Henri-Jules Juchereau Duchesnay

Who was Henri-Jules Juchereau Duchesnay?

Henri-Jules Juchereau Duchesnay was a lawyer, farmer and political figure in Quebec. He represented Dorchester in the Canadian House of Commons in 1887 as a Nationalist Conservative member.

He was born in Sainte-Marie-de-la-Nouvelle-Beauce, Canada East, the son of seigneur Elzéar-Henri Juchereau Duchesnay and Élisabeth-Suzanne Taschereau, who was the daughter of Jean-Thomas Taschereau. He was educated at the Petit Séminaire de Québec, the Université Laval and McGill University. Juchereau Duchesnay was called to the Lower Canada bar in 1866 and first practised in Quebec City, later moving back to Sainte-Marie. In 1869, he married Caroline Têtu. He was named a lieutenant-colonel in the militia and also served as stipendiary magistrate for Beauce County, inspector of mines in the Beauce region, mayor of Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce and warden for Beauce County. In 1882, he established a local creamery, which had what are believed to be the first centrifugal cream separators installed in North America. In 1885, Juchereau Duchesnay spoke against the execution of Louis Riel.