In early 19th-century Montreal, life for the homeless was harsh indeed

The Montreal Gazette: It was a distressing sight on the Montreal waterfront that morning in late autumn 1816. There, in a bateau drawn up on the muddy banks of the St. Lawrence, lay the body of a woman. She was identified as Elizabeth Thomson, the wife of a soldier named Hibberts. The Gazette reported that her death was caused by “intoxication and the effect of cold.” Read more.