This engraving is based on sketches British captain Hervey Smyth made during the Conquest. It shows Québec City surrounded by British ships. We see the town centre in the distance and buildings that have been bombed. The downtown area would bear the scars of the war for decades.

1760 - 1760

Québec City through the eyes of British captain Hervey Smyth

Hervey Smyth was a British army captain who fought in the Conquest of New France. In 1759, he was seriously wounded during the attack on the Plains of Abraham and so was immediately returned to Great Britain. He brought sketches with him that he had drawn in his spare time during the military offence. While in Great Britain, Smyth produced magnificent works, mainly between 1760 and 1780, from his sketches of Québec City. Can you locate the places he visited?

View of Québec City, capital of Canada, as published in Universal Magazine

Unknown, after Hervey Smyth This engraving is based on sketches British captain Hervey Smyth made during the Conquest. It shows Québec City surrounded by British ships. We see the town centre in the distance and buildings that have been bombed. The downtown area would bear the scars of the war for decades.

Chronoscope What other details do you see in this piece? (unilingual French for a limited time)

Depicted period: 1760

Source: Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec Document in the public domain (free of copyright) - Date: 1781

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