Moses Judah Hayes (1799-1861) was a prominent businessman and a dedicated public servant in 19th century Montreal. The founder of Canada’s first shopping center, Hayes was also the first and only Jew in the history of Montreal to serve as the city’s police chief.
The son of a merchant of Dutch origin, Hayes went into business with his brother-in-law Isaac Valentine to buy Montreal’s municipal waterworks. After making significant improvements to the utility, he resold it and built Hayes House, Canada’s first shopping center. Located in a four-storey building on Dalhousie Square (today the corner of Saint-Hubert and Notre-Dame), it included a grand hotel, a theatre (the Theatre Royal) and several boutiques. Hayes House soon became the city’s cultural center. When the Parliament Houses of United Canada were burned down in 1849, Parliament rented a space and convened in the establishment for the following six months. In 1852, a fire ravaged many downtown buildings and the Hayes House was burned to the ground. Moses Judas Hayes, then a widower and father of five children, found himself ruined.
Hayes’ situation improved in 1854, when he was offered the appointment of Chief of Police in recognition of his contribution to the city. He went on to hold the position until his death in 1861. Twenty years earlier, in 1833, he had been offered the appointment of justice of the peace following the passing of a law giving Jews equality of civil liberties. However, Hayes refused the appointment until 1837, when a condition requiring Jews to take a Christian oath of office was lifted.
Hayes contributed to the life of Montreal in a variety of ways: he modernized infrastructure, built a shopping center and was a dedicated civil servant. In the Jewish community, Hayes took part in a campaign to build a new synagogue for the Shearith Israel congregation in 1883 and helped to found the Hebrew Philanthropic Society in 1847. Notably, he was one of the first Jews to enter into public service.
Compiled by Valérie Beauchemin, translated by Helge Dascher.
Sources
Jenkins, Kathleen. Montreal, Island City of the St Lawrence. New York: Éditions Doubleday, 1996.
King, Joe. Fabled City: The Jews of Montreal. Montreal: Éditions Price-Patterson Ltd, 2009.
Miller, Carman. “Moses Judah Hayes.” Dictionnaire Biographique du Canada. 2000. Online.
Tulchinsky, Gerard. Canada’s Jews: A People’s Journey. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008.
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364 St-Hubert, Montreal
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