Archéologie d’un marchand loyaliste à Montréal, 1805-1815. James Dunlop, son réseau, et l’économie-monde transatlantique
This thesis focuses on the material culture of the period from 1805 to 1815 on the site of Montreal’s foundation (BjFj-101). During this decade, the site had a commercial vocation and belonged to the Scottish merchant James Dunlop. The overall goal is to elaborate the commercial network of James Dunlop from the provenances of the material culture in the study. The reconstructed network will then be inserted in the greater economic frame of the early 19th century British Empire to better understand the commercial choices of Dunlop and the place of Montreal’s foundation site inside his network. To attain this objective, we have reconstructed the stratigraphic contexts and buildings of the site’s Period V (1805-1842), which holds 63 296 artefacts and ecofacts. Using this assemblage, we have studied the materials that are contemporary with Dunlop, in order to gain a picture of the goods and wares that transited the site during the decade 1805-1815. Three groups of materials are particularly indicative of James Dunlop’s business: ceramics, alcohol containers, and raw materials like timber, potash and wheat. Ceramic and alcohol show the importance of the importations from the western United Kingdom, especially Glasgow, which was Dunlop’s base in the British Isles. Inversely, the Canadian raw materials, the principal source of Dunlop’s income, were exported to Britain and the West Indies colonies. While this kind of trade network was typical of its time, the agency of James Dunlop gives us a new angle on the business of colonial merchants. Far from being a simple representative of British interest, Dunlop based his business in Montréal and could react swiftly to the changes in the British market in order to sell Canadian products on the most advantageous terms for him.
Montréal Material culture Commercial network World-economy Scottish merchant History Montréal Beginning of the XIXth century British Empire