History Of Baron Byng High School

Open from 1922 to 1980, Baron Byng High School has become “something of a legend” in Montreal history. Immortalized as “Fletcher’s Field High School” in alumni Mordecai Richler’s novel The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Baron Byng holds a special place in the hearts of its former students.

Baron Byng High School was an English language public high school located at, 4251 St. Urbain Street Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2W 1V6 in an area today known as “Le Plateau”.  Built by the Protestant School Board in 1921, Baron Byng High School was named in honour of Julian Byng, Governor General of Canada, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy.

Baron Byng High School is unique in the cultural history of Montreal, particularly the rich history of its Jewish community.  

The school was designed by renowned Montreal architect John Smith Archibald and built for $486,136.  Born in Scotland in 1872, he emigrated to Canada and arrived in Montreal in 1893. Soon after he joined the office of noted architect Edward Maxwell and stayed until 1897 when he formed a successful partnership with Charles Saxe. Upon the dissolution of this office in 1915, Archibald continued to undertake a variety of commissions for residential, institutional, educational and public buildings in the Montreal area, including BBHS.

Until it closed in 1980, Baron Byng welcomed immigrants and first generation Canadians into its student body. Located at 4251 St. Urbain Street  BBHS was first situated in the centre of a predominantly Jewish immigrant community. From the 1920s through to the mid-1960s, the student population was largely Jewish, reaching 99% in 1938. By the mid 1960s the Jewish population began to decline and was replaced by a wave of Greek immigration.