Lewis Thomas Drummond

Who was Lewis Thomas Drummond?

Lewis Thomas Drummond was a Quebec lawyer, judge and political figure.

He was born in Coleraine, County Londonderry in Ireland in 1813. His father, an attorney, died while he was young and he came to Lower Canada with his mother in 1825. He studied at the Séminaire de Nicolet, then studied law with Charles Dewey Day in Montreal and was called to the bar in 1836. He set up practice in Montreal and defended a number of persons involved in the Lower Canada Rebellion. Drummond, a supporter of Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, was elected to the Legislative Assembly for the city of Montreal in an 1844 by-election, but was defeated in the general election that followed. However, he was elected in Portneuf. In 1848, he was named Queen's Counsel and, in the same year, was elected to represent Shefford in the assembly. Drummond was a director of the Montreal City and District Savings Bank, president of the Stanstead, Shefford and Chambly Railroad and helped found the Garden River Mining Company. He was solicitor general for Canada East from 1848 to 1851, a post that was not part of the cabinet at the time. In 1851, he became attorney general for Canada East, serving until 1856.