Exploration

Back to IntroInteractive Map
1

Everyone to Parliament!

2

The Present-Day Place D'Youville

3

Place Royale

4

Place d’Armes

5

Notre-Dame Street

6

Champ-de-Mars

Interactive VersionPedagogic ResourcesAboutContact usSite MapFrançais

You are about to access the interactive version of the site.

This version is designed to provide a more immersive experience, presenting all content in a dynamic and interactive way.

Would you like to proceed to the interactive version?

Yes, interactive version
Back
fr

Lord Elgin

Detail from a 19th-century painted portrait of Lord Elgin. Lord Elgin is a short white man in his fifties with greying hair. He is wearing a full-dress military uniform. He stands in a study furnished with a richly decorated red chair and a massive table. His left hand rests on a declaration. His expression is serious.

Théophile Hamel, “Lord Elgin” (detail), Château Ramezay Museum, 1998.1621.

James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, served as Governor General of the Province of Canada from 1847 to 1854. As the Queen’s representative, he played a decisive role in the full recognition of the principle of responsible government in the Province of Canada.

A Controversial Decision

A 19th-century painted portrait of Lord Elgin. Lord Elgin is a short white man in his fifties with greying hair. He is wearing a formal military dress uniform. He stands in a study furnished with a richly decorated red chair and a massive table. His left hand rests on a declaration, and his right hand holds a bicorne hat with long white and red feathers. His expression is serious.

Théophile Hamel, “Lord Elgin”, Château Ramezay Museum, 1998.1621.

On April 25, 1849, as he left Parliament, Governor Lord Elgin was violently accosted by Tory rioters, who pelted his carriage with vegetables, eggs and stones. They were protesting his decision to grant royal assent to the session’s bills, notably the Act to compensate victims of the 1837–1838 rebellions in Lower Canada.

Monklands

19th-century illustration of Monklands. A large two-storey house stands in the middle of an open parkland, dotted with a few trees.

“Monklands”, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, 2726338.

In Montréal, the Governor General lived at Monklands. The main building still stands and is now part of Villa Maria College.