Thomas Cushing Aylwin was a 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....

 lawyer, judge and political figure.

He was born in Quebec City

Quebec City

Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

 in 1806, the grandson of Thomas Aylwin. Aylwin studied at Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, then articled in law and was called to the bar in 1827. He entered the practice of law in partnership with Edward Short

Edward Short (Canadian judge)

Edward Short was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Quebec.He was born in Bristol, England in 1806, the son of John Quirk Short and the grandson of Robert Quirk Short, and came to Canada with his family. He studied law in Trois-Rivières and was called to the Bar of Quebec in 1826...

. In 1841, he was elected to 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...

 for Portneuf; he was reelected in 1844 and 1848 for Quebec City. Aylwin served as solicitor general for Canada East

Canada East

Canada East was the eastern portion of the United Province of Canada. It consisted of the southern portion of the modern-day Canadian Province of Quebec, and was primarily a French-speaking region....

 from 1842 to 1843, resigning to protest Governor Sir Charles Metcalfe

Charles Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe

Charles Theophilus Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe, Bt, KCB, PC , known as Sir Charles Metcalfe, Bt between 1822 and 1845, was a British colonial administrator...

's refusal to consult the Executive Council on patronage appointments, and served again in the same post in 1848. Later in 1848, he resigned his seat to accept an appointment as judge in the Court of Queen’s Bench. Aylwin resigned from the bench in 1868 after suffering a stroke

Stroke

A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

.

He died in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 in 1871.

Aylwin Township in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada, was named in his honour in 1858 (but was renamed to Kazabazua

Kazabazua, Quebec

Kazabazua is a village and municipality in La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. The village is about halfway between Maniwaki and Hull at the intersection of Route 105 and Route 301, just west of the Gatineau River....

in 1976).