{{Short description|Canadian lawyer and politician}} {{for|the U.S. Army officer|Henry M. Judah}} {{use Canadian English|date=January 2024}} {{use mdy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Henry Judah | honorific_suffix = QC | image = | image_size = | office = Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for Champlain | predecessor = René-Joseph Kimber | successor = Louis Guillet | term = 1843–1844<br>(by-election) | birth_date = {{birth date|1808|4|28}} | birth_place = London, England | death_date = {{death date and age|1883|2|10|1808|4|28}} | death_place = Montreal, Quebec | party = French-Canadian Group | spouse = Harline Kimber | relations = {{ubl| René-Joseph Kimber (father-in-law) | Ezekiel Hart (cousin)}} | children = | occupation = | profession = Lawyer }}
'''Henry Hague Judah''', {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|QC}} (April 28, 1808 – February 10, 1883), was a lawyer, businessman, and political figure in Canada East, Province of Canada (now Quebec). Judah was one of the first Jews to become a lawyer in early Canada, and the first Jewish member of the Parliament of the Province of Canada. He had an extensive legal practice, starting in Trois-Rivières, and later in Montreal. He was a member of the commission which implemented the abolition of seigneurial tenure in Lower Canada. He also was involved in banking, eventually becoming the president of the Montreal City and District Savings Bank (now the Laurentian Bank of Canada), and was a promoter of the short-lived Montreal and Bytown Railway Company.
== Family and early life ==
thumb|upright=0.75|Ezekiel Hart, Judah's cousin and first Jew elected to public office in the British Empire
Judah was born in London in 1808. He was the cousin of Ezekiel Hart, considered the first Jew elected to public office in the British Empire. Ezekiel Hart's son, Aaron Ezekiel Hart, was the first Jew called to the bar in Lower Canada, in 1824. The Harts were well-established in the Trois-Rivières area, and Judah joined them there. He studied law at Trois-Rivières and was called to the bar in 1829, one of the first Jews called to the bar in the Canadas. He set up practice at Trois-Rivières. In 1840, Judah moved his law practice to Montreal, where he entered into partnership with Jonathan S.C. Würtele.<ref name=naq>{{Quebec MNA biography|judah-henry-3763|Henry Judah}}</ref><ref>Denis Vaugeois, [http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/hart_ezekiel_7E.html "Hart, Ezekiel (Ezechiel)"], ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', vol. VII (1836–1850), University of Toronto / Université Laval.</ref><ref name=Gindin>Matthew Gindin, [https://thecjn.ca/perspectives/opinions/ezekiel-hart-emancipation-canadas-jews/ "Ezekiel Hart and the emancipation of Canada's Jews"], ''Canadian Jewish News'', July 20, 2017.</ref><ref name=Scott>Marian Scott, [https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/spanish-and-portuguese-synagogue-marks-250th "Canada's oldest Jewish congregation, a civil rights champion, marks 250 years"], ''Montreal Gazette'', May 10, 2018.</ref><ref>Denis Vaugeois, [http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/hart_aaron_ezekiel_8F.html "Hart, Aaron Ezekiel"], ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', vol. VIII (1851–1860), University of Toronto / Université Laval.</ref><ref>Carman Miller, [http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/wurtele_jonathan_saxton_campbell_13E.html "Würtele, Jonathan Saxton Campbell"], ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', vol. XIII (1901–1910), University of Toronto / Université Laval.</ref>
In 1834, Judah married Harline Kimber, the daughter of René-Joseph Kimber, a doctor in Trois-Rivières. The marriage occurred in the Anglican church.
==Political career==
In the 1830s, Judah's father-in-law, René-Joseph Kimber, was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, as a supporter of the Parti canadien. Following the union of Lower Canada and Upper Canada in 1841, Kimber was elected to the first Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada in 1841 for the riding of Champlain.<ref name= naq/><ref>{{Quebec MNA biography|kimber-rene-joseph-3793|René-Joseph Kimber}}</ref><ref>J.O. Côté, [https://archive.org/details/politicalappoint00cotj_0/page/43/mode/1up ''Political Appointments and Elections in the Province of Canada, 1841 to 1860''] (Quebec: St. Michel and Darveau, 1860), p. 43.</ref>
In 1843, Kimber was appointed to the Legislative Council, the upper house of the Parliament of the Province of Canada. Judah stood for election to the vacant Champlain riding in the by-election and was elected, succeeding to the position previously held by his father-in-law.<ref name= naq/><ref>Côté, [https://archive.org/details/politicalappoint00cotj_0/page/43/mode/1up ''Political Appointments and Elections''], p. 59, notes (7), (8).</ref>
Unlike his cousin Ezekiel Hart, who had been twice elected to the Assembly of Lower Canada but was refused admittance because he was Jewish, Judah did not have any difficulty in taking his seat. Some twenty years after Hart had been denied his seat, the provincial Parliament had passed Jewish emancipation legislation to give Jews equal legal rights with other British subjects. It is not clear if Judah was able to sit because of this provision, or if he had converted following his marriage to his wife, but in any event he sat during the legislative session of 1843.<ref name= naq/><ref name=Gindin/><ref name=Scott/><ref>{{Cite canlaw|short title =An Act to declare persons professing the Jewish Religion intitled to all the rights and privileges of the other subjects of His Majesty in this Province|abbr =SLC|year =1831|chapter =57.|link =https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_00926_41/384}} Act passed by the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council, 1831; presented to the Governor for royal assent March 31, 1831; reserved that date by the Governor "for the signification of His Majesty's pleasure thereon"; royal assent granted by the King-in-Council, April 12, 1832; proclamation by the Governor signifying grant of royal assent, June 5, 1832.</ref><ref name=Rome223>David Rome, ''On the Early Harts – Their Contemporaries'': [https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3658086?docref=teDmVc_xNF4LvV0gH6EvEQ "A Judah in Parliament"] (Montreal: Canadian Jewish Archives, 1981; New Series, No. 20), 223–225.</ref>
Judah took an active part in the Assembly, participating in the votes on several major issues. He generally voted with the French-Canadian Group, a reform group led by Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine. However, there is some suggestion in correspondence of the time that he was dissatisfied at not being appointed to the Executive Council, the provincial Cabinet.<ref name=Rome223/><ref name=Cornell>Paul Cornell, [https://archive.org/details/alignmentofpolit0000corn ''Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, 1841–67''] (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1962; reprinted in paperback 2015), pp. 15, 16, 96.</ref>
Judah participated in a major campaign gathering by the Canada East reformers during the 1844 election campaign. He was defeated by another reform candidate, Louis Guillet. He never participated again in electoral politics.<ref name= naq/><ref name=Cornell/>
== Friendship with Papineau ==
thumb|upright=0.75|Louis-Joseph Papineau, ''Patriote'' leader and friend of Henry and Harline Judah
After the 1843 session concluded, the Judahs went on a lengthy trip to Europe, where they met up with Louis-Joseph Papineau, then in exile because of his role in the Lower Canada Rebellion. They appear to have been firm friends, agreeing in their lively discussions on Canadian politics, and at one point sharing rental accommodations. The Judahs appear to have given Papineau financial support, as he was without income and struggling to obtain arrears for his pre-Rebellion service as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. There is also some indication in Papineau's correspondence that the Judahs were prepared to help the Papineaus obtain housing in Montreal, either by buying the Papineaus' current house at a good price, or renting them a property.<ref name=Rome214>Rome, ''On the Early Harts – Their Contemporaries'': [https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3658086?docref=teDmVc_xNF4LvV0gH6EvEQ "Papineau's Jewish Friends"], pp. 214–222.</ref>
== Legal and business career ==
Judah was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1854, and in 1855 was named one of the commissioners appointed to implement the abolition of the seigneurial system. His work on the commission took up a significant amount of time and energy, as it required case-by-case analysis of appropriate compensation and boundary allocations.<ref name= naq/><ref name=Rome225>Rome, ''On the Early Harts – Their Contemporaries'': [https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3658086?docref=teDmVc_xNF4LvV0gH6EvEQ "Abolishing the Seigneuries"], pp. 225–228.</ref>
He helped found the Montreal City and District Savings Bank (now the Laurentian Bank of Canada) and later served as its president, during some challenging years. Judah was a promoter of the Montreal and Bytown Railway, which failed five years after it began operations. He also had extensive real estate holdings in Old Montreal.<ref name= naq/><ref name=Rome223/><ref name =VieuxM>Centre-historique de Montréal – Vieux-Montréal: [https://vieux.montreal.qc.ca/inventaire/fiches/fiche_pers.php?id=335&an=1785&per=2 "Henry Hague Judah"].</ref>
Although he was not involved directly in electoral politics, Judah remained connected to the LaFontaine group, later known as the ''Parti bleu''. In 1863, when the Liberal/''Rouge'' government opened a commission of inquiry into allegations of fraud by a ''Bleu'' supporter who held two government posts, Alexandre-Maurice Delisle, Judah was one of several major ''Bleus'' who testified on Delisle's behalf.<ref name =dcb>Jacques Monet, [http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/delisle_alexandre_maurice_10F.html "Delisle, Alexandre-Maurice"], ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', vol. X (1871–1880), University of Toronto / Université Laval.</ref>
== Later life and death ==
Judah and his wife lived in a house on Dorchester Boulevard, called "Le Bocage". According to Papineau's letters, Harline Judah was in very poor health in late 1858 and early 1859. After his wife's death, Judah gave a substantial tract of land in downtown Montreal to the Grey Nuns, in memory of his wife.<ref name=Rome214/><ref name=Rome225/>
When he retired, Judah ceded his legal practice to his nephew, Frederick Thomas Judah. Henry Judah died at Montreal in 1883. He was buried from the Anglican church of St. James.<ref name= naq/><ref name=VieuxM/>
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Judah, Henry}} Category:1808 births Category:1883 deaths Category:Canadian King's Counsel Category:Jewish Canadian politicians Category:Lawyers in Lower Canada and Canada East Category:Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East Category:Montreal City and District Savings Bank directors