Stuart, Sir Andrew

DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Céline Cyr, “STUART, Sir ANDREW,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 12, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/stuart_andrew_12E.html
DCB profile notes:
- Lawyer, seigneur, businessman, office holder, and judge; b. 16 June 1812 at Quebec, son of Andrew Stuartand Marguerite Dumoulin; m. there 8 June 1842 Charlotte-Elmire Aubert de Gaspé, daughter of Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé, and they had ten children, eight of whom reached adulthood; d. 9 June 1891 at Quebec.
- Andrew Stuart was a descendant of a loyalist family that had come from Pennsylvania to Cataraqui (Kingston, Ont.). His grandfather John Stuart had been the Anglican rector of Cataraqui and he had given his children a love of learning and a hatred of the “diabolical principles of equality.” Andrew’s father, a man of wide learning, was a prominent lawyer at Quebec; he and his brother James were the pride of the legal profession there.
- On his return to Quebec he was articled to his uncle James, and then to Henry Black, who had long been a partner in his father’s law firm. Called to the bar on 7 May 1834, he practised in partnership with Robert Hunter Gairdner until the latter was appointed to the bench in 1844. He took Frederick Vannovous as a partner from 1850 to 1869, and then David Alexander Ross until 1885.
- Stuart enjoyed rapid success, especially since he had inherited his father’s practice upon his death on 21 Feb. 1840. At the age of 28 he already had the leading merchants and capitalists of Quebec as clients. He was involved in arguing most of the important commercial cases in court.
- Throughout this period Stuart continued to practise law. In 1854, in recognition of his talent, he was made a qc and a member of the commission charged with revising the statutes of the province. Two years later he became bâtonnier of the bar and in 1859 he was appointed assistant judge in the Superior Court of Lower Canada. The following year he was named puisne judge of the same court. Thus began a long career on the bench which culminated in his appointment on 9 March 1885 to the chief justiceship of the Superior Court for the province of Quebec. In this capacity he acted as administrator of the province during the illness of Lieutenant Governor Louis-François-Rodrigue Masson from 8 February to 24 March and from 7 September to 28 Oct. 1887. His tact, his sensitivity, and his impartiality in the discharge of this interim responsibility earned him the respect of all politicians. The queen honoured him with a knighthood on 9 May of that year.
Grandson of Proven United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=8220
Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/186177270/andrew-stuart