It's not surprising that outsiders and, indeed, many Quebecers, believe that Quebec City is solidly French. As Louisa Blair points out in the second volume of her aptly titled The Anglos: The Hidden Face of Quebec City, the English-speaking population began to lose its visibility long, long ago. "The interest of historians in anglophone Quebecers was deflected at Confederation, and by the 1940s had almost vanished completely."

Blair, whose own family has deep roots in Quebec City, has sought to at least "partially unveil the hidden face." Her latest book begins in 1850, when English speakers made up 40 per cent of the overall population; an anglophone Protestant elite dominated the timber trade, shipbuilding and other industries; hundreds of British troops provided "a pack of trouble on payday and prestigious matches" for the daughters of local anglophones; and an anglophone served as mayor.

By the late 19th century, Blair notes, the British garrison had departed and Irish, European, American and Chinese immigrants had changed the composition of the city's English-speaking population.

"While the anglophone gentry with their snowshoe clubs, skating parties and afternoon teas behaved as if nothing was amiss, their numbers were in decline and the economy was undergoing a sea change."

In the early 20th century, anglophones accounted for little more than 10 per cent of the total citizenry and were divided by religion and ethnic background.