A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U-Z
Addison, William
William Addison was among the Sappers and Miners who were appointed to work on the first eight locks in Bytown [Hirsch 1982]. As a lockmaster, he looked after the locks and operated them.
Allard, Jean-François
Jean-François Allard was born in France in 1807. He entered the order of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, and was ordained priest around 1830. He arrived in Canada in 1843, and came to Bytown, where he remained until 1851. He built a sundial that 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. He died in Rome on 26 September 1889 [Allaire 1910, Brault 1981].
Ansley, Amos
Amos Ansley, the seventh child of Amos Ansley, a Loyalist from New York who settled in Upper Canada, and Christina McMichael, was baptized on 25 January 1801 in Kingston. He was educated at the university of Edinburgh, graduating on 14 January 1822, and was appointed to the Church of England’s mission of Hull in Lower Canada and March in Upper Canada. He arrived in Hull in 1823, became a deacon in 1824, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1826 by Bishop Charles James Stewart of Quebec City. Mr. Ansley married Harriet Kirkpatrick Henderson in 1826 [Westfall 1988].
Atkins, John
The first town clerk, in 1848, was John Atkins [IHACC].
Aumond, Joseph
Joseph Aumond was born in L’Assomption, Lower Canada, on 21 March 1810. He was a son of Ignace Aumont and Euphrosine Robichault. He came to Bytown in 1828 to manage a store for the Montreal firm of J.D. Bernard [Woods 1980]. A couple of years later, he set up his own store, and soon engaged in lumbering, building one the largest steam sawmills in Canada. He was a member of the Ottawa Lumber Association when it was established in 1836, and became the first president of the Bytown and Montreal Telegraph Company in 1849. He was also one of the directors of the Bytown and Prescott Railway Company, and was prominent in the Bytown Mechanics Institute. In addition, he rose to the rank of colonel in the 4th battalion of the Carleton militia. In the business slumps of 1848-49 and 1854, he suffered heavy losses. His operations continued, but on a much smaller scale [Pilon 1972]. He married Jane Cummings, daughter of John Cummings and Eliza Mowbry, on 21 April 1833 in Bytown’s Notre Dame church [Anon. 1983, Newton 1990]. Joseph’s wife Jane was 58 years old when she died in Ottawa on 20 February 1875 [Newton 1990]. Joseph died at his residence in Ottawa on 9 November 1879. He was buried in Notre Dame Cemetery.
Aylen, Peter
Born in 1799 in Liverpool, England, Peter Aylen came to Canada around 1815. By 1832, his residence was in the township of Nepean, Upper Canada. He was a timberer on the Gatineau river until 1843. He married Eleanor, sister of William and John Thomson, two major Nepean timberers. Aylen, who was an ambitious man, adopted violence as a business strategy against competitors, and made use of Irish labourers after the completion of the Rideau canal. As “king of the Shiners” he controlled Lower Bytown from about 1835 to 1837. He then realized that his days of glory were counted, and he moved to a farm on the north side of the Ottawa river, where he continued his timber business. He became a respectable citizen, and died in Aylmer, Canada East, probably in October 1868 [Cross 1976a].
Baird, Nicol Hugh
In July 1828, Nicol Hugh Baird arrived in Bytown to replace John Mc- Taggart as clerk of works on Colonel By’s staff [Grierson 1996]. Born in Glasgow on 26 August 1796, he was the eldest son of Hugh Baird and Margaret Burnthwaite, and became a civil engineer. He was the clerk of works from 1827 to 1830 [Hirsch 1982]. On 21 September 1831, he married Mary Telfer White, daughter of Andrew White. She died in Montreal on 20 August 1847, and he died in Vermont in 1849 [Braid 1988].
Baker, George W.
George W. Baker, a captain in the Royal Artillery, came to Canada in 1832, and settled in Bytown. He succeeded Matthew Connell as postmaster upon the latter’s death in 1834. Baker’s eldest son managed Bytown’s post office for some years, and his second son G.P. took over in 1846 [IHACC]. G.W. Baker had been one of Bytown’s four magistrates in 1837 [Hill 1922a]. He and John Thompson represented the township of Nepean on the first council of the district of Dalhousie in 1842 [Kenny 1901a].
Baker, G.P.
Born in Shooter’s Hill, Woolwich, England in 1822, G.P. Baker was the second son of G.W. Baker, a captain in the Royal Artillery who came to Canada in 1832, settling in Bytown. In 1842, G.P. was appointed clerk of the municipal council of the district of Dalhousie. In 1846 he assumed full charge of Bytown’s post office [IHACC].
Baldwin, William H.
William H. Baldwin was born in Canada around 1808. He arrived in Bytown around 1837, and became the proprietor of the Albion hotel on Nicholas street [Mackay 1851]. He died on 21 February 1864, and his wife Elizabeth died on 6 October 1869 [Newton 1990].
Bareille, Jean
Jean Bareille and Joseph Aumond were business partners in the early days of Bytown. Their mercantile establishment was located on the south side of Rideau street, between Little Sussex and the canal [Hill 1922a]. Born around 1804, Jean was the son of Pierre Bareil and Françoise Morin, and his family name was also spelled Barreille. On 27 October 1829, Jean married Vénérande, daughter of André Bernard and Modeste Doucet, of Montreal. When the 1851 census was taken, Jean was living in the township of Gloucester, east of Bytown, where he owned a lovely stone cottage on a piece of land called Beaumont Farm [Bond 1971, Serré 2004].
Beaubien, Achille
Achille Beaubien was probably the first French Canadian doctor in Bytown. He arrived around 1847, and was only 26 years old when he died in November of 1851. He married Élisabeth Bédard, daughter of pioneer Jean Bédard, on 24 February 1849 in Bytown’s Notre Dame cathedral [Lamoureux 1978]. Élisabeth took a second husband, marrying Andrew Neveu on 2 August 1856 in Ottawa [Anon. 1983].
Beaubien, Cléophas
Born on 21 July 1827 in Lower Canada, Cléophas Beaubien, son of François Trottier de Beaubien and Marie Duval, arrived in Bytown around the age of twelve. He opened a doctor’s office in 1851, and was both surgeon and physician to the general hospital run by the Grey nuns. He served several terms as president of the French Canadian Institute in the 1850s. He was also the first president of Bytown’s Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society. He married Matilda Campbell on 2 February 1856, and died on 15 March 1877 [Lamoureux 1978, Pelletier 2006].
Bédard, Jean
Some time after the collapse of the bridge at the Chaudière falls in 1836, Jean (John) Bédard provided a ferry service between the north and south shores of the Ottawa river [Van Cortlandt 1990]. He represented Lower Town as a councillor on Bytown’s first town council [IHACC]. He died in 1854, and was buried in the Sandy Hill cemetery. His remains were later transferred to Notre Dame cemetery, where his wife, Élisabeth Balfour, who died in 1872, was also buried [Lamoureux 1978].
Bell, John George
John George Bell served as town clerk in Bytown [Lett 1993].
Bell, Robert
Robert Bell was a surveyor, a railway promoter and a newspaperman [Elliott 1991]. Friel and Bell bought the Packet from its founder, Harris; in 1849 Bell became the sole proprietor and changed the paper’s name to the Citizen [IHACC].
Bellows, Caleb T.
Caleb T. Bellows came to Canada from Vermont, and was hired by Jehiel Collins, who ran a store at the Landing below the Chaudière falls. Bellows later purchased the property, and married Jehiel’s sister [Mika 1982].
Bérichon, Isaac
Isaac Bérichon was a son of Isaac Bérichon and Adélaïde Lalonde, and he married Sophie Campeau in Montreal in 1839 [Lamoureux 1978]. He was a carpenter, and came to Bytown in the early 1840s. At one time he was the owner of the Canada hotel, and was also an ensign with the 4th battalion, Carleton militia. He served both as fire warden and chief constable, and was elected alderman in late 1849, subsequently sitting on many committees and boards, including the Board of health [Craske 1992].
Berry, Andrew
In 1819, an inn was opened at the landing below the Chaudière falls by Isaac Firth and Andrew Berry [Elliott 1991].
Besserer, Louis Theodore
Louis Theodore Besserer, son of Johann Theodor Besserer and Marie- Anne Giroux, was born on 4 January 1785 in Château-Richer near Quebec City. He became a notary public, and married Angèle Rhéaume in the church of Notre-Dame-de-Québec on 22 February 1830 [Pontbriand 1963]. From 1833 to 1838, he served as an elected representative in the house of assembly. In 1843, he came to live in Bytown, where in 1828 he had acquired a considerable amount of land south of Rideau street. This land became Bytown’s Sandy Hill neighbourhood [Gravel 1976, Elliott 1991]. Besserer’s house in Bytown was located on the northeast corner of Daly and King streets; it now bears the number 149. Angèle was only 34 years old when she died in Bytown on 5 August 1843 [Neelin 1979]. Louis Theodore took a second wife, marrying Margaret Cameron [Serré 2006]. Louis Theodore died in February of 1861, and was buried in Beechwood Cemetery [Relyea 1991].
Billings, Braddish
Early into the Rideau canal project, Braddish Billings, the initial pioneer of Gloucester township just east of Nepean township, had a contract to cut some timber and build a row of blacksmith shops on the north side of Rideau street in Bytown, between Sussex street and Sappers bridge. Braddish was paid $266.00 in Halifax currency [Kitchen 1996]. He had been born in the United States, and his father Elkanah had brought his family from Ware, Massachusetts in 1792 to settle near Elizabethtown (now Brockville) in Upper Canada. In October 1813, Braddish married Lamira Dow, whose family had come to Upper Canada from Vermont [Gover 1986].
Billings, Elkanah
Born in 1820, Elkanah Billings was a son of Braddish Billings and Lamira Dow. He became a lawyer, and during the 1850s was the editor of the Citizen. Some time later, he moved to Montreal [Gover 1986].
Blasdell, Julius C.
Born in Vermont in 1803, Julius Caesar Blasdell was the third son of Ezra Blasdell and Lydia Ramsdell. On 7 January 1839, he married Margaret, the widow of John Fleming, in Montreal, with the Rev. Dr. Black officiating. In 1849, Julius C. established a steam saw mill in Bytown [Neelin 1979, Mika 1982, Serré 2000].
Blasdell, Nathaniel S.
Born in Vermont in 1801, Nathaniel Sherrold Blasdell was the second son of Ezra Blasdell and Lydia Ramsdell. He became a foundry operator in Bytown, and one of the owners of the Victoria foundry at the Chaudière falls. On 16 January 1854, he married Margaret, eldest daughter of John Wilson and Margaret French, in Cumberland, east of Bytown. Margaret was his second wife; his first wife had been Harriet Cobb. He died in 1870 [Newton 1990, Serré 2008]. N.S. Blasdell represented Upper Town as a councillor on the first town council [Mika 1982]. The firm of Blasdell, Currier & Co. operated a log mill and attached foundry on the mainland at the Chaudière falls in the early 1850s. Blasdell gave up on milling and returned to his smithy and foundry works [Taylor 1986].
Blasdell, Syena
Born in the United States on 5 July 1805, Syena Blasdell was the daughter
of Ezra Blasdell and Lydia Ramsdell. She married Lyman Perkins. She
died on 12 March 1892, and was buried in Hull [Serré 2000].
Blasdell, Thomas M.
Thomas McDonough Blasdell, son of Ezra Blasdell and Lydia Ramsdell, was born in 1817 in Farnham, Lower Canada [FHC]. An engineer and machinist, he established a foundry and machine shop in Bytown in 1848, on Wellington street, where he also had his residence [Sutherland 1866, Wilson 1876].
Bolton, Daniel
Captain Daniel Bolton, who arrived in Montreal in 1826, was Colonel By’s second in command during the construction of the Rideau canal. His quarters in Bytown were destroyed by fire on 26 January 1830. On 14 August 1832, Bolton replaced By as superintending engineer of the canal. He returned to England in 1843, and died in Capetown on 16 May 1860 [Bush 1976].
Boulton, Henry
Henry Boulton was a lawyer. Robert Randall, who had leased 950 acres of land in 1809 at the Chaudière falls, on the south side of the river, lost his property to Boulton, who put the land up for sale; it was purchased by John LeBreton [Jenkins 1996].
Bronson, Henry Franklin
Henry Franklin Bronson and his sons came to Bytown from New York State [Walker 1953]. He and his partner J.J. Harris in the firm of Harris, Bronson & Co. were among the first to saw lumber from mills on the Chaudière islands [Taylor 1986]. In 1853, the firm of Bronson & Weston was established at the Chaudière falls, where it operated a saw mill and had a piling-ground [IHACC].
Bruyère, Élisabeth
Born in L’Assomption, north of Montreal, on 19 March 1818, Élisabeth Bruyère entered the congregation of the Grey nuns of the cross in 1839, taking her vows two years later. She immediately began to teach, and was sent to Bytown in 1845 to establish a hospital, teach children and help the old, the poor and the needy. Mother Bruyère was 58 years old when she died on 5 April 1876 [Campbell 1988].
Buchanan, George
In September of 1836, George Buchanan, one of Bytown’s magistrates, opened the first timber slide on the south side of the Chaudière falls, replacing the narrow channel dredged in 1827; soon many cribs were being sent down the chute on a daily basis [Haig 1975, Mika 1982].
Burke, Edmund
Edmund Burke, son of Colonel Burke of Richmond, served as town clerk in Bytown, and later worked as a newspaperman [IHACC].
Burke, George R.
George R. Burke was the emigration agent for Bytown from 1847 to 1853 [Moffatt 1986, Taylor 1986].
Burke, George T.
Registrar George T. Burke was the former superintendent of the Richmond military settlement [Elliott 1991].
Burke, James H.
James H. Burke launched a newspaper called The Tribune in 1854 [Taylor 1986].
Burke, Michael
Beer was brewed by Michael Burke on Wellington street in Upper Bytown [IHACC].
Burrowes, Thomas
By November 1830, Captain Thomas Burrowes was assistant overseer of works on the Rideau canal, and in 1832 he became permanent overseer [Laberge 1987]. Born in Worcester, England, on 27 October 1796, he came to Upper Canada with the Royal Sappers and Miners at the age of 22, and in 1819 he married Grace Rodgers of Kingston, Upper Canada [Mika 1982]. He arrived in Wrightstown on 23 September 1826. His wife arrived on 22 November of the same year, and three days later gave birth to a son, the first child born in Bytown, in their home located on Wellington street in Upper Bytown [Legget 1972, Mika 1982]. Thomas was an engineer and a surveyor, and had received training in drawing and sketching. He and Grace had three children. After Grace died, Thomas took a second wife, marrying Margaret Morrison, and they had seven children. He died on 21 May 1866 in the township of Kingston [Laberge 1987].
Burrows, John
John Burrows Honey was born near Plymouth, Devonshire, on 1 May 1789. The son of Christopher Honey and Elizabeth Burrows, he married Ann Boden on 7 June 1809, and became a civil engineer. He, his wife and his brother Henry came to Canada in 1817, arriving in Quebec City in September and registering their names in Perth, Upper Canada, in December of the same year [Douglas 1954, Laberge 1987]. In January 1818, John arrived in Nepean township, bought some property, and built a log cabin on it in 1819. Two years later, he sold the land and the cabin to Nicholas Sparks. He also began to sign his name simply as John Burrows. Beginning in 1826, he worked for Colonel By on the canal works, preparing sketches, plans and surveys for the Ordnance department [Elliott 1991, Mika 1982]. His wife, Ann Boden, died on 14 August 1831, and in 1833 he took a second wife, marrying Maria E. Hoskins, a widow whose maiden name had been Blake [Douglas 1954]. Burrows built the first place of worship in Bytown. Located on Chapel street near its intersection with Rideau street, this small Methodist chapel held regular services beginning in 1827. In 1832, shortly before returning to England, Colonel By named Burrows as his agent in Canada. In 1841, John Burrows was serving as clerk of works [Legget 1972]. He died on 27 July 1848, and was buried in Wrightstown, but his remains were transferred to Ottawa’s Beechwood Cemetery in 1882 [Gard 1904, Laberge 1987].
Burwell, Adam Hood
Adam Hood Burwell was admitted to deacon’s orders on 11 March 1827, and ordained priest on 1 June 1828. In 1832, he replaced Mr. Ansley, having been appointed missionary in Wrightstown and Bytown by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, on the recommendation of the Bishop of Quebec. Like his predecessor, Mr. Burwell did missionary work up and down the Ottawa river. Having resigned in 1836, Mr. Burwell was succeeded by the Rev. Samuel S. Strong in the fall of 1837, and died in Kingston on 2 November 1849 [Hill 1932, Brault 1946, Elliott 1991].
By, John
John By, a son of George By and Mary Brian, was born in London on 10 August 1779. He attended the Royal military academy at Woolwich, graduating in 1799. He served in Canada from 1802 to 1811, took part in the Peninsular war in Spain and in Portugal, and after the defeat of Napoleon was placed on the half-pay list. After his first wife, Elizabeth Baines, died childless, he took a second wife, marrying Esther March of London on 14 March 1818. They had two daughters, Esther in 1818, and Harriet Martha in 1821 [Legget 1972, Haig 1975]. Colonel By of the Royal Engineers arrived in Montreal in June 1826, and proceeded up the Ottawa river three months later [IHACC]. In the same year, he built a residence for himself on the hill east of the proposed locks in Bytown [Kenny 1901b]. He superintended construction of the Rideau canal from 1826 to 1832, in which year he returned to England, where he died four years later [Elliott 1991]. In 1832, shortly before leaving Bytown, Colonel By had purchased two lots (about 600 acres), located between Maria street on the north and Ann street on the south, and between Concession street on the west and the Rideau river on the east, from Grace McQueen who had acquired them in 1801 from the crown [Kenny 1901b]. By died on 1 February 1836, and his wife died two years later; they were buried in the churchyard at Frant, Sussex [Haig 1975].
Cannon, W.
Father W. Cannon, son of a Quebec City notary, was an Irishman through his father, and his mother was French Canadian. He assisted the parish priest at St. James Catholic church in Lower Bytown, leaving in June of 1842 [Pigeon 1922].
Carman, Jacob
In 1802, Jacob Carman acquired a long strip of land extending from near Pooley’s bridge to the Rideau river, between Ottawa and Cathcart streets on the north, and Wellington and Rideau streets on the south. This land was taken over by the Crown in 1823 [Kenny 1901b].
Christie, Alexander James
Born on 14 October 1787 in the parish of Fyvie, Aberdeen, Scotland, Alexander James Christie came to Canada in 1817 [Bush 1976]. He began practising medicine in Bytown in 1826, and also served as secretary of the Board of health, but his medical qualifications were called into question. In 1830, he served as Bytown’s first coroner [Mika 1982, Moffatt 1986]. He was an able editor, and started the Bytown Gazette and Ottawa and Rideau Advertiser in June 1836 [Haig 1975]. He also served as township clerk and clerk of the court [IHACC]. His residence was located in Upper Bytown. He died in Bytown in 1843 [Small 1903]. It was his son Alexander who built the suspension bridge at the Chaudière falls [Wilson 1876].
Clarke, George
Around 1850, George Clarke built the International hotel on the south- west corner of O’Connor and Sparks streets [Blyth 1925].
Clegg, William T.
William T. Clegg was paymaster during the construction of the Rideau canal [Billings 1909].
Cluff, Isaac
Isaac Cluff, of County Fermanagh, Ireland, was a blacksmith. He and his wife came to Bytown from Londonderry in 1832 [IHACC, Cluff 1922].
Collins, Jehiel
Jehiel Collins, a United Empire Loyalist from Vermont, occupied a piece of land at the Landing below the Chaudière falls. There, in 1809, he built a dock, and ran a small store with the help of his sister [Mika 1982].
Connell, Matthew
Bytown’s first postmaster was store owner Matthew Connell, who died on 10 September 1834, a victim of cholera [IHACC, Brault 1946].
Coombs, Joseph
Sergeant Joseph Coombs (Coombes) of the Royal Sappers and Miners was a lay preacher at the first Methodist chapel in Bytown. In 1827, he took his discharge in England, and returned to Canada, where he became Bytown’s first druggist [Bush 1976]. He built the town’s first frame house, on Rideau street [Haig 1975], and was also instrumental in organizing the first regular fire company in Bytown [Brault 1946].
Corcoran, Thomas
Businessman Thomas Corcoran represented Lower Town as a councillor on Bytown’s first town council [IHACC, Mika 1982].
Cruikshank, John
The first Scotch Kirk in Bytown, now St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, was built of stone on Wellington street, and Rev. Dr. John Cruikshank was called from the Fordyce Presbytery in Scotland. He arrived in 1830, and in 1842 he went to Brockville. He died in England [Blyth 1925, Grierson 1996].
Currier, B.C.
In 1837, B.C. Currier practised dentistry in Bytown, and also inserted artificial teeth. His office was located in Burpee’s hotel [Hill 1922a].
Dandurand, Damase
Born in Laprairie, Lower Canada, on 23 March 1819, Damase Dandurand was the son of Roger Dandurand and Jovite Descombes-Percheron. He was ordained priest in Montreal on 12 September 1841 by Bishop Rémi Gaulin of Kingston. On 25 December 1842, he became the first Oblate of Mary Immaculate born in Canada. He spoke English and French. He was sent to Bytown in 1844-46, and returned to Bytown as curate in 1847-48. He served as parish priest of Lower Town’s Notre Dame cathedral from 1848 to 1875. He died in Saint-Boniface, Manitoba, on 13 April 1921, and was buried there in the Oblate cemetery [Carrière 1957, Carrière 1976].
Derbishire, William Stewart
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]. Born in London, England, around 1797, he was the son of Philip Derbishire and Ann Masterton. He was called to the bar in 1838, in which year he came to Canada. He was appointed Queen’s printer on 28 September 1841, and died in Quebec City on 27 March 1863 [Brault 1946, Hill 1922b].
Desloges, Pierre
Pierre Desloges was one of the early settlers in Lower Bytown, where he built a log cabin at the corner of George and Dalhousie streets [Lamoureux 1978].
Doran, Jamie
Jamie Doran had a hotel on Wellington street in Upper Bytown [Walker 1968].
Drummond, Robert
Born in Scotland, Robert Drummond was one of the pioneering forwarders on the Rideau canal. As a contractor, he built the canal locks and a dam at Kingston Mills. He was also a shipbuilder. The steamer Pumper was built by him, and in 1831 he completed, in a Kingston shipyard, the John By, which was confined to the St. Lawrence. Like others in those early days, Drummond was both the owner and the captain of a number of vessels. He owned the steamer Margaret, and in 1833 he operated a weekly service with the Rideau, which carried passengers and freight, leaving Kingston for Bytown on Monday mornings, and departing Bytown on the return run on Thursday mornings. In addition, Drummond provided service between Bytown and Montreal. He died from cholera on 20 August 1834 [Bush 1981].
Durie, William
The Rev. William Durie, from Edinburgh, was the minister of the Presbyterian Church on Wellington street from 1846 to 1848 [Blyth 1925].
Eliot, G.A.
In 1824, Major G.A. Eliot, 68th regiment, was sent to the mouth of the Rideau river to consider that area as a site for a military depot for five thousand men, since the authorities still felt the need for a safe waterway to the interior of the province, a decade after the end of the War of 1812. In his report, he linked Green island with its excellent mill site, and other adjacent land, as suitable for a town site and a military depot [Grierson 1996].
Favreau, Paul
In 1844, Paul Favreau, a member of Bytown’s fire brigade, organized the town’s first band [Mika 1982]. On 24 April 1849, he married Esther Rossignol in Bytown’s Notre Dame cathedral [Anon. 1983].
Ferguson, James
Born around 1760, James Ferguson of Glasgow, Scotland, married Mary McKechnie of Barony parish, in Lanarkshire, Scotland, in 1785. James served as an ensign, and then as a lieutenant, in the Aberdeen Fencibles under Sir Henry Leith. He established commercial and personal connec- tions with North America more than a decade before he came to Bytown in 1827. In addition to establishing his enterprise on Green island, he was chosen as Bytown’s provost or chief magistrate at a municipal meeting held on 23 March 1828. Also in March 1828, he had the honour of laying the foundation stone of the first Presbyterian church in Upper Bytown. In July of the same year, he moved to Hull for approximately five months, returning to Bytown in November 1828 to take permanent occupation of Green island, where he erected fences and planted crops. In October 1829, however, Colonel By informed Ferguson by letter that he was to relinquish Green island immediately. Ferguson’s sudden death was reported soon afterwards, and his widow moved to the township of Torbolton [Grierson 1996].
Firth, Isaac
In 1819, an inn was opened at the landing below the Chaudière falls by Isaac Firth and Andrew Berry [Elliott 1991]. Firth had come over from Yorkshire. He married a miss Dalmahoy, a Scots milliner who had arrived in 1818, and who was noted for the black otter caps which she made and sold [Legget 1972, Mika 1982].
Fisher, Daniel
Daniel Fisher was one of Bytown’s four magistrates in 1837 [Hill 1922a]. He was a clothes merchant as well as an auctioneer [IHACC].
Fitzgerald, Michael
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].
Fitzgibbon, James
James Fitzgibbon was a master carpenter of the government works [Lett 1993; IHACC]. The first frame house in Bytown was put up by James Fitzgibbon of the Royal Engineers and his brother-in-law James Black. It was painted white, had a gable to the road, and stood on the corner of Rideau and Sussex streets [Read 1901].
Fraser, Hugh
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 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].
Fraser, James
James Fraser was born in Scotland around 1807. When the 1851 Census was taken, he was enumerated in Bytown East, where he and his wife Justina were living with five children. James had been brought to Bytown from Montreal by Thomas McKay to take over the duties of precentor in St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, and he continued in this capacity until 1855. James had arrived in 1838, and became the first teacher in the school which was opened during that year on John street in New Edinburgh [Jamieson 1910; Walker 1968]. He moved from New Edinburgh to Bytown in 1844, and became master of the South Ward school that was opened on 1 May 1849 on Daly street in Sandy Hill. He continued to have charge of the school until July of 1855, when he stopped teaching. Shortly afterwards, he left town [Jamieson 1910; Sproule 1958].
Fraser, Simon
Simon Fraser was one of Bytown’s four magistrates in 1837 [Hill 1922a]. He had a mercantile establishment on the west side of Sussex street near Rideau [Hill 1922a]. He was sheriff of Bytown in 1847 [Moffatt 1986].
Frazer, Alexander
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 [Craske 1992].
Friel, Henry James
Born in Montreal in 1823, Henry James Friel was the son of Charles Friel and Cecilia Brennan. He was four years old when his father, a store- keeper, moved the family to Bytown. After both his parents died in the 1830s, he was taken as an apprentice by Alexander James Christie, proprietor of the Bytown Gazette. In October 1846, Friel and J.G. Bell purchased the Bytown Packet, and Friel became the editor. In September of the following year, he was elected to Bytown’s first town council, representing Lower Town, but was defeated for re-election in 1848. On 8 June 1848, he married Mary Ann O’Connor, daughter of Daniel O’Connor and Margaret Power, in Bytown’s Notre Dame cathedral. In 1849, he was a school trustee, and in October of the same year, he sold the Packet to Robert Bell. He became a civil servant in 1850, having been appointed clerk of the Carleton county court and deputy clerk of the Crown, and he held these positions until 1857. He also served as alderman for Bytown’s East Ward in 1850, 1853 and 1854, and as mayor in 1854 [Cross 1976, Anon. 1983].
Galipeau, Joseph
Joseph Galipeau ran a hotel on the east side of Sussex street in Lower Bytown. He was the son of Antoine Galipeau and Monique Nadon, and he married Marcelline Gravel on 3 November 1847 in Notre Dame cathedral [Lamoureux 1978, Anon. 1983].
Gellie, J.D.
Dr. J.D. Gellie, whose name was also spelled Gillie, was a medical practitioner in Bytown, on Sparks street near Kent [Hill 1922a]. Educated in England, he died in the late 1830s [Small 1903].
Grey, Alexander
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 of $4, but he closed this service about one year later [Haig 1975].
Guigues, Joseph-Bruno
Born in France on 26 August 1805, Joseph-Bruno Guigues was the son of Bruno Guigues and Thérèse Richier. On 31 May 1828, he was ordained priest within the order of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Father Guigues was appointed visiteur or acting superior in Canada in 1844. He BAYF:Layout 1 28/03/11 7:06 PM Page 95 96 Bytown At Your Fingertips learned English before being consecrated first bishop of Bytown on 30 July 1848, in Bytown’s cathedral, by Bishop Rémi Gaulin of Kingston. Mgr. Guigues opened a college and a seminary in Bytown in September 1848. He died in Ottawa on 8 February 1874 [Carrière 1972].
Haran, P.
The first resident Roman Catholic priest in Bytown was Father P. Haran, whose name was also spelled Heron and Herron. He had been sent to Richmond in 1822, and Bishop McDonnell transferred him to Bytown in 1827. It would appear that he arrived in May of 1827, and his home was located near the corner of Vittoria and Kent streets [Walker 2000]. He was suspended in 1828 [Elliott 1991], and departed for unknown quarters in the spring of 1829 [Walker 2000].
Harmon, A.M.
Following forty years of teaching, Miss Harmon, President of the Harmon School for Girls, founded Harmon Home in 1891. Miss Harmon’s school increased in success, to grow from a day school for girls to The Harmon Home and Day School for Young Ladies with School and Music. It earned recognition throughout the Dominion and the United States. Her curriculum reflected the educational trends of the period, emphasizing music, elocution, literature and other appropriate subjects. Miss Harmon was also the President of the Women’s Foreign Mission Society of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church [Jeffs 1994].
Harris, J.J.
Captain J.J. Harris arrived in Bytown in 1852 [Taylor 1986].
Harris, William
William Harris established a weekly newspaper, the Packet, in 1842. He later sold out to Henry J. Friel and Robert Bell [IHACC, Haig 1975].
Hervey, Robert
Robert Hervey, a Tory, was mayor of Bytown in 1849 [Taylor 1986]. He had previously served as councillor [Welch 1978]. Born in 1820, he was a Scotsman. He graduated from Glasgow University, came to Canada, studied law and was called to the bar in 1842. He moved to Chicago in 1852 [Mika 1982].
Hill, Hamnet
Dr. Hamnet Hill was an early doctor in Bytown. He was also an amateur mechanic and instrument maker. Born in London, England, on 15 December 1811, he was the son of John Wilkes Hill. He received his medical education at the London hospital, and came to Canada in 1837, arriving in Bytown in 1841. For many years he lived on Wellington street, and was one of the incorporators of the Protestant Hospital [Small 1903]. He was a Conservative in politics, and for a time he edited the Bytown Gazette [IHACC].
Homier, Jean-Baptiste
Jean-Baptiste Homier kept an inn on the south side of Rideau street [Lamoureux 1978, Mika 1982].
Honey, W.R.
In 1837, Dr. W.R. Honey, on Vittoria street, was both a physician and a school teacher [Hill 1922a].
Honeywell, Rice
In 1808, Rice Honeywell, who had fought with the Continental army when the American revolution broke out, leased lot letter O from the Crown for 21 years. His wife, Ruth Allen, was the daughter of Weston Allen, a Loyalist. They had two children, a daughter and a son named Ira [Mika 1982, Elliott 1991].
Johnston, James
Born in Ireland, James Johnston came to Canada in 1815. In May 1827, he leased a property in Bytown. A blacksmith by trade, he was also a general merchant and an auctioneer. He was an Orangeman, claiming to have Scottish enemies, and his house was burned down by unknown people. On 24 February 1836, he launched a newspaper called the Bytown Independent & Farmer’s Advocate. It lasted exactly two issues [Reid 1988]. He acted as both publisher and editor of this paper [Hill 1922a, Haig 1975]. Johnston was a vehement critic of the Shiners, and on the night of 25 March 1837, he was attacked physically, but passers-by came to his rescue [Mika 1982]. Twice defeated at the polls, in 1834 and 1836, he was finally elected for Carleton in March 1841, and was easily reelected in 1844, resigning on 14 May 1846. He died in Bytown on 16 June 1849, and was survived by his wife Jane [Reid 1988].
Jones, Thomas J.
Captain Thomas J. Jones came to Bytown in 1827 with his father, a member of the 7th company of Sappers and Miners. He was born on the island of Barbados in 1821. He went up the Rideau on the first passenger boat, named The Pumper, in 1833, and his last trip was made in 1903. He began steamboating in 1840, and during 56 years he never lost a year [Gard 1904].
Keefer, Augustus
Augustus Keefer was a lawyer in Bytown [Elliott 1991].
Keefer, Samuel
Designed by Samuel Keefer, the suspension bridge at the Chaudière falls opened on 17 September 1844 [Haig 1975].
Kennedy, Donald
Donald Kennedy was born in Scotland in 1804, and came to Bytown with his parents in 1818. He became a surveyor, architect, contractor, cabinetmaker, undertaker and justice of the peace. He died in Ottawa in 1888 [Campbell 1986]. At one time he was district surveyor [Elliott 1991].
Kerr, Dawson
Dawson Kerr was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, on 6 July 1818 [Neelin 1978]. He was the son of Dawson Kerr and Nancy Kennedy, who came to Canada and settled in Perth, southwest of Bytown. Young Dawson married Martha Sharp in Perth on 4 January 1840 [Sargeant 1993], and brought his family to Bytown in 1843 [The Evening Journal, 28 March 1898, p. 7]. He established a newspaper called the Advocate in 1841, and in 1849 he and William Pittman Lett started the Orange Lily. In 1851, the printing office of Kerr, Davidson & Co. was located on Rideau street in Bytown [Serré 2009]. Dawson died in Perth, the scene of his boyhood, at the age of 79 on 27 March 1898 [Neelin 1978].
Lacroix, O.A.
Dr. O.A. Lacroix was one of the first physicians on the staff of the general hospital established in Bytown by the Grey nuns [Émery 1985]. Born in Lower Canada around 1804, he was listed in 1845 as Doctor La Croix in the ledgers of Bill Dunning’s store in Buckingham [BAnQG]. Six years later, his services were advertised in Bytown’s The Packet. Dr. Lacroix was living alone in the township of Cumberland when the 1861 Census was taken.
Lang, George and Robert
George and Robert Lang were merchants in Bytown in 1827 and 1828 [Lett 1979]. Early on, George had a house on the north side of Wellington street in Upper Bytown. The firm of brothers George and Robert Lang was a leading house engaged in financing and supplying the timber trade. George Lang was born in Scotland around 1804. On 3 December 1840, he married Agnes, the eldest daughter of James Stevenson, also a prominent pioneer of Bytown, with Reverend John Cruickshank officiating [Serré 2004].
Langford, John
In 1853, John Langford was appointed chief of the whole fire brigade in Bytown [Brault 1946, Haig 1975]. He was a builder and a member of the Mutual Fire Company [Graham 1922].
LeBreton, John
Captain John LeBreton was a retired naval officer [IHACC]. He arrived in the township of Nepean in 1819, bought some land, and built mills on the Ottawa river, calling his establishment Britannia [Elliott 1991]. LeBreton owned 600 acres of land five miles upriver from the Landing. In 1820, with the backing of Livius P. Sherwood, LeBreton purchased 950 acres of land at the Chaudière falls, on the south side of the river, from Henry Boulton. In 1821, Sherwood took the south half, leaving the north half on the river to LeBreton. John LeBreton, whose wife died in 1847, was in his late sixties when he died in Toronto in 1848. He was buried in St James’s Cemetery in Toronto, leaving his holdings on the Flats to his five nieces [Jenkins 1996].
Lett, William Pittman
William Pittman Lett, son of Captain Andrew Lett of the 26th regiment, an Irishman who served in Canada, was born on 12 August 1819, and came to Bytown, where he edited the Advocate, a newspaper founded by Dr. J.G. Bridges in Aylmer and later transferred to Bytown. In July of 1849, he founded the Orange Lily, a semi-monthly literary journal [Welch 1979a]. In 1850, Lett organized Bytown’s first amateur dramatic company, which provided popular entertainment in the old city hall [Lett 1993]. In 1855, Lett was appointed Ottawa’s first city clerk. He died on 15 August 1892 [Welch 1979a].
Lewis, John Bower
John Bower Lewis, a lawyer, represented Upper Town on the first town council, and was mayor in 1848. Born in France, he had come to Canada in 1820, studying law in Toronto and being admitted to the bar in 1839 [Mika 1982, Lett 1993].
Lyon, George B.
Captain Lyon defeated Edward Malloch in the general election held on 8 April 1841, and sat for Carleton county in the first parliament of the united Canadas. In the election held on 24 June 1848, Lyon was defeated by Malloch [IHACC].
Macauley, James
In 1842, the new district of Dalhousie, which later became Carleton county, 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].
MacKidd, Alexander
The Rev. Alexander MacKidd was minister of the Presbyterian Church on Wellington street from 1842 to 1846 [Blyth 1825].
Mainville, Louis
Louis Mainville owned a row of a dozen or so tenement houses on Rideau street near Dalhousie [IHACC]. It would appear that Louis and his wife Monique Boucher eventually moved to Aylmer, west of Wrightstown [Lamoureux 1978].
Malloch, Edward
Edward Malloch, son of a shoemaker who had settled in the village of Richmond in Goulbourn township, represented Carleton county for nineteen years in parliament, and was sheriff in Bytown for many years. Malloch was defeated by Captain Lyon in the general election held on 8 April 1841 for the first parliament of the united Canadas. In the election held on 24 June 1848, Malloch defeated Lyon, and was returned for Carleton county to the fourth parliament assembled in Quebec City on 16 August 1852 [IHACC].
Maloney, James
James Maloney came to Canada in 1825, and arrived in Bytown in 1827. He opened the first school in Bytown on Rideau street, near the Bywash, in the summer of 1827. Early on, his sign designated the school as Maloney’s English, Mercantile, and Mathematical Academy. 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. This was a private school, and Maloney taught pupils in his own residence until a number of months before his death, which occurred in 1879 [IHACC, Jamieson 1910, Woods 1980].
Massé, Édouard
Édouard Massé was the treasurer of Bytown in 1848 [Brault 1946, Lamoureux
1978].
Masson, Zoé
In 1838, Zoé Masson opened a private school for French Canadians, the first of its kind in Bytown. Her maiden name was Quévillon; she had married Antoine Masson before their arrival in Bytown [Haig 1975, Lamoureux 1978].
Matthews, James
In 1847, James Matthews held the position of tax collector [Brault 1946].
McArthur, Donald
On 1 May 1827, Donald McArthur took possession of lot 2 on the north side of George street in Bytown, and erected a modest inn there. Later, he built a stone hotel at the corner of George and Sussex streets. It was called the Ottawa hotel until 1843, and was renamed the British hotel in 1844. In 1853, the owner replaced the original building with a four-storey stone structure. McArthur also served as magistrate in the early years of Bytown [Newton 1979, Brault 1981]. As of 1833, he owned the southerly portion of what became Janeville (later Eastview/Vanier) in the township of Gloucester, east of Bytown [Shea 1964]. According to the 1871 census, Donald and his wife Jane were born in Scotland. Donald was 86 years old when he died on 12 April 1876; he was buried in Beechwood Cemetery [Newton 1990].
McDermott, Michael
Michael McDermott was a surveyor in Bytown [Elliott 1991].
McGibb, Alexander
At one time the Bytown Gazette was edited by Alexander McGibb [IHACC].
McGillivray, Angus
In early Bytown, Lord Dalhousie recommended that Angus McGillivray keep a register of deeds and leases, and collect rents on a commission basis [Brault 1946].
McGinty, Mother
Mother McGinty was a hefty Irishwoman who ran a tavern in Corkstown [Welch 1979a, Mika 1982].
McKay, Thomas
Thomas McKay, son of John McKay and Christine Creighton, was born on 1 September 1792 in Perth, Scotland. He was apprenticed to the mason’s trade, and married Ann Crichton on 20 June 1813. He and Ann immigrated to Lower Canada, arriving on 9 September 1817, and settled in Montreal. In the fall of 1826, McKay was selected by Colonel By to perform the masonry work on the eight entrance locks of the canal that was to link Bytown with Kingston. He moved his family to Bytown in 1827, and his home in Upper Bytown was located on Wellington street. Upon completion of the Rideau canal in 1832, 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]. He 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. McKay’s first home in the village was near the Rideau river. A second, larger residence was completed at the eastern edge of the settlement, and became known as Rideau Hall [Bush 1985]. In 1833, he had become a justice of the peace, and a year later, he was elected to the house of assembly for the riding of Russell, which he represented until 1841, and was then appointed to the legislative council of United Canada, serving until his death. In 1842, he became the first warden of the new district of Dalhousie, for which he had built the courthouse and jail in Bytown. He died on 9 October 1855, and was interred in the private family burial ground. His remains and those of other family members were later transferred to Ottawa’s Beechwood Cemetery [Haig 1975, Mika 1982, Bush 1985, Serré 2007].
McLachlin, Daniel
Born in 1810, Daniel McLachlin married Marie Harrington, of St. Andrew’s East in Lower Canada, in 1837. In the same year, he came to Bytown, and operated a grist mill and a small sawmill at the Chaudière falls. From 1851 to 1854, he represented Bytown in the legislative assembly of the Province of Canada. He died in 1872 [Moffatt 1986].
McNab, D. Rinier
D. Rinier McNab served as chairman of the Association for the Preservation of the Public Peace [Hill 1922a].
McQueen, Grace
In 1801, Grace McQueen acquired from the Crown two lots (about 600 acres) which she sold in 1832 to Colonel By, shortly before the latter left Bytown. The two lots were located between Maria street on the north and Ann street on the south, and between Concession street on the west and the Rideau river on the east [Kenny 1901b].
McQueen, Thomas Fraser
Born in Edwardsburg, Upper Canada, on 5 June 1805, Thomas Fraser McQueen was the son of Captain McQueen of the Nova Scotia fencibles. He studied in Glasgow, Scotland, and obtained a license to practise from the medical board of Upper Canada in 1827. Dr. McQueen practised medicine for a while in Bytown. He later settled in Brockville, and married a daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Fraser [Small 1903].
McTaggart, John
Born on 26 June 1791 in Scotland, John McTaggart, whose name was also spelled MacTaggart and Mactaggart, was one of eleven children of a Galloway farmer. Having never married, he died in Scotland on 8 January 1830 [Emmerson 1987]. He arrived in Bytown in October 1826, and was assigned the task of investigating possible routes for the first few miles of the proposed canal between Bytown and Hog’s Back, located almost due south of the Chaudière falls [Legget 1972]. McTaggart was the first clerk of works on the staff of Colonel By. He was replaced by N.H. Baird, who arrived from Scotland in July of 1828 [Grierson 1996]. Back in England McTaggart wrote Three Years in Canada, published in London as two volumes in 1829.
Molloy, Michael
Born in Cork, Ireland, on 1 November 1804, Michael Molloy was the son of Michael Molloy and Emily McLean. On 2 October 1844, he entered the novitiate in Penzance, England, and was ordained priest on 6 July 1845 in Marseille by Bishop Mazenod, founder of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He arrived in Bytown in September 1845, and served the Englishspeaking parishioners in Lower Town. He died in Quebec City in April 1891, and his remains were permanently interred in the Oblate cemetery of Jésus-Ouvrier in Quebec City [Carrière 1977].
Montferrand, Joseph
Born in Montreal in October 1802, Joseph Montferrand was the son of François-Joseph Montferrand and Marie-Louise Couvret. He stood almost six feet four inches tall, and spent a good many years of adventure up and down the Ottawa valley, where his name was pronounced Joe Mufferaw [Bedore 1979]. He lived through the worst years of intolerance and violence between Catholics and Protestants, French Canadians and Irish Shiners. His long arms were fearful weapons, and his legs could whip out with deadly force. He is said to have routed a large group of Irish bullies off the bridge between Bytown and Wrightstown, swinging one of them by the ankles, tossing others over the sides, tearing his way through to the other shore. He also left his “calling card” in a valley tavern by making a startling flip, head over heels, leaving the imprint of the sole of his lumberjack boot on the ceiling. He left the valley for good in the early 1840s, and died in October 1864 [Serré 2002].
Morson, Alfred
Dr. Alfred Morson was educated at Guy’s hospital in England, and in 1836 he came to Bytown, where he was appointed to the medical charge of the garrison. He remained until 1852, moving first to Montreal, and then to Hamilton and Toronto. His brother Frederick arrived in Bytown in 1839, and remained five or six years, moving first to Montreal, and then to Niagara [Small 1903].
O’Connor, Daniel
Daniel O’Connor, a native of Waterford, Ireland, settled in Bytown in 1827 [IHACC]. An Irish Catholic, he opened a store on Wellington street in Upper Town [Taylor 1986]. He was appointed the first justice in By- BAYF:Layout 1 28/03/11 7:06 PM Page 105 106 Bytown At Your Fingertips town, and the first treasurer of the Dalhousie district. He married Margaret Power on 5 October 1824. He died at the age of 62, on 8 May 1858, in Ottawa [IHACC, Pelletier 2009].
O’Meara, John
Born in Ireland on 21 April 1793, John O’Meara was ordained a Roman Catholic priest on 15 September 1822. He served the parishioners in Lower Bytown in the mid-1830s [Pigeon 1922].
Patterson, George
In the 1840s, George Patterson helped organize the first regular fire company in Bytown; the men wore red coats and black pants [Blyth 1925, Brault 1946]. He was a justice of the peace, a merchant and a prominent citizen [Hill 1922a].
Penency, Constant
Constant Penency was born around 1786. He fought with the British in the War of 1812. He spoke French, and his full name was Pierre Louis Constant Penency. By 1830, he was a Great Chief of the Algonquins [Jenkins 1996].
Pennyfeather, John
John Pennyfeather, a Catholic Irishman, had the excavation contract for the first eight locks in Entrance bay [Bush 1976].
Perkins, Lyman
Lyman Perkins, a blacksmith, bought land from Nicholas Sparks on 18 December 1826 [Elliott 1991]. He left his forge in Wrightstown, and came to Bytown, where he built a foundry and forge on Sparks street [Wilson 1876]. He also had a hardware store on Wellington street [Hill 1922a]. Lyman married Syena, daughter of Ezra Blasdell and Lydia Ramsdell [Serré 2000].
Petrie, Archibald
Archibald Petrie of Cumberland, east of Bytown, represented Russell county as a Conservative in the first and second parliaments of United Canada from 1841 to 1848 [IADC 1881]. He procured a government grant of four thousand pounds to complete the construction of a road from Bytown to Lachine near Montreal, along the south shore of the Ottawa river [MacKenzie 1990]. Born in Scotland on 10 September 1790, he was the son of David Petrie and Ann Pottenger. He married Catherine Wilgress, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Wilgress of Lachine. He was 74 years old when he died on 25 August 1864 [Small 1980, MacKenzie 1994].
Pooley, Henry
Lieutenant Henry Pooley of the Royal Engineers was commissioned in 1816, and when the Rideau canal was completed, he returned to England, where he retired in 1840, dying in Bath on 6 November 1843 [Bush 1976]. His stone house in Bytown was located on Major’s hill, east of the locks [Billings 1909]. He built a cedar log bridge in the small gorge on the south shore of the river at the Chaudière falls, and it was named after him [Jenkins 1996].
Powell, William F.
Born in Perth, Upper Canada, William F. Powell came to Bytown as a young man. He represented Bytown as deputy-reeve and reeve on the Dalhousie district council. He served as warden of Dalhousie district. In July 1854, he was elected for Carleton county to the fifth parliament of the united Canadas. For a time he edited the Bytown Gazette. He retired from politics in 1867 [IHACC].
Radenhurst, Thomas
Bytown’s first election in provincial affairs was held in 1828, and Thomas Radenhurst was chosen to represent the region in the legislative assembly of Upper Canada [Haig 1975].
Ramsay, George
George Ramsay was born in Scotland on 22 October 1770. He became ninth Earl of the hereditary estates of Dalhousie, and on 12 April 1820, he was appointed governor-in-chief of British North America. He was the man who first conceived the strategy of establishing a settlement at the entrance of the Rideau canal. He returned to England in 1828, where he died on 21 March 1838 at the age of 68 [Brault 1946, Haig 1975, Burroughs 1988].
Randall, Robert
Robert Randall was born in Maryland around 1765. He came to Canada, and in 1809 leased 950 acres of land at the Chaudière falls. Below the falls he put up a log storehouse. He lost his property to Henry Boulton, a lawyer who put the land up for sale, and John LeBreton purchased it. In July of 1820, Randall was elected to the house of assembly. He died in 1834 [Jenkins 1996].
Robertson, John
John Robertson was appointed surveyor of roads for Nepean in August 1842 [Kenny 1901a].
Robichaud, J.E.
In 1850, Dr. J.E. Robichaud, who was also a dentist, replaced Dr. Van Cortlandt as physician to the general hospital run by the Grey nuns [Lamoureux 1978, Lamoureux 1980].
Robillard, Antoine
Antoine Robillard was a stonecutter by trade, and as such he was hired to work on the Rideau canal. Born in 1797 in Saint-Eustache, northwest of Montreal, he was a son of Joseph Robillard and Josephte Vézina. He married Émilie Lauriot in Terrebonne on 4 October 1819. After the Rideau canal was opened in 1832, Antoine decided to settle in Bytown. He brought Émilie and their first children from Montreal, and eventually he became a prominent contractor and property owner. His residence in Lower Town was a frame house on the south side of Clarence street, between Sussex and Cumberland streets. Antoine died in Ottawa in January of 1884, and Émilie died in December of 1893 [Serré 2004].
Rochester, John
John Rochester was an Englishman [Wilson 1876].
Ross, Roderick
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].
Rudyerd, Charles Lennox
Charles Lennox Rudyerd served as Ordnance paymaster-accountant in 1840 [Hirsch 1982].
Russell, A.J.
A.J. Russell was Crown timber agent [Elliott 1991].
Scott, Francis
Francis Scott served as town clerk in Bytown [Lett 1993].
Scott, John
John Scott was born and educated in Brockville, studied law in Toronto, was admitted to the bar, and arrived in Bytown in 1845. A Liberal (Reform) in politics, he was the first mayor of Bytown in 1847, and later served as a judge. In 1848, he represented Bytown in the legislative assembly of the Province of Canada. He was again mayor of Bytown in 1850, although he resigned on 28 October, being replaced by Charles Sparrow, with H.J. Friel as acting mayor during much of Scott’s term. In 1854, Scott was a public school trustee. He married Louisa Wright, daughter of Philemon Wright and Abigail Wyman [IHACC, Audet 1926, Mika 1982, Taylor 1986, Laberge 1989, Elliott 1991, Lett 1993].
Scott, Richard William
Born on 24 February 1825 in Prescott, Upper Canada, Richard William Scott was the son of William James Scott and Sarah Ann McDonell. William James Scott had come to Quebec with the British army in 1814, and had located in Prescott in 1824. His son Richard was raised as a Catholic and educated at home, starting his apprenticeship in law at the age of 18. Admitted to the bar in 1848, he settled permanently in Bytown in the same year, establishing a law practice there. He also engaged in real estate and sawmilling. He served as councillor in 1851 and as mayor in 1852. Being the lawyer of Louis Theodore Besserer, Scott himself at one time owned all the land between Besserer street and Daly avenue, from Friel street to the Rideau river. He married Mary Ann Heron on 8 November 1853. He died on 23 April 1913 at his home on Daly avenue, and was buried in Ottawa’s Notre Dame Cemetery [Scott 1911, Desbarats 1957, Clarke 1998].
Sewell, Stephen Charles
Dr. Stephen Charles Sewell came to Bytown in 1852, and remained until his death, in 1865. He was the son of Stephen Sewell, of Lower Canada, and obtained his M.D. from the university of Edinburgh. He began practicing in Montreal in 1836, and came to Bytown for health reasons. His home was located on Wellington street [Small 1903].
Sherwood, Livius P.
Livius P. Sherwood was a member of the Upper Canada house of assembly. He backed John LeBreton when the latter purchased 950 acres of land from Henry Boulton on the south shore of the river at the Chaudière falls in 1820. In 1821, Sherwood took the south half of the land, leaving the north half on the river to LeBreton [Jenkins 1996].
Shirreff, Charles
Born on 26 July 1768 in Leith, Scotland, Charles Shirreff was the son of Robert Shirreff and Barbara Menzies. On 29 May 1793, he married Jane Wilson. On 14 September 1808, he took a second wife, marrying Jane Coxon. He came to Upper Canada in 1817, and settled on lake Ontario. In 1818 he moved to the upper Ottawa valley. He founded Fitzroy Harbour, and sought to regulate wood cutting on public lands. In 1826, he was appointed magistrate in Bytown, and later served as chairman of the town’s Board of health. As of 1826, Charles and his son Robert handled the business of the Crown timber office in Upper Bytown and collected payments in Quebec City. In 1836, they were replaced by James Stevenson. Charles Shirreff was 78 years old when he died in Bytown on 5 May 1847 [Gillis 1988, Moffatt 1986].
Slater, James D.
Slater street in Upper Bytown was named after James D. Slater, superintendent of the Rideau canal and son-in-law of Nicholas Sparks [Brault 1942, Elliott 1991].
Smith, Ralph
Ralph Smith, an Irishman, came to Canada in 1819 [IHACC]. He was an early settler at the Landing below the Chaudière falls [Kenny 1901b].
Sparks, Nicholas
Born in 1792, Nicholas Sparks came to Canada in 1816. He was a young Wexford Irishman, and in 1821 he left the employ of Philemon Wright, and bought the farm of John Burrows in Nepean township. His land was defined as lot C, township of Nepean. In 1826, he married Sarah Olmstead, widow of Philemon Wright Jr. In 1827, Colonel By expropriated 104 acres of land from Nicholas Sparks for use in the defence of Barrack hill, but the need to fortify Barrack hill was eventually deemed redundant, and in 1849 all the land taken from Sparks was returned to him. In 1830, Sparks built a stone residence in Upper Bytown. He represented Upper Town as a councillor on the first town council. He was also a justice of the peace, a city alderman, an Anglican in religion and a Conservative in politics. He died at the age of 68 in 1862 [IHACC, Hubbard 1972, Haig 1975, Elliott 1991].
Sparrow, Charles
When John Scott resigned from his position as mayor of Bytown on 28 October 1850, he was replaced by Charles Sparrow, who also served as mayor of the town in 1851 [IHACC, Taylor 1986]. Born in Lower Canada in 1808, Sparrow had come to Bytown as a young man, running a general store. He was 88 years old when he died in 1896 [Mika 1982].
Spence, Alexander
The Rev. Alexander Spence was minister of the Presbyterian Church on Wellington street from 1848 to 1866 [Blyth 1825].
Stanley, J.R.
In 1837, J.R. Stanley ran a hotel between Kent and Bank streets in Upper Town; he later operated a general store [Hill 1922a].
Stegman, John
John Stegman was appointed deputy surveyor in November of 1792, and in 1794 he was sent to trace out four townships that included Nepean. Stegmann died in 1804 [Jenkins 1996].
Stevenson, James
Born in Leith, Scotland, on 21 May 1813, James was a son of James and Janet Stevenson, and he followed his father to Upper Canada, where the latter had obtained an important position in the Crown lands department. During the uprisings of 1837-38, James Jr. volunteered for service in the militia, and his regiment was sent to Bytown to oversee military works connected with the Rideau canal. He left army life in 1838, and in 1839 entered the office of the commissioner of Crown lands in Quebec City. When the Bank of Montreal opened an agency in Bytown in 1842, it appointed James Jr. as its agent. He did not remain long as agent in Bytown, being replaced in 1843 by his father. He married Harriet, daughter of the Rev. Michael Harris, on 6 January 1847. He died in Quebec City on 10 December 1894 [Brault 1946; Denison 1967; Paré 1990; Serré 2004].
Stewart, James
Dr. James Stewart, a graduate of Trinity college, Dublin, opened an office in Bytown in 1827, and was appointed coroner in 1845. He died in 1848 [IHACC, Mika 1982]. He had been born in the parish of Ardshan in County Tyrone, Ireland, and had entered the army as a surgeon, retiring in 1825. In 1826, he had married the widow of Captain Lett, the father of William Pittman Lett. Dr. Stewart’s residence in Bytown was located on Rideau street [Small 1903].
Stewart, William
In 1816, William Stewart emigrated from the Isle of Skye with his widowed mother and nine brothers and sisters, and came to Canada, where they settled in Glengarry County. In 1827, at the age of 24, William came to Bytown, where he established himself as a merchant, operating a store on Rideau street. He returned to the Isle of Skye in the spring of 1838 to marry Catherine Stewart, his first cousin once removed. At first, William lived in Lower Town. As he prospered, he moved to Upper Town. He was a Conservative in politics, and in 1844 he represented Bytown in the legislative assembly of the Province of Canada. He also ran square timber rafts down the Ottawa river to Quebec City, and worked as an agent for the Besserer estate. He died in Toronto on 21 March 1856 [IHACC, Audet 1926, Burns 1981, Elliott 1991].
St-louis, Jean-Baptiste
In 1827, Jean-Baptiste St-Louis erected a log house on the east side of Cumberland street. He also built a saw mill near the Rideau Falls [Lamoureux 1978]. In 1831, Colonel John By contracted with St-Louis to build a bridge from Lower Bytown to Green island [Grierson 1996].
Stratford, Samuel John
Dr. Samuel John Stratford received his medical education at St. George’s and Westminster hospitals in London, and became assistant surgeon to the 72nd regiment Highlanders. Having retired in 1831, he obtained a licence in Upper Canada, and settled in Lower Bytown. He was placed in charge of the military hospital during the cholera epidemic of 1832, remaining until 1836, and then moved to Woodstock and later to Toronto. He died in New Zealand [Small 1903].
Strong, Samuel Spratt
In the fall of 1837, the Rev. Samuel S. Strong was appointed to the Church of England’s mission in Bytown and Hull, where he replaced Mr. Burwell, who had resigned in 1836. Mr. Strong had come to Canada shortly before his appointment to Bytown. He married Jane Elizabeth Gosse [Hill 1932, Brault 1946, Elliott 1991].
Swalwell, Anthony
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].
Tabaret, Henri
Born in France on 12 April 1828, Henri Tabaret was the son of Antoine Tabaret and Marie-Adélaïde Forest. He entered the order of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, completed his studies in Marseille, came to Canada in 1850, and was ordained priest in Bytown in December of the same year by Bishop Guigues. He took charge of the College of Bytown in 1853. He died in Ottawa on 28 February 1886 [Carrière 1979].
Telmon, Pierre-Adrien
Pierre-Adrien Telmon was born in Barcelonet, France, in 1807. He entered the order of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, and was ordained priest in 1830. He served the parish of Notre Dame in Lower Bytown from 1844 to 1848, but unfortunately he had practically no knowledge of English. He was then sent to Pittsburgh, and returned to France in 1850 [Allaire 1910, Carrière 1957].
Thompson, John
John Thompson and G.W. Baker represented Nepean township on the first council of the district of Dalhousie in 1842 [Kenny 1901a].
Thompson, Philip
Prior to 1843, Philip Thompson and Daniel McLachlin operated their grist and saw mills at the Chaudière falls [Brault 1946]. By 1853, Philip Thompson had a saw mill under construction on Chaudière island, with attached flour and oatmeal mills, a carding and cloth dressing mill, and woollen factory [Taylor 1986].
Triolle, Cyprien
Cyprien Triolle, son of Pierre Triolle and Marie Marillac, was born in France in May 1819, and came to Canada in 1847, according to the 1901 Census. In 1848, he was a teacher at the newly established St. Joseph’s college in Bytown. On 10 May 1854, he married Rose-de-Lima Brunet, daughter of François Brunet and Victoire Aubry, in Bytown’s Notre Dame cathedral [Leury 1948, Haig 1975]. Cyprien died in May 1903, and his wife in 1907; they were buried in Ottawa’s Notre Dame cemetery [Quesnel].
Turgeon, Joseph-Balsora
Born in L’Assomption, Lower Canada, on 22 April 1816, Joseph-Balsora Turgeon was a blacksmith by trade. He was a founder of Bytown’s French Canadian Institute, and served as its first president in 1852 [Pelletier 2009]. He was elected councillor for the North Ward in 1848 [Newton 1979], school trustee in 1852 [Mika 1982], and served as mayor of Bytown in 1853, in which year he obtained the agreement of council to proceed with changing the name of Bytown to Ottawa [Haig 1975]. Turgeon was a captain in the No. 2 Rifle Company [Wilson 1876]. He married Mary Ann Donoghue in 1841 in Bytown’s Notre Dame church, and later married Marie Élisabeth Ménard. He died on 17 July 1897.
Tuthill, M.H.
Dr. M.H. Tuthill of the Royal Engineers was the senior doctor on the canal works. A physician and a surgeon, he came to Bytown in 1826, and was in charge of the military hospital until 1832, in which year he returned to England [IHACC, Legget 1972, Bush 1976, Mika 1982]. He was replaced by Dr. Stratford towards the summer of 1832 [Small 1903].
Tye, Charlie
Charlie Tye was the gravedigger in both the Queen street cemetery in Upper Town and the Sandy Hill cemetery [Ottawa Citizen 27 June 1925].
Van cortlandt, Edward
Born in Newfoundland in 1805, Edward Van Cortlandt was the son of Major Philip Van Cortlandt, a military officer of the Imperial Service who moved his family to Quebec City. Edward studied medicine with Dr. W. Hacket, surgeon to the Forces, and continued his studies in London with the famous Dr. Abernethy, passing the examinations of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1827. In 1830, he returned to Canada, and received from the Quebec Medical Board a certificate dated 1832 authorizing him to practise as physician, surgeon and accoucheur. Arriving in Bytown in 1832, he replaced Dr. Stratford as the medical officer looking after the troops until 1834, when he set up a private practice in Upper Bytown, while maintaining his connection with the militia. Known as Dr. Van, he served as coroner, physician to the jail and the general hospital run by the Grey nuns, medical referee for an insurance company, magistrate and member of the Board of health. On 25 March 1841, he married Harriet, third daughter of J. Harrington, and they lived in a large stone house on the south side of Wellington street. He was also consulting surgeon to the Protestant Hospital. Dr. Van was 70 years old when he died at his residence on 25 March 1875, and he was buried in Bellevue Cemetery on the Aylmer road. Born in 1823, his wife died in 1880 [Small 1903, Moffatt 1986, Lamoureux 1978].
Walkley, Enoch
In 1832, Enoch Walkley opened a brickyard, and during the following year, he built the first all-brick house in Bytown [Mika 1982].
Wardrope, Thomas
Born in Scotland in May 1819, Thomas Wardrope was a son of Rev. Thomas Wardrope and Sarah Burn. In 1833, he was sent to a college in Edinburgh, but in the spring of 1834, his studies were interrupted, and the family came to Canada, settling in Upper Canada, first near Guelph and then outside Hamilton. He was 22 years old when he was able to resume his studies as an aspiring minister at Queen’s College, Kingston, when it opened in 1842 [Moffatt 1987]. After one year at Queen’s, he interrupted his studies, and became headmaster of the new grammar school that had been established in Sandy Hill in Bytown. He began to teach in the fall of 1843 [Hare 1994]. On 16 February 1844, he married Sarah, third daughter of Thomas Masson of Kingston [Moffatt 1987]. While attending to his duties as a teacher, he was also a catechist, and provided regular church services. In 1845, he resigned from his teaching position, and returned to Queen’s College. On 13 August 1845, he was ordained to the pastoral charge of the Free Presbyterian Church of Bytown, also known as Knox Church. He was 95 years old when he died in Montreal in January of 1914 [Moffatt 1987].
Wilson, Andrew
Captain Andrew Wilson, a retired officer of the British Navy, was granted
land immediately above the falls at Hog’s Back, about two miles south of the Chaudière falls. He built a log cabin there, calling it Ossian Hall. As a notary public and a justice of the peace, he was very closely associated with Colonel By in the maintenance of good order in Bytown [Legget 1972].
Workman, Alexander
Alexander Workman was chairman of the public school board in Bytown from 1850 to 1853 [Cummings 1971].
Wright, Philemon
Born on 3 September 1760 in Woburn, Massachusetts, Philemon Wright was the son of Thomas Wright and Elizabeth Chandler. In 1782, he married Abigail Wyman. He came to Canada with a small group of Americans in 1800, and established a settlement on the north shore of the Ottawa river at the Chaudière falls. This settlement became Wrightstown, later renamed Hull. In 1806, Wright guided the first raft of square timber down the Ottawa river to Quebec City. He and his family played a key role in the social and economic life of the entire region. He died on 3 June 1839 [Mika 1982, Taylor 1986, Ouellet 1988].
Yielding, Agar
Agar Yielding edited the Bytown Gazette for a time. A Conservative in politics, he represented Bytown in the legislative assembly of the Province of Canada from 1854 to 1858 [IHACC, Audet 1926].
Young, Levi
Captain Levi Young, originally from Maine, built a saw mill in 1851 on the mainland at the Chaudière falls, and began making lumber for the American mills on Lake Champlain [Taylor 1986].