The Ethnic Origins of the Population of Montreal, 1760-1851.
This bar chart shows in percentage terms the growth of the three groups, based on ethnic origins, into which the Montreal population was divided: French, British and others. The sources of the information are such that it is impossible to establish the proportions of the various components in the British group. It was not until the 1825 census that information was given on people's origins but it is probably right to say that in 1760, before the British Conquest, the entire population of Montreal was of French origin. The situation changed radically over the first half of the nineteenth century and, as early as 1825, the French were only slightly in the majority.Probably in 1831 they had lost their dominance. In 1844, the British were in the majority and reached their highest level ever of 56.1 percent of the population. The demographic recovery of the French started slowly in the years that followed. By the time of the 1851 census, they had made a slight dent in British numerical superiority and by Confederation had drawn ahead. Thus, for a period of thirty-five years in the middle of the nineteenth century, Montreal was a predominantly British city.
