One of the strangest stories attached to 19th-century Quebec City comes from the Illustrated Police News, which reported in 1871 that a woman rode through Saint-Jean Street lying in a hearse and smoking a pipe.
What did the newspaper claim?
‘A Quebec Woman Creates a Sensation, Riding Through St. John Street in a Hearse, Reclining on the Coffin-Bed, and Smoking a Pipe.
What will women do next to distinguish themselves, we wonder! A female in Quebec, the other day, perpetrated a ghastly joke, mocking death in his own domain, by lying down in a hearse and smoking a pipe in a funeral chariot was driven through the street.
If this exhibition had been made in the United States, our neighbours at the North would have made it the subject of very strong animadversions.’
Did it really happen?
That is the problem: we have not found contemporary Canadian reporting that independently confirms the episode. The Illustrated Police News was known for sensational stories and dramatic illustrations, so the item should not be treated as established fact.
Why preserve the story?
Even if the event was exaggerated or invented, the clipping is an interesting example of how Victorian newspapers turned distant cities and unconventional women into spectacle. The safest description is therefore “an 1871 newspaper claim,” not a verified incident from Quebec City history.