Thomas Porteous (December 8, 1765 – February 2, 1830) was a merchant, seigneur and politician in Lower Canada. He represented Effingham in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada from 1804 to 1808.
The manorial system of New France was the semi-feudal system of land tenure used in the North American French colonial empire.
The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current-day Province of Quebec, Canada, and the Labrador region of the modern-day Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. The lower house consisted of elected legislative councillors who created bills to be passed up to the Legislative Council of Lower Canada, whose members were appointed by the governor general.
Probably born in Quebec of Scottish descent, although one source states that he was born in Ayrshire, [1] Porteous owned Île Bourdon where he operated a trading post and a ferry service between Lachenaie and the Island of Montreal. In 1786, he married Olivia Everest. Around 1790, he established a business on Île Jésus and then, four years later, at Terrebonne. In 1800, he purchased the seigneury of Terrebonne and, five years later, opened a store at Sainte-Thérèse-de-Blainville, where he also produced potash. Porteous also supplied material to the military during the War of 1812. Around the same time, he established a general store in Montreal. Porteous was an agent for the Saint-Maurice ironworks and helped establish the Lachine Canal, serving as one of the government commissioners. He also petitioned for the incorporation of the Bank of Montreal and served as one its directors. In 1819, he became vice-president of the Montreal Savings Bank. In the same year, with others in his family, he took over the operation of the Montreal Water Works and became its president; the wooden pipes were replaced by iron ones and a steam-powered pumping plant was added. Porteous served as lieutenant-colonel in the militia and was a prominent member of the local Presbyterian Church. He died in Montreal at the age of 64.
The Province of Quebec was a colony in North America created by Great Britain after the Seven Years' War. During the war, Great Britain's forces conquered French Canada. As part of terms of the Treaty of Paris peace settlement, France gave up its claim to Canada and negotiated to keep the small but rich sugar island of Guadeloupe instead. By Britain's Royal Proclamation of 1763, Canada was renamed the Province of Quebec. The new British province extended from the coast of Labrador on the Atlantic Ocean, southwest through the Saint Lawrence River Valley to the Great Lakes and beyond to the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Portions of its southwest were later ceded to the United States in the Treaty of Paris (1783) at the conclusion of the American Revolution although the British maintained a military presence there until 1796. In 1791, the territory north of the Great Lakes was divided into Lower Canada and Upper Canada.
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Sharing a border with England to the southeast, Scotland is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, by the North Sea to the northeast and by the Irish Sea to the south. In addition to the mainland, situated on the northern third of the island of Great Britain, Scotland has over 790 islands, including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.
Ayrshire is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. Like the other counties of Scotland, it currently has no administrative function, instead being sub-divided into the council areas of North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and East Ayrshire. It has a population of approximately 366,800.
