A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time. Various
and the School of Instruction (infantry) at Ottawa. On the 21st July, 1883, the Colonel sailed for England, to be attached to her Majesty’s forces at Aldershot for instructional purposes, and while in Europe he visited various towns in Belgium, Germany and France, and also examined several of the battle fields connected with the Franco-German war, in search of information. He returned to Canada in November of the same year, and on 31st December was gazetted commandant of the School of Infantry, Infantry School corps. On the 16th May, 1884, he was re-appointed deputy adjutant general district No. 8, New Brunswick, holding at the same time command of the school and corps which he had successfully organized. In May, 1885, Colonel Maunsell formed a temporary battalion, composed of the School corps and companies (6) active militia of New Brunswick, and (2) of Prince Edward Island for immediate active service in the North-West Territory, and proceeded with this battalion en route to the North-West, but on the 18th of that month was ordered into camp at Sussex, to await further orders. On the 25th May he received the thanks of the authorities, and the different companies were sent to their local headquarters, their services not being further required. In addition to the above Colonel Maunsell served with the fifteenth regiment in several Mediterranean stations, when his regiment was sent to reinforce troops during the Crimean war; and in the years 1855–6 he travelled on foot and on horseback throughout Spain. He has been from youth up an adherent of the Episcopal church. On the 9th August, 1862, Colonel Maunsell married Miss Moony, elder daughter of the late F. E. Moony, J.P., D.L., of “The Doon,” King’s county, Ireland, and has a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters. His eldest son is captain in the 8th regiment P.L. cavalry, New Brunswick, and his eldest daughter is married to J. W. de Courcy O’Grady, of the Bank of Montreal, Ottawa.
Baxter, Robert Gordon, M.D., Moncton, New Brunswick, was born on 28th April, 1847, at Truro, Nova Scotia. His father was John Irving Baxter, born in Annan, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, in 1803; educated in Pictou, Nova Scotia, and for years was the Presbyterian minister at Onslow, N.S. His mother, Jessie Gordon, was a daughter of the Rev. Mr. Gordon, of Prince Edward Island, whose mother afterwards married the Rev. Dr. McGregor, Presbyterian minister of Pictou, N.S. Dr. Baxter received his early education in Truro, and pursued his medical studies in New York and Philadelphia, and in London, England. In 1868 he began the practice of his profession in Philadelphia, and in the following year removed to Tatamagouche, N.S., and in the summer of 1870 to Moncton, where he has resided since. He has held a lieutenant’s command in the third regiment Colchester County Militia since June 21st, 1865; and was the first chairman of the Board of Health of Moncton. He takes a great interest in public enterprises, especially in agriculture, and was the first to introduce into New Brunswick and bring to public notice the system of ensilage, now so popular in Great Britain, and of so much advantage to stock raisers. He has travelled over the greater part of Canada and the United States, and has visited England, Scotland and several of the continental cities. The doctor is in religion a Presbyterian. On the 29th January, 1872, he was married to Jean McAlister, of Moncton, and has two children, a son and a daughter.
Branchaud, Moise, Q.C., Beauharnois, Quebec province, was born at Beauharnois, on the 6th March, 1827. His father, Jean Baptiste Branchaud, bourgeois, of Beauharnois, and his mother, Louise Primeau, were both descendants of two of the earliest colonists of the Seigniory of Beauharnois. His father died in 1883, at the advanced age of eighty-three, enjoying the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens. Mr. Branchaud was sent, at an early age, to the College of Sainte Thérèse de Blainville, where he made a brilliant course of classical studies. On leaving college he entered the office of the Hon. Lewis T. Drummond, to study law, and he was admitted to the bar on the 27th February, 1849. Immediately after his admission he took up his residence in Beauharnois, where he has practised his profession to this day. At that time there was only a circuit court sitting in the district of Beauharnois, with a jurisdiction of $80.00; this was increased, in 1851, to the sum of $200.00. In consequence of this limited jurisdiction, his professional advancement was but slow. However, when the “Act relative to the division of Lower Canada into districts for the administration of justice” came into force, there was a decided change. By virtue of said act, a Superior Court was established in the district of Beauharnois, with an unlimited jurisdiction in all civil and commercial cases; as well as a criminal court and a circuit court. His practice then took such an extension that, after a few years of assiduous toil, he possessed a competency which enabled him to look tranquilly to the future of his young family. His zeal and honesty in the exercise of his profession was never challenged, either by his numerous clients or his confrères. In 1858 he formed a partnership with Sir John Rose, for the administration of the legal business of the seigniory of Beauharnois, which was then very important and extensive. This partnership existed until the departure of Sir John for London, England. The following letter, written by Sir John before his departure, shows the high esteem in which the baronet held his young partner:
“Montreal, 30th September, 1869.
“My Dear Branchaud—A thousand thanks for your kind note, the contents of which affect me very deeply. Every recollection associated with our intercourse is, I can assure you, of the most pleasant character, and I look with great regret at having to say good-bye to so many attached friends. I would have been deeply gratified to have seen you at the dinner, but the expression of your kind wishes will long be remembered by me. That every good thing may attend you is the earnest wish of your sincere friend—John Rose.”
This affectionate letter, coming from such an eminent man as Sir John Rose, who attained such a high position among the most eminent men in England, is preciously preserved by Mr. Branchaud, and the feelings of friendship and esteem he always held towards the baronet are still warm in his heart. During his sojourn in Beauharnois, in the summer of 1858, the Right Honourable Edward Ellice, then proprietor of the seigniory of Beauharnois, showed special marks of honour to Mr. Branchaud. He was invited to all the dinners which he gave, whether to the principal citizens of the place, or to his distinguished visitors from England. On one of these occasions he met Lord Frederick Cavendish, the victim of the Phœnix Park murder, Dublin, and Lord Grosvenor, now Duke of Westminster. They were both very young then, and were going on a hunting expedition to the western prairies. On returning home Mr. Ellice tried to induce him to accompany him, and made him very flattering promises, but the extended practice Mr. Branchaud had acquired did not permit him to accept such an agreeable invitation. He regrets having declined now, for he will never have an opportunity, if he should take a trip to Europe, of forming acquaintances which the high position of Mr. Ellice could have facilitated. He nevertheless keeps a grateful remembrance of the old gentleman, who had so much regard for him. In 1859 Mr. Branchaud married Marie Elizabeth Henrietta Mondelet, a daughter of the Hon. Judge Charles Mondelet, of the city of Montreal, one of the judges of the Superior Court for Lower Canada, and of Dame Maria Elizabeth Henrietta Carter, a daughter of the late Dr. Carter, of Three Rivers. Madame Mondelet was the niece of Captain Brock, a nephew and aide-de-camp to General Brock, and of Dr. Johnston, in his lifetime inspector general of military hospitals in the Ionian Islands; and a first cousin of the late Judge Short, of Sherbrooke. Mr. and Madame Mondelet died many years ago. The Hon. Dominique, Mondelet, a judge at Three Rivers, was the elder brother of Mr. Branchaud’s father-in-law. They were the sons of Dominique Mondelet, a member of the old Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, and also a member of the Executive Council under the administration of Lord Aylmer. In politics M. Branchaud was an advanced liberal in his youth, but his opinions have greatly changed during the last few years. Experience and age always exert a soothing influence on the ideas and sentiments of the generality of men, and Mr. Branchaud did not form an exception to the rule. He would not be so willing, to-day, to endorse the political and social principles formulated in the programme of L’ Avenir, and which were so enthusiastically adopted by the young men who founded that paper. However, Mr. Branchaud thinks one may be liberal without sharing the opinions of the nineteenth century philosophers, and without believing in the omnipotence of universal suffrage to save society—such safety being more certain in the hands of the few than in those of the greater number of its members. The democratic ideas carried to extreme limits will cause the fall of modern empires, as they have produced the fall of the older ones, and what is happening to-day in Europe is only their natural consequences. The actual opinions of Mr. Branchaud do not find favour with either party. His independence of character and his well-known frankness are obstacles which would prevent his success in politics.