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Montréal Passenger Lists 1891-1956

Harbor Scene at the Port of Montréal, 1908.

Harbor Scene at the Port of Montréal. The Entire Development of Montréal Is Hampered to Some Extent by the Lack of Attention Given to St Lawrence by the Dominion Government. It Is Pleasing To Know That This Is To Be Changed, the Shipping Federation of Canada Having Received an Assurance That the Work of Deepening the Ship Channel to 40 Ft . With a Width Necessary To Accommodate the Growing Size of Ocean Steamships Is To Be Proceeded With. The Syren & Shipping Illustrated, 24 June 1908. GGA Image ID # 147322257a

Montréal is a city in the Canadian province of Québec. It is the largest city in the province, the second-largest in the country (after Toronto) and the fifteenth-largest in North America.

The city proper covers most of the Island of Montréal at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers. The port of Montréal lies at one end of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, which is the river gateway that stretches from the Great Lakes into the Atlantic Ocean.

Two Ocean Liners Docked in this View of the Port of Montréal, 1925.

Two Ocean Liners Docked in this View of the Port of Montréal, 1925. GGA Image ID # 1d4616be7a

The Port of Montréal, Québec (1937)

Montréal is situated at the head of the improved ship channel of the St. Lawrence River. The minimum width of the channel between Québec and Montréal is 450 feet, while it is 1,000 feet below Québec. The channel to Montréal has been dredged to a depth of 30 feet below the shallow water of 1897.

The harbor is divided into three sections:

  1. The upper section south of the Lachine Canal
  2. The central harbor
  3. The lower section

Opposite the city are three islands, known as Ile Verte, Ile Ste. Helene, and Ile Ronde. The main ship channel passes on the west side of these islands.

Under its position at the head of ocean navigation, Montréal has easily maintained its supremacy among the ports of Canada. It handles the larger share of Canadian traffic and a large amount of American traffic, including grain and miscellaneous freight moving to and from the Chicago district and other points in the West.

The Canadian Pacific and National Railways serve the port, constituting Canada's two critical trunk line systems. It is the lower terminus of the St. Lawrence canals, utilizing which it receives large quantities of grain and other commodities.

The entire port's waterfront is controlled by the National Harbor Board, which operates the facilities, including a belt line railway connecting them with the rail carriers. This control has enabled the port to proceed systematically with a comprehensive plan of port development.

One of the outstanding features is the provision for supplying grain to vessels at their regular berths employing an extensive system of galleries communicating with the harbor commission's elevators.

While the maintenance and operation of this gallery system constitute an added expense in the loading out of grain as compared with elevators having loading spouts directly from the shipping bins, it is an expense that is justified by the advantages it possesses in lessening the time and cost of the ship in port.

Front Cover, TSS Grampian of the Allan Line, 1909.

Front Cover, TSS Grampian of the Allan Line, 1909. GGA Image ID # 1d45bb7627

Passenger Lists available from the GG Archives Calling at the Port of Montréal, PQ, Canada.

1890s

Allan Line Royal Mail Steamers

 

1900s

Allan Line Royal Mail Steamers

 

Dominion Line

 

1910s

Allan Line Royal Mail Steamers

 

Canadian Pacific Line

 

Cunard Line

 

Donaldson Line

 

White Star Line

 

Front Cover, Cunard Line RMS Ascania Passenger List, 1925.

Front Cover, Cunard Line RMS Ascania Passenger List, 1925. GGA Image ID # 1d45bc4974

1920s

Anchor-Donaldson Line

 

Canadian Pacific Line

 

Cunard Line

 

White Star-Dominion Line

 

White Star Line

 

Front Cover, RMS Alaunia of the Cunard Line Passenger List, 1925.

Front Cover, RMS Alaunia of the Cunard Line Passenger List, 1925. GGA Image ID # 1d45edc8a9

1930s

Anchor-Donaldson Line

 

Canadian Pacific Line

 

Cunard Line

 

Donaldson Atlantic Line

 

White Star Line

 

Front Cover, Cunard Line RMS Aurania Passenger List, 1930.

Front Cover, Cunard Line RMS Aurania Passenger List, 1930. GGA Image ID # 13073e8e31

1940s

Canadian Pacific Line

 

1950s

Canadian Pacific Line

 

Cunard Line

 

Note: Typically, only the origination and final destination ports are listed in each link. Other intermediary ports of call are not listed.

The Harbour at Montréal, The Great Port on the St. Lawrence.

The Harbour at Montréal, The Great Port on the St. Lawrence. Canada Today, 1913. GGA Image ID # 14c763b1d2

Although closed to navigation over four months of each year by the freezing of the St. Lawrence River, Montréal far surpasses other Canadian ports in volume and value of traffic. Its favored geographic location, at the head of ocean navigation on St. Lawrence and the foot of inland navigation of the Great Lakes, has made this port the converging point both for railroads and for ocean steamers and Great Lakes vessels.

Therefore, it is an economical and convenient transshipping center for exports from and imports to both eastern and central Canada. Montréal's grain export trade holds the first rank among world ports: millions of bushels are transshipped annually from lake and rail curriers to ocean steamers destined principally to Europe.

Montréal's port commands the shortest and cheapest trade route to Great Britain and has behind it possibilities for a Canal and River system for tapping the trade of almost the entire continent. It is a national duty that full advantage be taken of this geographical position to build up an all-Canadian water route between the Great West and Montréal capable of handling Canada's exports and imports through Canadian seaports and also enabling us to compete successfully for the American trade from the Great Lake ports, which are tributary to this route.

The Port of Montréal with Two Ocean Liners in Harbor, 1926.

The Port of Montréal with Two Ocean Liners in Harbor, 1926. GGA Image ID # 1d46701795

Related Categories

Ephemera & History

Steamship & Ocean Liners

SS RMS MV - Defined

PLs By Year of Voyage

PLs By Port of Call

PLs By Region

Ports of Call Information

 

Corps of Engineers, United States Army, "Montreal, Quebec," in Transportation on the Great Lakes, Transportation Series No. 1 (Revised 1937), Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1937. p. 252

 

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Passenger Lists by Ports of Call
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The Folks Behind the GG Archives

The GG Archives is the work and passion of two people, Paul Gjenvick, a professional archivist, and Evelyne Gjenvick, a curator. Paul earned a Masters of Archival Studies - a terminal degree from Clayton State University in Georgia, where he studied under renowned archivist Richard Pearce-Moses. Our research into the RMS Laconia and SS Bergensfjord, the ships that brought two members of the Gjønvik family from Norway to the United States in the early 20th century, has helped us design our site for other genealogists. The extent of original materials at the GG Archives can be very beneficial when researching your family's migration from Europe.

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