Drummond, Lewis Thomas

Lewis Thomas Drummond was born in Londonderry, Ireland, May 28, 1813. When he was 12 years old, he and his widowed mother came to live in Montreal. He was educated at the Seminaire de Nicolet and studied law in the office of attorney Charles Dewey Day. Drummond was accepted to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1836 and established his own law firm. In 1838 he earned a reputation in criminal law when he defended those who participated in the Rebellion of 1837. Although he lost the case and the rebels were hanged, he gained much publicity and went on to try other prominent criminal cases.

In 1848 he was appointed Queen's Counsel, and that year he became solicitor general for Lower Canada in the first Canadian responsible government. In 1851 he was promoted to attorney general for Lower Canada. In 1852 he used his influence to overcome opposition within the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada to incorporate Montreal's Collège Ste-Marie. (One of Concordia University's founding institutions was Loyola College, which originated as a branch of Collège Ste-Marie.) Drummond successfully promoted legislation for the abolition of seigneurial tenure in Lower Canada (Quebec). The adoption of the Consolidated Seigneurial Act of 1854 is attributed to Drummond.

Drummond married a francophone, a member of a seignieurial family, Elmire Debartzch. They had two sons, Charles and Lewis Henry. (Lewis H. Drummond became a member of the Jesuit Order.) L.T. Drummond died from bronchitis on November 24, 1882.

Created 2015-07-07