Fonds

The oldest North American hunt club in continuous existence, the Montreal Hunt Club was founded in 1826, when it was essentially an annex of the local British Army garrison. When the leadership of the club passed to businessmen John Crawford and Andrew Allan in 1867, the club entered a golden era. Steeplechases organized at Logan Farm and in Outremont and Verdun helped refinance and stabilize the club. Previously known as either the Montreal Fox Hounds or the Montreal Hunt, the club adopted the latter as its official name around 1880. Under the leadership of Captain Campbell, Ross Hutchins and especially Alfred Baumgarten, new foxhounds were imported from Ireland, British rules for fox hunting were imposed and new hunt grounds were opened in Pointe-aux-Trembles and Saint-Hilaire. It was also during this period that an imposing clubhouse and kennels were built on De Lorimier Avenue.

By 1890, the Montreal Hunt had become the most prestigious social club in the city and its members included prominent political and business leaders. Elected Master of the Foxhounds in 1891, Sir Hugh Montagu Allan put the club on a firm financial footing. In 1898, a new clubhouse and kennels were built in Côte-des-Neiges, where the club remained for 40 years. During this period, it organized horse shows and competitions on Craig Street. Many club documents were destroyed in the 1901 fire that damaged the Montreal Board of Trade building, but the club was finally incorporated and given an official constitution in 1903.

In 1920, the kennels were moved to Fresnière in the region of Sainte-Scholastique, north of Montreal. This area became the main hunting grounds for the club. When a 1938 fire damaged its Côte-des-Neiges clubhouse, the club decided to move all its activities to Fresnière, away from encroaching urbanization. During the Second World War, the club came to a virtual standstill, and did not stage its first post-war hunt until 1947. Many old members had retired from the club and new members were primarily Francophone. The first French-Canadian Master of the Foxhounds, Roland Désourdy, was elected in 1963. He was the impetus behind the opening of new hunting grounds in the Eastern Townships (known as the Hunt South).

The Montreal Hunt celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1976. Despite its close association with that year's Olympic equestrian events, the club had lost much of its former prestige. In 1983, it became officially known as the "Club de chasse à courre de Montréal" and acquired the status of a non-profit organization.