Enjoy this episode of the HSO/Rogers TV series Time Travelling with Jean-Luc Pilon.

Enjoy this episode of the HSO/Rogers TV series Time Travelling with Leo Doyle.

Enjoy this episode of the HSO/Rogers TV series Time Travelling with Christine Jackson.

Enjoy this french language episode of the HSO/Rogers TV series Time Travelling with Rick Henderson.

Enjoy this french language episode of the HSO/Rogers TV series Time Travelling with Dominique Lajoie.

The HSO’s Ben Weiss was honoured to be invited to address the 200 or so Rotary Club youth gathered in Ottawa on May 25, 2025, for the opening day of the Rotary Club’s annual Adventure in Citizenship conference.

The day also included a visit to the House of Commons by the conference’s 16-18 year olds, the day before the arrival of King Charles III and the Opening of Parliament.

The “Adventure in Citizenship” program was established by the Rotary Club of Ottawa in 1951.  Each year, approximately 200 senior high school students, from across Canada, spend four days in Ottawa experiencing tours, lectures, and social events designed to enhance their understanding and appreciation of Canadian citizenship.

The students, among the nation’s best and brightest, are selected by community Rotary Clubs from across Canada.

Public figures including former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, the Rt. Hon. Joe Clark, and the Hon. Ed Broadbent are among those who participated in the program as students.

The HSO’s Ben Weiss addressed the students on the morning of opening day with a one-hour presentation on the history of Ottawa, its journey becoming Canada’s capital, and the importance of preserving our democratic institutions.  A large part of Ben’s discussion on the Ottawa area’s history focused on diversity and the impact on the Algonquin Anishnaabe people.

Let’s hear your stories about Bytown and the Rideau Canal as we begin to mark 2026, the 200th anniversary of the beginning of both!

All contributions are welcome. Selected submissions will be shared on a special webpage on the HSO website for all to access, including educators. Eligible contributions can be submitted in a variety of formats, including written or audio/video.

We hope to also incorporate selected contributions into our many other platforms – such as our blog, the HSO Capital Chronicle newsletter, website articles and the Ottawa Stories sections and potentially our pamphlet series. All will be shared through our social media platforms well.

We welcome stories that pertain to the Rideau Canal or Bytown (1826-1855) or the Ottawa area’s history beforehand, as well as stories exploring the impact that the establishment of both had on the lives and livelihoods of Indigenous people.

We welcome new as well as updated or previously-published materials for submission. Contributors will allow HSO the right to publish their materials while also retaining the right to do so themselves.

Contact us to learn more: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We will also be happy to discuss any proposals for submissions you may have.

Have a look at our collection of stories: www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/resources/bytown-200

The Historical Society of Ottawa’s Museum Club began its 2025 season on Friday May 2^nd, 2025. On that afternoon, fifteen members and guests received a private guided tour of the Bytown Fire Brigade Historical Society facility at 2880 Sheffield Road, by their President, Peter McBride. Peter kept us all enthralled and entertained for 1 ¾ hours.

The Bytown Fire Brigade Historical Society was formed in the early 1980s, being incorporated as a non-profit in 1983. Its mission is to collect, preserve, conserve, restore, and display the artifacts and apparatus that tell the history of firefighting in Canada’s capital and the country as a whole. It opened its museum in the old fire station # 3 at Cumberland and Clarence in 1987. When the city sold that building, the museum moved to station # 6 at MacKay and Vaughn in 1988 before purchasing its current 2-storey home in 1990. The museum is open on Fridays between 09:00 and 13:00 but special arrangements can be made if you call or email.

The ground floor of their facility serves as a garage and maintenance area for the ten or so vehicles currently housed there. Many of these are over 100 years old and all have been restored to working condition.  Included in these is “The Dominion”, Bytown’s first fire engine which was pulled through the streets by 16 firemen and then hand pumped, the 16 man team being replaced at regular intervals. It can still produce a stream of water 3 storeys high. Another piece on display is the 1886 Silsby horse-drawn steam pumper that was rushed out to the Village of Russell and saved the village from destruction. They also have four additional vehicles in storage at fire stations across the city. The Bytown Fire Brigage Historical Society is very active in the community and frequently brings out one of its vintage engines, as an attraction, in support of community events and projects.

The second floor, only accessible by stairs, has a mix of protective equipment from over the years, photos, badges, call boxes and many other artifacts that help to tell the 180 years of fire fighting in Bytown and Ottawa.  On prominent display is a digitally restored replica of an 1840s banner from the Chaudière fire company, one of Bytown's earliest private firefighting companies. Peter showed us a fire mark, a plaque, which would be attached to the exterior of a building to indicate that it was covered by insurance, and so, if on fire, the fire should be fought or actions taken to salvage as much of its contents as possible.  

The Bytown Fire Brigade has many more artifacts than it can display in its current location, but is always on the hunt for more and the stories behind them. They are also looking for more volunteers to help with their collection. You don’t need to be a firefighter or a former firefighter, you just need to want to help tell this long and fascinating story. 

Museum Club visit to the Bytown Fire Brigade Historical Society photo by Ben Weiss

For those with a passion for history, delving into the past becomes an exciting adventure in “Time Travelling”!

These new 30-minute episodes of “Time Travelling… with the Historical of Ottawa”, recorded in collaboration between the HSO and Rogers TV, provide a phenomenal opportunity to sit back and enjoy some wonderful stories shared by more than a dozen the Ottawa area’s most engaging historians.

Beginning in April 2025, a new episode was broadcast each week on Rogers TV Channel 22 (or Channel 23 in the case of the French-language episodes).

And now, following their original airing, the episodes can be streamed directly from the HSO website.

Enjoy!

Here are the YouTube links for the HSO/Rogers TV series Time Travelling.

Episode 1 – Paul Weber – “Go Exploring” https://youtu.be/4jbkQ1BVFEk

Episode 2 – Kevin Ballantyne – “Glimpses of ‘Forgotten Ottawa’” https://youtu.be/c4733IZ9yNE

Episode 3 – Rick Henderson – “Philemon Wright and his town” https://youtu.be/ueJn5cBM_yA

Episode 4 - Peter Atkinson, “Gord Atkinson: Ottawa’s Oldest Teenager” https://youtu.be/nPHqdAx0V7I

Episode 5 – Michael McBane – “Bytown 1847” https://youtu.be/mJEkeHB8ugg

Episode 6 – Jim Hurcomb "Ottawa’s Golden Age of Rock and Roll" https://youtu.be/dSuX48DwIUs

Episode 7 - Paul Couvrette "The Changing World of Photography" https://youtu.be/2knoj95cA9w

Episode 8 - Christine Jackson "From Steamboats to the NHL: The Cowley Family" https://youtu.be/lHwa7HRBCmc

Episode 9 - Leo Doyle "Ottawa's Surprising Connections to Basketball's Beginnings" https://youtu.be/RuIFu0qjkcw

Episode 10 - Jean-Luc Pilon "An Archaeologist's Perspective: Uncovering the Ottawa area's ancient past" https://youtu.be/UcdNCe7cBHI

Episode 11 - Jean-Marie Guerrier "Black History in Ottawa Streets" https://youtu.be/gjLxQOFjwO8

Episode 12 - Dominique Lajoie "Château Laurier : si les murs pouvaient parler" https://youtu.be/HtNk81ziyic

Episode 13 - Rick Henderson "Philemon Wright et son village"https://youtu.be/BVsDLomj2-k

Enjoy this episode of the HSO/Rogers TV series Time Travelling with Paul Couvrette.