Sillery, a
former independent city founded in 1637, is one of 35 administrative sectors (
French: quartiers), which are unincorporated places, located in the post-expansion jurisdiction of the City of
Quebec,
Quebec,
Canada.[5][6][7] Sillery was one of multiple self-governing municipalities
amalgamated into a vastly expanded
Quebec City, that went into legal effect on January 1, 2002, as part of the province-wide
2000–06 municipal reorganization in Quebec. Located alongside in what pre-merger was the southwestern border of Quebec City, Sillery is a constituent district (
French: quartier) of the
borough (
French: arrondissement) of
Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge. The territorially expanded City of Quebec consists of six boroughs.
Four heritage sites are located within Quebec City, one of which is situated in Sillery.[7] The neighbourhood of Sillery contains the
Sillery Heritage Site, which was recognized as heritage district by the provincial government on 5 February 1964.[8] On 22 June 2006, the
federal government's
Parks Canada included Sillery's historic district on its
Canadian Register of Historic Places.[9] In 2013, Quebec City changed the name of the historic district to Sillery Heritage Site (
French: site patrimonial de Sillery), as part of its preparation for the provincial government's transfer of responsibility for the district's management to it.[8]
The City of Quebec has 27 neighbourhood councils (
French: conseils de quartiers) spread across its territorial jurisdiction.[10] Sillery has city representation and citizen participation through le conseil de quartier de Sillery. The council has public meetings, at Sillery's community centre, which on average are scheduled once a month. Sillery elects a total of 10 board members in staggered terms of office holding.[11]
The community was established at a cove where the
Algonquin gathered for summer to fish for eels. Originally named in honour of Saint Joseph and called Kamiskouaouangachit in the
Algonquin language, the settlement became the home of up to 40 Algonquin Christian families who lived there most of the year, excluding the hunting season. The formation of this settlement came as a result of longterm Algonquin interest in agriculture, conversions to Christianity, and pressure from the ongoing
Beaver War.[13] The residents included Algonquins from as far away as the Ottawa river valley.[13]
Missionaries to
New France, such as
Jacques Gravier, studied with the indigenous residents of Sillery to learn their languages before going to more distant settlements. By the early 18th century, he had compiled a nearly 600–page dictionary of
KaskaskiaIllinois–
French. By 1640, the Augustinian sisters established a convent in the community, which hosted non-permanent residents of the community, especially refugees of the Beaver War or seasonal visitors in winter.[13] Many of the community's natives fell victim to
epidemics of new
infectious diseases, to which they had no natural immunity. The settlement was largely depopulated by the late 1680s.[6]
Renamed Sillery in honour of its financier, the town later became important as a port for the
lumber industry. The city of Sillery's motto was non multa sed multum, the
Latin proverb of "not many things, but much," a fit descriptor for the small enclave. From the land at the water's edge, including
Anse-au-Foulon, site of the disembarkation of
General Wolfe's successful army in the
Battle of the Plains of Abraham, the community spread up to the top of the heights overlooking the
Saint Lawrence River. In 1760, during the
French and Indian War, the
Battle of Sainte-Foy was fought near Sillery, as part of a French attempt to re-capture Quebec City, which had been taken by the British the previous year.
Sillery houses
Bois-de-Coulonge Park, once the viceregal residence of Quebec. A
villa known as
Spencer Wood was built in 1854 by the government of the
Province of Canada, and was purchased by the Quebec Government in 1870 to serve as the residence of Quebec's Lieutenant-Governors until 1966, when a major fire destroyed the main residence. Originally an estate (
French: domaine) named in honour of the assassinated
United Kingdom Prime Minister
Spencer Perceval, in 1815, by his nephew, Michael Henry Perceval, it was renamed Bois-de-Coulonge in 1950.[14][15]
Commanding the bluffs just west of the city of Québec, in modern times Sillery was known principally for its quiet tree-lined streets, historic churches such as
Saint-Michel de Sillery Church, views of the river, and several very old schools run by a variety of
religious institutes.[16] Its coat of arms consisted of a red shield with a white Maltese cross in the upper right hand corner and a three-masted ship in the lower left.
Profile
On January 1, 2002, as part of a legislated
amalgamation of cities across Quebec, Sillery ceased to exist as an independent
municipality. Its territory became a part of the Sainte-Foy—Sillery—Cap-Rouge Borough of Quebec. Of the former municipalities that now comprise Quebec, Sillery was relatively linguistically diverse. In 2006, 4.95% of its population had at least English for mother tongue, and 5.75% for languages other than French or English,[17] while for the
census metropolitan area of Quebec City, it was respectively 1.75% and 2.93%.[18]
Sillery is also known as one of the most affluent area of Quebec City, as residential properties sold on average for CA$570,000 in 2017, and where live a number of professors of nearby
Laval University.[19] Nonetheless, there is still a pocket of modest and small apartment buildings.[20]
According to the
statistics agency of Quebec, in 2001 the average income of Sillery households was CA$113,091, and 58% of them earned more than CA$80,000 per year (in both case the highest figure in the
Capitale-Nationale region.)[21] In 2012, the personal average income was CA$55,645, still the highest in the Quebec City region.[22]
Rainville, Candide (2012-02-27).
"Limite du quartier de Sillery" [Boundary Map of the Sillery Sector] (PDF). Conseil de quartier de Sillery (map provided as a citizen service by the Sillery Neighbourhood Council) (in Canadian French). Service de l'ingénierie, Division de l'arpentage et de la cartographie.
Ville de Québec.
^
abService de la planification de l'aménagement et de l'environnement – Ville de Québec (January 2019).
Quartier Sillery: Portrait sociodémographique et économique [Sillery Quarter: Sociodemographic and economic profile] (PDF) (in Canadian French). Retrieved 27 May 2019.
Sillery, a
former independent city founded in 1637, is one of 35 administrative sectors (
French: quartiers), which are unincorporated places, located in the post-expansion jurisdiction of the City of
Quebec,
Quebec,
Canada.[5][6][7] Sillery was one of multiple self-governing municipalities
amalgamated into a vastly expanded
Quebec City, that went into legal effect on January 1, 2002, as part of the province-wide
2000–06 municipal reorganization in Quebec. Located alongside in what pre-merger was the southwestern border of Quebec City, Sillery is a constituent district (
French: quartier) of the
borough (
French: arrondissement) of
Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge. The territorially expanded City of Quebec consists of six boroughs.
Four heritage sites are located within Quebec City, one of which is situated in Sillery.[7] The neighbourhood of Sillery contains the
Sillery Heritage Site, which was recognized as heritage district by the provincial government on 5 February 1964.[8] On 22 June 2006, the
federal government's
Parks Canada included Sillery's historic district on its
Canadian Register of Historic Places.[9] In 2013, Quebec City changed the name of the historic district to Sillery Heritage Site (
French: site patrimonial de Sillery), as part of its preparation for the provincial government's transfer of responsibility for the district's management to it.[8]
The City of Quebec has 27 neighbourhood councils (
French: conseils de quartiers) spread across its territorial jurisdiction.[10] Sillery has city representation and citizen participation through le conseil de quartier de Sillery. The council has public meetings, at Sillery's community centre, which on average are scheduled once a month. Sillery elects a total of 10 board members in staggered terms of office holding.[11]
The community was established at a cove where the
Algonquin gathered for summer to fish for eels. Originally named in honour of Saint Joseph and called Kamiskouaouangachit in the
Algonquin language, the settlement became the home of up to 40 Algonquin Christian families who lived there most of the year, excluding the hunting season. The formation of this settlement came as a result of longterm Algonquin interest in agriculture, conversions to Christianity, and pressure from the ongoing
Beaver War.[13] The residents included Algonquins from as far away as the Ottawa river valley.[13]
Missionaries to
New France, such as
Jacques Gravier, studied with the indigenous residents of Sillery to learn their languages before going to more distant settlements. By the early 18th century, he had compiled a nearly 600–page dictionary of
KaskaskiaIllinois–
French. By 1640, the Augustinian sisters established a convent in the community, which hosted non-permanent residents of the community, especially refugees of the Beaver War or seasonal visitors in winter.[13] Many of the community's natives fell victim to
epidemics of new
infectious diseases, to which they had no natural immunity. The settlement was largely depopulated by the late 1680s.[6]
Renamed Sillery in honour of its financier, the town later became important as a port for the
lumber industry. The city of Sillery's motto was non multa sed multum, the
Latin proverb of "not many things, but much," a fit descriptor for the small enclave. From the land at the water's edge, including
Anse-au-Foulon, site of the disembarkation of
General Wolfe's successful army in the
Battle of the Plains of Abraham, the community spread up to the top of the heights overlooking the
Saint Lawrence River. In 1760, during the
French and Indian War, the
Battle of Sainte-Foy was fought near Sillery, as part of a French attempt to re-capture Quebec City, which had been taken by the British the previous year.
Sillery houses
Bois-de-Coulonge Park, once the viceregal residence of Quebec. A
villa known as
Spencer Wood was built in 1854 by the government of the
Province of Canada, and was purchased by the Quebec Government in 1870 to serve as the residence of Quebec's Lieutenant-Governors until 1966, when a major fire destroyed the main residence. Originally an estate (
French: domaine) named in honour of the assassinated
United Kingdom Prime Minister
Spencer Perceval, in 1815, by his nephew, Michael Henry Perceval, it was renamed Bois-de-Coulonge in 1950.[14][15]
Commanding the bluffs just west of the city of Québec, in modern times Sillery was known principally for its quiet tree-lined streets, historic churches such as
Saint-Michel de Sillery Church, views of the river, and several very old schools run by a variety of
religious institutes.[16] Its coat of arms consisted of a red shield with a white Maltese cross in the upper right hand corner and a three-masted ship in the lower left.
Profile
On January 1, 2002, as part of a legislated
amalgamation of cities across Quebec, Sillery ceased to exist as an independent
municipality. Its territory became a part of the Sainte-Foy—Sillery—Cap-Rouge Borough of Quebec. Of the former municipalities that now comprise Quebec, Sillery was relatively linguistically diverse. In 2006, 4.95% of its population had at least English for mother tongue, and 5.75% for languages other than French or English,[17] while for the
census metropolitan area of Quebec City, it was respectively 1.75% and 2.93%.[18]
Sillery is also known as one of the most affluent area of Quebec City, as residential properties sold on average for CA$570,000 in 2017, and where live a number of professors of nearby
Laval University.[19] Nonetheless, there is still a pocket of modest and small apartment buildings.[20]
According to the
statistics agency of Quebec, in 2001 the average income of Sillery households was CA$113,091, and 58% of them earned more than CA$80,000 per year (in both case the highest figure in the
Capitale-Nationale region.)[21] In 2012, the personal average income was CA$55,645, still the highest in the Quebec City region.[22]
Rainville, Candide (2012-02-27).
"Limite du quartier de Sillery" [Boundary Map of the Sillery Sector] (PDF). Conseil de quartier de Sillery (map provided as a citizen service by the Sillery Neighbourhood Council) (in Canadian French). Service de l'ingénierie, Division de l'arpentage et de la cartographie.
Ville de Québec.
^
abService de la planification de l'aménagement et de l'environnement – Ville de Québec (January 2019).
Quartier Sillery: Portrait sociodémographique et économique [Sillery Quarter: Sociodemographic and economic profile] (PDF) (in Canadian French). Retrieved 27 May 2019.