Montréal was at the heart of the economic and social changes that affected British North America in the 1800s.
The city became a centre of industry, finance and learning. By the mid-1800s, it was the largest city in the colonies. It attracted a steady flow of newcomers from Britain and rural Canada. As the population grew, through immigration and natural increase, it became more and more divided by class, language and culture.
In the mid-1800s, Montréal was marked by extremes of wealth and poverty, and by differences in language and culture. Well-off residents tended to live in the clean, spacious neighbourhoods of the West End, where there were parks and good public services. Most working-class residents lived in the dirty, crowded city core, where flooding and contaminated water posed serious health risks.
French Canadians from the surrounding countryside, British (mostly Irish) and American immigrants, African-American refugees and other groups formed distinct communities in working-class districts.
Protecting French-Canadian Culture
In Montréal and throughout Lower Canada, French Canadians became increasingly committed to protecting their language and culture in the mid-1800s. At the forefront of this movement was the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal, a patriotic organization founded by journalist Ludger Duvernay in 1843. At the same time, the Catholic Church assumed a greater role in French-Canadian life. Growth in religious vocations, especially among women, enabled the Church to expand its services in education, health care and social welfare.
Temperance medallion and chalice presented to Father Charles Chiniquy
Temperance medallion presented to Father Charles ChiniquyMontréal, United Canadas, 1849
CMH, 2015.70.4
Chalice presented to Father Charles ChiniquyMontréal, United Canadas, 1851
CMH, 2015.70.3
“I’m on my way to Canada”
Among the newcomers to Montréal in the mid-1800s were African-Americans who had escaped from slavery in the United States. One such freedom-seeker was Shadrach Minkins. Born a slave in Virginia, Minkins escaped via the Underground Railroad. This network of secret routes and safe houses operated by anti-slavery activists brought him to Montréal in 1851. There he married an Irishwoman, Mary. The couple had four children. Minkins operated a barbershop in Montréal until his death in 1875.
“I’m on my way to Canada” song lyricsBy abolitionist songwriter Joshua McCarter Simpson
Set to the melody of “Oh! Susanna” by Stephen Foster
1852
CMH, Archives, 2014-H0013
Caring for the Irish
The St. Patrick’s Society was founded in 1834 to support and represent Montréal’s rapidly growing Irish community. Religious tensions prompted its Protestant members to break away and form the Irish Protestant Benevolent Society in 1856.
Medal from the Irish Protestant Benevolent SocietyAbout 1870
CMH, 2014.25.1
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Photo at top of page:
Montreal House
John Henry Walker, 1846
McCord Museum, M930.50.7.312