a child four times:
her first pregnancy ended in miscarriage when she fell down a flight of stairs,
Libby Collins, biological mother of her adopted daughter Lily, decided to take her back,
The Surrogacy ended in failure,
And she let go of her biological daughter Grace Sánchez.
She is also the only main housewife who is not a grandmother by the series finale.
Gabrielle is the housewife with the most times changed hair colour, as her hair starts out dark brown (season 1, first half of season 2, season 3; episodes 10–23), lightens to medium brown with copper highlights (second half of season 2, seasons 6, 7 and 8). After season 2, Gabrielle seems to dye her hair light brown with blond streaks for the first nine episodes of season 3, with the exception of the episode Bang, (honey blond with blond highlights). In season 4, after changing back to dark brown in season 3, Gabrielle lightens her hair yet again to medium brown with blond highlights. At some point during the time jump between seasons 4 and 5, Gabrielle replaces her blond highlights for caramel. Despite wearing her hair straight most of the time during the first five seasons, she completely stops wearing them straight for seasons 6 and 7, and starts again during the end of season 8.
Reception
Gabrielle has been generally well received by fans. Aya Tsintziras from Screen Rant called Gabrielle as the best character in the series, praising her character arc as the "biggest" and her change from "a spoiled brat who only cares about hair, makeup, and clothing to a caring mother and friend". She also called Gaby's struggle on whether to have children "interesting" and stated that her children change her outlook on life. Tsintziras also said that Gaby's affair with John "makes sense" due to her feeling "trapped" in her marriage and Carlos not understanding her.Gabrielle Rockson from The Things called Gabrielle a household name and a "favourite", stating that people loved her "charm, diva attitude, and witty humor". Longoria has received several awards for her role as Gaby.
== References ==
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present in work
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Punahou Circle apartments is a 12-story apartment building at 1617 S. Beretania Street in the Makiki neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii. The building was one of the childhood homes of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States. Obama lived in the building from 1971 to 1979, when he graduated from high school. It was built in 1965. The building is being considered for landmark status. Obama's maternal grandmother lived in the family apartment until her death in 2008.
== References ==
|
located in the administrative territorial entity
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Aglaodiaptomus is a genus of copepods in the family Diaptomidae. They are often bright red or blue due to carotenoid pigments.
Conservation status
Species distributions are known very imprecisely, and two species are listed as vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List (marked VU below); both are endemic to the United States. A. kingsburyae was described from "a roadside ditch in Oklahoma and a pool and a pond in Texas", while A. marshianus was described from Lake Jackson, Florida.
Species
The genus Aglaodiaptomus contains 15 species.
== References ==
|
taxon rank
|
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"genus"
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}
|
Aglaodiaptomus is a genus of copepods in the family Diaptomidae. They are often bright red or blue due to carotenoid pigments.
Conservation status
Species distributions are known very imprecisely, and two species are listed as vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List (marked VU below); both are endemic to the United States. A. kingsburyae was described from "a roadside ditch in Oklahoma and a pool and a pond in Texas", while A. marshianus was described from Lake Jackson, Florida.
Species
The genus Aglaodiaptomus contains 15 species.
== References ==
|
parent taxon
|
{
"answer_start": [
52
],
"text": [
"Diaptomidae"
]
}
|
Aglaodiaptomus is a genus of copepods in the family Diaptomidae. They are often bright red or blue due to carotenoid pigments.
Conservation status
Species distributions are known very imprecisely, and two species are listed as vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List (marked VU below); both are endemic to the United States. A. kingsburyae was described from "a roadside ditch in Oklahoma and a pool and a pond in Texas", while A. marshianus was described from Lake Jackson, Florida.
Species
The genus Aglaodiaptomus contains 15 species.
== References ==
|
taxon name
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Aglaodiaptomus"
]
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|
Muhammad Jasimuddin Rahmani is chief of the Al Qaeda affiliated, radical Islamist organization Ansarullah Bangla Team. He is currently in custody in Bangladesh charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act. He advocated the murder of atheists.
Militant activity
He was the Imam of Hatembagh Jame Masjid in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He studied in madrasas in Bangladesh and outside the country. He was inspired by Al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki. He used to preach his message on a website called "Ansarulla Bangla Team" whose servers are located in Pakistan. Ansarullah Bangla Team was responsible for the murder of a number of secular activist in Bangladesh. He has a madrassa located in Mohammadpur, Dhaka. The Madrasa was visited by students from Dhaka University and North South University. Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis was a regular at the Madrasa, he is currently in prison in the United States for trying to bomb the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Arrest
Muhammad Jasimuddin Rahmani was arrested on 12 August 2013 from Barguna, Bangladesh along with 30 members of his organisation for inciting people to commit violent Jihad. He is currently serving a five-year prison sentence.
== References ==
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country of citizenship
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{
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"text": [
"Bangladesh"
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Gerronema stevensonii is a species of agaric fungus in the family Marasmiaceae. It was first described by Miles Joseph Berkeley and Christopher Edmund Broome in 1875, calling it Cantharellus stevensonii. The fungus was named after Reverend John Stevenson, who in 1874 made the type collection in Glamis, Scotland. Roy Watling transferred the species to the genus Gerronema in 1998.
== References ==
|
taxon rank
|
{
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27
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"text": [
"species"
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}
|
Gerronema stevensonii is a species of agaric fungus in the family Marasmiaceae. It was first described by Miles Joseph Berkeley and Christopher Edmund Broome in 1875, calling it Cantharellus stevensonii. The fungus was named after Reverend John Stevenson, who in 1874 made the type collection in Glamis, Scotland. Roy Watling transferred the species to the genus Gerronema in 1998.
== References ==
|
parent taxon
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Gerronema"
]
}
|
Gerronema stevensonii is a species of agaric fungus in the family Marasmiaceae. It was first described by Miles Joseph Berkeley and Christopher Edmund Broome in 1875, calling it Cantharellus stevensonii. The fungus was named after Reverend John Stevenson, who in 1874 made the type collection in Glamis, Scotland. Roy Watling transferred the species to the genus Gerronema in 1998.
== References ==
|
taxon name
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Gerronema stevensonii"
]
}
|
Gerronema stevensonii is a species of agaric fungus in the family Marasmiaceae. It was first described by Miles Joseph Berkeley and Christopher Edmund Broome in 1875, calling it Cantharellus stevensonii. The fungus was named after Reverend John Stevenson, who in 1874 made the type collection in Glamis, Scotland. Roy Watling transferred the species to the genus Gerronema in 1998.
== References ==
|
basionym
|
{
"answer_start": [
178
],
"text": [
"Cantharellus stevensonii"
]
}
|
Gerronema stevensonii is a species of agaric fungus in the family Marasmiaceae. It was first described by Miles Joseph Berkeley and Christopher Edmund Broome in 1875, calling it Cantharellus stevensonii. The fungus was named after Reverend John Stevenson, who in 1874 made the type collection in Glamis, Scotland. Roy Watling transferred the species to the genus Gerronema in 1998.
== References ==
|
taxon synonym
|
{
"answer_start": [
178
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"text": [
"Cantharellus stevensonii"
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|
"You Don't Know My Name" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her second studio album The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003). It was written by Keys, Kanye West and Harold Lilly, and produced by Keys and West. The song contains a sample from the 1975 song "Let Me Prove My Love to You", written by J. R. Bailey, Mel Kent and Ken Williams and performed by The Main Ingredient. It was released as the lead single from The Diary of Alicia Keys on November 10, 2003, by J Records.
"You Don't Know My Name" became Keys' third top-ten hit in the United States, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for eight consecutive weeks. Critically acclaimed, the song won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song and a Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Female. It was sampled on rapper Lil Wayne's 2008 song "Comfortable", featuring Babyface and produced by West. Blender placed the song at number 37 on its list of "The 100 Best Songs of 2004".
Music video
Directed by Chris Robinson and Andrew Young, rapper Mos Def plays Michael Harris, Alicia's love interest, and Keys plays a waitress at a restaurant. The music video follows Keys working as a waitress at a café. One day, Keys meets a man (played by Mos Def) in the café, and she falls in love with him. Later on, Keys is at a house party where she runs into that same man when a fight is about to break out, and the scene resembles the house party scene in the movie Cooley High. Later in the video, Keys imagines getting the courage to call him and to tell him about her feelings. However, at the end of the movie, she remembers his order but there is no other recognition and the scene ends with his card still being in the bowl and Keys staring out the window since she will never be able to reveal her true feelings for the man.
Track listings and formats
Personnel
Charts
Certifications
Release history
See also
Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2004
List of number-one R&B singles of 2004 (U.S.)
References
External links
You Don't Know My Name at Discogs
|
instance of
|
{
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"song"
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|
"You Don't Know My Name" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her second studio album The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003). It was written by Keys, Kanye West and Harold Lilly, and produced by Keys and West. The song contains a sample from the 1975 song "Let Me Prove My Love to You", written by J. R. Bailey, Mel Kent and Ken Williams and performed by The Main Ingredient. It was released as the lead single from The Diary of Alicia Keys on November 10, 2003, by J Records.
"You Don't Know My Name" became Keys' third top-ten hit in the United States, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for eight consecutive weeks. Critically acclaimed, the song won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song and a Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Female. It was sampled on rapper Lil Wayne's 2008 song "Comfortable", featuring Babyface and produced by West. Blender placed the song at number 37 on its list of "The 100 Best Songs of 2004".
Music video
Directed by Chris Robinson and Andrew Young, rapper Mos Def plays Michael Harris, Alicia's love interest, and Keys plays a waitress at a restaurant. The music video follows Keys working as a waitress at a café. One day, Keys meets a man (played by Mos Def) in the café, and she falls in love with him. Later on, Keys is at a house party where she runs into that same man when a fight is about to break out, and the scene resembles the house party scene in the movie Cooley High. Later in the video, Keys imagines getting the courage to call him and to tell him about her feelings. However, at the end of the movie, she remembers his order but there is no other recognition and the scene ends with his card still being in the bowl and Keys staring out the window since she will never be able to reveal her true feelings for the man.
Track listings and formats
Personnel
Charts
Certifications
Release history
See also
Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2004
List of number-one R&B singles of 2004 (U.S.)
References
External links
You Don't Know My Name at Discogs
|
producer
|
{
"answer_start": [
171
],
"text": [
"Kanye West"
]
}
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"You Don't Know My Name" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her second studio album The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003). It was written by Keys, Kanye West and Harold Lilly, and produced by Keys and West. The song contains a sample from the 1975 song "Let Me Prove My Love to You", written by J. R. Bailey, Mel Kent and Ken Williams and performed by The Main Ingredient. It was released as the lead single from The Diary of Alicia Keys on November 10, 2003, by J Records.
"You Don't Know My Name" became Keys' third top-ten hit in the United States, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for eight consecutive weeks. Critically acclaimed, the song won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song and a Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Female. It was sampled on rapper Lil Wayne's 2008 song "Comfortable", featuring Babyface and produced by West. Blender placed the song at number 37 on its list of "The 100 Best Songs of 2004".
Music video
Directed by Chris Robinson and Andrew Young, rapper Mos Def plays Michael Harris, Alicia's love interest, and Keys plays a waitress at a restaurant. The music video follows Keys working as a waitress at a café. One day, Keys meets a man (played by Mos Def) in the café, and she falls in love with him. Later on, Keys is at a house party where she runs into that same man when a fight is about to break out, and the scene resembles the house party scene in the movie Cooley High. Later in the video, Keys imagines getting the courage to call him and to tell him about her feelings. However, at the end of the movie, she remembers his order but there is no other recognition and the scene ends with his card still being in the bowl and Keys staring out the window since she will never be able to reveal her true feelings for the man.
Track listings and formats
Personnel
Charts
Certifications
Release history
See also
Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2004
List of number-one R&B singles of 2004 (U.S.)
References
External links
You Don't Know My Name at Discogs
|
performer
|
{
"answer_start": [
74
],
"text": [
"Alicia Keys"
]
}
|
"You Don't Know My Name" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her second studio album The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003). It was written by Keys, Kanye West and Harold Lilly, and produced by Keys and West. The song contains a sample from the 1975 song "Let Me Prove My Love to You", written by J. R. Bailey, Mel Kent and Ken Williams and performed by The Main Ingredient. It was released as the lead single from The Diary of Alicia Keys on November 10, 2003, by J Records.
"You Don't Know My Name" became Keys' third top-ten hit in the United States, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for eight consecutive weeks. Critically acclaimed, the song won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song and a Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Female. It was sampled on rapper Lil Wayne's 2008 song "Comfortable", featuring Babyface and produced by West. Blender placed the song at number 37 on its list of "The 100 Best Songs of 2004".
Music video
Directed by Chris Robinson and Andrew Young, rapper Mos Def plays Michael Harris, Alicia's love interest, and Keys plays a waitress at a restaurant. The music video follows Keys working as a waitress at a café. One day, Keys meets a man (played by Mos Def) in the café, and she falls in love with him. Later on, Keys is at a house party where she runs into that same man when a fight is about to break out, and the scene resembles the house party scene in the movie Cooley High. Later in the video, Keys imagines getting the courage to call him and to tell him about her feelings. However, at the end of the movie, she remembers his order but there is no other recognition and the scene ends with his card still being in the bowl and Keys staring out the window since she will never be able to reveal her true feelings for the man.
Track listings and formats
Personnel
Charts
Certifications
Release history
See also
Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2004
List of number-one R&B singles of 2004 (U.S.)
References
External links
You Don't Know My Name at Discogs
|
record label
|
{
"answer_start": [
487
],
"text": [
"J Records"
]
}
|
"You Don't Know My Name" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her second studio album The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003). It was written by Keys, Kanye West and Harold Lilly, and produced by Keys and West. The song contains a sample from the 1975 song "Let Me Prove My Love to You", written by J. R. Bailey, Mel Kent and Ken Williams and performed by The Main Ingredient. It was released as the lead single from The Diary of Alicia Keys on November 10, 2003, by J Records.
"You Don't Know My Name" became Keys' third top-ten hit in the United States, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for eight consecutive weeks. Critically acclaimed, the song won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song and a Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Female. It was sampled on rapper Lil Wayne's 2008 song "Comfortable", featuring Babyface and produced by West. Blender placed the song at number 37 on its list of "The 100 Best Songs of 2004".
Music video
Directed by Chris Robinson and Andrew Young, rapper Mos Def plays Michael Harris, Alicia's love interest, and Keys plays a waitress at a restaurant. The music video follows Keys working as a waitress at a café. One day, Keys meets a man (played by Mos Def) in the café, and she falls in love with him. Later on, Keys is at a house party where she runs into that same man when a fight is about to break out, and the scene resembles the house party scene in the movie Cooley High. Later in the video, Keys imagines getting the courage to call him and to tell him about her feelings. However, at the end of the movie, she remembers his order but there is no other recognition and the scene ends with his card still being in the bowl and Keys staring out the window since she will never be able to reveal her true feelings for the man.
Track listings and formats
Personnel
Charts
Certifications
Release history
See also
Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2004
List of number-one R&B singles of 2004 (U.S.)
References
External links
You Don't Know My Name at Discogs
|
part of
|
{
"answer_start": [
114
],
"text": [
"The Diary of Alicia Keys"
]
}
|
"You Don't Know My Name" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her second studio album The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003). It was written by Keys, Kanye West and Harold Lilly, and produced by Keys and West. The song contains a sample from the 1975 song "Let Me Prove My Love to You", written by J. R. Bailey, Mel Kent and Ken Williams and performed by The Main Ingredient. It was released as the lead single from The Diary of Alicia Keys on November 10, 2003, by J Records.
"You Don't Know My Name" became Keys' third top-ten hit in the United States, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for eight consecutive weeks. Critically acclaimed, the song won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song and a Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Female. It was sampled on rapper Lil Wayne's 2008 song "Comfortable", featuring Babyface and produced by West. Blender placed the song at number 37 on its list of "The 100 Best Songs of 2004".
Music video
Directed by Chris Robinson and Andrew Young, rapper Mos Def plays Michael Harris, Alicia's love interest, and Keys plays a waitress at a restaurant. The music video follows Keys working as a waitress at a café. One day, Keys meets a man (played by Mos Def) in the café, and she falls in love with him. Later on, Keys is at a house party where she runs into that same man when a fight is about to break out, and the scene resembles the house party scene in the movie Cooley High. Later in the video, Keys imagines getting the courage to call him and to tell him about her feelings. However, at the end of the movie, she remembers his order but there is no other recognition and the scene ends with his card still being in the bowl and Keys staring out the window since she will never be able to reveal her true feelings for the man.
Track listings and formats
Personnel
Charts
Certifications
Release history
See also
Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2004
List of number-one R&B singles of 2004 (U.S.)
References
External links
You Don't Know My Name at Discogs
|
lyrics by
|
{
"answer_start": [
74
],
"text": [
"Alicia Keys"
]
}
|
The Cannabinoid Research Initiative of Saskatchewan (CRIS) was founded in 2017 as an interdisciplinary research team of clinician researchers (medical and veterinary), basic scientists, and social scientists. CRIS aims to obtain scientific evidence about the application of Cannabinoids and Medical cannabis to humans and animals, for health, disease and disorders. The team was initially based at the University of Saskatchewan, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada but includes researchers based at the University of Regina and University of Alberta. A strategic management executive committee coordinates activities and develops research opportunities. The sections of CRIS include: Analytical Evaluations, Human Clinical Studies, Biomedical studies, Veterinary Sciences, Knowledge Translation and Studies of Cannabinoids and Society. CRIS members participate in the Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids,
and the International Cannabinoid Research Society.The CARE-E clinical trial of a cannabis oil with high cannabidiol content with pediatric patients with refractory epilepsy was a key factor in initiating the research initiative. The CARE-E trial is a multi-center phase one trial that currently has open enrollment in five Canadian cities. The CARE-E trial received extensive media coverage when it was launched.
The therapeutic effect of pure cannabidiol (Epidiolex GW Pharmaceuticals) on Dravet Syndrome was recently reported in the New England Journal of Medicine
The CRIS group has expanded to biomedical science studies of the pharmacology of cannabinoids and synthetic cannabinoids.
Laboratories
Drug Discovery Research Group -(i) Determinants of neonatal exposure risk when breastfeeding mothers require medications.
(ii) Research into the health benefits of flaxseed lignans and their underlying mechanism(s) of action.Multiple Sclerosis Research - (i) Epidemiology and pharmacoepidemiology of MS.
Clinical trials(i) Clinical trials looking at cannabis in pediatric neurological disease.
(ii) Neuro-degenerative and neuro-metabolic disorders of childhoodType 1 cannabinoid receptor (CB1R) Pharmacology of the endocannabinoid system and the type 1 cannabinoid receptor (CB1R).
Microbiome studies Project under development by the Links Lab
Knowledge Translation Medication adherence, patient education and interprofessional education.
Chronic Disease studies Use of interdisciplinary teams in chronic disease management, focusing on delivering diabetes care to immigrant and Aboriginal populations.
External links
'Cannabinoid Research Initiative of Saskatchewan'
'Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids'
'International Cannabinoid Research Society'
See also
Cannabis portal
Cannabidiol
Charlotte's web (cannabis)
Cannabis
Cannabis (drug)
Legal history of cannabis in Canada
== References ==
|
country
|
{
"answer_start": [
458
],
"text": [
"Canada"
]
}
|
Scotchtown Avenue Elementary School (often locally referred to just as Scotchtown Elementary School or SAS) educates students in kindergarten through second grade in the Goshen Central School District, which covers the village and most of the town of Goshen in Orange County, New York, United States. It is located on Scotchtown Avenue (Orange County 83) in the northwest corner of the village, next to the district's bus garage and in front of Goshen Central High School.
In 2000, a 28,000-square foot (2,520 m²) addition was built on to the original 1956 building at a cost of $5.4 million. It added four new kindergarten classrooms, extended both wings of the building and converted its existing library into a cafeteria, among other changes. Some of the existing space was leased by the district to Orange-Ulster BOCES for its STRIVE program for autistic children.
References
External links
School webpage
|
located in the administrative territorial entity
|
{
"answer_start": [
276
],
"text": [
"New York"
]
}
|
Scotchtown Avenue Elementary School (often locally referred to just as Scotchtown Elementary School or SAS) educates students in kindergarten through second grade in the Goshen Central School District, which covers the village and most of the town of Goshen in Orange County, New York, United States. It is located on Scotchtown Avenue (Orange County 83) in the northwest corner of the village, next to the district's bus garage and in front of Goshen Central High School.
In 2000, a 28,000-square foot (2,520 m²) addition was built on to the original 1956 building at a cost of $5.4 million. It added four new kindergarten classrooms, extended both wings of the building and converted its existing library into a cafeteria, among other changes. Some of the existing space was leased by the district to Orange-Ulster BOCES for its STRIVE program for autistic children.
References
External links
School webpage
|
school district
|
{
"answer_start": [
170
],
"text": [
"Goshen Central School District"
]
}
|
Oldknow is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
James Oldknow (1873–1944), English cricketer
Luke Oldknow (born 2001), Zimbabwean cricketer
Octavius Thomas Oldknow (1786–1854) Mayor of Nottingham
Samuel Oldknow (1756–1828), English cotton manufacturer
Other uses
Oldknows Factory, Nottingham, a former lace factory
|
native label
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Oldknow"
]
}
|
Other Angels (Turkish: Teslimiyet) is a 2010 Turkish drama film, directed by Emre Yalgın, which follows the lives of four transgender sex workers living together in the underbelly of Istanbul. The film, which went on nationwide general release across Turkey on December 17, 2010 (2010-12-17), was shown at the 22nd Ankara International Film Festival (March 17 to 27, 2011).
Plot
Sanem (Didem Soylu) is a prostitute who shares the same flat with three transvestites in Istanbul. Every day she dreams of a savior who will one day take her away from this life. One day a young man named Gökhan (Kanbolat Görkem Arslan) moves into the neighborhood, and soon Sanem attracts his attention. Sanem has to move out of her shared flat because of a number of problems that arise with her flatmates and she moves in with Gökhan. This will be the beginning of a journey during which both will question each other's reliability and their choices in life.
See also
2010 in film
Turkish films of 2010
References
External links
Official website for the film (Turkish)
Other Angels at IMDb
|
instance of
|
{
"answer_start": [
59
],
"text": [
"film"
]
}
|
Other Angels (Turkish: Teslimiyet) is a 2010 Turkish drama film, directed by Emre Yalgın, which follows the lives of four transgender sex workers living together in the underbelly of Istanbul. The film, which went on nationwide general release across Turkey on December 17, 2010 (2010-12-17), was shown at the 22nd Ankara International Film Festival (March 17 to 27, 2011).
Plot
Sanem (Didem Soylu) is a prostitute who shares the same flat with three transvestites in Istanbul. Every day she dreams of a savior who will one day take her away from this life. One day a young man named Gökhan (Kanbolat Görkem Arslan) moves into the neighborhood, and soon Sanem attracts his attention. Sanem has to move out of her shared flat because of a number of problems that arise with her flatmates and she moves in with Gökhan. This will be the beginning of a journey during which both will question each other's reliability and their choices in life.
See also
2010 in film
Turkish films of 2010
References
External links
Official website for the film (Turkish)
Other Angels at IMDb
|
cast member
|
{
"answer_start": [
593
],
"text": [
"Kanbolat Görkem Arslan"
]
}
|
Other Angels (Turkish: Teslimiyet) is a 2010 Turkish drama film, directed by Emre Yalgın, which follows the lives of four transgender sex workers living together in the underbelly of Istanbul. The film, which went on nationwide general release across Turkey on December 17, 2010 (2010-12-17), was shown at the 22nd Ankara International Film Festival (March 17 to 27, 2011).
Plot
Sanem (Didem Soylu) is a prostitute who shares the same flat with three transvestites in Istanbul. Every day she dreams of a savior who will one day take her away from this life. One day a young man named Gökhan (Kanbolat Görkem Arslan) moves into the neighborhood, and soon Sanem attracts his attention. Sanem has to move out of her shared flat because of a number of problems that arise with her flatmates and she moves in with Gökhan. This will be the beginning of a journey during which both will question each other's reliability and their choices in life.
See also
2010 in film
Turkish films of 2010
References
External links
Official website for the film (Turkish)
Other Angels at IMDb
|
original language of film or TV show
|
{
"answer_start": [
14
],
"text": [
"Turkish"
]
}
|
Other Angels (Turkish: Teslimiyet) is a 2010 Turkish drama film, directed by Emre Yalgın, which follows the lives of four transgender sex workers living together in the underbelly of Istanbul. The film, which went on nationwide general release across Turkey on December 17, 2010 (2010-12-17), was shown at the 22nd Ankara International Film Festival (March 17 to 27, 2011).
Plot
Sanem (Didem Soylu) is a prostitute who shares the same flat with three transvestites in Istanbul. Every day she dreams of a savior who will one day take her away from this life. One day a young man named Gökhan (Kanbolat Görkem Arslan) moves into the neighborhood, and soon Sanem attracts his attention. Sanem has to move out of her shared flat because of a number of problems that arise with her flatmates and she moves in with Gökhan. This will be the beginning of a journey during which both will question each other's reliability and their choices in life.
See also
2010 in film
Turkish films of 2010
References
External links
Official website for the film (Turkish)
Other Angels at IMDb
|
country of origin
|
{
"answer_start": [
251
],
"text": [
"Turkey"
]
}
|
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