The Pied-du-Courant Prison () is a prison museum in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada near the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrenc ...

and the Jacques-Cartier Bridge.

Overview

The original plan for a prison in Montreal was designed by Quebec architect George Blaiklock in 1825 to replace the prison at

Champ de Mars Champ, CHAMP or The Champ may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Champ (cartoon character), an animated dog introduced in 1960 * The Champ, played on radio and created by Jake Edwards (radio personality), Jake Edwards * Champ ...

(built in the first decade of the 19th Century), but John Wells ultimately designed the building (after a prison in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, likely the

Eastern State Penitentiary The Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP) is a former American prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is located in the Fairmount, Philadelphia, Fairmount section of the city, and was operational from 1829 until 1971. The penitentiary refined the r ...

built in 1829) that was finally opened a decade later. The building was built to house over 276 prisoners, but held over 1500 prisoners from the 1837-1838 rebellion. The prison operated from 1836 to 1912 as a city prison in Montreal and housed prisoners and hangings following the

Lower Canada Rebellion The Lower Canada Rebellion (), commonly referred to as the Patriots' Rebellion () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now southern Quebec). Together wit ...

in 1838. The prison was replaced by Bordeaux Prison and was vacant from 1912 to 1921. In 1921 it was acquired by and became the headquarters of the

Société des alcools du Québec The Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ; ) is a provincial state-owned enterprise and monopoly in Quebec responsible for the trade of alcoholic beverages, and via subsidiary, cannabis, within the province. Organization The official legisla ...

, the provincial-owned liquor board in Quebec. The main prison building was altered with the

Gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

roof on the front of centre block removed, a fourth floor added (replacing roofing) and new wing added to the rear (by SAQ). The west wall in the front was demolished leaving the gate and east wall intact. It saw the incarceration and execution by hanging of several Patriotes who had fought the

. Because of this, it also houses a museum on the history of the Patriotes and a gathering is usually held there on National Patriote Day. Upon the front of its site is found the ''Monument aux Patriotes'' by sculptor

Alfred Laliberté Alfred Laliberté (19 May 1877 – 13 January 1953) was a French-Canadian sculptor and painter based in Montreal. His output includes more than 900 sculptures in bronze, marble, wood, and plaster. Many of his sculptures depict national figure ...

. The whole of Pierre Falardeau's film '' February 15, 1839'' happens at the Prison. In 2017, the building was bought by the

Société de développement des entreprises culturelles The Société de Développement des Entreprises Culturelles (, ''Society for the Development of Cultural Enterprises'', abbr. SODEC) is a Quebec government agency founded in 1983 under the name of Société Générale du Cinéma du Québec (''Gener ...

(SODEC) and

Télé-Québec The (; ), branded as () (formerly known as ), is a Canadian French-language public educational television network in the province of Quebec. It is a provincial Crown corporation owned by the Government of Quebec. The network's main studios an ...

Monument aux Patriotes

The monument is located in the Place of the Patriots, which is in front of the Société des alcools du Québec offices and the site of the old Pied-du-Courant Prison. The work of

, the Monument aux Patriotes was unveiled on June 24, 1926. On each its three faces a carved bronze medallion represents patriots Chevalier de Lorimier,

Louis-Joseph Papineau Louis-Joseph Papineau (; October 7, 1786 – September 23, 1871), born in Montreal, Province of Quebec (1763–1791), Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the ''seigneurie de la Petite-Nation''. He was the leader of the reform ...

, and

Wolfred Nelson Wolfred Nelson (10 July 1791 – 17 June 1863) was the mayor of Montreal, Quebec, from 1854 to 1856. Biography Nelson was born in Montreal. His father, William Nelson, was an immigrant to Colonial America from Newsham, North Yorkshire, Eng ...

Executions

*December 21, 1838 **

Joseph-Narcisse Cardinal Joseph-Narcisse Cardinal (February 8, 1808 – December 21, 1838) was a notary and political figure in Lower Canada. He was the first person executed for taking part in the Lower Canada Rebellion. He was born in Saint-Constant in 1808, the son ...

** Joseph Duquet *January 18, 1839 **Pierre-Théophile Decoigne **François-Xavier Hamelin ** Joseph-Jacques Robert **Ambroise Sanguinet **Charles Sanguinet *February 15, 1839 **Amable Daunais ** François-Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier ** Charles Hindelang **Pierre-Rémi Narbonne **François Nicolas *December 9, 1881 **Hugh Hayvren *April 16, 1883 **Timothy Milloy *December 13, 1901 **J.-E. Laplaine *June 13, 1902 **Thorval Hansen or Hancon *November 19, 1909 **John Dillon A.K.A. J. Smith *November 10, 1910 **Timothy Candy *May 26, 1911 **F. Grivora or Grevola

Notable inmates

* Félix Poutré

Gallery

Image:Prison Montreal plan 1838.JPG, Sketch by André Jobin, 1838 Image:Prison Montreal Duncan 1839.JPG, The prison in 1839 Image:Pendaison Patriotes Montreal 1839.JPG, An execution in 1839 Image:Maison Gouverneur Pied-du-Courant.jpg, Governeur house Image:Journée nationale des patriotes.JPG

References

External links

* {{Authority control Defunct prisons in Canada Museums in Montreal Landmarks in Montreal Lower Canada Rebellion Prisons in Quebec Prison museums in Canada Centre-Sud Headquarters in Canada Government buildings completed in 1835 1926 sculptures 1836 establishments in Lower Canada Heritage buildings of Quebec John Wells (architect) buildings Government buildings in Montreal