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Spanning 3 centuries and 2 legal cultures, the Taschereau family perpetuated itself, along with several other groups, as a core constituent in Québec's law-making institutions. The patriarch of the family, Gabriel-Elzéar Taschereau, member of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada, seigneur and judge (b at Québec C 27 Mar 1745; d at Sainte-Marie-de-la-Beauce, LC 18 Sept 1809), was twice married, and a distinct and distinguished legal lineage arose from each marriage.
As a result of his marriage to Marie-Louise-Élisabeth Bazin in 1773 he became the father of Jean-Thomas, MLA, judge, and publisher (b at Sainte-Marie-de-la-Beauce 26 Nov 1778; d at Québec C 14 June 1832), and the grandfather of Jean-Thomas, puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada (b at Québec C 12 Dec 1814; d there 9 Nov 1893). The younger Jean-Thomas was the father of Sir Henri-Thomas, chief justice of the Court of King's Bench of Québec (b in Québec C 6 Oct 1841; d at Montmorency, France 11 Oct 1909) and of Louis-Alexandre TASCHEREAU, lawyer and premier of Québec, and the grandfather of Robert, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada (b at Québec C 10 Sept 1896; d at Montréal 26 July 1970).
Through his second marriage to Louise-Françoise Juchereau Duchesnay (d 1841) in 1789, Gabriel-Elzéar was also grandfather of Joseph-André, solicitor general of Lower Canada (b at Sainte-Marie-de-la-Beauce, 30 Nov 1806; d at Kamouraska, Canada E 30 Mar 1867); and great-grandfather of Sir Henri-Elzéar, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada (b at Sainte-Marie-de-la-Beauce, 7 Oct 1836; d at Ottawa 14 Apr 1911). This powerful seigneurial family was also related through marriage to members of other prominent Québec legal families. Although many Canadian families constituted legal dynasties, one family's continuing presence on the bench is rare.
