Reflections on Two Commemorative Pitchers discovered at the Site of the Montreal Parliament and the Repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846
The repeal of the Corn Laws by Great Britain in 1846 struck a hard blow against the Province of Canada’s economy, impacting merchants and grain producers who benefitted from these protectionist laws through preferential tariffs in the cereal trade. It is in this context that two small ceramic pitchers commemorating the abolition of the Corn Laws at Westminster ended up at the Parliament that was located in Montreal between 1844 and 1849. The discovery of these jugs in 2017 by a team of archaeologists under the direction of Pointe-à-Callière, Montreal’s archaeology and history complex, provides an opportunity to revisit this foundational moment in Canadian political and economic history. The pitchers evoke the triumph of the Anti-Corn Law League under the leadership of Richard Cobden and, incidentally, by Sir Robert Peel. Finally, the article underlines the influence that the League and its popular marketing methods had on a Montreal merchant association, which can perhaps explain the presence of these pitchers at the Canadian Parliament in Montreal.