Christopher Dunkin | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Christopher Dunkin

Christopher Dunkin, lawyer, politician, judge (b at Walworth, Eng 25 Sept 1812; d at Knowlton, Qué 6 Jan 1881). Admitted to the bar in 1846, he gained renown defending the legal rights of the seigneurs in 1854.

Dunkin, Christopher

Christopher Dunkin, lawyer, politician, judge (b at Walworth, Eng 25 Sept 1812; d at Knowlton, Qué 6 Jan 1881). Admitted to the bar in 1846, he gained renown defending the legal rights of the seigneurs in 1854. He was a Québec MLA 1858-71 and MP 1867-71, provincial treasurer 1867-69 and federal minister of agriculture 1869-71. A philosophical conservative known for the protemperance Dunkin Act of 1864, he represented English Protestant and Eastern Townships interests in Québec and Ottawa. He was a brilliantly lucid opponent of CONFEDERATION in the debates of 1865.