CHARLAND, Louis (1772-1813) of Montreal, Que. served as Surveyor of Roads for the city from June 1799 and held this position until his death in 1813. He also appears to have possessed considerable knowledge of architecture and design, and was among the first professionals in Montreal to use the title 'architect' in association with their name. In 1799 he drew plans for the Montreal Court House, and later prepared a sophisticated Palladian scheme for the Guard House on the Champs de Mars, adjacent to the Court House. A skillfully drawn plan and elevation of the latter, signed by Charland, survives and can be found in the collections of the National Archives of Canada in Ottawa. His name can also be linked to plans for the Montreal Gaol, Notre Dame Street, 1806-08, and he wss credited with plans for several buildings on the Place du Marche, 1809. Charland was a capable cartographer and in 1803 he published A New Topographical Map of the Province of Lower Canada in collaboration with the printer William Vondenvelden. Charland died in Quebec City on 3 September 1813 (death notice Quebec Gazette, 16 Sept. 1813; biog. Dictionary of Canadian Biography, v, 1983, 183-4)
MONTREAL COURT HOUSE, Notre Dame Street, 1799-1803; demol. 1844 (N. Bosworth, Hochelaga Depicta, 1839, 158 ff, illus., but lacking attribution; N. Clerk, Palladian Style in Canadian Architecture, 1984, 80, illus. & descrip.)
CHAMPS DES MARS, guard house for the Court House, c. 1805 (dwgs. NAC, National Map Collection, H3/350)
MONTREAL GAOL, Notre Dame Street, 1808-09; demol. (N. Bosworth, Hochelaga Depicta, 1839, 159, illus., but lacking attribution; N. Clerk, Palladian Style in Canadian Architecture, 1984, 81, illus. & descrip.)
PLACE DU MARCHE, market hall, 1809 (ANQM, Thomas Barron, notaire, 25 July 1809, no. 1579)