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Donegana's Hotel stood on the north-west corner of Notre-Dame Street and Bonsecours Market in the Old Montreal district of Montreal, Quebec. Originally built as a private residence in 1821, the house served as the vice-regal residence of the Governors General of Canada from 1837 until 1843. It briefly housed the High School of Montreal before it was purchased by Jean-Marie Donegana who enlarged it to become the largest hotel in the British Colonies. It became famous across Europe and North America, where its reputation was only equal to, if not exceeding, that of New York's Astor House.〔(Important from Canada, 1849 )〕 Donegana's was burnt down in the Montreal Riots of 1849. The site was sold in 1850 and the hotel rebuilt by American management〔Troy Daily Whig, July 16, 1850〕 as a new Donegana Hotel, which prospered until the (1870s ) under hotelier Daniel Gale. Gale promoted it in New York papers as a Montreal hotel that was equal to the finest American hostelries.〔Advertisements, 1868, Syracuse Daily Courier〕〔Traveler's Guide to Montreal. Montreal: Daniel Rose, 1866〕 Confederate agent and wine merchant P. C. Martin lived there around 1863,〔Mackay's Montreal Directory 1863-64〕 and after the American Civil War the family of ex-President Jefferson Davis stayed at the Donegana during their time in Montreal.〔Papers of Jefferson Davis, June 1865 - December 1870. Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 2008.〕 In 1880 the second hotel was replaced by the Hôpital Notre-Dame. ==Early years== Originally built as a private home, the main structure was started in 1821 for the American millionaire William Bingham (1800-1852), only son of Senator Bingham, in preparation for his marriage the following year to Marie-Charlotte Chartier de Lotbinière (1805-1866), daughter and co-heiress of the 2nd Marquis de Lotbinière. The Bingham house became a centre for fashionable society living in, and visiting, Montreal.〔(The New Dominion Monthly, 1868 )〕 In 1834, the Binghams left Montreal for Paris, and for a time they leased their old home to Lord Seaton.〔A Journal of Visitation to the Western Portion of his Diocese - John Strachan, 1846〕 In 1837, Lord Durham, the newly appointed Governor General of Canada, took lease of the house having chosen the imposing mansion over the run-down Château de Ramezay for his official residence. Durham required that the house was furnished in "superior style" and no expense was spared to meet his exacting standards.〔(Edgar Allen Collard, Montreal Gazette - 1972 )〕 Governors General Lord Sydenham and afterwards Sir Charles Bagot maintained the house as their official residence until 1843, when it was sold by the Binghams who by then had made their permanent home in England at Broome Park, Kent.〔(Descendants of William Bingham of Philadelphia )〕 In September 1843, the house became the first home of the 167 newly enrolled students of the High School of Montreal. At the end of the first academic year the closing ceremony, presided over by The Hon. Peter McGill and Lord Metcalfe, was held in the large hall that had previously been the Bingham's ballroom.〔(Edgar Allen Collard, Montreal Gazette - 1972 )〕 In 1845, the school moved to its purpose built home on Belmont Street. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Donegana's Hotel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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