Louis-Rodrigue Masson (1834-1909)

He was born at Terrebonne, Quebec, and received his later education in the United States at Georgetown College in Washington DC and the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. Returning to Canada, he studied law with Sir George-Étienne Cartier (1814-1873) and was called to the Bar of Quebec in 1859. Entering politics, he represented Terrebonne as a Conservative in the Canadian House of Commons (1867-1882) and he served in the cabinet of Sir John A. Macdonald as the Minister of Militia & Defence (1874-1880) before his appointment as President of the Privy Council. In 1882, he was named to the Canadian Senate for Mille Isles, and from March to October 1884, he was a Member of the Legislative Council of Quebec. He resigned his seat in the Senate in 1884 on his appointment as Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec (1884 to 1887), and was reappointed to the Senate in 1890, retiring from politics in 1903. He was a noted historian, writing several histories of the early fur traders including Roderick Mackenzie, his first wife's grandfather. He was married twice and had a total of thirteen children, six of whom survived to adulthood.