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Everyone to Parliament!

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Place Royale

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Place d’Armes

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Notre-Dame Street

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Dolly

Detail from a 19th-century illustrated portrait of Dolly. Dolly is a heavyset, white man in his sixties, with white hair. He is seated on a chair in his establishment. He is wearing a frock coat, a waistcoat, a necktie and black shoes. He is holding a newspaper on his lap, and his glasses rest on his forehead.

Frederick William Lock, “Dolly of the Chop-house, Montreal” (detail), Toronto Public Library, JRR100.

Until early 1849, the Parliament’s refreshment room was run by innkeeper Robert Philip Isaacson, nicknamed “Dolly.” His nickname came from the name of his establishment, Dolly’s Chop House, inspired by a London inn of the same kind.

A Fervent Conservative

19th-century illustrated portrait of Dolly. Dolly is a heavyset white man in his sixties, with white hair. He is seated on a chair in his establishment. He is wearing a frock coat, a waistcoat, a necktie and black shoes. He holds a newspaper on his lap, and his glasses rest on his forehead.

Frederick William Lock, “Dolly of the Chop-house, Montreal”, Toronto Public Library, JRR100.

A fervent Tory, Dolly is shown here with the newspaper John Bull, a leading publication of British conservatism. It is easy to imagine him taking advantage of his closeness to parliamentarians to quietly share a few points in favour of conservative ideas.

Temperance

19th-century illustrated portrait of Abbé Chiniqui. The abbé is a white man in his thirties. Dressed in a white robe, he points to a crucifix held in his left hand. His black hair is smoothed down against his head.

Francis d’Avignon, “L'Abbé Charles Chiniquy, apôtre de la tempérance en Canada”, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, 1978.383.

Promoted by political and religious leaders, the temperance movement gained ground in the colony. Among its leading figures was Abbé Chiniqui, active in Québec City and Montréal. The rise of abstinence—and the troublingly close ties perceived between politics and alcohol—may help explain why Dolly was replaced at the Parliament refreshment counter by a francophone businesswoman, Mrs. Saint-Julien (Angélique Archambault), owner of the Hôtel du Canada.

The Montreal Gazette and the Quebec Mercury reacted vehemently: they decried the departure of an English-speaking Tory in favour of a French-speaking, temperance-minded landlady, mocking the shift from Dolly’s “brandy and water” to Mrs. Saint-Julien’s “tea and toast.”

Tea Service

Reconstructed antique blue tea set. The set includes a teapot and two cups, each on a saucer.

René Bouchard, Pointe-à-Callière, City of Montréal archaeological collection.

Did these cups and this teapot, found on the Parliament site, once belong to Mrs. Saint-Julien’s cupboard?