Michel-Eustache-Gaspard-Alain Chartier de Lotbinière
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Michel-Eustache-Gaspard-Alain Chartier de Lotbinière (August 31, 1748 – January 1, 1822) was a seigneur and political figure in Lower Canada.
He was born in the town of Quebec in 1748, the son of Michel Chartier de Lotbinière, and served as a cadet during the siege of Quebec in 1759. He travelled to France with his father in 1760 but returned to Quebec in 1763. After his father was forced to sell his properties there to cover debts, Chartier de Lotbinière was able to buy back the seigneury of Lotbinière and then the seigneuries of Vaudreuil, Rigaud, and Rigaud De Vaudreuil. In 1770, he married Josette, the daughter of Louis-Joseph Godefroy de Tonnancour. He sold Rigaud De Vaudreuil in 1772. During the American Revolution, he helped defend Fort St Johns (later Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu) against the Americans. He was taken prisoner and released in 1777; he continued to serve in the militia, becoming colonel in 1803. After his first wife died in 1799, he married Mary Charlotte, daughter of John Munro in 1802.
In 1792, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for York; he served as speaker from 1794 to 1796. Chartier de Lotbinière supported equal status for French and English in the legislative assembly. He was named to the Legislative Council in 1796 and served until his death in Montreal in 1822.
His grandsons, Antoine Chartier de Lotbinière Harwood and Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, both later became members of the legislative assembly for Canada East and then Quebec. Joly de Lotbinière also served as premier of Quebec, federal cabinet minister and Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.
