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Front Page News: La Minerve, Le Canadien and The Montreal Gazette face off

Detail from a 19th-century photograph of the Pilot office in Montréal. The two-storey building stands between two larger buildings. A large white sign mounted on the front reads “Pilot Office.”

Unknown artist, "The Pilot office, west side of place d’Armes, Montreal, QC, 1868, copied before 1932" (detail), McCord Stewart Museum, MP-0000.39.7.

The 19^th century was truly the golden age of newspapers in Quebec! These publications had a strong presence in Montréal and Québec City. Between 1830 and 1879, nearly 170 newspapers sprang up in Montréal alone. The 1840s, in particular, were a boom period: 37 new newspapers appeared almost overnight, in both English and French. These were partisan publications, serving as the voices of political parties and of both the elite and the popular opinion; today, their reporting and advertising constitute invaluable documentary resources for understanding the society of the time.

The Print Press

A series of old newspaper headlines. The newspapers are La Revue Canadienne, La Minerve, Le Canadien, L’Avenir, The Literary Garland, The Montreal Herald, and The Montreal Gazette.

1. Canadiana, oocihm.8_06272_261. / 2. Canadiana, oocihm.8_06178_110 / 3. Pointe-à-Callière, 2019.17.33.1a. / 4. Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, 4492 JOU. / 5. Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, 5226380. / 6. Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, 5280751. / 7. Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, 82238.

In the 1840s, Montréal and Québec saw newspapers of every stripe and style appear: political opinion papers, literary or scientific journals, humour, business, religion… something for everyone!

Some became essential reading:

The Montreal Gazette (founded in 1778), conservative and imperialist, went so far as to call for an insurrection on the very day the Parliament was set on fire in April 1849.
Quebec Mercury (1805–1903), a conservative paper, often at odds with the more liberal Le Canadien (1806–1909).
The Montreal Herald (1811–1899), a steadfast defender of the city’s commercial elites.
La Minerve (1826–1837, 1842–1899), a leading voice of the Patriotes, supported the rebellions and later responsible government.
L’Avenir (1847–1862), more radical, anticlerical, and closely aligned with the Rouges (radical liberals).

And today? There’s still a trace of that journalistic frenzy: The Montreal Gazette is still published, making it one of the oldest newspapers still in print!

Occupation: Publisher

Antique copper plaque. The name “J. B. Fréchette” is engraved on it.

René Bouchard, Pointe-à-Callière.

A copper plaque—perhaps a plate for a document satchel—found at the Parliament reveals a name: Jean-Baptiste Fréchette. Publisher, bookseller, printer… he founded the Librairie canadienne, revived the newspaper Le Canadien with Étienne Parent, and became its sole owner from 1843 to 1847. In short, a big name in the 19^th-century publishing world!

Newsboy

A 19th-century street scene showing men in lively discussion. One of the men holds a leaflet in his hand. Beside him, a boy runs past, also holding a leaflet.

"Illustration depicting a London paper boy in a crowded street", Alamy, MR3F5J.

A lively scene on a 19^th-century London street: a boy shouts out the headlines. News agents who ran outlets for newspapers and periodicals did, in fact, hire “newsboys” to sell newspapers.

Le Pilot, a Victim of the 1849 Riot

19th-century photograph of the Pilot office in Montréal. The two-storey building stands between two larger buildings. A large white sign on the front reads “Pilot Office.”

Unknown artist, "The Pilot office, west side of place d’Armes, Montreal, QC, 1868, copied before 1932", McCord Stewart Museum, MP-0000.39.7.