Joseph Royal

Joseph Royal
5th Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories
In office July 1, 1888 – October 31, 1893
Monarch	Victoria
Governor General	The Lord Stanley of Preston The Earl of Aberdeen
Preceded by	Edgar Dewdney
Succeeded by	Charles Herbert Mackintosh
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Provencher
In office December 30, 1879 – July 1, 1888
Preceded by	Joseph Dubuc
Succeeded by	Alphonse Alfred Clément Larivière
1st Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
In office March 15, 1871 – February 21, 1872
Succeeded by	Curtis James Bird
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for St. Francis Xavier West
In office December 27, 1870 – December 16, 1879
Preceded by	none
Succeeded by	district abolished
Personal details
Born	(1837-05-07)7 May 1837 Repentigny, Lower Canada
Died	Montreal, Quebec
Nationality	Canadian
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Agnès Bruyère (m. 1857)
Children	8
Residence	Montreal, Quebec
Occupation	journalist, lawyer, businessman
Profession	politician
Cabinet	Provincial: Minister of Public Works Attorney General Provincial Secretary
Religion	Roman Catholic
Signature

Joseph Royal (7 May 1837 – 23 August 1902) was a Canadian journalist, lawyer, politician, businessman, and Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories.

Early life and career

Royal studied at St. Mary's Jesuit college in Montreal. His early publishing career included a term as editor of Montreal's Minerve from 1857 to 1859. He then founded and published other Montreal-based publications such as L'Ordre (1859–1860), La Revue Canadienne (1864) and Le Nouveau Monde (1867, editor-in-chief). Soon after moving to Manitoba, Royal founded Le Metis and operated that publication from 1871 to 1882 after which its new owner changed its title to Le Manitoba.

His legal career began in Lower Canada where he was called to that province's bar in 1864. He joined the Manitoba bar in 1871 after moving to that province. In 1880, Royal left legal practice.

Political career

In the 1870 Manitoba provincial elections, he was acclaimed to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for the riding St François Xavier West, and in 1871 he was unanimously chosen speaker. From 1874 to 1876, he was the Provincial Secretary and Minister of Public Works. From 1876 to 1878, he was the Attorney General. In 1878, he was the Minister of Public Works.

In an 1879 by-election, he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons representing the Manitoba riding of Provencher. A Conservative, he was re-elected in 1882 and 1887.

Royal was appointed to, and served as a member on the Temporary North-West Council, the first legislature of the Northwest Territories from 1872 to 1876. He would later serve as the Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories from 1888 to 1893.

Later life

In December 1894, Royal returned to La Minerve where he became editor-in-chief. After publishing other books, he died in Montreal in 1902.

Works

• Vie Politique de Sir Louis H Lafontaine (1864)
• La Vallée de la Mantawa (Montreal, 1869)
• Le Canada, république ou colonie? (Montreal, 1894)
• Histoire du Canada 1841 à 1867 (Montreal, 1909) – published after death

External links

• Joseph Royal – Parliament of Canada biography