History of the Montreal prison from AD 1784 to AD 1886

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QNADA
NATIONAL LIBRARY
BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE
<>>
H STORY
I
OF THK
MONTREAL PRISON
KROM
A. D. 1784 TO A.D. 1556
CUMAIN1N<; A
Complete Recofil ofIheTroublesof1fl3/-li3B, SurningofllieParllamenl Boiliiings, in1849.
THE ST. ALBAN'S RAIDERS, 1864. THE TWO FENIAN RAIDSOF1866AND1870.
AND A
Chronolo'^ical Digest ofalltheprincipaleventsforthepasthundred
years. Valuable statisticaltablesfrom the Police andRecorders
Courts. Cu ionsProclamations,Warrants andotherdocu-
ments ncier beforeprinted, relatingto the Patriots of
'37, andthe administration ofjusticefrom the
commenccvtentofthe Courts in 1784.
WillidescriptionsofBrasdmsioiitbehand,standingontbePillory,tlieStocks, wmpping,&c.
REV'D DOUGLAS BORTHWICK
J.
IWi'.NIV YKAK> (11Al'l AIN
tliilliotv-ij '*v?i)ctopa6ui -^f."Vijtoiil^ini''v:^,v-o.j:viplii|, 'vHi-l.^:ij..-^fJ>v.otli,>l'i *v<ii.j.
MONJKEAL
A, FERIARO, BcoAseller, Publisher i\(h lipporler, 23 l\ James Street
«•
40500
f<54*5
60^
1
^ c^
?oaTv(u\cK,^^^P
Entered according to Act of rr.rliament of Canada l)y John Douglas
BORTHWICK,inthe office ofthe MinisterofAgriculture.
DEDICATION
TO THE
HONBLE SIR A. A. DORION
Chiefyuitice, CourtofQueen'sBench,ProvinceofQuebec, Canada.
SIR,
I have very nuichpleasure in beingable to dedicate
THE HISTORY OF THE MONTREAI
this xvork
PRISON, toyou.
*
The highposition towhichyon liaveattainedbyyouro^cn
sterling worth andperseverance, commends itself to every
right minded man in the Province of Quebec, of whatever
religious denomination or politicalsect, and shouldbe an in-
centive to tlieyounger members of the Bar tofollow inyour
illustriousfootsteps.
TJw events of that part of tJie volume ivhich relates the
stirringhistory of 1837-38, must be dear to many t/wusands
of French Canadian hearts, and in dedicating this ivork to
—
you youhavepermittedme,anOldCountry-man by birth,but
now a resident of Canadaforfive and thirty years, to hope
sincerely tJiat in the nearfuture, the Natioftal Spirit zvill so
prevailthat allparty feeling will be obliterated in the ofie
grand name CANADA.
Wishingyou long life inyour judiciary career,
I remain.
Sir,
Your obedient servant,
DOUGLAS HORTHWiCK.
J.
.Monlrfdl, 1styit/tuiirj; 1886.

F^RBFACE
HAVE often been asked to write the history of the
Montreal Graol. The prese^it building came into
existence at a very important period of the his-
tory of Canada, and especially of our own prov-
ince of Quebec and City of Montreal. Almost
as soon as it was built, the troubles of 1837 and 1838
took place, and among the first oijwlitual ajfenders were
—
those w^ho being prisoners^ taken with arms in their
hands and in rebellion against the constituted author-
—
ities were incarcerated therein, and as in the case of
several ofthem, suffered the extreme pejialty ofthe law
by public execution. Several chapters will be devoted
—
to this interesting period as the names of many ofour
—
great rnen, and some only lately dead weie connected
with that event and now We can calmly look back on
;
this troubled period and say that these men wereindeed
the Tieans oi" gaining for us, what we now so much
prize, our present system of parliamentary representa-
tion and reform, and all the benefits which the country
has since derived.
As Ijemoine, the Canadian writerjustly says
:
" If one rellects how fully England- has granted the
demands asked for, bv the Patriots of 1837. as set forth
PREFACE
in their Declaration of Independence, viz abolition of
:
seigniorial dues secularization of the Clergy Reserves
; ;
abolition of imprisonment for debt, except in extreme
cases freedom ofthe press trial by jury, in anextended
; ;
form the use of both languages in public affairs the
; ;
control of-the Provincial Revenue and Tariff; abolition
of sentence of death,exceptincases ofmurder ; it seems
strange, that it should have specially fallen to the lot
ofFrench Canadians to fight to the death, for the poss-
ession of reforms and changes, many of them so pecu-
liarly British in their ring, and to achieve which they
incurred such a liberal allow^ancc of hanging and out-
lawry. Was the real issue ever before the eyes of the
British Canadian in 1837?"
Other events in the history of our city and country
will be treated of, notably the Burning of the Parlia-
ment buildings, in 1849, where-now stands 8t. Ann's
Market, the St. Alban's Raid, in 1864. and the two
Fenian Raids of 1866 and 1870, together with such
minor and interesting, yet TRUE events as go to make
up a Repertoire of readable matter from the descriptions
of history to the records of crime.
Ifan experience of twenty years among the criminal
classes and in that long period the sight of many
phases of human character can add to the interest of
thiswork orthetruthfulness of the author'sdelineations
then these sketches should be more acceptable to the
public than those which might bewritten from imagin-
—
niEJ-ACh 111
ation only, besides a large portion of the volume will
be devoted to periods ofpolitical upheaving, which are
intimately connected with thehistory andadvanr;ement
ofthis " Canada of ours."
For all these reasons therefor** the author launches
—
his work on'the sea ofpublic ojnnion knowing well
like The. olfl man amihis Ass that it isimpossibletoplease
everybody, for, while some will say that he has done
right in his publication of these sketches, others, and
perhaps some ofthe more interested parties, will reply
that he has no right to make again public what, in the
period ofnearly halfa century^ and down to latertimes,
has been once the nin^. (lajfs vonder, and now has fallen
into obscurity or has been forgotten. He feels that
certain may thus reason, but those who cavil so, must
remember that, what is public, belongs to the public,
and therefore the "vox pftjmli'^ must prevail, and he
doubts not but that in the case ot p<»litical offenders,
confined in this institution, the history of whi<h in the
object of this volume, the descendantsofsuchmen, now
at this period ofCanadian history[and enjoyingtht* be-
nefits of their demonstrations, will rather pride them-
selves on the sayings and doings of those of their own
household, their kith and kin. who may appear in the
pages of this work as political oflenders during that
period of 1837-38.
Byron, the great poet. says, in his •• English Bards
and Scotch Reviewers."
PREFACE
IV
"Tispleasant sure,to seeone'sname inprint
A ]K>ok'sabook, altliough there'snothingin't."
However the Author hopes there may be something
in this bock to amuse as well as to instruct, to sj^eak
faithfully as well as historically and there^re he now
makes his Editorial bow and retires from the prefatory
stage and brings on his panorama of faces and of facts
and of deeds, almost, and in a number ol' instances
completely forirotten.
DOUGLAS BORTIIWICK.
J.
Hcjchelaga, January, iS86,
W S.—A great amount of the iniornuition which is
here given ofthose persons who figured cons])icuously
in the Troubles ol' 1837-H, has been taken from the
Author's o\\\\ publication of " Montreal its History and
Biographi<'a» Sl'-Uches '", and the items were either fur-
nished directly to him, by the individuals themselves,
or their immediate family, in manuscrii>t for the same
]>ook, orculled from Biograj^hiesby Mr. L.O. David. He
ther«;fore feels that many items in this interesting
j)eriod will see the puldic light for the first time, as the
above volum«^ had a select and limited edition, of only
200 copies, and is n<nv out of \rc\\\\ also very many
;
items of information relative to ^7-38, ^c, &c.. have
liecn taken by him from old documents in the Court
House and Jaii. liberty to do so, lieinu' freely iriveii
bv those who have poWer,