Austin Cuvillier (August 20, 1779 – July 11, 1849) was a businessman and political figure in Lower Canada and Canada East. He was a successful Canadien businessmen, unusual when most businessmen in Lower Canada were British. He also was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for twenty years, as a member for the Parti canadien, which tended to oppose the policies of the British-appointed governors. As a result, he served as a bridge between the conservative business community, and the more radical Parti canadien, although he finally broke with the Parti canadien (by then called the Parti patriote) prior to the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837–1838. After the Rebellion, when the British government united Lower Canada with Upper Canada as the province of Canada, he again played a bridging role as the first Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, His fluent bilingualism enabled him to deal with both the English and the French speaking members of the Assembly in their own language, a tradition which carries on with the Speakers of the federal House of Commons. His portrait hangs in the Centre Block of the federal Parliament buildings, along with other former speakers. Early life and family Cuvillier was born Augustin Cuvillier in 1779, in Quebec City, Province of Quebec, son of Augustin Cuvillier and Angélique Miot, dit Girard, the eldest of their seven children. His father was a shop-owner on Rue Sous-le-Fort, beneath Cap Diamant, a street with other small shopkeepers and navigators. Cuvillier's father died in 1789, when Cuvillier was around ten years old, casting responsibility on him at a young age. Prior to his death, his father had arranged for Cuvillier to attend Collège Saint-Raphaël in Montreal. Cuvillier enrolled there in 1794, but does not appear to have completed his studies. In 1802, he married Marie-Claire Perrault at Notre-Dame cathedral in Montreal. The couple had seven children. One of his daughters, Angélique, married Alexandre-Maurice Delisle, a businessman who subsequently was a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada. Another daughter, Luce, had a long-standing extra-marital relationship with George-Étienne Cartier, who became a co-premier of the Province of Canada and a Father of Confederation. Two of his sons, Maurice and Austin, had significant business interests in banking, transportation and real estate development, as well as trade with Upper Canada. Joseph Perrault, Marie-Claire’s brother and Cuvillier's brother-in-law, also went