Viger was born in Montreal, the son of
Jacques Viger who represented Kent in the
2nd Parliament of Lower Canada, and studied at the
Sulpician college of Montreal. On November 17, 1808, he married Marie Marguerite La Corne, daughter of
Luc de la Corne, and widow of Major the Hon. John Lennox. They had three children, all of whom died in infancy. After his studies he went to
Quebec, where he worked as an editor of the newspaper
Le Canadien from November 1808 to May 1809. Viger served as captain in the
Canadian Voltigeurs unit under
Charles de Salaberry during the
War of 1812. He was elected the first
mayor of Montreal in 1833 and worked to improve its sanitary conditions. Although he wrote little, his reputation as an archaeologist was universal, and the greatest contemporary historians of
France and the
United States have drawn from his collection of manuscripts, based on forty years of research. He compiled a chronicle under the title of "Sabretache" (28 vols.), wherein he gathered plans, maps, portraits, and valuable notes illustrating many contested historical points. He was the founder of the
Historical Society of Montreal in 1857, one year before his death.
Pope Pius IX honoured him with the knighthood of the
Order of St. Gregory the Great. He died December 12, 1858, at age 71, and was buried in the crypt of the
Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Church on December 15. == Honours ==