Sillery, Quebec

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Sillery is a former city in central Quebec, Canada. Located just west of old Quebec City, Sillery was among the many outlying municipalities amalgamated into an expanded Quebec City in 2002. Its former territory now forms part of the new Borough of Sainte-Foy—Sillery (Population (2001): 11,909). The name Sillery is still used to refer to the affluent neighbourhood, a wealthy Francophone community [1]

Sillery was named for Noel Brulart de Sillery (1577-1640), Knight of Malta. A wealthy and successful French diplomat, he renounced worldly goods and became a priest. He provided the funds for the establishment in 1638 of a settlement for native american converts to Catholicism.

The community, Canada's first native reservation, was established at a cove where the Algonquin fished for eels. Originally named in honour of St. Joseph, the settlement became the home of up to 40 Algonquin Christian families, who lived there most of the year, excluding the hunting season. The community's natives, however, fell victim to epidemics and the settlement was largely depopulated by the 1680's.

Eventually renamed Sillery in recognition of the man who had made possible its founding, it would later become, for a time, an important port for the lumber industry.

The city of Sillery's motto was: "Non multa, sed multum," meaning, "Not many things, but much," a fit descriptor for the small enclave. From the land at the water's edge, the community spread up to the top of the heights overlooking the Saint-Lawrence river. Commanding the bluffs just west of the ancient city of Québec, Sillery was known, in the modern age, principally for its quiet tree-lined streets, its historic churches, its breathtaking views of the river and several very old schools run by a variety of religious orders.

Its coat of arms (see links below) consisted of a red shield with a white maltese cross in the upper right hand corner and a three-masted ship in the lower left.

In 2002, as part of a legislated amalgamation of cities across the Province of Quebec, Sillery ceased operations. Its territory is now a part of the Sainte-Foy—Sillery Borough of the City of Quebec.