Carte de Visite of Sir George-Étienne Cartier, Baronet, Mort a Londres le 20 Mai 1873

2-1/2 x 4-1/8 inches Carte de Visite (CDV)

Oval photo of Cartier.

Printed on front - Sir Geo. Etienne Cartier, Baronet, Mort a Londres le 20 Mai 1873

Printed on reverse - L.E. Desmarais - Photographe. Carre Chamboillez, 11, Montreal.

Crease top left corner, pin hole bottom left side, stain top right side otherwise, very good condition.

Appears to be a copy of a 1871 Notman photograph held at McCord Museum suggesting that L.E. Desmarais perhaps obtained a copy and generated this CDV using it.

Photographer Desmarais, of Carré Chabooulez in Montreal, who has just opened a branch in Saint-Hyacinthe. Carré Chaboillez, No. 11, Montréal is the name of a "square" in downtown Montreal; in fact, a well-known square that used to be twice its current size. It is located at the intersection of Saint Jacques Street and Peel Street in downtown Montreal and was larger than it is today.

L. E. Desmarais was listed in at a couple of addresses (14 & 17 rue St.Laurent - St.Lawrence ) of Montreal city directories between 1870 and 1895.

Sir George-Étienne Cartier, co-premier of the Province of Canada, lawyer, rebel, railway promoter, politician and a Father of Confederation. By "youthful folly," Cartier likely had in mind his prominent role in the Patriote rebellion of 1837. He fought at Saint Denis, where the Patriotes turned back a column of British regulars, and later fled to the United States with a price on his head. By coincidence, one of the students hearing him that June day was the 15-year-old Louis Riel who, in 1869 and again in 1885, would lead armed rebellions of his own. As the chief voice of the French Canadian community, the pivotal point of the union, Cartier was the kingpin of the Confederation movement. He masterfully made use of his block votes, and his railway and militia interests, to engineer a new union and a new nationality. He reconciled the majority of French Canada to Confederation on the grounds that it prevented annexation by the United States and made possible the end of the Union government and the restoration of the old Province of Québec. Cartier played the primary role in bringing Manitoba and British Columbia into Confederation, and negotiated the purchase of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory from the Hudson's Bay Company. quoted form the Canadian Encyclopedia and Montreal Gazette

Carré Chaboillez, No. 11, Montréal is the name of a "square" in downtown Montreal; in fact, a well-known square that used to be twice its current size. It is located at the intersection of Saint Jacques Street and Peel Street in downtown Montreal and was larger than it is today.

Chaboillez Square featured dozens of stores, including several photography studios, as well as the Bonaventure Station. In the 1870s, Bonaventure was the terminus for the Montreal and Lachine Railway and also connected to the central Montreal station that allowed for travel south to New York City on the Delaware & Hudson via Troy.

L. E. Desmarais was listed in a number of Montreal city directories between 1870 and 1895.