If your ancestors lived in Westmount on the island of Montreal, the council minutes may help you learn about what was preoccupying the town leaders and affecting residents — and if you’re lucky, your ancestor’s name may be mentioned.
The City of Westmount has digitized its council minutes, from 1874 to today, and made them available on its website.
City hall, Westmount, Quebec, 2008. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
The reading can be dry, but the council minutes do shed light on what was preoccupying the town leaders and affecting residents. And sometimes you’ll find a gem about an ancestor, especially if they were complaining about a city issue.
Prior to 1976, all council minutes were written entirely in English. After that, they are published in English and French.
While Westmount is probably best known for its wealthy residents, not everyone was affluent. Some of my ancestors, who lived in Westmount, were middle class.
To get an idea of what you may find in the minutes, read an article in Westmount Magazine by Michael Walsh. He writes about some of items he found in the council minutes, such as:
14 August 1882
A letter dated 7 August from Isaac Newton Tufkes was sent to the Council complaining of the nuisance arising from a bull being frequently placed for serving cows in close proximity to his dwelling and stigmatizing the same as offensive and immoral in its tendency as well as dangerous to little children. After some discussion it was moved by Mr. Duff, seconded by Mr. Jellyman…
7 July 1884
At the suggestion of Councilor… it was ordered that the by-law forbidding the grazing of cattle on the highways of the municipality be strictly enforced.
2 August 1909
That the Council decline the offer of Mr. C. A. Workman of a young jaguar for the reason that is considered undesirable to add to the number of animals in the Park without more suitable accommodation than is presently available.
You will find Mr. Walsh’s article here.
