Farms in New France and the General Hospital (18th-19th Centuries), The Chambly Lands

The Chambly Lands Marguerite d’Youville and her companions also inherit the Charon Brothers’s property in Chambly owned since 1724. Wheat, oats, and peas are grown, and chickens, turkeys, beef, calves and lambs are raised, all of which supplies the General Hospital. Land owned in Chambly in 1747, in Notes and plans/Sister Saint-Jean-de-la-Croix, s.g.m., circa 1908. […]

Motherhouse, The Vegetable Garden and the Orchard

The Vegetable Garden and the Orchard Located between Saint-Mathieu and Guy Streets, the vegetable garden and orchard occupy an area of approximately two acres. Until the 1960s, many Nuns work there assisted by hired labourers. A wide variety of vegetables and fruits are grown but despite the abundant harvests it is not enough to feed […]

Motherhouse, 124 Years of Presence at the Motherhouse

Motherhouse, Montréal 124 Years of Presence at the Motherhouse In 1871 the Grey Nuns depart the General Hospital in Pointe à Callière, where they resided and worked since 1747, to escape the local urbanization and industrialization, the continual expansion of Montréal’s port, and the inevitable annual spring flooding of the neighborhood. They move to their […]

Farm of the Hospice Lajemmerais

Farm of the Hospice Lajemmerais, Varennes Founded in 1859, the Hospice Lajemmerais in Varennes houses an orphanage, a wing where the elderly reside, a section for adult boarders and also a kindergarten. The early years are very difficult with the Nuns living in conditions described in the mission chronicles as heroic. The most severe poverty […]