A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U-Z
Aboriginal Peoples
Richmond landing at the Chaudière falls was part of the traditional family hunting grounds of the Algonquins [Lambton 1990]. Aboriginal people were involved in the fur trade in Bytown; some of them received goods on trust during the fall season, with the expectation that furs would be delivered in the spring, often at the Chaudière falls, where a great celebration would be maintained for a week or ten days. Others would be hired as canoemen in the Ottawa valley lumber trade, and could also trade their furs that way [Newton 1991].
Ague
Ague or swamp fever, a type of malaria, broke out in Bytown in 1828 [Haig 1975].
Albert Island
One of the Chaudière islands was named Albert.
Albert Street
Albert street was laid out in Upper Bytown in 1850 [Haig 1975]. It was named after Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, who lived from 1841 to 1910 [Brault 1942].
Algonquins
Richmond landing at the Chaudière falls was part of the traditional family hunting grounds of the Algonquins [Lambton 1990]. Constant Penency, of the Partridge band, was the Algonquin whose hunting territory included Richmond landing when Colonel By was superintending the construction of the Rideau canal [Jenkins 1996]. The Algonquins called themselves Anisnabek (singular Anishnabe), meaning true people as opposed to animals. Theirs was a patriarchal society, and individuals would marry outside their own clan [Couture 1983]. They were nomads, living in groups of less than twenty individuals, within a territory that could provide sufficient game and other items for survival and comfort [Assiniwi 1973]. By the mid-1850s, the Algonquins felt threatened by ruthless logging, and applied to the government of the united Province of Canada for assistance. On 9 August 1854, they were granted about 44,500 acres of land as their own reservation in the River Desert area, which is now known as Maniwaki [Lambton 1990].
Amelia Island
One of the Chaudière islands was named Amelia.
Anglicans
At first, the Church of England performed its religious services in Wrightstown, later renamed Hull. In 1828, the Wesleyan Methodist chapel was graciously placed at the disposal of the congregation, and the Rev. Amos Ansley, stationed in Wrightstown, would find time to perform the service in Bytown each Sunday. Mr. Ansley appears to have left the area in 1832, and was replaced by the Rev. Adam Hood Burwell. Having resigned in 1836, Mr. Burwell was succeeded by the Rev. Samuel S. Strong in the fall of 1837.
In 1832, the Anglicans built their stone church in Upper Bytown, on land donated by Nicholas Sparks, where the cathedral now stands. Enlarged by virtue of a contract awarded in 1841 to Alexander Christie, a son of Dr. A.J. Christie, Bytown’s Episcopal church was consecrated and named Christ Church on 8 October 1843 by Bishop Strachan [Hill 1932, Brault 1946, Hubbard 1972, Elliott 1991].
Ann Street
On the west side of the canal, Ann street was renamed Gladstone, and on the east side of the canal, it was renamed Mann [Taylor 1986]. It had been named after Ann Crichton, wife of Thomas McKay [Brault 1946].
Ashburnham
Created in Upper Bytown around 1840, the subdivision of Ashburnham, also known as Ashburnham Hill, was located east of Bronson between today’s Laurier avenue and Lisgar street. It was named after John By’s daughter, who had married the Honourable Percy Ashburnham [Elliott 1991].
Association for the Preservation of the Public Peace
The Association for the Preservation of the Public Peace was formed in Bytown on 20 October 1835, with D. Rinier McNab as chairman. All the prominent citizens belonged to it, and the fee was set at not less than 5s. payable in advance; the funds were used to defray the heavy expenses of the journey to Perth for trial. Most of the two hundred volunteers in charge of law enforcement were members of the local militia. Slowly, the APPP became more closely identified with the military authorities, and was absorbed by the Bytown militia [Craske 1992, Kenny 1901a, Hill 1922a].
Auctioneers
Bytown had its auctioneers: Daniel Fisher, James Johnston [IHACC].
Bakers
Bytown’s bakers included George Lang [Mika 1982] and George Shouldice, who built his bakery and inn in the 1840s [Newton 1979].
Bands
The first band in Bytown was organized in 1844 by Paul Favreau. The College of Bytown, incorporated in 1849, formed a band of its own [Mika 1982].
Banks
The Montreal Bank opened a branch in Upper Bytown, and appointed James Stevenson, Jr. as its representative on 29 July 1842 [Brault 1946, Welch 1978]. In 1846, there were three bank agencies in Upper Bytown (Montreal, Upper Canada, Bank of British North America), and two bank agencies in Lower Bytown (Commercial, City Bank of Montreal) [Smith 1846].
Bank Street
Bank street in Upper Bytown was formerly known as Esther street [Brault 1942].
Baptists
In 1844, a Baptist communion was organized in Bytown’s Sandy Hill neighbourhood. The Rev. Mr. Dick had gathered adherents from as far away as Chelsea. The first place of worship was the residence of Mr. Patterson on Ottawa (later renamed Waller) street. In June 1845, a regular service was advertised, and the location was identified as the Baptist meeting house. This was the house in which the district or grammar school had been established in 1843, opposite the jail. The Rev. Mr. Dick, who had come originally from Glasgow, was transferred after approximately four years of ministry in the region [Wilson 1876, Brault 1946].
Barrack Hill
Parliament Hill in Canada’s capital was known as Barrack hill or Barracks hill during the city’s early history [Cluff 1922].
Barracks
In 1826, Colonel By built three barracks to house his soldiers on the hill in Upper Town [Kenny 1901b]. These soldiers belonged to two corps of Sappers and Miners [Billings 1909]. The military barracks were built of stone on the eastern slope of Barrack hill [Haig 1975]. All three barracks were located within a stockade surrounded by a fence of cedar pickets, with an entrance gate and a guard house at the eastern end. The sentry on duty stood across the road from the guard house [Cluff 1922, Blyth 1925]. In 1827, civilian barracks were erected by the Imperial govern- ment on Rideau street in Lower Town for the accommodation of the canal workers [IHACC]; they consisted of two frame buildings, facing each other, near George street [Kenny 1901b].
Bathurst District
Created in 1822, the district of Bathurst had its seat in Perth as of 1823 [Taylor 1986].
Bellows’ Landing
Named after Caleb T. Bellows, this landing was later known as Richmond landing [IHACC].
Besserer Place
In 1838, Anthony Swalwell surveyed a subdivision named Besserer Place, which was later known as Sandy hill [Elliott 1991].
Besserer Streeet
Besserer street was named after Louis Theodore Besserer, owner of Sandy Hill [Brault 1942].
Board of Health
As a result of the severe epidemic of cholera which swept through Lower and Upper Canada in the spring of 1832, Lieutenant Governor General Colborne ordered, as of 20 June, that local officials, including those of Bytown, organize themselves into a Board of health so as to prepare for diseased emigrants and enact such local legislation as they deemed necessary to ensure the medical welfare of the inhabitants. Bytown officials had already received government approval, on 16 June, to erect an isolation hospital for the sole purpose of treating cholera patients. The Board of health instructed all vessels carrying emigrants to be medically inspected before admittance into the town could be granted. Inspectors were appointed by the Board to visit the town every other day and submit a full report of any possible cases of the disease. Bytown’s interim Board of health was disbanded in September 1832 when it was felt that the epidemic had run its course. A second wave of cholera revisited Bytown in 1834, and there was a typhus epidemic in 1847, but still it was not until 1889 that a permanent Board of health was established in Ottawa [Tresham 1993].
Boardwalks
The first continuous plank sidewalk in Bytown was laid in 1845 on the south side of Rideau street, between Little Sussex and Nicholas streets, as well as up Nicholas almost as far as Daly. As of 1849, there was a sidewalk on the south side of Sparks street. On 23 September 1850, construction of a sidewalk on the south side of York street was authorized, and on 9 June 1851, sidewalk construction was authorized for St. Patrick, Rideau, Murray and Sussex streets. By 1854, there were some ten miles of boardwalks, allowing pedestrians to circumvent the mud and dirt of the streets [Blyth 1925, Brault 1946, Haig 1975].
Bolton Street
Bolton street in Lower Bytown was named after Major Daniel Bolton of the Royal Engineers. It was renamed Nunnery and then Water [Brault 1942].
Boteler Street
Boteler street in Lower Bytown was named after Lieutenant-Colonel Richard A. Boteler of the Royal Engineers [Brault 1942].
Brewers
Beer was brewed by Michael Burke on Wellington street in Upper Bytown [IHACC]. In 1829, John Rochester established the Victoria brewery at the corner of Wellington and Rochester streets. This brewery became known for its Double Stout and for its Indian Pale Ale [Walker 1968]. The Stirling brewery was located near the wharf at the western extremity of St. Patrick street in Lower Bytown [Brault 1981].
Brickyard
In 1832, Enoch Walkley opened a brickyard, and during the following year he built the first all-brick house in Bytown [Mika 1982].
Bridges at the Chaudière Falls
In 1827, ropes were stretched across the channel below the Chaudière falls, and the first footway, called the Swing bridge, was constructed [Lett 1993]. The first arch of the initial bridge erected across the Ottawa river at the Chaudière falls was the one nearest to Wrightstown (later renamed Hull) on the north shore of the river. It was built of dry stone, and collapsed as soon as the centres were removed. A second bridge was built by Philemon Wright after a rope had been fired across using a cannon. Eventually a suspension bridge was in place, but this structure was overturned by a violent gale. Construction on another bridge began immediately, and was completed in the summer of 1827. Colonel By had a toll gate established in 1829 to help pay the construction costs [Dewar 1989]. The bridge collapsed in 1836, and a ferry became the only commercial link between Wrightstown and Bytown at that point. In 1842, construction was begun on yet another bridge, and Alexander Christie, son of Dr. Christie, carried out the masonry work. The superstructure was taken over by D. Wilkinson & Son, and the result was a series of seven bridges forming the Union bridge. The first two spanned the slides and formed the Slides bridge, the third was the Suspension bridge; the fourth was a stone bridge between the north pier and Wrightstown; the other three structures were side bridges made of timber, one to Victoria Island, another to Albert Island, and another named Pooley’s bridge after an officer of the Engineers under whose charge it was constructed. The entire system was completed only after Bytown had become Ottawa [IHACC, Elliott 1991]. See also: Cummings Bridge, Sappers Bridge.
Bridge Street
Bridge street in Upper Bytown was renamed Division, and then renamed Booth [Brault 1942].
Britannia
Captain John LeBreton, a retired naval officer, arrived in the township of Nepean in 1819. He bought some land, built mills on the Ottawa river, and called his establishment Britannia [IHACC, Elliott 1991].
Bronson Avenue
Bronson avenue in Upper Town was formerly known as Concession street [Taylor 1986].
Bulge
When Ordnance appropriated some 84 acres of land from Nicholas Sparks as a military reserve, Wellington street was forced to curve southward before reaching Sappers bridge, and this is how the Bulge was formed [Taylor 1986].
By Estate
The By estate owned 600 acres (less the canal reserve) south of the Besserer and Sparks properties [Scott 1911]. In 1832, a few months before leaving Canada, Colonel By had acquired from the Fraser family a property of about 600 acres located between what are now Laurier and Gladstone avenues, extending from Bronson avenue east to the Rideau river. Colonel By had then named John Burrows as his agent in Canada [Elliott 1991].
Bytown
The land on which Bytown stood was originally comprised of six lots, three in concession C and three in concession D of the township of Nepean, and the boundary between them was Cumberland street [Kenny 1901b]. In 1823, Lord Dalhousie, governor of the Canadas, bought from the Fraser family a large tract of land, in the township of Nepean, east of Captain John LeBreton’s property and north of Nicholas Sparks’ property [Elliott 1991]. This tract of land represented lots A and B in concession C, and it was transferred to Colonel By through a letter dated 26 September 1826 [Brault 1946]. By 18 October 1826, two villages had been laid out on this tract of land: one called Upper Town on the west side of the canal, the other called Lower Town on the east side [Elliott 1991]. In 1827, the administration of Bytown passed from the military to a civilian structure, with the military now playing only a secondary role. Colonel By of the Royal Engineers resigned his position as magistrate, and petitioned the governor to appoint five magistrates for life to administer Bytown’s affairs [Craske 1992]. Bytown was regularly incorporated by a charter, according to an act of the inhabitants themselves, sanctioned by a justice of the peace [MacTaggart 1829]. It held its first town meeting in January 1828. In line with the rising conflict of the times between the “radicals” and the controlling Family Compact, the executive government at York did not recognize the authority of this municipal council, and chose instead to appoint four magistrates to have lifetime tenure in the area [Grierson 1996]. Bytown was named district town in 1838 [Elliott 1991]. On 8 March 1841, Bytown held its first election for a seat in the legislative assembly of United Canada, and the successful candidate was William Stewart Derbishire [Haig 1975]. In 1842, the new district of Dalhousie was proclaimed, and Bytown became a county seat where criminal cases could be tried. Justice James Macauley presided over the first court of justice on 5 October 1842 [Craske 1992]. On 28 July 1847, Bytown was incorporated as a town by provincial legislation, and thereafter six council members were elected to govern the town [Elliott 1991].
The Ordnance department had the 1847 legislation struck down, so Bytown remained part of Nepean township until 1850 [Elliott 1991]. Bytown was definitely incorporated as a town on 1 January 1850, and each of the three wards was allowed to elect three councillors who were authorized to choose the mayor [Brault 1946, Haig 1975]. In 1853, mayor Turgeon obtained the agreement of municipal council to proceed with the process of changing the name of Bytown to Ottawa [Haig 1975]. The proposed name of Ottawa was adopted in a petition to the governor in 1854 [Brault 1946]. The town of Bytown became the city of Ottawa on 1 January 1855 [Dewar 1989], at which time the limits were fixed at the northern boundary of William Stewart’s farm, namely Ann street, later renamed Gladstone [Elliott 1991].
Bytown and Montreal Telegraph Company
Joseph Aumond became the first president of the Bytown and Montreal Telegraph Company in 1849 [Pilon 1972]. A line was built from Bytown to Montreal; it was completed in approximately two years [Cluff 1922].
Bytown and Prescott Railway
In the early 1850s, a conversation took place between councillor Edward McGillivray and a young lawyer named Richard W. Scott who had completed a term as mayor of Bytown. Given the difficulty of maintaining a stage route between Prescott and Bytown, the two men wondered about the possibility of building a railroad to link the two communities. Before long, the Bytown and Prescott Railway Company was incorporated. Among the enthusiastic supporters of the scheme were Thomas McKay of New Edinburgh, his son-in-law John McKinnon and Robert Bell, owner of the Citizen. When the charter was obtained, there were only 205 miles of railroad in all Canada. As the end of 1854 approached, the line reached Billings Bridge, but the supply of rails ran out, and there was no money available to get more. Bell solved the problem by purchasing a quantity of three-by-four maple scantlings. He had hoop iron laid over them, and that is how the train arrived triumphantly in New Edinburgh on Christmas day, the date set for the inauguration of the railroad. The station at the corner of Sussex and McTaggart streets was ready, and since the bridge over the Rideau river had not been completed, the passengers were ferried across. They then walked to the station, where the ceremony was held, and a banquet provided a final gracious touch to the festivities [Mika 1982, Dewar 1989].
Bytown Benevolent Society
The Bytown Benevolent Society was formed in July 1837 at a meeting chaired by D.R. McNab in Burpee’s hotel. The Society’s aim was to relieve the suffering of poor and destitute members of the community [Hill 1922a].
Bytown Consumers Gas Company
In 1854, the Bytown Consumers Gas Company contracted to replace oil lamps with gas lamps on Sussex and Rideau streets [Brault 1946].
Bytown Dorcas Society
The Bytown Dorcas Society was established in December 1836 to gather money and goods, and to make and distribute garments for families, regardless of their religious creed [Hill 1922a].
Bytown Mechanics Institute
In January 1847, a meeting of Bytown citizens was held at the Odd Fellows hall, on St. Paul street, to organize a Mechanics Institute. Occasional lectures were held in a building on York street, but in less than two years the institute became defunct [Moffatt 1986, Van Cortlandt 1990]. It was resurrected, with the strong support of Robert Bell, as the Bytown Mechanics Institute and Athenaeum, with plans for a reference and circulating library, a reading room, a museum and lectures. The president was Dr. Hill, and incorporation was secured by a Province of Canada act passed in January 1853, with fees set at one pound annually [Hirsch 1992].
Bytown Mutual Forwarding Company
In 1837, as a result of complaints made against the Ottawa and Rideau Forwarding Company for monopolizing navigation between Montreal, Kingston and Bytown, the Bytown Mutual Forwarding Company was established, mainly for the conveyance of freight [Brault 1946].
By Ward Market
In 1847, the By Ward market was built in Lower Bytown [Lett 1993].
Bywash
The overflow from the basin above the eighth lock in Bytown was released through a sluice gate. Known as the Bywash (also spelled By- Wash), it drained any excess water along Mosgrove, George, Dalhousie, York and King streets, in Lower Bytown, and then into the Rideau river at the end of Cathcart street. There was enough water in the Bywash to float barges right through Lower Town [Brault 1946, Mika 1982].
Cab Stands
There were cab stands, also known as caleche stands, along Sussex between George and Rideau streets [Brault 1981]. In September of 1848, a caleche stand was established on George street [Welch 1978].
Canal Basin
A large basin was built above the eighth lock in Bytown to supply the necessary water to the system [Brault 1946]. Extending on both sides of the canal, the canal basin served as a lay-by or turning basin [Taylor 1986]. The canal basin comprised a sluice gate which controlled the flow of water to the Bywash [Newton 1979].
Canoes
For centuries the birchbark canoe remained the most important vehicle for the exploration of Canada. The French lengthened the Algonquin birchbark canoe to produce the fur trade canoe, and they established fur trade canoe factories in Trois-Rivières and elsewhere [Gidmark 1994]. The fur trade canoe was known as canot de maître in French and Montreal canoe in English. It could measure more than thirty-six feet in length. There were fourteen middlemen (seven on each side) and two ends (a bowman as guide and a steersman), and the paddles measured nine feet for the ends, and seven and a half feet for the middlemen [Gillies 1958]. Such canoes were still being made in the early 1800s, and they could carry over three tons of merchandise [Bond 1966].
Carleton County
After 1850, when districts were dropped as a form of government, the name Carleton county was adopted at the administrative and juridical level, the electoral level being another matter [Taylor 1986].
Cathcart Street
Cathcart street in Lower Bytown was named after the Earl of Cathcart, who was governor-in-chief of Canada from 1845 to 1847 [Brault 1946].
Catholic Apostolic Church
As early as 1836, the Catholic Apostolic Church had a number of adherents, many being followers of the Rev. Mr. Burwell, who had left the English Church. They were called Irvingites, being followers of the Rev. Edward Irving of London. They built a church at the corner of Albert and Lyon streets [Blyth 1925].
Catholics
The Kingston diocese ministered to the Catholic population of Bytown in its early years [Campbell 1988]. The first Roman Catholic mass held in Bytown was celebrated in a house at the north end of Bank street in 1827 [Brault 1946]. The mission and parish of Bytown was established in 1827 [Walker 2000], and the first parish register, entitled Archives of the Catholic Church of Bytown, Canada West, covered the years 1828-1848 [Carrière 1957]. The first Catholic priest was Father Haran; his name was also spelled Heron/Herron. He preached his first sermon in the hall above the old market on George street [Wilson 1876]. He was succeeded from June 1829 to July 1831 by Father Angus McDonnell, who built a church on the present site of the basilica. It was a wood-frame structure [Walker 2000]. The next priest, Father Lalor, opened the church of St. James the Minor for service in 1832, and left Bytown in November of the same year. His successor was Father J. Cullen, who served for two years, and was replaced by Father John O’Meara, who remained eight months. The next parish priest, as of 8 September 1835, was Father John Mc- Connell, assisted by Father W. Cannon [Pigeon 1922, Legros 1949]. In 1839, it was recommended that a large stone church be erected, and the first stone was laid on 25 October 1841. In May of 1842, John Perkins moved the old church on wooden rollers to the opposite side of Sussex street, where it was used as a carpenter’s shop [Van Cortlandt 1990]. It was destroyed by fire four years later. Between June and October of 1842, Father Neyron, a French priest, and Father Colgan, an Irish priest, served the parish, and then Father Patrick Phelan arrived on 26 October, having been appointed parish priest of Notre Dame church, with Father Moreau and Father Leclaire as assistants [Legros 1949, Laberge 1982].
Father Phelan was sent to Kingston in 1843 to assist Bishop Gaulin, and the Oblate Fathers took charge of the Catholic population of Bytown in 1844 [Pigeon 1922, Guindon 1989]. Father Telmon was parish priest from 1844 to 1848, and was succeeded by Father Dandurand, who arrived on 16 September 1845 with Father Molloy [Legros 1949, Carrière 1957]. The new stone church was dedicated in 1846 [Haig 1975]. In 1847, Bishop Bourget of Montreal formed a new diocese in the Ottawa valley by dividing his own diocese and taking part of the diocese of Kingston. The first bishop appointed to the new diocese, centred in Bytown, was Mgr. Bruno Guigues, who was consecrated on 30 July 1848, in his unfinished cathedral of Notre Dame [Brault 1946]. In 1852, Mgr. Guigues bought the former Methodist church on Sparks street; it was renovated, and dedicated to St. Andrew on 31 May 1852, being later absorbed into St. Patrick’s parish in Upper Town [Brault 1946]. In 1853, the cathedral of Notre Dame was dedicated to the Immaculate Conception [Walker 2000].
Cemeteries
Until 1828, the bodies of those who died in Bytown were ferried across the Ottawa river to the graveyard in Wrightstown, later renamed Hull. Then half an acre of land in Upper Bytown was set aside as a burial ground; it was bounded by what are now Elgin, Metcalfe, Queen and Sparks streets [Legget 1972]. This burial ground was known as the military graveyard, although many civilians were interred there, and it was located along a southward-looping road which ran from Upper Town to Lower Town. It was surrounded by a fence of cedar logs about ten feet high, sharpened at the upper end, with crosspieces near the top and bottom [Cluff 1922].
In 1830, Louis Theodore Besserer let an acre of land to the Catholic Church for a burial ground, but the graveyard later blocked the extension of Gloucester (later Friel) street onto Besserer’s property. A compromise was reached when a new burial ground was opened in 1839 adjacent to the Protestant ground at the foot of Barrack hill [Elliott 1991]. An old map shows that in 1842 the Roman Catholics had a cemetery at the south-east corner of Rideau and Cumberland streets; it extended almost as far south as Besserer street [Ross 1927].
The so-called Sandy Hill cemetery was in fact located in Lower Town, since it was bounded by George, Cobourg, Heney and Charlotte streets. It was opened in 1844, on land which had been granted by the Ordnance department, and had sections for Anglicans, Presbyterians, Methodists and Roman Catholics. There was a transfer of remains from the Barrack hill cemetery [Relyea 1991]. Charlie Tye had been the gravedigger in both the Queen street cemetery in Upper Town and the Sandy Hill cemetery, and he remembered when the early practice of flat tombstones was re- placed by more modern upright tombstones, with a photograph of the deceased inset in the stone behind glass [Ottawa Citizen 27 June 1925].
Central Ward
The Central Ward was located in Lower Town, west of Dalhousie street [Taylor 1986].
Centre Town
Centre Town was the area extending from the Sappers bridge to Bank street [Blyth 1925].
Chapel Street
A small wooden building, erected in Bytown in 1827, was devoted to the services of the Wesleyan Methodists. It was located near Rideau street [Woods 1980], and Chapel street was said to have been named after it [Wilson 1876].
Chaudière Falls
The portage at the Chaudière falls was the most famous between Montreal and lake Huron [Brault 1946]. The north shore of the Ottawa river provided an easy portage around the falls [Simpson 1917]. The Aboriginal peoples held ceremonies at these falls [Taylor 1986]. See also: Bridges.
Chaudière Island
One of the Chaudière islands was named Chaudière, and the fairly large island just south of it was called Victoria.
Chaudière Islands
The Chaudière islands were reserved to the crown as a matter of policy. In 1851, Robert Bell and A.J. Russell surveyed the Chaudière, Victoria, Albert and Amelia islands into lots [Elliott 1991]. An auction was held on 1 September 1852, in Bytown, for the lots of Victoria and Amelia islands, and the hydraulic lots went to Harris, Bronson & Co. and to Perley & Pattee. Both firms built mills on Victoria island [Taylor 1986].
Chewing Gum
The only chewing gum available in early Bytown days was the clear thick gum gathered from the ends of fresh-cut logs. It was especially prized by youngsters [Cluff 1922].
Cholera
The year 1832 marked the height of British emigration to Canada for the period from 1829 to 1840. During the spring months of 1832, wave upon wave of diseased emigrant ships came up the St. Lawrence to destinations in Upper Canada and the United States. By mid June, twenty-five thousand emigrants had arrived at the Grosse Isle decontamination station, thirty miles downstream from Quebec City. By the end of the year, fifty thousand emigrants had passed through the decontamination station. The strain of cholera known as Asiatic cholera originated in Bengal (India) in 1826, made its way through southern Russia within the year, from there reached Persia (1826-28), Turkey (1828-29) and Poland (1830-31), and then made its way across the Baltic sea, infecting Britain and Ireland by 1831.
Upper and Lower Canada and the United States were the next to succumb to the epidemic by the spring and summer of 1832. As of 20 June 1832, local Bytown officials were compelled, under the orders of Lieutenant- Governor-General Colborne, to organize themselves into Bytown’s first interim Board of health, under the leadership of A.J. Christie, a respected physician. An isolation hospital was hastily built on Sussex street, and directly below it a special wharf was constructed on the east side of the locks, ensuring quick and direct passage of the sick from the wharf to the hospital. Schools and public places were closed during the epidemic. Upper Town cholera patients were transported to the isolation hospital in row boats along the Ottawa river. Inspectors were appointed by the Board to visit the town every other day, and submit a full report of any possible cases of the disease. Bytown’s interim Board of health was disbanded in September 1832 once it considered the epidemic had run its course. In 1834, a second wave of cholera revisited Bytown [Tresham 1993].
Churches
With the exception of the small wooden chapel built by Methodists in 1827, the first church in Bytown was erected by Presbyterians in 1828. Other early churches were the one opened in Lower Town by Catholics in 1829, and the one opened in Upper Town by Anglicans in 1832.
Church Street
Church street in Lower Bytown was later renamed Guigues [Taylor 1986].
Clarence Street
Clarence street in Lower Bytown was named after the fourth son of George III [Brault 1946].
Clerk of Works
The first clerk of works on the staff of Colonel By in Bytown was John McTaggart, whose name was also spelled MacTaggart and Mactaggart. He served from 1826 to 1829, and was replaced by N.H. Baird, who arrived from Scotland in July 1828 [Hirsch 1982, Grierson 1996]. John Burrows was serving as clerk of works in 1841 [Legget 1972], and in 1847 the clerk of works was James Corbett. The last Ordnance clerk of works was Mr. Harvey, who served from 1852 to 1857 [Hirsch 1982].
College of Bytown
In July 1848, Bishop Guigues established St. Joseph’s College in Lower Bytown, placing it in the charge of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. In August of 1848, Father Damase Dandurand started building the college on Church street in Lower Town, just behind the cathedral. Students, some of them boarders, were attending in October of the same year. This was a bilingual institution, and on 30 May 1849 it was incorporated as the College of Bytown. A more substantial building, four stories high, was erected on Sussex street next to the bishop’s palace, the former residence of the Oblates. The new building had two facades of stone, and two others of plain lumber. The college was thoroughly bilingual, and its curriculum led to a Bachelor of Arts degree. It later became the University of Ottawa [Haig 1975, Laberge 1982].
Collins’ Landing
Named after Jehiel Collins, Collins’ landing was later known as Richmond landing [Mika 1982].
Commissariat
Built of stone by Thomas McKay, the Commissariat was completed in December 1827, on the west side of the proposed locks. It was used as an office, a treasury and a warehouse during the construction of the Rideau canal [Haig 1975, Hirsch 1982].
Concession Street
Concession street in Upper Bytown later became Bronson avenue [Taylor 1986].
Congregationalists
A Congregational minister, the Rev. Mr. Byrnes, was sent to Bytown by the London Missionary Society. He formed a communion, and remained in Bytown for four years. He first preached in the Odd Fellows hall on St. Paul (now Besserer) street in 1847, and later in the Temperance hall. After four years, he went to Whitby [Wilson 1876].
Constable
In 1827, the need for a town constable was recognized, and a man named Alexander Frazer was appointed as the first person to serve Bytown in that capacity. In 1847, Bytown was incorporated as a town, and on 2 October of that year, Isaac Bérichon, an ensign with the fourth battalion, Carleton militia, was made chief constable. Following the retirement of chief Bérichon, council opened nominations for head constable, in February 1849, and David Bourgeois received the position on 25 February, but he remained in office for only five months. In July, nominations were reopened, and Michael Fitzgerald was made chief. When Bytown became the City of Ottawa on 1 January 1855, Michael Fitzgerald was replaced by Roderick Ross as the high bailiff and chief constable [Craske 1992].
Corkstown
As of 1827, there was a double row of labourers’ huts extending north- ward from today’s Laurier street bridge to the Sappers bridge, and this area was known as Corkstown [IHACC]. It was a wild, lawless place along the border of the canal, a row of workers’ huts built in the mud [Kenny 1901b]. When the canal was completed, in 1832, the Irish in Corkstown were displaced from the canal embankment [Taylor 1986].
Coroner
Alexander James Christie served as Bytown’s first coroner in 1830 [Mika 1982]. In 1846, there were two coroners in Bytown: James Stewart and John Ritchey [Smith 1846].
Council Meetings
The council met in the town clerk’s office over a store on Rideau street [Brault 1946]. In 1848, the West Ward market building was erected on Elgin street in Upper Bytown; it was a two-storey wooden structure, located between Queen and Albert streets on land donated by Nicholas Sparks, and the upper storey was fitted as a town hall, with a council chamber [Brault 1946, Haig 1975].
Court House
Early on, magistrates assembled in quarter sessions at the old court house on George street in Bytown [Haig 1975]. In 1838, it was announced that Bytown would be the judicial seat of the new district of Dalhousie, provided that a court house and jail were built in the town. Nicholas Sparks at once donated land for this purpose, and the combined court house and jail were built by Thomas McKay in 1842, at the corner of Nicholas and Daly streets [Bond 1971, Haig 1975, Mika 1982].
Court of Justice
When the new district of Dalhousie was proclaimed in 1842, Bytown became a county seat where criminal cases could be tried. Justice James Macauley presided over the first court of justice on 5 October 1842 [Craske 1992].
Cribs
Until 1850, the only timber taken down the Ottawa river was square tim- ber. It was floated in rafts down to Quebec City, to be exported to the British market [Blyth 1925]. Squared pine timber rafts were comprised of cribs small enough to pass down the timber slides built at the Chaudière falls in Bytown. The rafts were broken up and reassembled at each such passage; the men ate and slept on the rafts [Taylor 1986]. The cribs were formed of twenty pieces of squared timber that were lashed together [Adams 1981].
Crown Timber Agent
The crown timber office was located on Vittoria street in Upper Bytown [Mika 1982]. The crown timber agent issued limits and collected slide dues [Blyth 1925]. As of 1826, Charles Shirreff and his son Robert handled the business in Bytown and collected payments in Quebec City. In 1836, they were replaced by James Stevenson [Gillis 1988]. In addition, A.J. Russell was a crown timber agent [Elliott 1991].
Cumberland Street
Cumberland street in Lower Bytown and Sandy Hill was named after the Duke of Cumberland [Brault 1946].
Cummings Bridge
In 1836, Charles Cummings bought the island located in the middle of the Rideau river between the eastern end of Rideau street, in Bytown, and the western extremity of the L’Orignal road, later known as the King’s road, and later still as the Montreal road, in Gloucester township. The Cummings family gave its name to the island, and probably built the first bridge. A map drawn by Lieutenant White of the Royal Engineers, and dated 1843, shows a road bridge across the Rideau river and through the island [Shea 1964].
Currency
In the early days of Bytown, the currency of the country was entirely that of Great Britain (pounds, shillings and pence) [Cluff 1922]. Silver money was plentiful in the late 1830s, especially the American half dollar, but also Mexican and Spanish silver coins in small change, as well as British silver [Blyth 1925].
Dalhousie District
On 19 March 1842, the district of Dalhousie was formally separated from the district of Bathurst, with Bytown as its district town, where a court house and jail had been built [Haig 1975, Moffatt 1987, Elliott 1991]. Bytown became a county seat where criminal cases could be tried, and justice James Macauley presided over the first court of justice on 5 October 1842 [Craske 1992]. The district of Dalhousie consisted of the ten townships of Carleton county: Nepean, Gloucester, Osgoode, March, Huntley, Fitzroy, North Gower, Goulbourn, Marlborough and Torbolton. It returned a member to the house of assembly [Smith 1846, Walker 1968, Elliott 1991]. On 9 August 1842, the first session of the first council of the district of Dalhousie was held in the temporary court in Bytown; twelve councillors were present, representing the ten townships; John Thompson and G.W. Baker stood for Nepean [Kenny 1901a]. When Bytown was incorporated as a town in 1847, all municipal relations ended with the township of Nepean and the council of the district of Dalhousie, but since Bytown was not a city, it continued to pay its share of the annual district expenditures [Brault 1946].
Dalhousie Street
Dalhousie street in Lower Bytown was named after the Earl of Dalhousie, who was governor-in-chief from 1819 to 1828 [Brault 1946].
Daly Street
Daly street in Bytown’s Sandy Hill neighbourhood was named after Sir Dominick Daly, provincial secretary for Lower Canada before and after the Union of 1841 [Brault 1946].
Deals
Deals were rough-sawn planks of pine or fir which could be planed into smooth, finished lumber [Mika 1982, Taylor 1986].
Deep Cut
In 1827, the Royal Engineers working under Colonel By began construction on the canal locks, the Sappers bridge and the Deep Cut [Lett 1993]. The Deep Cut was an excavation located a mile or so above the entrance of the canal [IHACC]. It extended from the Canal basin, in a straight line with the locks, to the end of Nicholas street, for about three quarters of a mile, and from there it connected with the drain coming from the present exhibition grounds which ran into the Rideau river near the site where Hurdman’s bridge was later erected [Brault 1946].
Dentist
In 1837, B.C. Currier practised dentistry in Bytown, and also inserted artificial teeth. His office was located in Burpee’s hotel [Hill 1922a].
Division Street
Formerly named Bridge street, Division street once marked the western limit of Bytown. It was renamed Booth [Brault 1946].
Doctors
Bytown had its doctors: Christie, Stewart, McQueen, Tuthill and Stratford. Other physicians were Van Cortlandt, Robichaud, Lacroix, Hill and Beaubien [IHACC, Brault 1946, Mika 1982]. In 1829, Dr. John Edward Rankin set up practice in Bytown, serving on the Rideau canal under Dr. Tuthill [Bush 1976]. Dr. Alfred Morson arrived in Bytown in 1836. In 1837, Dr. W.R. Honey, on Vittoria street, was both a physician and a school teacher. Another medical practitioner was Dr. J.D. Gellie, on Sparks street near Kent [Hill 1922a]. Dr. S.C. Sewell arrived in 1852 [Small 1903].
Druggists
Bytown’s first druggist was Joseph Coombs [Bush 1976]. H. Bishoprick was also a druggist in Bytown [Hill 1922b], as was Charles Sumner [Mika 1982].
Duke Street
Duke street in Upper Bytown was probably named after the Duke of Richmond, governor-in-chief of Canada in 1818-19 [Brault 1946].
Earl of Dalhousie
Before work even began on the construction of a canal at the proposed site of Bytown, the Earl of Dalhousie envisaged a fortified town to defend this critical point on the water route up the Ottawa river to the West [Legget 1972]. See also: RAMSAY, George.
East Ward
The East Ward was located in Lower Bytown, east of Dalhousie street [Elliott 1991].
Elections
Bytown held its first election in 1828, and Thomas Radenhurst was chosen to represent the region in the legislative assembly of Upper Canada [Haig 1975]. Under the law in earlier times, only freeholders could vote for members of the legislature, and yet most of the early residents were leaseholders on Ordnance lands which had been purchased by Lord Dalhousie in 1824 [Hill 1922b]. Ballots were open until well after Bytown became Ottawa, which means that electors loudly identified both themselves and the person for whom they were voting, and it was up to the parties to protect their voters [Brault 1946].
In 1840, Lord Sydenham granted Bytown one representative in the legislative assembly of the united Canadas [Audet 1926], and on 8 March 1841, Bytown held an election for its seat in the first legislative assembly of the Province of Canada, the successful candidate being William Stewart Derbishire [Haig 1975]. In the election held in October of 1844, William Stewart defeated G.B. Lyon in Bytown. In the provincial election of January 1848, the incumbent, William Stewart, was dumped by the local Conservative committee in favour of lawyer John Bower Lewis. The election was won by Reformer John Scott [Hirsch 1989].
Elgin Street
Elgin street in Upper Bytown was named after the Earl of Elgin, governor- in-chief from 1847 to 1854 [Brault 1946].
Emigrant Fever
The severe epidemic of typhus which broke out in Bytown in 1847 was generally known as the emigrant fever or ship fever [Small 1903].
Emigration Agent
George R. Burke was the emigration agent for Bytown from 1847 to 1853 [Moffatt 1986, Taylor 1986].
Entrance Bay
Formerly known as Sleigh bay, Entrance bay marked the beginning of the Rideau canal in Bytown [Haig 1975].
Esther Street
Esther street in Upper Bytown was named after Esther By, and later renamed Bank [Brault 1942].
Excavation
On the Rideau canal works, contractors received different rates for excavating soil and rock, for puddling and embanking, and for other activities [Wylie 2008]. John Pennyfeather had the excavation contract for the first eight locks in Entrance bay [Bush 1976].
Ferry Service
When the bridge at the Chaudière falls collapsed in 1836, a ferry became the only commercial link between the north and south shores of the Ottawa river at that point for a number of years [IHACC]. First a scow was used, and later a horse-boat was operated by Jean Bédard [Van Cortlandt 1990]. It was a one-horse-powered ferry, with a treadle linked to paddle wheels [Jenkins 1996]. Ferries crossed from the foot of the canal locks at the end of St. Patrick street to the north side of the river every half hour, calling at the landing in Upper Town every hour [Hill 1922a].
Fire Protection
Early on, a small engine was purchased by a few enterprising individuals and used to fight fires; it was kept in a shed built on a piece of land donated by Nicholas Sparks near Upper Bytown’s market place. In 1836, sufficient money was raised in Lower Bytown to purchase a fire engine which produced great jubilation when it arrived from Montreal in No- vember 1837 [Brault 1946, Kenny 1901a]. Fire companies were formed, the first one parading in scarlet uniforms through the streets of Upper Town on 16 April 1838. In the 1840s, two hand engines were used by volunteer fire fighters; one was called the Mutual, the other the Alliance; there was also a hook-and-ladder truck. The Mutual was kept in a building at the corner of Lyon and Sally streets. The Alliance company was active in the East Ward, and the hook-and-ladder company in the Central Ward, whereas the Mutual fire company operated in the West Ward. Volunteers fought fires, and private subscriptions financed their efforts, until the formation of a municipal fire department in 1849, in which year the first fire by-law was passed, and three fire wardens, one for each ward, were appointed, namely Edward Burke, Pierre Dufour and William Slater. In 1851, a fire committee was appointed by the town council. In 1853, John Langford was appointed chief of the whole fire brigade in Bytown. In the same year, three engine houses were authorized, one for the Central Ward at the corner of George street opposite Mosgrove, one for the West Ward at the corner of Sally and Queen streets, one for the East Ward on Cumberland street. In 1854, another hook-and-ladder company was organized; it was known as Central [Graham 1922, Brault 1946, Haig 1975].
Forwarders
Forwarders were involved in shipping and storing goods and commodities [Mika 1982]. As a forwarder, Captain Robert Drummond did brisk business; he was among the first to inaugurate a weekly run along the canal with his 1833 steamer Rideau. Beginning in 1835, companies such as the Ottawa and Rideau Forwarding Company (ORFC) competed with steamers on the St. Lawrence [Nelles 2007]. In the winter of 1836-37, as a result of complaints made against the ORFC for monopolizing navigation between Montreal, Kingston and Bytown, the Bytown Mutual Forwarding Company was established, mainly for the conveyance of freight [Brault 1946]. A small boat called the Endeavour was put in service on the Grenville-Bytown route, but the venture was not a success [Hill 1922a]. In 1844, Moses Kent Dickinson launched his own enterprise in Kingston, and it became one of the most flourishing forwarding companies on the Rideau, moving to Montreal in 1848. It would appear that the Rideau forwarding service comprised five steamers in 1834, 22 steamers in 1841 and 31 steamers in 1850 [Bush 1981]. However, after 1847, improvements to the St. Lawrence canals plus the development of railways culled the practicality of the Rideau canal as a transport route [Nelles 2007].
French Canadian Institute
The French Canadian Institute (Institut canadien-français) was founded in 1852 in Lower Bytown. It had a reading room, and organized lectures, concerts and plays [Brault 1946].
Fur Trade
Several people were engaged in the fur trade, including lumber operators, petty traders also known as independent traders, shantymen and even farmers and settlers, with shop keepers and tavern keepers serving as agents in collecting furs from anyone who had some, so that Bytown became a centre for the independent fur trade even before the canal was opened. When the Rideau canal was opened in 1832, American fur traders, shut out of the Montreal market by the monopoly exercised by the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), were able to come up via Kingston, and carry on a trade based on cash and liquor, instead of bartering furs for goods.
Edward McGillivray, who had a store on Wellington street, entered into the fur trade at Bytown in the 1830s, and his brother Murdock was also involved. The competition with the HBC was ruthless. Bytown’s main attraction over the rival HBC was the availability of cash. By 1837 the inland trade among the Aboriginal peoples was being replaced by the purchase of furs at Bytown itself. Some of the other fur dealers in the 1840s and 1850s were Chauncey Bangs on Sussex street, Jacob Dennison on Sussex street at first and then on George street, Lewis Benjamin, John E. Duke, James Peacock, Olivier Côté and John O’Brien. The wharf near the canal locks was conveniently close to Sussex street and its fur merchants [Newton 1991].
Gas Lamps
In 1854, the Bytown Consumers Gas Company contracted to replace oil lamps with gas lamps on Sussex and Rideau streets [Brault 1946].
George Street
George street in Lower Bytown was named after George IV [Brault 1946]. Colonel By made it 132 feet wide so that it could accommodate a market building, which was erected in 1827 [Mika 1982].
Gloucester Street
Gloucester street in Lower Bytown was renamed Friel.
Gravedigger
Charlie Tye was the gravedigger in both the Queen street cemetery in Upper Town and the Sandy Hill cemetery [Ottawa Citizen 27 June 1925].
Green Island
It would appear that, around 1828, James Ferguson of Scotland established some sort of manufacturing enterprise on Green island, said to have been named after a mister Green, who used its fields for hay and for pasture in the 1830s. Ferguson had been ordered to relinquish the island in 1829, and there does not seem to have been any industrial enterprise on the island during the 1830s. In 1831, however, Colonel By contracted with Jean-Baptiste St-Louis to build a bridge from the mainland to the island. By 1841, Green island had become “Thomas McKay’s land,” and some type of saw mill was operating at the very northern precipice of the island in the 1840s. By 1843, the Ordnance department reported that it had received title to Green island [Grierson 1996].
Grenville
Grenville was located in Lower Canada, on the north side of the Ottawa river, across from Hawkesbury which was in Upper Canada. Between Grenville and Carillon further downstream there was a stretch of rapids called the Long Sault. Work on the canals between Grenville and Carillon began at the end of May, in 1819, and they were officially opened on 24 April 1834. It was common practice to circumvent them, at first using a stage coach, and from 1854 by the use of the Grenville and Carillon Railway [Lamirande 1982].
Grey Nuns
In February 1845, Sister Élisabeth Bruyère, of the Grey Nuns of Montreal, arrived in Bytown with three nuns and two novices [Campbell 1988]. In March of the same year, they opened two classes for children, and in May they transformed a house into a hospital [Legros 1949]. They founded a convent and mother house in 1849 on Sussex street in Lower Bytown [IHACC]. It was built of stone by Antoine Robillard, a local contractor, at the corner of Sussex and Bruyère streets, and was used to lodge the poor, the sick and the old, also serving as a school and a residence for the nuns [Campbell 1988].
Guiges Street
Guigues street in Lower Bytown was formerly known as Church street, and was named after the first Catholic bishop of Bytown [Brault 1942].
Harris, Bronson & Co.
In 1852, the two firms of Harris, Bronson & Co. and Perley & Pattee bought the hydraulic lots at the Chaudière falls, and sawmills were in operation during the following year [Brault 1946, Taylor 1986].
Hawkesbury
The village of Hawkesbury was on the south shore of the Ottawa river, in the township of Hawkesbury West, four miles east of L’Orignal [Smith 1846]. Early in November of 1822, Captain William Grant arrived in Hawkesbury from Montreal with four men to start building the Union, the first steamboat on the Ottawa [Lamirande 1982].
Heating
In the early days, houses in Bytown were heated using a fireplace located in the centre of one of the walls; this fireplace was also used for cooking [Mika 1982].
Hospitals
In 1827, a twenty-bed military hospital was built at the western end of Barrack hill. It was open to the public in times of emergency, but under the condition that the care of the patients remained in the hands of the civilian doctors [Tresham 1993]. It was a stone building [Billings 1909]. During the severe epidemic of cholera which swept through Lower and Upper Canada in the spring of 1832, Bytown officials received government approval, on 16 June, to erect an isolation hospital for the sole purpose of treating cholera patients. The hospital was a hastily built wooden shed operated by civil authorities. It was located on Sussex street, where the Royal Canadian Mint was later built, and a special wharf was constructed directly below the hospital on the east side of the canal locks.
Since the cholera wharf was outside the town’s limits, the sick could pass quickly and directly from the wharf to the hospital. All vessels were diverted to the cholera wharf. In September 1832, with the threat of cholera officially removed, the isolation hospital was shut down. It was reactivated in 1834 when a second wave of cholera revisited Bytown, but by 30 September 1834 it was permanently closed, and subsequently scrapped for firewood.
Bytowners continued to depend on the military hospital, until the Grey nuns arrived in Bytown, and established the town’s first permanent hospital, later known as the general hospital. It was a frame building located on the north side of St. Patrick street, near Sussex street, and its doors were officially opened in May 1845 to any person regardless of race or creed [Brault 1946, Haig 1975, Tresham 1993]. It was occupied until 1847, and then a new hospital consisting of large frame buildings was erected on Water street. Dr. Van Cortlandt was in charge until 1850, and was replaced by Dr. Robichaud, Dr. Lacroix (1851) and Dr. Beaubien (1852).
When a typhus epidemic broke out in 1847, a temporary building was erected on the west side of the canal, above the locks, and the Grey nuns opened a temporary hospital in two small buildings they owned on Bruyère and Sussex streets. With the permission of the nuns, the emigration agent had a temporary hospital for emigrants built hastily on their property, and the nuns were therefore on hand day and night. During this epidemic the sisters lived in isolation, and the general hospital itself was run by charitable women [Brault 1946].
On 13 September 1849, the first meeting of the subscribers to the Protestant hospital was held in the Congregational church which had been built on Queen street in 1848. A hospital was organized in 1849 for persons of the Protestant persuasion, and it was incorporated on 2 August 1851. A two-storey stone building was erected at the corner of Wurtemburg and Rideau streets, and the first patient was admitted on 2 April 1852 [Brault 1946]. Dr. H. Hill and Dr. E. Van Cortlandt were on the staff of this hospital. They were followed by Dr. S.C. Sewell and Dr. James Grant [Small 1903].
Hotels
The first hotel in Bytown was built by Donald McArthur, in 1827, on the northeast corner of Sussex and George streets [Brault 1981]. The civilian barracks on Rideau street were converted into the Rideau hotel, also known as Burpee’s tavern, run by Julius Burpee [Hill 1922a, Mika 1982]. In 1837, J.R. Stanley’s hotel in Upper Bytown was located between Kent and Bank streets [Hill 1922a]. John Chitty ran a hotel at the northwest corner of Wellington and Kent streets [Hill 1932]. Jamie Doran’s hotel was also located on Wellington [Blyth 1925]. In 1837, the Ottawa hotel on George street in Lower Bytown was run by Daniel McArthur [Hill 1922a]. In the 1840s, Francis Grant built a hotel on York street; it later became the Chateau Lafayette House [Newton 1979]. Kirk’s hotel was located at the corner of Lyon and Sparks streets in Upper Bytown [Hill 1922b]. The Albion hotel, at the corner of Daly and Nicholas streets, was established in 1844 by Allan Cameron [Bond 1971]; in the 1850s, it was owned by W.H. Baldwin [Mackay 1851, Anonymous 1857]. In August 1848, Samuel Norton acquired a lot on the northeast corner of St. Paul and Little Sussex streets, and constructed a wooden one-and-a-half storey tavern on it. Later, various hotels occupied this site [Brault 1981]. Around 1850, George Clarke built the International hotel on the southwest corner of O’Connor and Sparks streets [Blyth 1925]. Matthews’ Revere hotel was built in the 1850s on the south side of Rideau street between Waller and Cumberland streets [Bond 1971]. In 1851, Joseph Beauchamp, David Bourgeois and Louis Pinard ran hotels on Sussex street; Isaac Bérichon’s hotel was on Clarence street; Jean Bédard had a hotel on York street, and Charles Laporte ran a hotel on Rideau street [Audet 1926]. At the corner of St. Paul and Mosgrove streets, there was an establishment called the Victoria hotel; in 1857, the proprietor was Archibald Bain [Anonymous 1857].
Houses
The first houses in Bytown were log cabins built with one room downstairs, and usually a garret above for sleeping space. Cabins made of round logs took less time to build than cabins made of squared logs [Mika 1982, Kenny 1901b]. After Jean-Baptiste St-Louis established a saw mill in Lower Town in 1830, sawn lumber could be used to build frame houses [Mika 1982]. James Fitzgibbon of the Royal Engineers and his brother-inlaw James Black put up the first frame house in Bytown; it was painted white, had a gable to the road, and stood on the corner of Rideau and Sussex streets [Read 1901]. According to another source, the first frame house in Bytown was built by Joseph Coombs on Rideau street [Haig 1975]. Eventually, other building materials, including stones and bricks, were used by the town’s more prosperous residents [Mika 1982].
Hugh Street
This was the former name of Kent street in Upper Bytown [Brault 1942].
Inns
In 1819, Isaac Firth and Andrew Berry opened an inn at the landing below the Chaudière falls [Elliott 1991]. Later on, Jean-Baptiste Homier kept an inn on the south side of Rideau street, and Daniel Johnston also operated an inn in Lower Bytown [Lamoureux 1978, Mika 1982].
Insurance Companies
The Mutual Fire Insurance Company for the district of Bathurst was established in May of 1837, with several prominent citizens of Bytown as directors. It was wound up after a couple of years, and then the British- American Fire and Life Assurance Company appointed Robert Stephens as its resident agent in Bytown [Hill 1922a].
Irish Catholic Temperance Society
Bytown’s Irish Catholic Temperance Society was founded in 1845 [IHACC].
Jail
Since there was no civilian jail in Bytown until 1842, prisoners were occa- sionally thrust into the black hole at the military barracks on the hill in Upper Bytown, where they were kept until they could be sent to Perth for trial [Craske 1992, Kenny 1901a]. The court house and jail were built in 1842 by Thomas McKay, on Nicholas street, on land donated by Nicholas Sparks [Haig 1975].
Kent Street
Kent street in Upper Bytown was formerly known as Hugh street, and was named after the Duke of Kent, fourth son of George III [Brault 1942].
King Street
King street in Lower Bytown was named in honour of King George IV [Brault 1946].
Labourers
Labourers were described as of inferior abilities compared to the average workman on the canal site. Skilled labourers were paid a daily rate. Contractors received different rates for excavating soil and rock, for puddling and embanking, and for other activities. Drivers with teams of oxen or horses were usually recruited among nearby settlers or farmers in Lower Canada, and since there were few such carters, they tended to receive good wages. Clearing the land and removing trees and brush with axes was often done by French Canadian workers, whereas moving large volumes of earth and rock with pick and shovel was often left to Irish labourers [Wylie 2008]. The fact that thousands of labourers were employed on the canal works proved to be of incalculable benefit to many pauper emigrants, for though they seldom remained at the works above a year they gained in that time a knowledge of the country [Craig 1955].
Landing
On the south shore of the Ottawa river, below the Chaudière falls, there was a spot at the eastern end of the old portage route around the rapids that came to be known as the landing, Collins’ landing, and Bellows’ landing [IHACC]. It was later called Richmond landing, or simply the point or Nepean point. From this spot the Richmond road linked the landing place to the village of Richmond in the township of Goulbourn [Elliott 1991]. Some of the early settlers at the landing were A. Berry, C.T. Bellows, J. Collins, I. Firth and R. Smith.
Landowners
Originally, there were only three landowners on the 800-acre site of Bytown. They were Nicholas Sparks in the southwest, Louis Theodore Besserer in the southeast, and the Ordnance over the entire northern half [Taylor 1986].
Law and Order
In early Bytown, one of Colonel By’s many responsibilities were the duties of a magistrate to maintain law and order in the town. In 1828, a petition was sent to the governor, who appointed five magistrates for life terms, thereby placing the administration of the small settlement under the jurisdiction of a civilian authority [Haig 1975]. Judicially, however, Bytown came under the district of Bathurst. The district town was Perth, and that is where the district court house and jail were located until the district of Dalhousie was established in 1842 [Brault 1946]. In 1835, Sir John Colbourne complied with a petition from the Bytown magistrates requesting the formation of a more effective law enforcement organization. On 20 October 1835, the Bytown Association for the Preservation of Public Peace was formed. Most of the two hundred volunteers were members of the local militia [Craske 1992].
Lay-by
The canal basin above the eighth lock in Bytown served as a lay-by or
turning basin [Taylor 1986].
LeBreton Flats
A wooden bridge connecting Upper Bytown with LeBreton Flats was built under Lieutenant Pooley of the Royal Engineers in 1827-28 [Billings 1909]. The Flats were included within the limits of an independent Bytown in 1850, and remained a sparsely-populated extension of Upper Bytown until the opening of the lumber mills on the Chaudière islands in the 1850s began turning this area into a working-class district [Elliott 1991].
Libraries
Before any public library was established in Bytown, there were public newsrooms. The first ones were opened in 1838 in the British hotel (Upper Town) and in McArthur’s Ottawa hotel (Lower Town). The town’s first circulating library was opened on 3 November 1841 by Alexander Grey, a jeweller and bookseller. Grey charged an annual subscription fee, but he closed this service about one year later. In 1845, a Mercantile Library Association was organized following a meeting of young men and clerks seeking both recreation and improved knowledge. On 5 March 1847, the newly formed Bytown Mechanics Institute provided a room every Saturday evening where members could read and exchange books from its library. The French Canadian Institute established in Lower Bytown in 1852 also had a library [Brault 1946, Haig 1975]. The Bytown Mechanics Institute became defunct in 1849, but was resurrected in 1853 as the Bytown Mechanics Institute and Athenaeum, the latter word designating the institute’s library [Hirsch 1992].
Lighting
Until 1854, Bytown’s houses and buildings were lighted by lard or wax candles and oil lamps, while the streets, including public water wells, were lit by whale oil lamps [Watt 1982, Mika 1982]. In 1854, the Bytown Consumers Gas Company contracted to substitute gas lamps on Sussex and Rideau streets [Brault 1946].
Limits of Bytown
Formerly named Bridge street, Division street once marked the western limit of Bytown. It was renamed Booth [Brault 1946]. The town of Bytown became the city of Ottawa on 1 January 1855, at which time the limits were fixed at the northern boundary of William Stewart’s farm, namely Ann street, later renamed Gladstone [Elliott 1991].
Limits (Timber)
Initially, the only timber taken down the Ottawa river was square timber. It was floated in rafts down to Quebec City, to be exported to the British market. The agent in the crown timber office in Upper Bytown issued limits and collected slide dues [Blyth 1925]. Timber limits referred to the tracts of land in which individuals or companies had the right to fell trees and remove timber.
Little Sussex Street
Little Sussex street was the extension of Sussex street, south of Rideau street, as far as the canal basin [Brault 1981].
Locks
The first eight locks of the Rideau canal were located below the Sappers bridge in Bytown. Thomas McKay was the contractor connected with their construction [Legget 1972]. These eight locks, providing a lift of just over eighty feet from the Ottawa river, formed the entrance of the canal in Bytown. This area, named Entrance valley, was a deep gully, and formerly it had been an outlet for a stream of water running past precipitous, high-rising banks on both sides [Christie 2007]. In August 1827, Sir John Franklin, returning home from one of his voyages, laid the corner stone of the canal locks [Kenny 1901b]. On 26 September 1827, the Earl of Dalhousie ceremoniously laid the cornerstone of the canal at the third lock [Haig 1975]. The Bytown locks were the first in which water was allowed [Brault 1946]. In the end the locks measured 33 feet in width and 134 feet in length [Christie 2007].
Log Cabins
The first houses in Bytown were log cabins built with one room downstairs, and usually a garret above for sleeping space. Cabins made of round logs took less time to build than cabins made of squared logs [Mika 1982, Kenny 1901b].
Long Sault
Between Grenville and Carillon, on the Ottawa river, there once was a stretch of rapids called the Long Sault, extending over some ten miles and creating a formidable barrier to settlement.
L’Orignal
L’Orignal, in the township of Longueuil on the south shore of the Ottawa river, was the district town of the Ottawa district, which comprised the counties of Prescott and Russell [Smith 1846]. In 1826, Anthony Swalwell, a civil engineer, surveyed and superintended the opening of a road from Bytown to L’Orignal [Bond 1968]. In 1840, this road was used to set up the first mail service between these two communities, and people called it the Post road [Laporte 1982].
Lot 39
Lot 39 in the township of Nepean was the property of John LeBreton [Taylor 1986].
Lot 40
Lot 40 in the township of Nepean, located just west of lot 39, was a clergy reserve [Taylor 1986].
Lot Letter “O”
In Bytown days, Ordnance had rights over lot letter “O” located in concessions C and D of the township of Nepean, and comprising all that part of Lower Bytown extending from Cathcart street north to the Ottawa river and east to the Rideau river, including Green island [Grierson 1996]. In 1808, Rice Honeywell had leased lot letter “O” from the Crown for 21 years [Taylor 1986, Elliott 1991].
Lots A & B, Concession C
In 1823, Lord Dalhousie, Governor of the Canadas, bought from the Fraser family a large tract of land, in the township of Nepean, east of Captain John LeBreton’s property and north of Nicholas Sparks’s property [Elliott 1991]. This tract of land represented lots A and B in concession C of the township of Nepean, and Lord Dalhousie bought it from Hugh Fraser, son of Thomas Fraser, who had bought it in 1812 from Jacob Carman, who had acquired it from the Crown in 1802 [Brault 1946].
Lots A & B, Concession D
Lots A and B in concession D of the township of Nepean were part of Lower Bytown, extending north from Rideau street to lot letter “O” and east of the concession line, Cumberland street, to the Rideau river. In 1828, this area was inhabited by squatters. In August of 1829, ownership of this part of Lower Bytown had still to be obtained [Grierson 1996].
Lower Town
Much of Lower Town was a cedar swamp; it was surveyed into lots in 1826. In 1827, it was deemed necessary to drain the swamp and run a street, named Sussex, from Rideau street to the wharf which was located at the foot of the canal headlocks. Lower Town, with its abundant commercial activity adjacent to the canal, included a large French and Irish Catholic population [Taylor 1986].
Lumber
After Jean-Baptiste St-Louis established a saw mill in Lower Town in 1830, sawn lumber could be used to build frame houses [Mika 1982]. Eventually, Bytown became the centre of the lumber trade in the Ottawa valley [Newton 1991]. After 1850, the demand in the Ottawa valley shifted from square timber destined for Great Britain to sawn lumber sent to the United States. In 1854, the Reciprocity treaty allowed lumber to be exported duty-free from British North America to the United States. Trees were now being sawn into planks [Mika 1982].
Macadamazing
The roads into Bytown, on every side, were hopelessly bad [Kenny 1901a], and the dirt streets in the town were turned into a sea of mud by spring slush and summer rain, whereas clouds of dust would rise during dry periods. One way of improving the situation was macadamizing. This was a process by which small broken stone was compacted into a convex, well-drained road bed using fine stone dust and water as a cement [Taylor 1983]. In Lower Bytown, York street was macadamized between Sussex and Dalhousie streets on 9 June 1851 [Haig 1975]. During the same year, a joint stock company was formed in Bytown to build a macadamized road from Bytown to Bells Corners, more or less following the route of the Richmond road. This road company went immediately to work, hiring a contractor to build the first section from Bytown westward in 1852. The result was a better land route between the lumber town and the farming community on the highlands [Taylor 1983].
Magistrates
In 1827, Colonel By resigned his position of first magistrate with municipal powers for the new community of Bytown, and petitioned the governor to appoint five magistrates for life to administer the town’s affairs, including law enforcement. In due course, Colonel By was succeeded by Captain Andrew Wilson, with others added to the bench soon afterwards [Legget 1972, Craske 1992]. In 1837, the magistrates of the village were D.R. McNab, G.W. Baker, Simon Fraser and Daniel Fisher; all four were justices of the peace [Hill 1922a].
Mail Service
Early on, any mail for Colonel By and his officers was delivered in Hull, Lower Canada, and ferried across the Ottawa river [Legget 1972]. In the days of Bytown, envelopes were not used, the letter usually being written on one side of the page only, and then folded into the shape of an envelope. It was then sealed with a gob of wax, and addressed [Guillet 1966]. In 1846, the mail was conveyed from Bytown to Kingston on horseback [Smith 1846]. On 4 November 1848, the Phoenix was built and launched in Wrightstown, and under Captain Andrew Patterson it replaced the Speed as the royal mail steamer, making daily daylight trips, except on Sundays, between Bytown and Grenville [Lamirande 1982]. See also Post Office.
Major’s Hill
In 1826, a cottage was constructed for Colonel By on the hill located east of the locks. It was built of boulders and moss, with walls of great thickness, and was plastered with lime on the inside. The location was known as Colonel’s hill, but later Major Daniel Bolton lived in the cottage, hence the new name given to the hill. The cottage was destroyed by fire in January 1849. The stone house of Lieutenant Pooley was also located on Major’s hill [Billings 1909, Haig 1975, Taylor 1986].
Malaria
From its onset in 1828, the malaria epidemic caused hundreds of deaths among canal labourers, stalling the completion of the canal project. It peaked in the same year it began, and primarily afflicted canal workers. The hundreds who died were representative of all the labourers along the Rideau system, including Bytown. A patient’s chance of recovery was favourable [Tresham 1993]. People called this disease ague, swamp fever, or simply fever. It was named malaria by the Italian physician Francesco Torti (1658-1741), from the term mal’aria meaning bad air. It raged in epidemic proportions along the whole line of the canal throughout the months of August and September 1828-1830. Quinine was coming into general use as a successful remedy, but it was very expensive [Bush 1976].
Maria Street
Maria street was laid out in Upper Bytown in 1850. Named after a daughter of Nicholas Sparks, it was later renamed Laurier [Brault 1942, Haig 1975].
Markets
By 1829, Colonel By had started building a market place and a market building on Lyon street, between Sparks and Wellington streets in Upper Bytown [Brault 1946]. The old market building in Lower Bytown had a hall on the upper level, and was located on George street [Wilson 1876]. The market building in Lower Town was completed in 1848 [Mika 1982]. In Upper Bytown, the West Ward market building was erected on Elgin street in 1848; it was a two-storey wooden structure, located between Queen and Albert streets on land donated by Nicholas Sparks. It had little success as a market centre [Haig 1975].
Masonic Chapters
Masonic chapters in Bytown were headed by I.B. Taylor, J.P. Featherston and Robert Lyon [Mika 1982].
Mayors
The mayors of the town of Bytown were John Scott, John Bower Lewis, Robert Hervey, Charles Sparrow, Richard William Scott, Joseph Balsora Turgeon and Henry Joseph Friel [Lett 1993].
McTaggart Street
McTaggart street in Lower Bytown was named after John McTaggart, the first clerk of works on the staff of Colonel John By [Brault 1946].
Metcalfe Street
Metcalfe street in Upper Bytown was named after Sir Charles Theophilus Metcalfe, governor-in-chief from 1843 to 1845 [Brault 1942].
Methodists
Wesleyan Methodist meetings were held in Mrs. Knapp’s schoolhouse in Upper Bytown [Wilson 1876]. The Hull circuit was organized on 4 September 1826, and on 27 July 1827 a resolution was passed to build a church in Bytown. And so a wooden Wesleyan Methodist chapel was erected on Rideau street, near Chapel street, in 1827. It was attended by the troops, but two years later it burned, and a stone church was built on Sparks street. In 1832, Bytown became a separate circuit. In 1837, the Rev. Mr. Carroll was the minister in charge of the Wesleyan Methodist church on the south side of Sparks street between Kent and Bank streets.
In 1853, a stone edifice was opened for divine service at the corner of Metcalfe and Queen streets [Hill 1922a, Brault 1946, Van Cortlandt 1990, Elliott 1991]. In 1842, the New Connection Methodists had built a small brick church on the south side of Rideau street, east of Nicholas street, but soon a union was brought about between them and the Wesleyans. The Episcopal Methodists held service in a school house on George street before they built a church at the corner of York and Dalhousie streets around 1845 [Blyth 1925].
Militia
The Bytown volunteer company of militia was formed on 13 January 1838, and lasted for six months. Several years after the rebellion, three independent militia companies were formed, not joined to any regiment: No. 1 Rifles (under Captain George Patterson), No. 2 Rifles (under Captain J.-B. Turgeon), No. 3 Rifles (under Captain Galway) [Brault 1946]. Isaac Bérichon was an ensign with the 4th battalion, Carleton militia [Craske 1992], and Joseph Aumond rose to the rank of colonel in the same battalion [Pilon 1972]
Mills
On 30 April 1830, Jean-Baptiste St-Louis was leased the mill site at the Rideau falls for thirty years, and during the following year, he was cutting wood along the Rideau river for his sawmill, located west of the westerly branch of the Rideau river. During the fall of 1843, Isaac Smith, of Wrightstown, erected an oatmeal mill near the head of the Deep Cut.
Prior to 1843, Daniel McLachlin and Philip Thompson harnessed the Chaudière falls to drive their grist and saw mills [Brault 1946]. There were no large sawmills at the Chaudière falls until after 1850 [Blyth 1925]. An auction was held on 1 September 1852, in Bytown, for the lots of Victoria and Amelia islands, and the hydraulic lots went to Harris, Bronson & Co. and to Perley & Pattee. Both firms built mills on Victoria island [Taylor 1986]. The firm of Blasdell, Currier & Co. operated a log mill and attached foundry on the mainland at the Chaudière falls in the early 1850s [Taylor 1986]. In 1853, the firm of Bronson & Weston was established at the Chaudière falls, where it operated a sawmill and a pilingground [IHACC]. By 1853, Philip Thompson had a sawmill under construction on Chaudière island, with attached flour and oatmeal mills, a carding and cloth dressing mill, and woollen factory [Taylor 1986]. It was only during the late 1850s that large-scale sawmilling was developed at the Chaudière falls [Hirsch 1992].
Miners
Two companies of Royal Sappers and Miners arrived from England in 1827 to build the Rideau canal [Billings 1909]. The miners were soldiers who lay explosive mines. Three of the miners appointed to work on the first eight locks in Bytown were Robert Clements, Michael Rowe and Daniel Boyle [Hirsch 1982].
Money
In the early days of Bytown, the currency of the country was entirely that of Great Britain (pounds, shillings and pence) [Cluff 1922]. Silver money was plentiful in the late 1830s, especially the American half dollar, but also Mexican and Spanish silver coins in small change, as well as British silver [Blyth 1925].
Montreal and Ottawa Steamboat Company
In the winter of 1834-35, the Montreal and Ottawa Steamboat Company was expanded and reorganized as the Ottawa and Rideau Forwarding Company [Lamirande 1982].
Nepean Point
On the south shore of the Ottawa river, below the Chaudière falls, there was a spot at the eastern end of the old portage route around the rapids that came to be known as the landing, Collins’ landing, and Bellows’ landing [IHACC]. It was later called Richmond landing, or simply the point or Nepean point. From this spot the Richmond road linked the landing place to the village of Richmond in the township of Goulbourn [Elliott 1991]. Some of the early settlers at the landing were A. Berry, C.T. Bellows, J. Collins, I. Firth and R. Smith.
Nepean Township
On 13 September 1793, the deputy surveyor, John Stegman of York (Toronto), was instructed to survey four townships, north of the counties of Leeds and Grenville, which he designated A, B, C and D. Later they were known as Osgoode, Gloucester, North Gower and Nepean. “D” was Nepean, named after Sir Evan Nepean, secretary for Ireland. It was formed into a township in 1798 [Burns 1981]. When Bytown was incorporated as a town in 1847, all municipal relations ended with the township of Nepean and the council of the district of Dalhousie, but since Bytown was not a city, it continued to pay its share of the annual district expenditures [Brault 1946].
New Edinburgh
Upon completion of the Rideau canal in 1832, Thomas McKay encouraged the canal workmen to settle on part of the 1,000-acre estate that he had purchased in the northwest corner of Gloucester Township, just east of the Rideau falls [Anon.1975; IHACC 1971]. McKay had started planning his village as early as 1830 [Edwards 1975]. The new settlement was laid out into lots around 1834, and named New Edinburgh [Bush 1985].
Newspapers
The Bytown Independent & Farmer’s Advocate appeared in February 1836, as a weekly, with James Johnston as publisher and editor, but there were only a couple of issues, printed in a house near the corner of Wellington and Bank streets [Haig 1975, Mika 1982]. In June 1836, the Bytown Gazette and Ottawa and Rideau Advertiser was started by Dr. Alexander James Christie, an able editor [Haig 1975]. Christie had strong Tory leanings, and he attacked the Reformers [Mika 1982].
In 1841, Dawson Kerr established The Advocate on the north side of Rideau street, just west of Nicholas street, but this newspaper did not last long [Serré 2009].
The Packet, a weekly newspaper which supported the Reform party, was established in 1842 by William Harris, who sold out to Henry J. Friel and Robert Bell. In 1849, Bell became the sole proprietor, and changed the paper’s name to the Citizen [IHACC, Haig 1975, Dewar 1989]. The Citizen was a strong Tory paper, not interested in the abolition of the clergy reserves and the feudal system, but decidedly of the opinion that Bytown should be made the capital of Canada [Dewar 1989]. In 1848, William F. Powell started The Monarchist. This paper was later acquired by Henry J. Friel, and its name was changed to The Union [Mika 1982].
In 1849, Dawson Kerr established The Orange Lily and Protestant Vindicator, with William P. Lett as editor. In 1854, this newspaper was merged with The Ottawa Railway and Commercial Times, and soon afterwards it ceased to exist [IHACC, Serré 2009]. James H. Burke launched a newspaper called The Tribune in 1854 [Taylor 1986].
Nicholas Street
Nicholas street in Sandy Hill was named after Nicholas Sparks [Brault 1946].
North Ward
The North Ward was located in Lower Bytown, north of York street and west of King street [Taylor 1986].
Nunnery Street
Nunnery street in Lower Bytown was formerly Bolton street, and was renamed Water [Brault 1942].
Oblates of Mary Immaculate
Missionaries of the Roman Catholic order of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, founded in France in 1816 by Bishop Eugène de Mazenod, arrived in Canada in 1841. Three years later, two Oblates, Fathers Telmon and Dandurand, arrived in Bytown. In 1847, Bishop Bourget of Montreal formed a new diocese in the Ottawa valley by dividing his own diocese and using part of the diocese of Kingston. The first bishop appointed to the new diocese, centred in Bytown, was Joseph-Bruno Guigues; he was consecrated on 30 July 1848 [Brault 1946, Hurtubise 1989].
O’Connor Street
O’Connor street in Upper Bytown was named after Daniel O’Connor, a pioneer of Bytown [Haig 1975].
Odd Fellows Hall
In January 1847, a meeting of Bytown citizens was held at the Odd Fellows hall, on St. Paul street, to organize a Mechanics Institute [Van Cortlandt 1990].
Orange Lodges
Orange lodges in Bytown were led by James Clarke, Thomas Langrell, Thomas Starmer, Archibald Graham and John Langford [Mika 1982].
Ordnance
In Bytown, the Ordnance referred to a department of the British army which was responsible for the operation and management of the Rideau canal [Elliott 2008]. The Ordnance was initially the dominant landlord, as well as the local government and police in Bytown. Upper Bytown and Lower Bytown were on Ordnance land, and the Ordnance also had rights over lot letter “O” [Taylor 1986]. In 1853, the canal was handed over to the provincial government, and the canal lands were transferred in 1857 [Billings 1909].
Orphanage
In 1845, the Grey nuns opened an orphanage in Lower Bytown [Brault 1946].
Ottawa and Rideau Forwarding Company
Originally known as the Montreal and Ottawa Steamboat Company, the Ottawa and Rideau Forwarding Company was reorganized in 1835, under its new name. It operated several steamers, including the Shannon, the Ottawa and the St. Andrews, plus many barges [Bush 1981]. In 1837, as a result of complaints made against the Ottawa and Rideau Forwarding Company, which charged tolls, for monopolizing navigation between Montreal, Kingston and Bytown, the Bytown Mutual Forwarding Company was established, mainly for the conveyance of freight [Brault 1946].
Ottawa River
The Ottawa river, also called the Grand river, was central to all early activity in Bytown. For some two hundred years, this river had been the chief link between the European settlements of the St. Lawrence and the interior of the North American continent [Taylor 1986].
Ottawa Street
Ottawa street in Bytown’s Sandy Hill neighbourhood was renamed Waller.
Ottawa Valley Lumber Association
The Ottawa Valley Lumber Association was established in Bytown in March of 1836 in order to counter the violence that was plaguing the lumber trade [Pilon 1972, Cross 1976a, Mika 1982].
Overseer of Works
Some of the men who held the position of overseer of works on the Rideau canal were John Burnett, who died around 1828, John Burrows and Thomas Burrowes [Hirsch 1982]. Alexander Gibbs was overseer of works in 1827, followed around 1829 by William Johnson. In October of 1830, Alexander Sherrif was overseer of works, and in 1849, James Fitzgibbon served in that capacity [Hirsch 1982].
Paymaster
William T. Clegg was paymaster during the construction of the Rideau canal [Billings 1909]. Charles Lennox Rudyerd served as Ordnance paymaster-accountant in 1840 [Hirsch 1982].
Perley & Pattee
In 1852, the two firms of Perley & Pattee and Harris, Bronson & Co. bought the hydraulic lots at the Chaudière falls, and sawmills were in operation during the following year [Brault 1946, Taylor 1986].
Physicians
Bytown had its physicians: Christie, Stewart, McQueen, Tuthill and Stratford. Other doctors were Van Cortlandt, Robichaud, Lacroix, Hill and Beaubien [IHACC, Brault 1946, Mika 1982]. In 1829, Dr. John Edward Rankin set up practice in Bytown, serving on the Rideau canal under Dr. Tuthill [Bush 1976]. Dr. Alfred Morson arrived in Bytown in 1836. In 1837, Dr. W.R. Honey, on Vittoria street, was both a physician and a school teacher. Another medical practitioner was Dr. J.D. Gellie, on Sparks street near Kent [Hill 1922a]. Dr. S.C. Sewell arrived in 1852 [Small 1903].
Political Parties
In the 1830s, there were two political parties in Upper Canada. On the one hand, there were the Reformers who wanted to remodel the institutions and policies of Upper Canada along more democratic lines, at times inspired by the American model. They demanded equal treatment for all religious denominations. On the other hand, there were the Conservatives who believed that safeguarding the Imperial connection and preserving British institutions in Upper Canada required that the privileged position of the Church of England be maintained. They insisted that an upper class be fostered within the colonial society [Gates 1968]. Reformers would occasionally be called Liberals, and Conservatives would at times be described as Tories.
Pooley’s Bridge
A cedar log bridge was built in the small gorge on the south shore of the river, at the Chaudière falls, by one of Colonel By’s engineers, Lieutenant Henry Pooley, after whom the bridge was named [Jenkins 1996].
Population
In 1828, surveyor general Bouchette estimated that there were just under 150 houses in Bytown, and in 1829, the population was probably about 1,000. In 1837, the population of Bytown was estimated to be about 1,300 [Elliott 1991]. According to the assessment roll, the population of Bytown reached 2,073 in 1839 [Haig 1975], and in 1840 the population of Bytown was reported as 2,171 [Taylor 1986]. In 1840-41, the population of Bytown reached 3,122, and by 1848, it had reached 6,275 [Elliott 1991]. In 1851, Bytown numbered 7,760 souls [Bond 1965]. The 1851 census was actually taken in January 1852, at which time the population of Bytown was 6,616 [Audet 1926]. The death rate in Bytown in 1851 was 11.6 per 1,000 inhabitants [Taylor 1986]. By 1852, there were some 2,732 Irish Catholics, compared to 2,066 French Catholics [Taylor 1986].
Post Office
The first post office in Bytown was located on the north side of Rideau street, between Mosgrove and William streets [Haig 1975]. Store owner Matthew Connell, the first postmaster, was appointed on 6 April 1829. He would have announced the mail’s arrival by blowing a horn [Brault 1946, Jenkins 1996]. When Connell died in 1834, he was succeeded by G.W. Baker, a captain in the Royal artillery who had arrived in Bytown in 1832. The post office was moved to Upper Town, on the north side of Wellington street, a short distance east of Kent street. Baker’s eldest son managed the post office for some years, and his second son G.P. took it over in 1846 [IHACC, Hill 1922a, Mika 1982]. Godfrey Baker, son of Captain G.W. Baker, was postmaster from 1850 until his death [Blyth 1925]. By a proclamation dated 5 April 1851, the government of the united Province of Canada took over the administration of the Post Office in Canada from the General Post Office of Great Britain [Hillman 1985]. See also Mail Service.
Poverty
The Bytown Dorcas Society was established in December 1836 to lighten the distress of the poor, the focus being on clothing. The governor was responsible for public assistance to the destitute, but this was mostly meant to prevent starvation. On 28 January 1837, a number of eminent citizens organized the Bytown Benevolent Society in an effort to assist the destitute, regardless of creed, with special emphasis on food for the hungry. In May 1845, the Society of the Ladies of Charity was organized by a group of Catholic and Protestant women. The following year, the Protestant ladies separated from the Ladies of Charity, but the organization, which was renamed St. Elizabeth Society (Société Sainte-Élisabeth), continued to sew and repair garments for the poor [Brault 1946].
Presbyterians
In 1827, the Presbyterians of Bytown congregated at Mrs. Knapp’s school in Upper Bytown, and during the following year they petitioned the lieutenant governor for the creation of the town’s first Scotch Kirk, now St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, on Wellington street. A stone structure was quickly erected on land purchased from Nicholas Sparks. Rev. Dr. Cruikshank was called from the Fordyce Presbytery in Scotland. The first sermon was given in September 1828 [Grierson 1996]. The Scotch Kirk, measuring 45 by 55 feet, was constructed by volunteer Scottish stonemasons, supervised by Thomas McKay, who donated the stone [Haig 1975]. Rev. Cruikshank was replaced in 1842 by the Rev. Alexander MacKidd, who was succeeded in 1846 by the Rev. William Durie until 1848. The next minister, from 1848 to 1866, was the Rev. Alexander Spence [Blyth 1925].
In 1844, several members of St. Andrew’s church attended a meeting presided by Thomas Wardrope, in order to discuss the disruption which, during the previous year, had resulted in the secession of Free Church Presbyterians from the Established Church of Scotland. In November of 1844, a separate congregation of Free Church Presbyterians was organized in Bytown [Bond 1961]. The first meeting of worship of the Bytown Free Church congregation was held on 10 November 1844 in Lower Town [Moffatt 1987]. In 1845, the congregation purchased two lots from Mr. Besserer, and a frame building located on Daly street was opened for service at the end of December of the same year. The pastor was Rev. Thomas Wardrope. This church was situated on the south side of Daly street, just east of Cumberland street [Hare 1994].
Prison
The court house and prison were built in 1842 by Thomas McKay, on Nicholas street, on land donated by Nicholas Sparks [Haig 1975]. See also: Jail.
Quarries
There were excellent quarries of fine grey limestone on both sides of the canal locks; as well, there was sand suitable for making mortar on the spot [Christie 2007].
Quarter Sessions
Until the coming into force in 1842 of the District Councils Act, each district in Upper Canada had a court of quarter sessions of the peace, and on it sat the justices of the peace who attended to local government [Aitchison 1975]. In early Bytown days, justices of the peace assembled in quarter sessions at the old court house on George street [Haig 1975].
Queen Street
Queen street was laid out in Upper Bytown in 1850 [Haig 1975].
Queen’s Wharf
A cholera hospital was hastily erected in 1832, on Sussex street, and a special wharf was constructed directly below the hospital on the east side of the locks. It was known as the cholera wharf, and later as the Queen’s wharf [Tresham 1993].
Rafting Bay
Formerly known as Sleigh bay, and also called Entrance bay, Rafting bay marked the beginning of the Rideau canal in Bytown [Haig 1975]. This is where rafts of squared timber were often reassembled after their component cribs had passed the Chaudière falls [Taylor 1986].
Rafts
Until 1850, the only timber taken down the Ottawa river was square timber. It was floated in rafts down to Quebec City, to be exported to the British market [Blyth 1925]. Squared pine timber rafts were comprised of cribs small enough to pass down the timber slides built at the Chaudière falls in Bytown. The rafts were broken up and reassembled at each such passage, and the men ate and slept on the rafts [Taylor 1986]. The raftsmen steered with long oars [Adams 1981].
Railroads
A plank railroad was built by Colonel By to link the limestone quarries in the surrounding woods to the Rideau canal; animal power was used for traction [Brault 1946]. On 10 May 1850, a charter was granted to the Bytown and Prescott Railway Company, which was incorporated on 10 August of the same year. The first train finally arrived in New Edinburgh on 25 December 1854, and during the following spring, a bridge over the Rideau river was completed, allowing the trains to enter Bytown, which was now only two hours from Ogdensburgh, New York, and less than 24 hours from Boston [Bond 1965, Brault 1981].
Railway Station
Built in 1854, the town’s first railway station was the terminus of the Bytown and Prescott Railway Company. It was erected on McTaggart street, almost opposite the Queen’s wharf [Brault 1981].
Reciprocity Treaty
The Reciprocity treaty of 1854 spurred the sale of Bytown lumber to the United States [Taylor 1986].
Registrar
Registrar George T. Burke was the former superintendent of the Richmond military settlement [Elliott 1991].
Rents and Taxes
In early Bytown, Lord Dalhousie recommended that Angus McGillivray keep a register of deeds and leases, and collect rents on a commission basis. In 1847, James Matthews held the position of tax collector [Brault 1946].
Richmond Landing
On the south shore of the Ottawa river, below the Chaudière falls, there was a spot at the eastern end of the old portage route around the rapids that came to be known as the landing, then as Collins’ landing and Bellows’ landing [IHACC], and later still as Richmond landing. From this spot the Richmond road linked the landing place to the village of Richmond in the township of Goulbourn [Elliott 1991].
Richmond Road
The Richmond road was built by the military in 1818. It began at the landing below the Chaudière falls, ran along the Ottawa river front, and led to the village of Richmond in the township of Goulbourn. For many years, this road remained “stony rough” and bad, and yet farmers and travellers used it extensively, and several taverns were set up along the way to meet their needs [Taylor 1983, Leaning 2003].
Rideau Canal
Ground for the canal was broken on 21 September 1826 [Van Cortlandt 1990]. In the autumn of 1827, two companies, the 7th and the 15th, of Royal Engineers arrived from England to build the canal. The 15th remained in Bytown, and was discharged in 1831 [Billings 1909]. On 29 May 1832, the canal was inaugurated by the steamboat Pumper, renamed Rideau for the occasion, with Colonel By on board accompanied by a group of friends [Mika 1982]. In 1853, the canal was handed over to the provincial government, and the canal lands were transferred in 1857 [Billings 1909]. The canal is 123.5 miles long, with 24 dams and 47 locks. The locks are all 134 feet long and 33 feet wide, with a minimum depth of five feet over the sill. Vessels up to 110 feet in length, having a beam of 30 feet, can be accommodated [Haig 1975].
Rideau Street
Rideau street in Lower Bytown was laid out in the summer of 1827 [Elliott 1991]. Named after the Rideau river, this street was planned by Colonel By as a thoroughfare 99 feet wide (one and a half chains) [Brault 1946, Haig 1975].
Roads
In 1819, a road was opened from Richmond landing, below the Chaudière falls, to the Richmond settlement in the township of Goulbourn, and it later became a continuation of Wellington street in Upper Bytown. Colonel By, who needed to transport building materials used in the construction of the canal, built another road, extending from the Chaudière falls to the canal, and along the canal to Hog’s Back [Brault 1946].
In 1826, Anthony Swalwell, a civil engineer, surveyed and superintended the opening of roads from Bytown to Long Island on the Rideau river and from Bytown to L’Orignal on the Ottawa river [Bond 1968]. In 1840, the road from Bytown to L’Orignal was used to set up the first mail service between these two communities, and people called it the Post road. It ran along the south shore of the Ottawa river through Plantagenet, Clarence Point and Cumberland. Around 1843 work began on making this road more suitable for horses and wagons [Laporte 1982].
Eventually, it was extended to Lachine near Montreal, and Archibald Petrie of Cumberland, who represented Russell County in the first and second parliaments of United Canada from 1841 to 1848 [IADC 1881], succeeded in procuring a government grant of four thousand pounds to complete its construction [MacKenzie 1990]. The section of the Montreal road – as it came to be known – that linked Cumberland and Gloucester townships to Bytown was completed during the winter of 1850 [Legros 1949].
Royal Engineers
Colonel John By arrived with the Royal Engineers in 1827. They pitched their tents on Nepean point, remaining there until the barracks were erected on the hill in Upper Bytown, and began construction of the canal locks, the Sappers bridge and the Deep Cut [Lett 1993]. The Royal Engineers were an officer corps of the British Army, and the Sappers and Miners worked under their direction [Elliott 2008].
Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society
Bytown’s Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste was established in 1853, and its first president was Dr. Cléophas Beaubien [Lamoureux 1978]. It was a French Canadian patriotic association placed under the patronage of St. John the Baptist [TCE].
Sally Street
Sally street, later renamed Lyon, was named after Nicholas Sparks’ wife. It was widened between Sparks and Wellington streets to form a market square, and there Nicholas Sparks built a market house [Elliott 1991].
Sandy Hill
Sandy Hill became the third neighbourhood of Bytown, after Lower Town and Upper Town. In 1828, Louis Theodore Besserer, a notary in Quebec City who had served in the War of 1812, inherited from his brother a large parcel of land described as lot C in concession D of the township of Nepean. It was bounded on the east by the Rideau river, on the west by Ottawa (now Waller) street, on the south by Theodore (later Laurier) street, and on the north by Rideau street. The original land grantees, in October 1828, were “Lieutenant René-Léonard Besserer, deceased, and Louis-Théodore Besserer, his eldest brother and heir-at-law” [Brault 1946]. The land between Ottawa street and the Rideau canal belonged to Nicholas Sparks [Woods 1980]. The By estate eventually owned the 600 acres (less the canal reserve) located south of the Besserer and Sparks properties [Scott 1911]. In 1838, Anthony Swalwell surveyed the tract of land owned by Louis Theodore Besserer, and the resulting subdivision, named Besserer Place, was later known as Sandy Hill [Elliott 1991]. Besserer had a house built for his family in the middle of his subdivision, on the northeast corner of Daly and King streets.
Sappers and Miners
In 1827, two companies of Royal Sappers and Miners arrived from England to build the Rideau canal. The 15th company arrived on 1 June 1827, and the 7th company on 17 September of the same year. The 15th remained in Bytown, and was discharged in 1831 [Billings 1909, Haig, 1975, Lett 1993]. The Royal Sappers and Miners were military artificers or skilled labourers, who worked under the direction of the Royal Engineers [Elliott 2008]. A number of Sappers and Miners were appointed to work on the first eight locks in Bytown. Among them were lockmaster William Addison, mason George Sims, miner Robert Clements, wheeler John Porteous, miner Michael Rowe, carpenter John Smith, carpenter Thomas Hunter and miner Daniel Boyle [Hirsch 1982].
Sappers Bridge
The Sappers bridge was constructed as a link between Lower Town and Upper Town [IHACC, Welch 1979a]. The Royal Sappers and Miners began building it in 1827, and it was completed in 1830 [Billings 1909]. It was a great stone arch, with its eastern end connected directly to Rideau street, whereas its western extremity joined a wagon trail winding towards Wellington and Bank streets, and continuing in a westerly direction across Pooley’s bridge to the Union bridge at the Chaudière falls. After 1849, the Sappers bridge was connected directly to Sparks street in Upper Bytown [Haig 1975].
Schools
Schooling was a private matter for the first pioneers of Bytown. Colonel By provided private schooling for his two daughters, one being taught by a Miss Knapp, the other by James Maloney [Mika 1982]. In 1828, it was still the rule to send Bytown children to schools located in Wrightstown (later Hull) [Kenny 1901b].
The first Common School Act, passed in 1816, provided for the election of school trustees in each township. Passed in 1841, Hon. S.B. Harrison’s bill made provision for grants to counties based on their average school attendance. Two years later, Sir Francis Hincks’ amendment was passed, initiating the system of dividing townships into school sections. The education of children in Bytown depended on private enterprise until about 1844, at which time the Harrison and Hincks school acts of 1841 and 1843 were implemented. In 1844, the Rev. Dr. Egerton Ryerson was appointed to the office of assistant superintendent of education, and he framed a School bill [IHACC].
The first school in Bytown was opened on Rideau street, near the Bywash, in the summer of 1827. It was moved a few years later to a log building at the corner of Mosgrove and St. Paul (now Besserer) streets. It remained in Sandy Hill until 1838, when it was transferred to larger quarters on Clarence street in Lower Town [Woods 1980]. This was a private school, and it was opened by James Maloney [Jamieson 1910].
In 1836, Hugh Hagan had a school on Murray street near Sussex [Jamieson 1910], and in 1837 he opened an English and Commercial Academy in a little wooden house on Sussex street [Hill 1922a, Brault 1981]. In 1838, Zoé Masson opened a private school solely for French Canadians, the first of its kind in Bytown [Brault 1946, Haig 1975]. Mr. Moffat had a school on York street, between Sussex and the market square; he taught advanced scholars. Mr. Duggan taught school on William street for one year, and was succeeded by Mr. McCullough, who afterwards became a Methodist clergyman. Mrs. Patterson had a school for young ladies on Rideau street, opposite Nicholas, from some time in the 1830s until 1844. P.A. Egleson came to Bytown in 1836, and after the Rebellion of 1837 he ran the Union school located on George street for ten years; it was one of the county schools; in 1848 Egleson went into business. In 1844, Miss Playter opened a boarding and day school for young ladies at the corner of Clarence and Cumberland streets, and in 1849 it was moved to Rideau street. From about 1850 to 1859, Mr. McKibbon kept a school for boys and girls on Dalhousie street [Jamieson 1910].
In 1835, Miss Playter established a seminary for young ladies on Sparks street near the English church. In 1837, Dr. W.R. Honey, on Vittoria street, was both a physician and a school teacher, and during the same year, Mrs. Kain and Miss Price also conducted a school in Upper Town, with French and English, as well as fancy work, music and drawing [Hill 1922a]. Around 1838, Mr. McKenzie and his wife came to Bytown from Perth, Upper Canada, and opened a school in a stone house at the corner of Wellington and Bay streets. There was a school for boys on Lyon street, taught by James Elder, a Scotchman, in his frame house, then known as the academy. In the early 1840s, Mr. Robertson had a school on Vittoria street, and on this street Miss Anderson taught a primary school. Also in the early 1840s, Alexander Gibb opened a school for boys in Upper Town; later he became a lawyer. In 1845, a seminary for young ladies was opened by Miss Fraser, a daughter of the Rev. Mr. Fraser, Presbyterian minister of Lanark, Canada West; she was assisted by her three sisters, and the seminary was moved in 1852 to a new frame house on Sparks street. Later in the 1840s Miss Ross had a primary school on Wellington street. Miss Wilson had a school for young ladies in Upper Town, and on Wellington street near Bay, Miss Lett also had a school for young ladies. On the corner of Bank and Wellington streets Mr. Dowler taught a private school, which was moved to Sparks street in 1851 [Jamieson 1910].
Mr. Lemmon, from Belfast, had a school for advanced pupils on St. Paul street. In the early 1840s, Mrs. Motherwell also had a primary school on St. Paul street, as did Mr. Robinson. In 1848-49, Miss Fuller, from New England, conducted a school for girls on Daly street. Around 1851 another school for girls was opened at the corner of Daly and Cumberland streets; Miss Tracey was in charge of it. Yet another was opened on Ottawa (later Waller) street, and was taught by Miss Murray, who came to Bytown in 1854 [Jamieson 1910].
What we now call secondary or high schools were known as district or grammar schools in the mid-nineteenth century. The first such school in Bytown, known as the Dalhousie district grammar school, was established in 1843, and the headmaster was Thomas Wardrope, a young divinity student from Kingston. The first trustees, whose names were Strong, Phelan, Aumond, Cruikshank and Playter, had been appointed in December of 1842 [Brault 1946]. The school board had no school building, so it rented a two-storey house on Ottawa street near Daly, and classes began in the autumn of 1843 [Woods 1980]. The curriculum included Greek, Latin, reading, writing, English grammar, history, arithmetic, bookkeeping, geography and mathematics [Brault 1946]. Mr. Wardrope held office until 1845, and was succeeded by Rev. John Robb, of Chambly, from 1845 to 1850, and by Mr. William Aird Ross from 1850 to 1856. In 1851, the school was moved to a wooden building, located at the corner of Elgin and Albert streets in Upper Town [IHACC, Jamieson 1910].
In the fall of 1844, the council of the district of Dalhousie opened a model school. In December of the same year, work began on the construction of a stone schoolhouse at the corner of Duke and Queen streets in Upper Bytown. The model school was intended as a model by which to build school houses. The first teacher was Mr. Carey, who later became an Anglican clergyman. He was succeeded by Mr. Healey, who later became a bookseller and stationer. His successor was John Wilson, who later entered the legal profession. In 1854, the principal was William Stewart, who continued there until his death, in 1874. On 2 October 1848, this same school became a common school [IHACC, Jamieson 1910, Blyth 1925, Brault 1946, Dewar 1989].
In 1845, the Grey nuns opened a school where French and English were taught on an equal footing; this school later became the Rideau street convent (Couvent Notre-Dame du Sacré-Coeur) [Brault 1946]. In July of 1848, Bishop Guigues established St. Joseph’s College in Lower Bytown, placing it in the charge of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. It was a bilingual institution, and in 1849 it was renamed College of Bytown. It later became the University of Ottawa [Haig 1975]. At first, the college was located in a small three-story wooden building close to Notre Dame cathedral. This building was demolished around 1854. In 1852, the college was moved to a stone building at the corner of Guigues and Sussex streets. In 1856, the college was moved into another stone building in Sandy Hill [Hurtubise 1989].
At the time of the first project of incorporation of the city, in 1847, three school sections were proposed for Bytown, namely the West Ward school in the basement of the Temperance hall on Elgin street near Sparks, the North Ward school and the South Ward school. Later known as St. George’s Ward common school, the South Ward school was opened on 1 May 1849 in a house on Daly street, near Cumberland. Mr. James Fraser was the first teacher. He continued to have charge of the school until July 1855. Mr. Fraser’s successor was Mr. Pritchard. Initially, the school board had no buildings of its own, so its seven schools were located in rented rooms [Jamieson 1910, Brault 1946].
In August 1848, a board of trustees of common schools was appointed for Bytown, as follows: Daniel O’Connor, Edward Smith, John Bédard, Richard Stethem, John Chitty and Isaac McTaggart [Welch 1978]. In 1854, the public school trustees in Bytown were Peter Tompkins, John Scott and Arthur Allen [IHACC].
Sheriff
Edward Malloch served as sheriff of Bytown for many years [Elliott 1991]. In 1847, the sheriff was Simon Fraser [Moffatt 1986].
Shiners
The Shiners, whose reign of terror lasted seven or eight years, were old country raftsmen trying to drive French Canadian raftsmen out of the lumber trade [Lett 1993]. After the completion of the Rideau canal in 1832, there was an employment crisis in the Ottawa country, as well as vicious competition among the timber operators. The labour force had consisted of French Canadians until the heavy Irish immigration of the 1820s. Some were employed cutting oak and were called “chêneurs” (French word meaning oak cutters); this word became “Shiners” in the local slang. The Shiners were disorganized until Peter Aylen appeared in 1835. The resulting violence, known as the Shiners’ war, began in 1828 and lasted until 1843. It was at its peak from 1835 to 1837 [Brennan, Cross 1873].
Ship Fever
The severe epidemic of typhus which broke out in Bytown in 1847 was generally known as the ship fever or emigrant fever [Small 1903].
Sidewalks
The first continuous plank sidewalk in Bytown was laid in 1845 on the south side of Rideau street, between Little Sussex and Nicholas streets, as well as up Nicholas almost as far as Daly. As of 1849, there was a sidewalk on the south side of Sparks street. On 23 September 1850, construction of a sidewalk on the south side of York street was authorized, and on 9 June 1851, sidewalk construction was authorized for St. Patrick, Rideau, Murray and Sussex streets. By 1854, there were some ten miles of boardwalks, allowing pedestrians to circumvent the mud and dirt of the streets [Blyth 1925, Brault 1946, Haig 1975].
Slater Street
Slater street in Upper Bytown was named after James D. Slater, superintendent of the Rideau canal [Brault 1942].
Sleigh Bay
Sleigh bay, later called Entrance bay and Rafting bay, marked the beginning of the Rideau canal in Bytown. This bay was first named in 1818 to commemorate the wedding of Philemon Wright’s son, which took place there because the justice of the peace who came from Perth for the occasion had no authority to perform a marriage in Lower Canada. Sleighs had been used to reach the sheltered bay on the south shore of the river [Haig 1975].
Slide Dues
Early on, the only timber taken down the Ottawa river was square timber. It was floated in rafts down to Quebec City, to be exported to the British market. The agent in the crown timber office located in Upper Bytown issued limits and collected slide dues [Blyth 1925]. Squared timber rafts were comprised of cribs small enough to pass down the timber slides built at the Chaudière falls. The rafts were broken up and reassembled at each passage through such slides [Taylor 1986].
Slides
In September of 1836, George Buchanan opened the first timber slide on the south side of the Chaudière falls. Built between the Victoria and Chaudière islands, it replaced the narrow channel which had been dredged in 1827, and soon many cribs were being sent down the chute on a daily basis. The slide started three hundred yards above the falls, and covered three quarters of a mile in stages, each stage ending in a level stretch [Brault 1946, Haig 1975, Mika 1982]. In 1845, the government’s board of works transformed its unused timber channel into a slide. The two slides on the south side of the falls competed so much with the slide which Ruggles Wright had constructed in 1829 on the north side of the falls, that Wright’s slide was sold to the government in 1849 [Brault 1946].
Slides Bridge
The Union bridge which was built at the Chaudière falls consisted of a series of seven bridges; the first two spanned the slides and were called the Slides bridge.
Social Events
In Bytown, theatrical performances were produced as early as 1837 in a room fitted up as a theatre in the barracks of the 15th regiment. A dramatic club founded in 1850 played in the West Ward market building on Elgin street, and Her Majesty’s Theatre was built in 1854, on Wellington street, seating one thousand people [Brault 1946, Haig 1975, Watt 1982, Lett 1993]. Concerts, lectures and soirées were also held on the upper level of the Temperance hall built in 1849 [Blyth 1925]. A fair was held in Bytown on the second Tuesday in April, and on the third Wednesday in September [Smith 1846]. The annual fireman’s ball held around New Year’s was the social event of the season [Graham 1922].
South Ward
The South Ward was located in Lower Bytown, south of York street to Ann street and east of King street [Taylor 1986].
Sparks Street
Sparks street in Upper Bytown was named after Nicholas Sparks [Brault 1946].
Sports
The favourite spot for ball games and cricket was the pasture north of Wellington street on Barrack hill. In the winter, snowshoeing and skating were popular [Mika 1982]. In the 1840s, coasting down the hills in the wintertime was popular among young boys and girls, who used coasting sleighs that were built to order or made at home [Cluff 1922]. A rowing club was organized by some of the town’s wealthy gentlemen, and in 1851 the Bytown curling club was established. A cricket team was also organized around this time [Mika 1982].
Square Timber
Until 1850, the only timber taken down the Ottawa river was square timber. It was floated in rafts down to Quebec City, to be exported to the British market [Blyth 1925]. Cut trees were squared in the bush by men using a scoring axe and broadaxe [Bedore 1975]. Squaring a tree was wasteful; it left 25 per cent of the tree on the forest floor [Adams 1981]. Squared pine timber rafts were comprised of cribs small enough to pass down the timber slides built at the Chaudière falls; the rafts were broken up and reassembled at each such passage, and the men ate and slept on the rafts [Taylor 1986]. After 1850, the demand in the Ottawa valley shifted from square timber destined for Great Britain to sawn lumber sent to the United States [Mika 1982].
Squatters
There were squatter settlements on lot letter “O” in Lower Bytown and on the By estate south of Sandy Hill [Elliott 1991]. Isaac Firth and Andrew Berry were squatters at the landing below the Chaudière falls, as was Jehiel Collins [Jenkins 1996, Mika 1982]. There were canal labourers, many of them Irish, squatting in Corkstown, and there were also squatters at the edges of the Lower Town swamp and on the banks of the Rideau river [Taylor 1986].
Stages
Before proper roads were opened, stages travelled to Montreal only during the winter, once a proper thickness of ice had been formed on the Ottawa river. In 1846, the firm of McCargar, Wilson & Co. in South Gower advertised a four-horse covered stage, with springs, for three dollars each way between Bytown and Prescott [Brault 1946]. In the winter, the only way into town or out of town was by stage to Montreal or to Prescott. Before 1854, the stage from Prescott to Bytown ran all year [Cluff 1922].
Staves
Normally made of white oak, staves were one and a half inches thick, five inches wide and five and a half feet long [Woods 1980].
Steamboats
Steamboats, also known as steamers, were used by forwarders to ship goods and commodities up and down the Rideau canal, the Ottawa river and the St. Lawrence. In addition to freight, steamers also carried passengers. Two of the steamboat captains who did business on the canal were Robert Drummond and Thomas J. Jones. Drummond built the steamer Pumper, and owned the Rideau and the Margaret. A small boat called the Endeavour was put in service on the Grenville-Bytown route, but the venture was not a success [Hill 1922a]. On 4 November 1848, the Phoenix was built and launched in Wrightstown, and under Captain Andrew Patterson it replaced the Speed as the royal mail steamer, making daily daylight trips, except on Sundays, between Bytown and Grenville [Lamirande 1982]. In 1850, the Prince Albert was described as the best steamboat on the Rideau. Owned by Hooker and Henderson of Kingston, it was sold at auction in Bytown during that same year [Bush 1981]. Before construction of the Rideau canal had even started, the history of steamboats on the Ottawa river was already underway. In the summer of 1823, the Union of the Ottawa was put into service between the head of the Long Sault and Wright’s settlement at the Chaudière falls [Bond 1966]. It was the first steamer on the Ottawa, and early in November 1822, Captain William Grant had arrived in Hawkesbury from Montreal with four men to start building the Union. Grant was employed as Captain of the Union, which was taken over by Captain Johnson in 1828 [Lamirande 1982]. The owners of the Union were William Shepherd and Charles Campbell of Quebec City, Philemon Wright and Sons of Wrightstown, and Thomas Mears and William Grant of Hawkesbury. The engineer was John Cochrane [Girouard 1892]. The Union’s run from Grenville to Wrightstown took about 34 hours. This service aided the settlement and commerce of the entire region [Greening 1961].
In 1830, Molson and Sons of Montreal launched the Shannon to service the Grenville-Bytown run, competing with the William King and the Union. In 1831, the Molson and the Mears interests merged, and the Shannon, with its two engines, continued to ply the Grenville-Bytown run, under Captain William Kain, and later under Captain Lighthall. In the winter of 1834-35, the Montreal and Ottawa Steamboat Company was expanded and reorganized as the Ottawa and Rideau Forwarding Company, operating the steamers Shannon, Ottawa and St. Andrews [Hill 1922a, Bush 1981, Lamirande 1982]. In 1837, as a result of complaints made against the Ottawa and Rideau Forwarding Company for monopolizing navigation between Montreal, Kingston and Bytown, the Bytown Mutual Forwarding Company was established, mainly for the conveyance of freight [Brault 1946].
Stewart Street
Stewart street was laid out in Sandy Hill in 1850, as far east as King street (later renamed King Edward) [Haig 1975]. It was named after Dr. James Stewart, Louis Theodore Besserer’s physician [Small 1903, Brault 1942].
Stirling’s Wharf
In 1827, Colonel By built a wharf just east of the entrance to the canal, at the foot of the locks, and a path meandered from the wharf up to Sussex street in Lower Town [Brault 1946, Taylor 1986, Elliott 1991]. Located at the western end of St. Patrick street, this wharf was later known as Stirling’s wharf after the nearby Stirling brewery [Brault 1981].
Stoney Monday
The riots which occurred on 17 September 1849 in Lower Town, and which had the effect of defeating the scheme of the liberals to invite Lord Elgin to Bytown, were later remembered as Stoney Monday [IHACC].
St. Patrick Street
St. Patrick street in Lower Bytown was named after the patron saint of Ireland [Brault 1946].
St. Paul Street
St. Paul street, now called Besserer, was opened by Nicholas Sparks in 1841, and ran south of Rideau street and east of the canal [Brault 1981].
Streets
In 1827, the three main streets were Rideau and Sussex in Lower Bytown, and Wellington in Upper Bytown [IHACC]. On 8 January 1831, a meeting of forty inhabitants unanimously approved the idea of statute labour for road and street construction. In March 1836, a street surveyor was appointed for Bytown [Brault 1946]. The dirt streets of Bytown were turned into a sea of mud by spring slush and summer rain, and clouds of dust would rise during dry periods [Haig 1975]. With the organization of the district of Dalhousie in 1842, streets and roads were placed under the jurisdiction of a township path master appointed by the district council. With the incorporation of Bytown in 1847/1850, this duty was vested in the hands of a street surveyor [Brault 1946]. In Lower Bytown, York street was macadamized between Sussex and Dalhousie streets on 9 June 1851 [Haig 1975].
Sundials
The sundial on Barrack hill was made by a private named Thomas Smith [Van Cortlandt 1990]. A sundial built by Father Jean-François Allard can still be seen at the southwest corner of the mother house of the Sisters of Charity (Grey nuns), completed in 1850 on Sussex street [Brault 1981].
Superintending Engineer
On 14 August 1832, Colonel By was replaced as superintending engineer of the Rideau canal by Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel Bolton, and Bolton was in turn replaced in 1847 by Colonel Thompson, followed in 1850 by Colonel Ford, and in 1852 by Colonel Clayton [Billings 1909, Brault 1946, Haig 1975]. Captain Chayter was superintending engineer from 1853 to 1856 [Hirsch 1982].
Surveying
On 13 September 1793, the deputy surveyor, John Stegman of York (Toronto), was instructed to survey four townships, north of the counties of Leeds and Grenville, which he designated A, B, C and D. Later they were known as Osgoode, Gloucester, North Gower and Nepean. “D” was Nepean [Burns 1981]. The outlines of the township of Nepean were surveyed by John Stegman in 1794. A new survey was begun in 1823 by John McNaughton of Charlottenburgh, and completed by Asa Landon, William Campbell, William Graves and Reuben Sherwood. Anthony Swalwell resurveyed parts of the Rideau lots for Colonel By, but the Rideau lot lines continued to be a source of argument and litigation for decades [Elliott 1991].
Suspension Bridge
Designed by Samuel Keefer, the suspension bridge at the Chaudière falls opened on 17 September 1844 [Haig 1975].
Sussex Street
Sussex street in Lower Bytown was named after the Duke of Sussex, sixth son of George III [Brault 1946].
Swamp Fever
Swamp fever, a type of malaria, broke out in Bytown in 1828 [Haig 1975].
Swing Bridge
In 1827, ropes were stretched across the channel below the Chaudière falls, and the first footway, called the Swing bridge, was constructed [Lett 1993].
Taverns
Firth’s wife ran a popular tavern at the landing below the Chaudière falls [Mika 1982], and alcoholic beverages were readily available in Bytown’s inns and hotels, those in Lower Bytown being particularly numerous and well frequented.
Tax Collectors
In early Bytown, Lord Dalhousie recommended that Angus McGillivray keep a register of deeds and leases, and collect rents on a commission basis. In 1847, James Matthews was in office as tax collector [Brault 1946].
Telegraph
The need for a telegraph line was raised by Mr. Barry in February 1847, and a joint stock company was formed, the contract being given to John A. Torney [Van Cortlandt 1990]. The first telegraph operator was Mr. Batson [Blyth 1925]. The first telegraph from the outside world was received in Bytown on 9 March 1850 [Mika 1982].
Temperance
The Irish Catholic Temperance Society was founded in Bytown in 1845 [IHACC]. There was also a Bytown division of the Sons of Temperance, and it held lectures and concerts in the old town hall, which occupied the second storey of the West Ward market on Elgin street in Upper Bytown [Haig 1975]. Father Molloy headed the Catholic Temperance Society [Mika 1982].
Temperance Hall
Erected in 1849, the Temperance hall was a large frame building with a stone basement. It was used for a school and by the Sons of Temperance. The upper hall was used for concerts, lectures and soirées [Blyth 1925].
Theatre
The first recorded theatrical performance in Bytown occurred on 6 and 7 February 1837, and was produced at the barracks by soldiers of the 15th regiment in a room tastefully fitted up as a theatre. The play was The Village Lawyer, and the proceeds went to charity. In the same year, the Garrison club produced three plays in the barracks, donating the proceeds to charity. The plays were Blue Devils, Haunted House, and Lovers’ Quarrels [Brault 1946, Watt 1982].
The first dramatic club was founded in 1850, and played in Bytown’s old town hall, which occupied the second storey of the West Ward market building on Elgin street. This amateur dramatic company was organized by William Pittman Lett, and presented plays for three seasons [Brault 1946, Haig 1975, Watt 1982, Lett 1993].
In 1854, a suitable building for Bytown’s dramatic productions was erected on Wellington street, and it seated one thousand people. It was called Her Majesty’s Theatre. The Metropolitan Dramatic Association produced such classics as Richelieu, as well as efforts by local talent, such as To Prescott and Back for Five Shillings [Brault 1946, Watt 1982].
Theodore Street
Theodore street in Bytown’s Sandy Hill neighbourhood was named after the second son of Louis Theodore Besserer, and was later renamed Laurier [Brault 1942].
Timber
During the 1840s, the gradual depletion of forests along the Lower Ottawa and Rideau began to shift cutting to the Ottawa river above Bytown [Irwin 1997]. Until 1850, the only timber taken down the Ottawa river was square timber. It was floated in rafts down to Quebec City, to be exported to the British market. A crown timber agent issued limits and collected slide dues [Blyth 1925]. Squared pine timber rafts were comprised of cribs small enough to pass down the timber slides built at the Chaudière falls; the rafts were broken up and reassembled at each such passage; the men ate and slept on the rafts. The timber trade was marked by alternate periods of prosperity and depression from its inception [Taylor 1986]. After 1850, the demand in the Ottawa valley shifted from square timber destined for Great Britain to sawn lumber sent to the United States [Mika 1982].
Town Clerk
The first town clerk, in 1848, was John Atkins. He was succeeded in turn by John George Bell, Francis Scott and Edmund Burke [IHACC].
Town Council
The first town council, in 1848, included John Scott as mayor, the councillors being Thomas Corcoran, Nicholas Sparks, N.S. Blasdell, Henry J. Friel and Jean Bédard [IHACC]. See also: Council Meetings.
Town Hall
In 1849, Nicholas Sparks sponsored a successful motion, at a town council meeting, for the upper storey of the West Ward market building on Elgin street to be used as a town hall [Haig 1975].
Treasurer
Édouard Massé/Masse was the treasurer of Bytown in 1848 [Brault 1946, Lamoureux 1978]. Daniel O’Connor was the first treasurer of the district of Dalhousie [IHACC].
Turning Basin
The canal basin above the eighth lock in Bytown served as a turning basin, also called a lay-by [Taylor 1986].
Typhus
A severe epidemic of typhus broke out in Bytown in 1847. It was generally known as the emigrant or ship fever, and 314 deaths were recorded in Bytown between mid-June and late August. That summer 3,100 immigrants reached Bytown. The landing place and the immigrant sheds were located at the canal basin [Small 1903]. The governor-in-council appointed a Board of health on the 10th of July. The disease prevailed from June 1847 to May 1848, and all public buildings were closed from June to October [Moffatt 1986].
Undertakers
Bytown’s first undertakers were John Blythe and Donald Kennedy. They were partners, and their establishment was located in Upper Bytown. They made furniture of every description. Blythe was a cabinetmaker [Campbell 1986]. Charles Laporte was an undertaker in Lower Town [Lamoureux 1978].
Union Bridge
In 1842, work began on the construction of the Union bridge at the Chaudière falls. This bridge was comprised of seven sections, including the first suspension bridge erected in Canada.
Upper Town
Upper Town was first laid out in lots in 1826 [Kenny 1901b]. By 1850, Wellington, Sparks, Queen, Albert, Slater and Maria streets were laid out, and lots were surveyed and placed on the market for sale [Cluff 1922]. Upper Town had its Anglo-Protestant gentry, with many substantial homes built on the freehold land of Nicholas Sparks [Taylor 1986].
Victoria Island
One of the Chaudière islands was named Victoria. The fairly large island just north of it was called Chaudière.
Victoria Terrace
Wellington street became George street and then Victoria terrace before running into the Richmond road. Houses were built down Victoria terrace and Albert street toward the Richmond road [Elliott 1991].
Vittoria Street
Vittoria street in Upper Bytown ran north of Wellington street and parallel to it, and then curved southwards; it was later renamed Lyon [Mika 1982]. It was named after a Spanish city, and commemorated the Duke of Wellington’s victory in 1813 [Brault 1946].
Wards
As of 1847, Bytown had three wards. Upper Town occupied the West Ward (west of the canal). Lower Town had two wards, namely the North Ward (north of York street and west of King street), and the South Ward (south of York street to Ann street and east of King street). As of 1850, Upper Town occupied the West Ward as before, and Lower Town had two newly divided wards, namely the Central Ward (west of Dalhousie street), and the East Ward (east of Dalhousie street) [Taylor 1986].
Water
In the early days of Bytown, people obtained their water from the Ottawa river. The military detachment on Barrack hill established a means of drawing water from the river using a hand cart. An excellent spring of fresh water bubbled forth on the property donated by Nicholas Sparks for the erection of a court house and jail east of the canal [Hill 1922a]. Some people in Lower Bytown got their water from the Bywash running along King street. Later a well was drilled. In October of 1840, another well was drilled at the corner of Wellington and Kent streets in Upper Bytown, where a few springs could also be found on Bank street. On 9 February 1843, a pump was installed in Lower Town’s market place. Getting water to people’s homes was another matter. Enterprising individuals began carrying and selling water by the barrel [Brault 1946, Mika 1982].
Water Street
Initially named Bolton, this street in Lower Bytown was then called Nunnery, and then renamed Water [Brault 1942]. There was also a Water street in Upper Bytown. It was later renamed Bay [Mika 1982].
Waugh Street
Waugh street, named after Caldwell Waugh, a merchant, was later renamed Slater after James D. Slater, son-in-law of Nicholas Sparks [Elliott 1991].
Wellington Street
Named in honour of the Duke of Wellington, the first street in Upper Bytown extended westward into George street, and then into Victoria terrace, before running into the Richmond road [Haig 1975, Elliott 1991]. This street was planned by Colonel By as a thoroughfare 99 feet (one and a half chains) wide [Haig 1975].
West Ward
The West Ward was located in Upper Bytown [Graham 1922].
Wharves
In 1827, Colonel By built a wharf just east of the entrance to the canal, at the foot of the locks, and a path meandered from the wharf up to Sussex street in Lower Town [Brault 1946, Taylor 1986, Elliott 1991]. James Fitzgibbon leased the wharf and began to operate it as a private enterprise [Mika 1982]. Located at the western end of St. Patrick street, this wharf was later known as Stirling’s wharf after the nearby Stirling brewery [Brault 1981]. A cholera hospital was hastily built in 1832, on Sussex street, where the Royal Canadian Mint was later built, and a special wharf was constructed directly below the cholera hospital on the east side of the locks. It was known as the cholera wharf, and later as the Queen’s wharf [Tresham 1993].
Wilbrod Street
Wilbrod street in Bytown’s Sandy Hill neighbourhood was named after the eldest son of Louis Theodore Besserer [Brault 1942].
William Street
William street in Lower Bytown was named after William IV [Brault 1942].
Women’s Groups
In May 1845, the Society of the Ladies of Charity was organized by a group of Catholic and Protestant women. The following year, the Protestant ladies separated from the Ladies of Charity, but the organization, which was renamed St. Elizabeth Society (Société Sainte-Élisabeth), continued to sew and repair garments for the poor [Brault 1946].
Workers
Labourers were described as of inferior abilities to the average workman on the canal works. Skilled labourers were paid a daily rate. Contractors received different rates for excavating soil and rock, for puddling and embanking, and for other activities. Drivers with teams of oxen or horses were usually recruited among nearby settlers or farmers in Lower Canada, and since there were few such carters, they tended to receive good wages. Clearing the land and removing trees and brush with axes was often done by French Canadian workers, whereas moving large volumes of earth and rock with pick and shovel was often left to Irish labourers [Wylie 2008].
Wrightstown
Philemon Wright came to Canada from Massachusetts in 1800, and established an agricultural settlement on the north shore of the Ottawa river at the Chaudière falls. This settlement became Wrightstown, and was later renamed Hull [Taylor 1986].
York Street
York street in Lower Bytown was named after the Duke of York, second son of George III [Brault 1946]. It was macadamized between Sussex and Dalhousie streets on 9 June 1851 [Haig 1975].