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Jonathan Sewell LL.D., h.c. (Harvard) | |
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| Chief Justice of Lower Canada | |
| In office 1808–1838 | |
| Preceded by | Henry Allcock |
| Succeeded by | Sir James Stuart |
| Solicitor General of Lower Canada and Inspector of the King's Domain | |
| In office 1793–1795 | |
| Attorney General and Counsel General of Lower Canada | |
| In office 1795–1808 | |
| Preceded by | James Monk |
| Succeeded by | Edward Bowen |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for William-Henry (four elections) | |
| In office 1796–1808 | |
| Preceded by | John Barnes |
| Succeeded by | Edward Bowen |
| Member of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada | |
| In office 1808–1838 | |
| Speaker of the Legislative Council | |
| In office 1809–1838 | |
| Preceded by | Henry Allcock |
| Succeeded by | None; position abolished on suspension of the constitution |
| Member of the Executive Council of Lower Canada | |
| In office 1808–1830 | |
| In office June 1838–November 1838 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jonathan Sewall June 6, 1766 Cambridge, Massachusetts, British America |
| Died | November 11, 1839 (aged 73) Quebec City, Province of Lower Canada |
| Resting place | Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Quebec City |
| Spouse | Henrietta Smith (called Harriet) |
| Children | 16 (4 died during infancy) (10 alive at his death, plus 2 orphaned grandchildren in will) |
| Parent |
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| Education | Brasenose College, Oxford |
| Profession | Lawyer, judge |
Jonathan Sewell (born Jonathan Sewall; June 6, 1766 – November 11, 1839) was a lawyer, judge, defensive spymaster and political figure in Lower Canada. Sewell utilized the idea of substantive law (shaping how people should act through distilling punishment) over procedural law (outright punishing the guilty for what was committed) as much as possible when it came to delegating punishment for criminal cases specifically; Sewell saw the certainty of punishment over the seriousness of punishment as enough to alter the intentions of non-violent or non-hardened criminals. In civil suits, Sewell "likely did more than anyone to professionalize the administration of civil justice (in Lower Canada and Montreal) prior to the codification of civil laws in 1866."
Before being highly successful in politics, Sewell proved to be an extremely adept law student, performed as a violinist, and an orchestral composer, who once was selectively placed in "the lead position of an amateur orchestra" by the first member of the British royal family to live in British North America during any term longer than a visit (1791-1800), Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (at the time known as Prince Edward Augustus).[1]
Sewell had attempted to influence the French-Canadian population in Montreal and Quebec (at the time Montreal and the colony of Lower Canada) in the early 1800s through both a failed attack on the legitimacy of the Roman Catholic Church in the colony, and through control of the educational system the colonial government was responsible with delegating.[1] The latter could be argued as successful as the institution created under the "mind control to Anglicize" guidelines later became McGill University, but the parameters of Canadian and Quebec education changed with the ever-mutable nature of the colonial (the colony would become "united" multiple times with the rest of the British North American colonies and change systems of government until 1867) and federal education guidelines and government recommendations.
It is noted that Sewell's "extreme faith" in his attendance and due to his varying roles within his life caused him to be "easily the most powerful official (in Lower Canada and Montreal) under the Governor in the colony."[1]
Sewell believed that the colony of Lower Canada was in danger of being "lost to England and the Crown" around the early 1800s. Sewell was retained by the Governor of Lower Canada at the time (Sir Craig) to "analyze the political ills of the colony." Sewell believed and mentioned in this report that "the great links of connection between a Government and its subjects are religious, Laws and Language," and he was under the impression that "those links did not exist in the colony." Sewell claimed that the British and the Canadians (used to refer generally to people of British and/or French descent at this time) nurtured a "national antipathy" and that because "no incorporation of two such Extremes (as British and French mannerisms) can ever be effected." Sewell concluded that "the province (of Lower Canada) must be converted to an English Colony, or, it will ultimately be lost to England." Finally, Sewell spoke on why he thought these political ills arose in the colony in the first place: 1) "From the French predilections in the great Mass of the Inhabitants" (a fancy way of saying "to prefer the political traditions that many of the French colonists have within them for political rioting and revolution over loyalism) and 2) "From want of Influence and power in the Executive Government." This is also why Sewell sought out to control institutions that would influence the French population of Lower Canada at the time like the Roman Catholic Church and (when that failed) the education system through the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning (later McGill University) to increase the colonial anglicization of the colony.[1]
- ^ a b c d "Biography – SEWELL, JONATHAN – Volume VII (1836-1850) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography". www.biographi.ca. Retrieved September 4, 2023.