Étienne-Paschal Taché

Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché (1795 to 1865) was a Canadian physician who also became a militia officer and statesman. Born at St Thomas, Lower Canada, he left school as a teenager to serve in the militia during the War of 1812 and was present at the battles of Châteauguay and Plattsburgh. He began medical studies in the army camps, continued under Pierre de Sales Laterrière and at the University of Pennsylvania, obtained his licence in Lower Canada in 1819 and practised in Montmagny for about twenty years. By 1831 he belonged to the Quebec Medical Society when it won the right to elect the boards of medical examiners, ending the monopoly of British doctors over admission to the profession, and he was elected to the Quebec City board. He later sat in the legislature, served twice as joint premier of the Province of Canada, and from 1864 headed the Great Coalition for Confederation, dying in office in 1865.