Social Advancement: Family, Friends, and Advisers
In part, George-Étienne CARTIER owed his progress in law and in society to his wife’s wealthy and influential family. Although there were difficulties, he benefitted from his alliance with the Fabres:
“By his marriage, which was solemnized on 16 June 1846 in the church of Notre-Dame at Montreal, Cartier had become allied to an excellent bourgeois family of Montreal. He had married Hortense Fabre.… She was the daughter of a wealthy merchant, Édouard-Raymond Fabre*, and the sister of Édouard-Charles Fabre*, the future bishop of Montreal, and of the journalist Hector Fabre*. … Cartier’s relations with his wife and her family were not always good. This situation was made public when some time after the statesman’s death [in 1873] his will was published; certain provisions of it revealed some mistrust with regard to Lady Cartier and her family.”
Cartier was able to count on certain people who listened to his confidences and gave him their advice. Among his close friends was Alexandre-Maurice DELISLE, a politician and businessman:
“Furthermore, [Delisle] always kept the close and devoted friendship of George-Étienne Cartier, who is said to have set great store by his judgement and his discerning and practical advice.”
For more information on members of Cartier’s family and his friends and advisers, we invite you to consult the following lists of biographies:
