Love in the Shadow of Rebellion
Speaker: John Kalbfleisch
When: Thursday, October 17, 2024, 19:30 to 21:00
Where: Centennial Hall,
288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A4
Lecture in English followed by a bilingual question period
Why does young, reform-minded lawyer George-Étienne Cartier join an armed uprising, only to later reject violence as the way to achieve responsible government in this country? In 1837, Lower Canada seethes with discontent. After savage rioting in Montreal between hardline loyalists and dissident radicals, there is no turning back. Cartier, a future Father of Confederation, commits himself to rebellion against the Crown. At Saint Denis, Saint Charles and Saint Eustache, poorly armed Patriotes find themselves in pitched battles against the most disciplined army on the planet, battles that echo to this day.
Inspired by three of Cartier’s recently discovered letters, John Kalbfleisch deftly weaves fact with fiction in his new novel, The '37. It imagines how an affair with a beautiful and witty schoolteacher changes his life—and helps ensure the birth of an independent Canada.
Longtime journalist John Kalbfleisch wrote a Montreal Gazette column on the city’s history for seventeen years. His novel The ’37 was published early 2024. He is also the author of No Place More Suitable: Four Centuries of Montreal Stories (2018), A Stain Upon the Land (2017), Le cadeau royal: Histoire de la ville de Mont-Royal / The Royal Gift: a History of Town of Mount Royal (2013) and This Island In Time: Remarkable Tales from Montreal’s Past (2008), and is co-author of Montreal’s Century: a Record of the News and People Who Shaped the City in the 20th Century (1999).
The following books will be available for sale: "The ’37", and "A stain upon the Land".
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Christ Church Beaurepaire was established in 1924. Our speaker, Michael Silverthorne, member of this Church, will talk about the first 100 years of this Anglican Church.
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In this presentation, Frank Mackey talks about the genesis of his book “The Great Absquatulator", the combination of accidents that led him to write and publish it.
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ar, the American War of Independence and the French Revolution. He became an engineer in 1753 in the wake of the commission of inquiry into the construction of the ramparts of Quebec. In 1763 he owned 7 seigneuries, 5 in the new Province of Quebec: Lotbinière, Vaudreuil, Rigaud, Nouvelle-Beauce and Villechauve and two in the Province of New York. He participated in London in the debate on the Quebec Act where he convinced the British parliament to adopt the French Law (Coutume de Paris), the French language and the Catholic religion, which today makes the Province of Quebec a distinct society.
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Steven High is a professor of history at Concordia University where he co-founded the Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling. He is the author of many books and articles about the history of Montreal. 
The Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) was founded in 1897 by Lady Aberdeen, consort to the then Governor General of Canada, Earl of Aberdeen (1893-1898). We will see how the VON played a part in Canada's history from the Klondike Gold Rush, the Halifax Explosion and two World Wars. In later years, we witnessed VON's decreased importance as a national institution, which gave birth to our own NOVA West Island.