| René-Édouard Caron | |
| Order1: | 2nd Lieutenant Governor of Quebec |
| Term Start1: | 11 February 1873 |
| Term End1: | 13 December 1876 |
| Monarch1: | Victoria |
| Governor General1: | The Earl of Dufferin |
| Predecessor1: | Narcisse-Fortunat Belleau |
| Successor1: | Luc LeTellier de Saint-Just |
| Office2: | Commission for the Codification of the Law of Lower Canada |
| Term Start2: | 4 February 1859 |
| Term End2: | 1 August 1866 |
| Alongside2: | Charles Dewey Day, Augustin-Norbert Morin (1859–1865), and Joseph-Ubalde Beaudry (1865–1866) |
| Order3: | 2nd Mayor of Quebec City |
| Term Start3: | 31 March 1834 |
| Term End3: | 9 April 1836 |
| Term Start4: | 15 August 1840 |
| Term End4: | 9 February 1846 |
| Predecessor4: | Elzéar Bédard |
| Successor4: | George Okill Stuart, Jr. |
| Office5: | Member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, Upper Town of Quebec (two-member constituency) |
| Term Start5: | 1834 |
| Term End5: | 7 March 1836 |
| Alongside5: | Amable Berthelot |
| Predecessor5: | Jean-François-Joseph Duval Andrew Stuart |
| Successor5: | Andrew Stuart (1836–1838) |
| Office6: | Member of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada |
| Term Start6: | 22 August 1837 |
| Term End6: | 27 March 1836 |
| Successor6: | None; Constitution suspended |
| Office7: | Member of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada |
| Term Start7: | 9 June 1841 |
| Term End7: | 16 March 1857 |
| Predecessor7: | New position |
| Birth Date: | 21 October 1800 |
| Birth Place: | Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Lower Canada |
| Death Place: | Spencer Wood, Sillery |
| Resting Place: | Cimetière Notre-Dame-de-Belmont, Sainte-Foy |
| Education: | Petit Séminaire de Québec |
| Honorific Prefix: | The Honourable |
| Parents: | Augustin Caron |
| Children: | Adolphe-Philippe Caron and 2 daughters |
René-Édouard Caron (21 October 1800 – 13 December 1876) was a Canadian politician, judge, and the second Lieutenant Governor of Quebec.[1]
He was born in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Lower Canada, the son of Augustin Caron, a well-to-do farmer and Member of the House of Assembly (MHA) for Lower Canada, and Élizabeth Lessard. He studied Latin at the college of Saint-Pierre-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud, which prepared him for admittance to the Petit Séminaire de Québec, in 1813. After later studying law in André-Rémi Hamel's office, Caron was called to the bar of Lower Canada in 1826.[2] In 1828, he married Marie-Vénérande-Joséphine de Blois, the daughter of Joseph de Blois and Marie-Vénérande Ranvoyzé.[3]
In 1833, he was elected as a municipal representative for the Palais district of Quebec City. In 1834, he was elected mayor by the city councillors and served until 1836. He was mayor again from 1840 to 1846. He was mayor when cholera broke out in 1834 and when a fire nearly destroyed the city in 1845.
In 1834, he was elected a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for the riding of Upper Town of Quebec. In 1841, he was appointed a member of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada. He was the Speaker from 1843 to 1847 and again from 1848 to 1853. From 1844 to 1853, he was also in a law partnership with Louis de Gonzague Baillairgé. In 1853, he was appointed Judge of the Court of Appeal, and in 1855 of the Court of the Queen's Bench. In 1859, he took part in the codification of the civil laws. He remained a judge until 1873 when he was appointed the second Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec. He served until his death in December 1876. He was buried at Cimetière Notre-Dame-de-Belmont in Sainte-Foy.
He married Marie-Vénérande-Joséphine de Blois, daughter of Joseph de Blois and Marie-Vénérande Ranvoyzé, of Quebec, on 16 September 1828, at Notre-Dame de Québec. She died on 25 March 1880, and was buried at cimetière Notre-Dame-de-Belmont, alongside her husband.[4] The couple's son Adolphe-Philippe later became a member of the Canadian House of Commons and cabinet minister. Their daughter Corine married Sir Charles Fitzpatrick, who became Chief Justice of Canada and Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec. Their daughter Marie-Joséphine married Jean-Thomas Taschereau, later a judge in the Supreme Court of Canada, and was the mother of Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, a premier of Quebec.