In 1862, the novelist Anthony Trollope remarked, "Government has selected Ottawa as the Capital of Canada, but commerce has already made Montreal the capital, and Montreal will be the chief city of Canada, let government do what it may to foster the other town" [REF].
After the Conquest, unlike earlier British immigrants who came to North America to escape religious or political persecution, those who came to Montreal tended to be from well-connected mercantile families and were there to further their fortunes, both for themselves and the Empire [REF].