Michael O'Sullivan

Michael O'Sullivan (May 4, 1784 – March 7, 1839) was an Irish-born lawyer, militia officer, politician and judge who spent most of his life in Lower Canada. Born in Clonmel, Ireland, he emigrated to Lower Canada as a child and was educated at the Collège Saint-Raphaël, where he began a life-long association with the Roman Catholic Sulpician order. He became a prominent member of the bar of Lower Canada, as well as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada and Solicitor-general for Lower Canada.

O'Sullivan was an officer in the Lower Canada militia during the War of 1812. He participated in the Battle of the Châteauguay as aide-de-camp to Lieutenant-Colonel Charles de Salaberry, the commander of the Canadian and Mohawk forces who were defending Lower Canada from an invading American force. O'Sullivan was mentioned in dispatches for bravery after the battle, and subsequently wrote a contemporary account of the battle which has become the basis for understanding the battle.

O’Sullivan was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada in 1814 and remained in office until 1824. He generally supported the Parti canadien, but gradually moved away from it as it became more nationalist. During his time as a member of the Legislative Assembly, O'Sullivan was vocal in his opposition to building a new, non-denominational, hospital in Montreal; his outspokenness on the matter culminated in his fighting a duel with a Montreal doctor, William Caldwell, who supported the proposal. The hospital was ultimately built.

In November 1838, O'Sullivan was appointed the Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench in Montreal, but died in March 1839 at the age of 54.

Family and early life

O'Sullivan was born in Clonmel, Ireland, to John O'Sullivan and Eleonora O'Donel, who were related to prominent figures in County Tipperary. He emigrated to Lower Canada as a child, and was enrolled in the Collège Saint-Raphaël in Montreal from 1799 to 1806. The Collège was run by the Sulpician order, and his attendance began a life-long connection with the Sulpicians. He was recognised as a gifted student and finished at the top of his class. Other students in the class also went on to play leading roles in the nationalist politics of Lower Canada, such as Hugues Heney, André Jobin, and Jean-Moïse Raymond.

O'Sullivan was married twice. His first marriage, on June 1, 1809, was to Cécile Berthelet, daughter of the prosperous merchant and real estate owner, Pierre Berthelet, and his wife Marguerite Viger. One brother-in-law from his first marriage, Antoine-Olivier Berthelet, was briefly a member of the Legislative Assembly, from 1832 to 1834. Another brother-in-law, René-Joseph Kimber, was also a member of the Legislative Assembly. However, that marriage was short, ending with Cécile's death in 1811. He did not marry again for twenty years, until his second marriage to Jeanne-Marie-Catherine Bruyères, a widow, on May 17, 1831. Both marriages linked O'Sullivan to well-established members of the French-speaking community in Montreal.

O'Sullivan stayed in the militia after the War of 1812 was over. In 1830, he was promoted to major, on transferring to 1st Militia Battalion of Montreal.

The whole affair also had political implications, as Lartigue was the cousin of both Louis-Joseph Papineau and Viger. Both were ardent nationalists and leading members of the Parti canadien. They supported their cousin in the dispute. The timing of the dispute, and O'Sullivan's decision not to seek re-election in 1824, may have been related, and may have contributed to O'Sullivan's gradual movement away from the nationalist Parti canadien.

Montreal in 1819 had two hospitals, Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal and Hôpital général des frères Charron (also known as the Grey Nuns Hospital), both operated by the Catholic church, in French. The dispute began in January 1819, when John Molson, a prominent brewer and businessman, presented a petition to the Legislative Assembly calling for the creation of a third hospital, non-denominational, to operate in English and serve the English-speaking community of Montreal. The supporters of the project argued that the Hôtel-Dieu was over-crowded and could no longer serve the Montreal population, which had been steadily expanding. The Montreal Gazette editorialised against the project, saying that the Hôtel-Dieu could fulfill Montreal's needs for the foreseeable future.

In November 1838, O'Sullivan was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench for the district of Montreal, but only served for a single term in February 1839. He died on March 7, 1839, aged 54. An autopsy found Caldwell's ball from the duel 20 years prior lodged against the middle of O'Sullivan's spine. He was buried from Notre-Dame in Montreal.