St. Anne's Market (french: Marché Sainte-Anne) was a public

auction house An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

located at

Place d'Youville The Place d'Youville in Old Montreal is a historical square in Montreal, named after Marguerite d'Youville. The roads from the Place Royale (Montreal), Place Royale and McGill Street (Montreal), McGill Street meet at this point. The square is nota ...

in Old Montreal. From 1844 to 1849, it served as the home of the Legislative Council and

Assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

during the pre-

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

era. On April 25, 1849, the building was burned down by

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

rioters.

History

The original St. Anne's Market was built in 1832 to accommodate produce stalls in Old Montreal. Merchants sold fruit, vegetables, grains, meat, and fish in approximately 60 stalls. The two-storey,

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

building was designed by John Wells and Francis Thompson and was built atop a section of the Little River. The market was acquired by the municipal government in 1842, and became the first permanent

provincial Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

seat of government after the parliament was moved in 1844 from

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

to Montreal; the first legislative session at the St. Anne's Market site was held on November 28, 1844. A new wooden building was built nearby to house a new market. The passage of the Rebellion Losses Bill on the night of April 25, 1849, led to the sacking and arson of the St. Anne's Market parliamentary building. The fire, set by

rioters attempting to disrupt an ongoing

session, spread to nearby building and burned rapidly. Firefighters sent to respond to the fire at St. Anne's Market were slowed by mobs of rioters, leading to the building's total destruction within two hours. Over 23,000 volumes in the parliamentary library, as well as the partial archives of Upper Canada and Lower Canada, were lost in the fire. The parliament reconvened the following day, April 26, at the

Bonsecours Market Bonsecours Market (french: Marché Bonsecours), at 350 rue Saint-Paul in Old Montreal, is a two-story domed public market. For more than 100 years, it was the main public market in the Montreal area. It also briefly accommodated the Parliament of ...

, where it would reside until moving permanently to

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. A new stone market building, designed by

George Browne George Browne may refer to: *Sir George Browne (died 1483) (1440–1483), took part in Buckingham's rebellion *George Browne (archbishop of Dublin) (died 1556), Anglican bishop in Ireland * George Browne (by 1517–62 or later), MP for Berwick-upon ...

, was built at the site in 1851. It was later expanded to house a fish market and warehouses. The second market was destroyed in 1901 and later replaced with a

parking lot A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...

at the newly created

. Since 2010, the parking lot has been the site of an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

excavation by the Pointe-à-Callière Museum, unearthing artifacts lost during the 1849 fire. To celebrate the 375th anniversary of Montreal's founding, the city plans to open part of the collector sewer beneath the site of St. Anne's Market in 2017.

References

{{Coord, 45.5005, N, 73.5560, W, format=dms, type:landmark_region:CA-QC, display=title 1903 disestablishments in Quebec History of Montreal John Wells (architect) buildings Demolished buildings and structures in Montreal Buildings and structures in Canada destroyed by arson