Last modified: 2021-02-27 by rob raeside
Keywords: montmagny | quebec | geese: 3 |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
![[Montmagny flag]](../images/c/ca-qcmgn.gif)
image
by Masao Okazaki, 10 January 2021See also:
The municipality of Montmagny (11,078 inhabitants in 2019; 14,500 ha) is
located 60 km east of Lévis.
Montmagny is named for Charles Huault de
Montmagny (1583-1657), appointed in 1636 the first Governor of New France, who
was granted the domain of Rivière-du-Sud on 5 May 1646. Huault originated from
the French town of Montmagny, and added the epithet "de Montmagny" to his name
to emphasize his social position. The lord did not care much for his domain and
left New France a few years later.
The domain was acquired in 1654 by
Louis Couillard de Lespinay. Involved in fur trade, seal hunting, je never
settled in his domain, preferring fishing cod and salmon on the Saint-Lawrence.
His descendants subsequently initiated the exploitation of the domain, operating
grain mills and salmon fisheries. The Couillard family would rule the domain
until 1759, when they sold the domain because of the English threat.
In 1776,
the erosion of the banks of the river forced the villagers of Saint-Thomas-de-Montmagny
to move eastwards, where the town of Montmagny slowly emerged.
The
municipality of the village of Saint-Thomas-de-Montmagny, established in 1645
and upgraded in 1883 as the municipality of the town of Saint-Thomas-de-Montmagny,
was merged in 1966 with the municipality of the parish of Saint-Thomas-de-Montmagny
to form the town of Montmagny.
The industrial development of the town was
pushed by the Price family, who developed timber industry. William Price rented
in 1833 the sawmill owned by Jean-Baptiste Couillard-Dupuy, exploiting several
forest plots. After his death in 1867, he was succeeded by his two sons,
William-Evans and David-Edouard. Then the second most important employer in the
region, the business was increased in 1891 by the third Price brother,
Evan-John, who built a steam sawmill to increase the production. In 1893, the
Price company employed 350 workers and operated 20 ships.
Evan-John Price was
succeeded by his nephew William Price III, who established in 1901 the Montmagny
Light and Pulp Co., connected to an hydro-electric power plant. Not profitable,
the company winded up five years later. In 1908, Price founded the Basin
Electric Light and Power Ltd., which supplied energy to the 78 street candles of
the town. William Price built a mill in Montmagny in 1912, which was destroyed
by a blaze in 1920. The Price company winded up in 1938.
The second
successful developer of Montmagny was Amable Bélanger (1846-1919), who
established in 1872 a foundry near the railway, replaced in 189 by a stone
building stilt standing in the downtown. Bélanger, then the town's second most
important employer, produced plows and, mostly, wood stoves, soon of national
fame. Bélanger was the first president of the Chamber of Commerce of Montmagny.
Saint-Thomas-de-Montmagny is the birth town of Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché
(1795-1865). Taché supported the Patriotes rebellion and organized in 1837 an
assembly of the movement attended by its leaders, Louis-Joseph Papineau and
Augustin-Norbert Morin, but, as a pacifist, he refused to take the arms. To
defend the interests of the French Canadians, Taché quit medicine and was
elected Representative of L'Islet in 1841. Serving twice as the Prime Minister
of Canada, he promoted the establishment of a confederation of the provinces of
North America, and is therefore considered as the precursor of modern Canada.
Saint-Thomas-de-Montmagny is the birth town of Louis-Jacques Casault
(1808-1862), Ordained priest in 1831, Casault founded in 1853 Université Laval,
the first French-speaking university in Lower-Canada, named for François de
Laval (1623-1708), first bishop of Quebec (1674-1688), and became its first
Rector.
Saint-Thomas-de-Montmagny is the birth town of Edwin Bélanger
(1910-2005), a virtuoso violinist and conductor, who served as the first musical
and artistic director of the Quebec Symphony Orchestra,n established in 1942 as
the merger of the Quebec Philharmonic Circle and of the Quebec Symphonic
Society.
https://www.ville.montmagny.qc.ca
Municipal website
Ivan Sache,
10 January 2021
I saw this flag flying in Montmagny in the Summer of 1998. It replicates
the goose logo on a b- field. The goose logo consists of three landing geese.
Montmagny is the self-proclaimed capital of the white goose, hence the logo.
The three geese personify the communitarian spirit and the constancy of the
city's residents. The flag is quite spectacular, and proves that logo-based
flags can be attractive when done right.
Luc Baronian, 20 May 2005
Image of the flag above is based on a logo on the city's website:
https://www.ville.montmagny.qc.ca
Masao Okazaki, 10 January 2021
Montmagny is self-styled the Capital of Greater Snow Goose. The logo features
three migrating geese about to land, with simplified but still figurative
lining. The three geese represent the community spirit and symbolize the
citizens' energy and constancy.
https://www.ville.montmagny.qc.ca/fr/ville/decouvrir-montmagny/emblemes-logos-et-armoiries
Municipal website
Everything you need to know about the Greater Snow
Goose at Hinterland Who's Who:
https://www.hww.ca/en/wildlife/birds/greater-snow-goose.html
Ivan
Sache, 10 January 2021
