Joseph-Adolphe Dorion was a notary

Civil law notary

Civil-law notaries, or Latin notaries, are lawyers of noncontentious private civil law who draft, take, and record legal instruments for private parties, provide legal advice and give attendance in person, and are vested as public officers with the authentication power of the State...

 and political figure in Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. He represented Richelieu

Richelieu (provincial electoral district)

Richelieu is a provincial electoral riding in the province of Quebec, Canada. Located in the Montérégie region, the district was created in 1792. Between 1936 and 1944, it was part of the defunct riding of Richelieu-Vercheres...

 in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec

Legislative Assembly of Quebec

The Legislative Assembly of Quebec was the name of the lower house of Quebec's legislature until 1968, when it was renamed the National Assembly of Quebec. At the same time, the upper house of the legislature, the Legislative Council, was abolished...

 from 1871 to 1875 as a Conservative.

He was born in Saint-Ours

Saint-Ours, Quebec

Saint-Ours is a town located in the Pierre-De Saurel Regional County Municipality of Québec , in the administrative region of Montérégie. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 1,700.-Population:Population trend-Language:...

, Lower Canada

Lower Canada

The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...

, the son of Jacques Dorion

Jacques Dorion

Jacques Dorion was a doctor and political figure in Lower Canada.He was born at Quebec City around 1797 and studied at the Petit Séminaire de Québec. Dorion studied medicine at Paris and returned to set up practice at Saint-Ours. In 1824, he married Catherine-Louise Lovell, niece of seigneur...

 and Catherine-Louise Lovell. He was educated at the Séminaire de Saint-Hyacinthe and the Collège de Joliette. He was admitted to practice in 1863 and settled at Saint-Ours. Dorion was also justice of the peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

, coroner

Coroner

A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...

, president of the Agricultural Society for Richelieu County and county treasurer. He ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the legislative assembly for the Province of Canada in 1861. In 1865, Dorion married Henriette-Amélie, the daughter of seigneur

Seigneurial system of New France

The seigneurial system of New France was the semi-feudal system of land distribution used in the North American colonies of New France.-Introduction to New France:...

 François-Roch de Saint-Ours

François-Roch de Saint-Ours

François-Roch de Saint-Ours was a seigneur and political figure in Lower Canada. He represented Richelieu in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada from 1824 to 1832....

. In 1882, he was named to the Legislative Council of Quebec

Legislative Council of Quebec

From 1867 until 1968, the Legislative Council of Quebec was the unelected upper house of the bicameral legislature in the Canadian province of Quebec...

for Sorel division and served there until 1897. Dorion died in Saint-Ours at the age of 68.