Timothée Franchère

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Timothée Franchère (c. 1791 – October 5, 1849) was a Canadian businessman and political figure in Lower Canada and then the Province of Canada. He lived in Saint-Mathias and built a busy career as a merchant, running a retail and grain wholesale business, working in lumber and saw mills, and transporting goods on the Richelieu River. He also owned a barge, had shares in a steamship, lent money, and invested in land.

He served in the local militia during the War of 1812, becoming a captain in the Rouville Militia in 1821 and an adjutant for the district. He also worked as a school commissioner. In 1832 he was named commissioner in charge of the Chambly Canal project.

Franchère participated in the Patriote movement and the 1837 rebellions. He attended the Assembly of the Six Counties, and while he later said the resolution against the government went too far, he supported reform. When the Lower Canada Rebellion began, an arrest warrant was issued for him and a reward was offered. He fled to the United States with two other Saint-Mathias merchants and was pardoned by the Governor late that year. He later served as a director of La Banque du Peuple, which was suspected of aiding the rebellion's arms.

In 1840 the union of Lower and Upper Canada created the Province of Canada. In the first elections for the new Parliament, Franchère ran in Rouville but narrowly lost to Mélchior-Alphonse de Salaberry. A vacancy arose in 1843, and Franchère was elected as a member of the French-Canadian Group led by Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine. He was re-elected in 1844 and did not run in 1848.

Franchère was named a justice of the peace in 1843 and became the first mayor of Saint-Mathias in 1845. He continued his business interests until his death in 1849. He left a large estate to his widow and five surviving children. His possessions included two pianos and portraits of Pope Pius IX, Jacques Cartier, and Bishop Joseph-Octave Plessis. His widow noted he had claimed about £1,300 for rebellion losses and received £837 from the government.