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

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

, Canada near the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

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 The Champ de Mars (; en, Field of Mars) is a large public greenspace in Paris, France, located in the seventh ''arrondissement'', between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast. The park is named after th ...

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

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, likely the

Eastern State Penitentiary The Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP) is a former American prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is located at 2027 Fairmount Avenue between Corinthian Avenue and North 22nd Street in the Fairmount section of the city, and was operational fro ...

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 (french: rébellion du Bas-Canada), commonly referred to as the Patriots' War () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now southe ...

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 Crown corporation and monopoly in Quebec responsible for the trade of alcoholic beverages within the province. Organization The official legislation governing the SAQ's operations a ...

, 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 aest ...

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 The patriotes movement was a political movement that existed in Lower Canada (present-day Quebec) from the turn of the 19th century to the Patriote Rebellion of 1837 and 1838 and the subsequent Act of Union of 1840. The partisan embodiment of ...

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. The whole of Pierre Falardeau's film '' February 15, 1839'' happens at the Prison.

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 Alfred Laliberté, 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, Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the ''seigneurie de la Petite-Nation''. He was the leader of the reformist Patriote movement before the Lowe ...

, 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, ...

Executions

*December 21, 1838 ** Joseph-Narcisse Cardinal ** 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 François-Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier (December 27, 1803 – February 15, 1839), also known under shorter names such as François-Marie-Thomas de Lorimier, Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier or Chevalier de Lorimier, was a notary who fought ...

** 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 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