Mr.
Sheppard, Who Had Frequently Been A Guest At The Most Select Drawing-Rooms
Of The Ancient Capital, Was Himself A Contemporary Of The Generous And
Jovial Prince Edward.
The Sault-au-Matelot quarter, St. Peter street, and St. James street, down
to the year 1832, contained the habitations of a great number of persons
in easy circumstances; many of our families of note had their residences
there:
John Wm. Woolsey, Esq., in 1808, and later on first President of
the Quebec Bank; the millionaire auctioneer, Wm. Burns, the god-father to
the late George Burns Symes, Esq.; Archbishop Signai - this worthy prelate
was born in this street, in a house opposite to La Banque Nationale.
Evidences of the luxuriousness of their dwelling rooms are visible to this
day, in the panelling of some doors and in decorated ceilings.
Drainage, according to the modern system, was, at that period, almost
unknown to our good city. The Asiatic cholera, in 1832, decimated the
population: 3,500 corpses, in the course of a few weeks, had gone to their
last resting place. This terrible epidemic was the occasion, so to speak,
of a social revolution at Quebec; the land on the St. Louis and Ste. Foye
roads became much enhanced in value; the wealthy quitted the Lower Town.
Commercial affairs, however, still continued to be transacted there, but
the residences of merchants were selected in the Upper Town or in the
country parts adjacent.
The Fief Sault-au-Matelot, which at present belongs to the Seminary, was
granted to Guillaume Hebert on the 4th February, 1623, the title of which
was ratified by the Due de Ventadour on the last day of February, 1632. On
the ground reclaimed from the river, about 1815, Messrs. Munro and Bell,
eminent merchants, built wharves and some large warehouses, to which lead
"Bell's lane," (so named after the Honorable Matthew Bell) [113] the
streets St. James, Arthur, Dalhousie and others. Mr. Bell, at a later
period, one of the lessees of the St. Maurice Forges, resided in the
house - now St. Lawrence Chambers - situate at the corner of St. James and
St. Peter streets, now belonging to Mr. John Greaves Clapham, N. P. Hon.
Matthew Bell commanded a troop of cavalry, which was much admired by those
warlike gentlemen of 1812 - our respected fathers. He left a numerous
family, and was related by marriage to the families Montizambert, Bowen,
&c. Dalhousie street, in the Lower Town, probably dates from the time of
the Earl of Dalhousie (1827), when the "Quebec Exchange" was built by a
company of merchants. The extreme point of the Lower Town, towards the
northeast, constitutes "La Pointe a Carcy," named after Carcy Pages, who
succeeded to the office of "Guardian of the Harbor," held in 1713 by Louis
Pratt. In the offing is situated the wharf, alongside of which the stately
frigate Aurora, Captain De Horsey, passed the winter of 1866-7. The
wharves of the Quebec docks now mark the spot.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 147 of 451
Words from 76929 to 77428
of 236821
