Paul Denis was a lawyer 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 Beauharnois

Beauharnois (electoral district)

Beauharnois was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1935, from 1949 to 1953, and from 1968 to 1972....

 in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada

Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada

The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the legislature for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper Canada, then known as Canada West and later the...

 from 1861 to 1866.

He was born Paul Saint-Denis, possibly in Beauharnois, Quebec

Beauharnois, Quebec

Beauharnois is a city located in the Beauharnois-Salaberry Regional County Municipality of southwestern Quebec, Canada and is part of Greater Montreal Area. The city's population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 11,918...

. He studied at the Petit Séminaire de Montréal and was admitted to the Lower Canada bar in 1858. Denis set up practice in Beauharnois. He was an unsuccessful candidate for a seat in the Canadian House of Commons in 1867. Denis was named Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...

in June 1867.