for three hours Montreal … heralded the arrival of the Prince of Wales by an endless blaze of light - from horizon to zenith all was brilliant …

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"Wood engraving | Grand Finale of Fire-Works in Honor of the Prince of Wales and the Successful Completion of the Victoria Bridge, Montreal, Canada East. | M975.62.263.3"

The Grand Finale of fireworks for the opening of the Victoria Bridge in Montreal, August 25, 1860

From The Montreal Witness, August 29th 1860

There were many transatlantic and American visitors in the city, and their unanimous declaration was that the lighting up of Great St. James, from Victoria Square to the Place d'Armes, had never been surpassed. The sight in the harbour was magnificent; the war steamers, the Canadian Mail steamer, and the Glasgow steamer "United Kingdom" were illuminated; while from all the decks shot up flights of rockets, and brilliant lights flashed from every port-hole, Rockets and Bengal lights were fired from St. Helen's; while from the Great Bridge the display was magnificent. Every Street added its contribution of candle light or glare of gas, so that for three hours Montreal, so to speak, heralded the arrival of the Prince of Wales by an endless blaze of light - from horizon to zenith all was brilliant, outviewing oriental splendour and magnificence... All the public squares were tastefully decorated with transparencies and coloured lanterns profusely interspersed among its foliage... The dome of the City Hall was brilliantly lighted up with 3,000 jets of gas, and the windows of the large building were variegated with transparencies and Chinese lanterns." 

The Victoria Bridge was known as the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’ at the time of its construction in 1860 – and believe it or not, it was and to some extent, still is. The Victoria Bridge, with its original piers is standing yet, and is still used for train travel, and now vehicles. In 1860 it was the longest bridge in the world – here in Canada – not the US with its greater number of railway lines, not Britain from where the engineers and designers to make the bridge were hired.

Montreal depended on the river and ferries in the summer and ice roads in the winter to do business with the States and the rest of Canada – but when the river wasn’t usable because it was in the process of freezing or thawing, Montreal came to a standstill. A bridge across the St. Lawrence River seemed impossible – it was nearly 2 miles across and the river froze solid in winter and had huge ice dams when the spring came. Anything in the water would have to withstand the continued freezing and thawing – and the current which was really strong at 11 kilometers an hour. It’s not like it is today – the distance across isn’t as wide anymore as some of the river has been filled with landfill and this has also helped tame the current.

But in 1860 everything was about progress, about how we could create a more perfect world – innovation, change, the new possibilities of what the human mind, and body, could do – from tightrope walking over Niagara Falls or even stilt walking along the edge like Farini (William Hunt – of Port Hope, Ontario), to building impossible bridges. Famous Robert Stephenson came along with his tubular bridge – one where trains travelled through large tubes made of iron plates (steel wasn’t invented yet and iron is a lot heavier than steel so his design was ingenious) supported on piers. In the case of the Victoria Bridge he decided on piers shaped like ships’ hulls to break up the spring ice. The piers were placed at an angle as well to help with breaking the ice apart and having it move downstream instead of building up at the piers where the ice created dangerous pressure. ... There's even a stained glass window in Westminster Abbey of Stephenson's bridges - the Victoria Bridge alongside his one on the Nile.    

 There oughta be a replica of that window here, don't you think?

As a side note, the Prince of Wales was Albert Edward, the son of Queen Victoria. He reigned as King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. At the time of his visit he wasn’t yet married – he married in 1863, had lots of affairs. His first son was born in 1864, 2 months early and died at age 28, breaking the hearts of both his mother and father.

Mercy Coles' diary and Balls, Parties, Banquets and Diptheria in Quebec 1864

This is a continuation of Mercy Coles' diary from the Quebec Conference of October 1864. Mercy was 26, unmarried and the daughter of George Coles of PEI, one of the Fathers of Confederation. The unmarried daughters and sisters went along to Quebec as well as the wives of the delegates. Mercy wrote of the parties and balls and of the sights and other 'goings -on'.

“Monday Afternoon – 17^th

      Home all alone. I have not been able to leave my bedroom since Friday [October 14, 1864]. Just as I was going to get ready for the Ball I went to comb Mamma’s hair and nearly fainted. She made me lie down. I got so nervous and excited that I [unclear] crying. Papa went off for Dr. Tupper, he came up directly. He wrote some prescriptions and sent them off to have some medicine made up for me, he saw I had a very sore throat and was very feverish, of course going to the Ball was out of the question so I very soon undressed and got into bed. ... They [her mother and father] did not start until nearly 11 o’clock and were home by 2. Dr. Tupper came in again when he came home. He saw I was very ill indeed. All day Saturday I never raised my head from the pillow, only to take the medicine or gargle my throat. Yesterday morning it broke, it still remains very sore. The Doctor has just been here and he says I shall be quite well in a few days. I hope so for there are two or three Balls and parties this week, one ‘at Home’ at Government House on Friday night and a party at Mde. Tessiers [Lady of the Speaker of the Legislature] on Wednesday. Papa and Mamma have gone out to make some visits. Mr. Crowthers has just called and left a comic newspaper with his compliments. He, Mr. Drinkwater, and Mr. Bernard call everyday to enquire for me. The Ball [The Governor’s Ball at Government House, also known as Spencer Wood, now Parc du Bois-d-Coulonge] on Friday, October 14] I believe was rather a failure as far as the delegates are concerned. The Quebec People never introduced the ladies nor gentlemen to any partners nor never seen whether they had any supper or not [emphasis mine]. The Col Grays [Col John Hamilton Gray, Premier of PEI, and John Hamilton Gray, a lawyer and former Premier of New Brunswick.] are both rather indignant at the way their daughters were treated. Miss Gray and Miss Tupper came to see me this morning. They came to the conclusion I had not missed much yet. ...”

Edward Whelan says differently though:

Canada's First Big Party

Thursday September 1^st, 1864 – I always like it when days across years line up – so exactly today, another Thursday in history, was a momentous day in Canadian history – the start to one long sun-drenched and warm, champagne and circus filled party.

Today the Fathers of Confederation landed in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, to almost complete indifference, to talk about the possibility of a union of the British Provinces – or Confederation.

There was certainly political indifference, as it was the Canadians themselves who had wrangled an invite to the Maritime conference discussing a Maritime Union. The Maritimers weren’t interested in that union either, but were forced to consider the proposal by Arthur Gordon, the then Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick (in 1867 How the Fathers Made a Deal, p 37, Moore describes Gordon “just thirty-five in 1864 and unshakeably certain he was meant to rule New Brunswick as an Imperial potentate.”)  Gordon assumed he would have more power if the Maritime provinces united. He was definitely not interested in a union of all the British provinces.

The other and more exciting cause of the indifference was the Slaymaker and Nichols’ Olympic Circus – the first circus in 20 years to the Island. The circus arrived Tuesday August 30 and was leaving September 2. (The circus was there in the first place because it couldn't travel up and down the eastern seaboard of the United States because of the Civil War - too many warships.) All the hotels, carriages, everything had been booked by the circus goers, leaving the Canadians, the famous Fathers of Confederation – John A Macdonald, George Etienne Cartier, George Brown (founder of the Globe and Mail), D’Arcy McGee and the others to stay out on their ship The Queen Victoria – with their $13,000 worth of champagne mind you. Now that’s a party.

For all the historical details and more photos see The History of Canada Online here