Joseph Bouchette

Lt.-Colonel Joseph Bouchette (; May 14, 1774 – April 8, 1841) was the Canadian Surveyor-General of British North America. His book, Topographical Description of the Province of Lower Canada was published at London in 1815 and also translated into French. It contained the sum knowledge of the territory at that time. The township of Bouchette, Quebec, was named for him. During the War of 1812 he raised and commanded the Quebec Volunteers. In 1813, he was gazetted Lt. Colonel on the Staff of Governor-General Sir George Prevost.

Background

Born at Quebec City in 1774, he was the son of Colonel Jean-Baptiste Bouchette, a topographer, and Marie Angelique Duhamel, daughter of Captain Julien Duhamel (1723-1778), of Quebec City. In 1775, his father rescued General Guy Carleton, Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in North America, by navigating him and his family along the Saint Lawrence River from Montreal, through the American lines, and up to Quebec. This bold move reversed the outcome of the Battle of Quebec (1775), and for his part Joseph's father was handsomely rewarded with nearly 6,000 acres of land and considerable military advancements by the grateful Governor, Sir John Graves Simcoe. Like his father, Joseph Bouchette's career would be marked by a tradition of loyalty and devoted service to his country.

Early career

Bouchette studied art and architecture under François Baillairgé. In 1790, he entered the service of his uncle Samuel Holland, the first Surveyor-General of British North America. The following year he joined his father with the Royal Navy's Provincial Marine on the Great Lakes. In 1793, while serving on Lake Ontario, he came into contact with Governor John Graves Simcoe who commissioned him to make the first survey of the York Harbour, that included making maps of the Toronto Islands. He reviewed the territory of Lower Canada for the Government. From 1805 to 1807 he served with Charles Burton Wyatt as interim Surveyor of Upper Canada. In 1815, he published his great book Topographical Description of the province of Lower Canada, which was the sum of knowledge of the territory for that day. The book, complete with some essential maps, was published in London in English and French, and was updated in English only in 1831–1832. His regional maps and two topographical descriptions of Lower Canada are still considered an essential reference for knowledge of the territory.

Bouchette returned to Montreal to become Surveyor General of Lower Canada, replacing his uncle Samuel Holland.

The Township of Bouchette in Quebec was named in his honour,

Family

In 1797, at Notre-Dame, Montreal, Joseph Bouchette married Adélaïde Chaboillez (1781-1847), daughter of Charles Chaboillez. Colonel de Longueuil represented the groom's father at the wedding. Joseph died at Pont-Rouge. Samuel Louis Bouchette (d.1873), became a lawyer and solicitor at Montreal, Quebec. Lieut. Jean-Francois Bouchette, of the 63rd Light Infantry, died in Europe. Robert Shore Milnes Bouchette (1805-1879), godson of Sir Robert Shore Milnes, Lieutenant Governor of Lower Canada. After travelling in France and Italy, he met Marianne Gardner (1807-1834), granddaughter of Admiral Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner, to whom he was married at Dover in 1834, before she died a few months later. For Robert's part in the Rebellions of 1837 he was exiled to Bermuda, but died at Quebec. He is the ancestor of the Bouchettes of Ottawa, Ontario. Louisa Bouchette, was born and educated in Quebec. She married, first, at Quebec, November 8, 1851, Alexander Hart, C E, who died. In 1878, at Quebec, she married second The Hon. Sir Ambrose Shea, Governor of the Bahamas.