Murder Among Montreal’s Elite — Redpath Mansion Mystery (1901)

Two members of a wealthy family were fatally shot in June 1901. Over a century later the mystery remains unsolved.

The Square Mile

University of Victoria, Unknown, Redpath Sugar Museum, Both the Redpath house and the David Morrice house, which shows in the background of this photograph, were designed by the same architect, John James Browne. Surrounded by mature trees and ornamental lawns, the stately architecture was typical of Square Mile mansions

At the turn of the 20th century, there were several very wealthy families living in Quebec — Most of them lived in a neighbourhood on the slopes of Mount Royal called Square Mile, later dubbed the Golden Square.

Despite being in the heart of French-Canada the exclusive community was made up of tight-knit English-speaking families.

The heads of each household were business owners, captains of industry and labelled “merchant princes” by the local press. The men forged business partnerships and many of the heads of house sat on each other’s boards of directors. As marriages formed even stronger bonds, the men employed their sons and sons-in-law in their companies.

Meanwhile, their wives were often socialites who raised their children inside luxurious homes. The families attended Protestant churches in the area and the children were enrolled in the same schools. The ornamental gardens, esteemed institutions and grand houses stood starkly against the gritty backdrop of Montreal in the early 1900s.