NELSON'S COLUMN

Cultural origin of subject: British Empire

 Nelson’s Column is the oldest monument in Montréal, preceding the monument of Queen Victoria by almost 60 years. It was erected in 1809 in the centre of Place Jacques Cartier, a commercial area in Montréal’s Old Port district.  It memorializes a British naval victory over French forces in the battle of Trafalgar in 1805, during which Admiral Horatio Nelson passed away. The location of the statue is strategic, as it is placed in one of the oldest public squares of the city not far from the site of Montreal's original founding by French settlers. The monument functions as a reminder of the British Empire's defeat of France, and consequently affirms Britain's authority over the population of Montreal.  In addition, it is located across the street from the statue of Jean Vauquelin, who was a captain of the French navy in the 1750's.  Though Vauquelin's monument had not yet been constructed, the location of Nelson's Column was consciously chosen by British city officials who wanted to assert their claim over the city's urban space now that it was firmly under the control of the British Empire.  The monument illustrates the conflict over collective memory waged between Anglophones and Francophones in the symbolic public landscape of Montréal.  The monument has been controversial since it was erected and attracts significant hatred from French speaking citizens of Montréal due to its symbolic presence as a powerful testament to Anglophone domination over a Francophone population.  Montreal's Francophones have highly encouraged for years the relocation of the Nelson monument to an area of less significance to the Francophone population, and individuals such as the artist Suzanne Ratto Lalonde have even suggested that the monument be given to the city of Westmount, which is predominantly Anglophone in population.  Such debates over this monument are a powerful indication of the opposing claims made by the city's Anglophone and Francophone populations to spaces of public memory and the ongoing quarrels between these two linguistic groups.