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After immigrating to Québec City in 1826, James Douglas, a surgeon of Scottish origin, became one of the leading figures in Canadian medical history. Over his career, he founded the Marine and Emigrant Hospital in Québec City, primarily to care for sailors. He also founded the Beauport Asylum, which treated people with mental illness.
1840 - 1889

A partly English-speaking city

Today, the vast majority of Québec City’s population speaks French as their first language. It is hard to imagine that a great part of the city was once English! However, it was the case in the mid-19th century. A large wave of immigration from the British Isles came through Québec City, the point of entry to Canada. The Anglophone presence peaked in Québec City around 1870, when nearly half of the residents, mainly from Ireland, were English-speaking. Come and rediscover Québec City’s English-speaking past!

Surgeon James Douglas

Universal Photographic Company After immigrating to Québec City in 1826, James Douglas, a surgeon of Scottish origin, became one of the leading figures in Canadian medical history. Over his career, he founded the Marine and Emigrant Hospital in Québec City, primarily to care for sailors. He also founded the Beauport Asylum, which treated people with mental illness.
Chronoscope Do you know when this photograph was taken? (unilingual French for a limited time) Source: Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec Document in the public domain (free of copyright) - Centre d'archives de Québec Collection - Date: circa 1936 1875