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Sainte-Anne-du-Bout-de-l'Île Historical Society



Sainte-Anne-du-Bout-de-l'Ile corresponds today to the area of Senneville, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue and Baie-D'Urfé



Everybody is most welcome.

Upcoming events

Next meeting: Wednesday, November 27, 2024 1:30pm -- When Tobacco was King

Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville
Speaker: Paul Allen

An examination of the Canadian tobacco industry. Allen explores the history of tobacco, how the industry came to Southwestern Ontario, and investigates the economic impact of the "golden weed." A copy of his book will be available. ( see also https://www.abebooks.com/9781717952981/WHEN-TOBACCO-KING-HISTORY-CANADA-1717952984/plp, ISBN 10: 1717952984 ISBN 13: 9781717952981 WHEN TOBACCO WAS KING and the youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZHaXdo2xNc , When Tobacco was King)

Wednesday, January 22, 2025 1:30pm -- The Natural History of the West Island

Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville
Speaker: Ryan Young

A study of the plants and animals that existed in the West Island for the subsistence of Indigenous communities and the early settlers and the way in which the flora and fauna have changed over time.

Wednesday, February 26, 2025 1:30 pm -- Paradise Lost - The Canadian Dreams of Baron Empain

Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville
Speaker: Joseph Graham

Joseph will relate the intriguing story of Baron Louis Empain’s Art Deco resort Domaine-Estérel that the Baron tried to create in the 1930s in Ste-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson in the Laurentians as well as details of his other holdings in of Canada and elsewhere. He will introduce us to the other fascinating members of Baron Louis Empain’s family.
See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson

Wednesday, March 26, 2025 1:30 pm -- When Good overcomes Evil - Surviving the holocaust and bearing witness

Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville
Speaker: Eva Kuper

See also https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/allison-hanes-surviving-the-holocaust-and-bearing-witness

Wednesday, April 23, 2025 10:00am -- The History and Heritage of Dorval -- The History of The Forest and Stream estate and its halcyon days

Location: Dorval Museum 1850 Bord-du Lac, Dorval

Speaker: TBA and Liz Morgan
Important: Deadline for registration April 16th 2025
On April 23 we will first go to the Dorval Museum. A presentation will be given at the museum and then we walk over to the Forest and Stream club for lunch. During the lunch time there will be a presentation about the history of the Forest and Stream club.
Contact Doreen Croll at for reservations and details.

Wednesday, May 21, 2025 2:30 pm -- The History of the Louis-Joseph Forget House, 1195 Sherbrooke Street West H3A 1H9

Location: 1195 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, H3A 1H9
Speaker: Prof. Daniel Boyer
Important: Limit 15 people Register ASAP
Contact Doreen Croll at for reservations and details

Wednesday, May 28, 2025 Annual Dinner 6:00-10:00 pm -- Senneville, the Golden Years

Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville
Speaker: Peter Fialkowski

Peter's video offers a history of Senneville seen through the eyes of the Forget, Angus and most of Peter's relatives, the Clouston/Todd/Fialkowski family, featuring the family members and their colossal mansions. Much of the story is told through old family photos, movies, and, of particular interest, audio commentary from prominent Senneville citizens now long gone but not forgotten, recorded some fifty, and in one case, eighty years ago.


Past meetings, 2024

Wednesday, October 30, 2024 12:30 pm -- The John Little Retrospective of Urban Art

Location: Klinkhoff Gallery, 1200 Sherbrooke Street West H3A 1H6
Speaker: Eric Klinkhoff
See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Little_(painter)
Information and photos: Klinkhoff Gallery outing

Wednesday, October 23, 2024 11:00 am -- A Grand Adventure!

Location: 1500, boul. Robert-Bourassa, Montreal H3A 3S8

Speaker: Bruce McNiven
We have an expert to guide us on the train and metro to Montreal for lunch and a talk/tour at the newly renovated Eaton’s Art Deco 9th Floor Île-de-France restaurant at 1:00 pm, 1500 Blvd. Robert Bourassa, Montreal H3A 3S8.
See also https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/eaton-centre-9th-floor-restoration-1.7179001
Information and photos: Eaton Center Grand Adventure

Sunday, October 20, 2024 2:00 pm -- Walking Tour of Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue with Ryan Young

Location: 2:00pm Ste-Anne Catholic Church, 1 rue de l'Église, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Québec H9X 1W4
Speaker: Ryan Young
Information and photos: Ste-Anne Walking Tour

Wednesday, September 25, 2024 1:30 pm -- Scottish immigrants and their contribution to the cultural history of Montreal

Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville
Speakers: Liz Morgan and Doreen Croll
Presentation material: archive: Scottish immigrants and their contribution to the cultural history of Montreal

Historical Society - Summer Outing Tuesday, June 4, 2024 10:00am at the Montreal Aviation Museum, Macdonald campus of McGill

Information and photos: Montreal Aviation Museum, Summer Outing

Wednesday, May 22, 6 PM - Annual Dinner - Jason Bolanis - Endangered Stories of the West Island

Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville
Links and photos: Endangered Stories of the West Island

Wednesday, April 24, 1:30 PM - Henry Yates - The History of Maxwelton Farm, Baie-D'Urfé


Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville
Presentation material: The History of Maxwelton Farm, Baie-D'Urfé, slides and talk

Wednesday, March 27, 1:30 PM - Robert Wilkins - Carnival, Flooding, Smallpox, and Beaugrand: 1885, Montreal's Annus Horribilis


Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville
Presentation material: Carnival, Flooding, Smallpox, and Beaugrand: 1885, Montreal's Annus Horribilis

Wednesday, February 28, 1:30 PM - Day's Lee - Day's Lee's look at the history of the Chinese-Canadian community in Montreal

Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville
Archive link: "Meet and Eat at Lee's Garden"

Wednesday, January 24, 1:30 PM - Ryan Young - The European Settlement in St-Anne de Bout de L'Isle to the Present

Ryan Young is a Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue City Councillor and a College Professor at John Abbott College who has done extensive research about the history of Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue. Every year he leads a number of historical walking tours in the old village of Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue. His talk will cover the beginnings of European settlement on the western tip of the island of Montreal and then all the way through to the present day. With the aid of historical photographs the old village buildings of Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue that still exist from the 1800s will be discussed along with the early history of Macdonald College in the early 1900s.

Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville
Presentation material: Ryan Young - St-Anne de Bout de L'Isle

Past meetings, 2023

Wednesday, January 25, 2023, 1:30 PM - Guido Socher - Dowker's Island

There is a large island which lies off the shore of Baie-D'Urfé. This island once belonged to the Dowker family, and is still known as Dowker's Island. It was once the home of a thriving summer resort.
One of our members, Guido Socher, recalls the glory days of Dowker's Island.

Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville
Slide deck: Dowker presentation slides, pdf file, size: 9.2M

Wednesday, February 22, 2023, 1:30 PM - Peter McBride - The Great Escape - Dad's War - The World War II experiences of Robert (Bob) McBride.

Peter McBride, a resident of Hudson, has pieced together his father’s amazing story from various sources and will share it with us at our February 22nd Historical Society meeting.

The Great Escape - Dad's War

Life-long resident of Baie-D'Urfé and Beaconsfield, Bob McBride, enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force, CAF in September 1940 following completion of flight training in Canada. Bob went overseas in September 1941, winning promotion to Pilot Officer and Flying Officer in 1942, and to Flight Lieutenant in June 1944. He was shot down in a torpedo bombing mission over the Bay of Biscay on November 7, 1942, wounded and taken prisoner. As a Prisoner of War, POW, Bob resided in the Stalag Luft III and took part in what became known as "The Great Escape" on March 24, 1944. Recaptured at the tunnel’s mouth, Bob remained a prisoner until his release at the war’s end in 1945. Peter will provide a fascinating glimpse into his father's wartime experiences.

Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville
Slide deck: not available

Wednesday, March 22, 2023, 1:30 PM - Jason Bolanis - Mayor Olive Urquhart and Pointe Claire

Jason Bolanis, a well known local filmmaker, takes us back to the early days of the 20th century, when Valois was beginning to develop from a summer resort into a community of permanent residences.

Mr.Bolanis recalls the career of Mayor Olive Urquhart who was the first, and so far the only, female mayor of Pointe-Claire. Mayor Urquhart's forward-looking vision for her community enabled a sleepy summer resort to develop into the City of Pointe-Claire.

Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville
Presentation material: Jason Bolanis, Endangered Stories

Wednesday, April 26, 1:30 PM - Steven High - The Deindustrialization of Montréal

Progress, in the form of improved transportation and industrial techniques, can be of great benefit to mankind but, at the same time, it can have a devastating effect on the workers and their families who are left behind in its wake.

Professor Steven High tells the story of the closing, in the mid 20th century, of many of the industries which were located in South West Montréal and beside the Lachine Canal, and the hardship endured by the families of the thousands of workers who lost their jobs.

Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville
Presentation material: Deindustrializing Montreal

Wednesday, May 10, 1:30 PM - Henry Yates - An Illustrated Talk About the Lives and Architecture of Edward and W.S. Maxwell

Mr. Henry Yates, is a descendant of the Maxwell family whose firm, Maxwell Brothers, Architects, designed many of the beautiful 'heritage' buildings in Senneville and elsewhere in the Montréal area.

Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville
Presentation material: An Illustrated Talk About the Lives and Architecture of Edward and W.S. Maxwell

Annual dinner: Wednesday, May 24 Annual Dinner 6pm to 10pm - Atmo Zakes and Jim Katz - Bois-de-la-Roche: 30 years in the farmer's house

Our neighbours and fellow-members, Atmo Zakes and Jim Katz, have lived for many years in a cottage which was once part of Bois-de-la-Roche, the estate which was established by the late Senator Louis-Joseph Forget in the 1890s.

Atmo is a well known artist who has produced many fine paintings of various aspects of the estate. Atmo and Jim are going to share some of their memories with us.

Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville

Additional information: Bois-de-la-Roche; 30 years in the farmer's house

Wednesday, September 27, 1:30 PM - Robert Carswell - Senneville's Three Most Famous People

Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville

Additional information: Presentation material

Wednesday, October 25, 1:30 PM - Janette Haggar - Lost Histories: The Story of Felix Brunet and 260 Chemin Senneville

Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville
Additional information: Presentation material

Wednesday, November 22, 1:30 PM - Atmo Zakes - Joy is Always Possible - wartime stories

originally "John Angus - Bout-de-l'Ile in the Days Before Our Day" was planed for Nov. 22 but this presentation had to be postponed.

Location: George-McLeish Community Centre, Senneville

Additional information about Atmo's presentation: Presentation material

Sainte-Anne-du-Bout-de-l'Ile Historical Society