Following the annual meeting of Irish Heritage Quebec in Quebec City on December 10, president Joe Lonergan and secretary-treasurer John O’Connor honoured historian and author Eileen Reid Marcil.
For more than 40 years, Ms. Marcil has researched and published books about the history of shipbuilding and other trades in Quebec City and Lévis.
Originally from England, Ms. Marcil came to Canada after the Second World War after marrying Canadian naval officer Georges Marcil. Her doctoral thesis, presented in English at Université Laval in 1987, was about shipbuilding in Quebec City.
Two of Ms. Marcil’s most well-known books are Tall Ships and Tankers: The History of the Davies Shipbuilders and The Charley-Man: The History of Wooden Ship Building at Quebec, 1763-1893.
In the 19th century, more than 400 wooden ships were built in Quebec City. These ships were among the strongest built in the British Empire. For decades, they sailed around the world to Australia and India.
Quebec City’s shipbuilding industry disappeared at the end of the 19th century when the construction of ships with metal hulls began.
Today, no trace of the shipbuilding industry remains in the city, with the exception of about 20 houses still standing in the suburbs that were built by workers.
My Ggfather Edouard Desnoyers 21 Mar 1820 Quebec-6 Jul 1910 Hoboken , NJ , USA was a wooden ship builder as was his father Jean Desnoyers 1782 Riviere Quelle-abt1808 Quebec m. 23 Aug 1806 ND de Quebec Marie Charlotte Prejean 1772 Quebec-24mar 1838 Quebec. They’re noted in your book. Edouard moved to New Jersey USA when they started building ships out of steel. His dau M.Charlotte b. 7 Dec 1858 Quebec m. Hoboken , NJ Edward Joseph Grady (my GFather) 1855Hoboken , NJ-1916 Hoboken.
Edouard b.1820 & Jane Moore 1833 Quebec m. 1855 ND de Q-d. 1903 W. Hoboken , NJ had a daughter (Florence?) in New Jersey , USA
Edouard b.1820 had a brother Alexandre Laurient Desnoyers b. Quebec & died single in San Francisco . CA leaving US$100,000 unclaimed & turned over to the State of CA!
I have a photo of Edouard b.1820 along side of a 10′ boat he built for his 2 sons (Warren ,my father & Allen) in New Jersey.
I have no data on Florence or Alexandre.
Warren Gerard II Grady , 100 Surrey Lane , Ponte Vedra Beach , FL , 32082
(904) 2859810