William Cuthbert was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

-born farmer, businessman and political figure in 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....

. He represented Bonaventure

Bonaventure (electoral district)

Bonaventure was a federal electoral district in the province of Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1997...

 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 1848 to 1851 as a Tory.

He was born in Alloway

Alloway

Alloway is best known as the birthplace of Robert Burns, and as where he set his poem "Tam o' Shanter"....

 and settled at New Richmond

New Richmond, Quebec

New Richmond is an incorporated municipality in Quebec, Canada situated on the southern coast of the Gaspé Peninsula between the municipalities of Maria and Caplan. The first European settlers arrived from Scotland in 1755. The first arrivals were the Duthie brothers, George and John Duthie and...

 between 1810 and 1825. With his brother Robert in Scotland, he formed William Cuthbert and Company which imported goods and was involved in the timber trade and the export of cod

Atlantic cod

The Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, is a well-known demersal food fish belonging to the family Gadidae. It is also commercially known as cod, codling or haberdine....

. In 1828, he was named a 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...

 for the Gaspé district. He married Christiana, the daughter of Donald Montgomery, in 1832. In 1833, he built a sawmill

Sawmill

A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....

 at the mouth of the Petite Cascapédia River

Cascapédia River

The Cascapédia River is a river in the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec which rises in the Chic-Choc Mountains and empties into Baie de la Cascapédia, a small bay on Baie des Chaleurs. The river is about 120 km in length.It is known for its Atlantic Salmon fishing...

. Cuthbert also owned a flour mill and another sawmill. It is also believed that he built a number of ships at New Richmond and was a major landowner in the Baie des Chaleurs region. Cuthbert was a major in the local militia, later reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Because of ill health, he was not present in the assembly for much of his term and did not run for reelection in 1851. Cuthbert travelled to Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in July 1854. He died in Rock Ferry

Rock Ferry

Rock Ferry is an area of Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Administratively it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the county of Cheshire...

 at the home of his nephew, a doctor, the following month.

His wife's brothers John

John Montgomery (shipbuilder)

John Montgomery was a merchant, shipbuilder and political figure in New Brunswick. He represented Restigouche in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1847 to 1865....

 and Donald

Donald Montgomery

Donald Montgomery was a farmer and politician from Prince Edward Island. He represented Princetown and then 1st Queens in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1838 to 1874 as a Conservative member and served as a Conservative member of the Senate of Canada from 1873 until his death...

 were prominent politicians in Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, respectively. Cuthbert was probably related to James Cuthbert, Jr.

James Cuthbert, Jr.

James Cuthbert was a seigneur and political figure in Lower Canada.He was born at Berthier in 1769, the son of seigneur James Cuthbert, and studied at the English College at Douai, France. He served in the 60th Regiment of the British Army, becoming lieutenant in 1797. Cuthbert inherited the...

 and Ross Cuthbert

Ross Cuthbert

Ross Cuthbert was a Canadian writer, lawyer and politician.Born at Berthier and baptised at Montreal, as the son of James Cuthbert, he was heir to the seigneuries of Lanoraie and Dautray...

who served in the assembly for Lower Canada.