Did early Bytown bear witness to the work of a Saint? April 5, 2026, marks the 150th anniversary of Mother Élisabeth Bruyère’s death, yet her selfless spirit lives on and her mission continues to inspire important work in health care, education, social services and the promotion of social justice.

On April 14, 2018, by decree of Pope Francis, Élisabeth Bruyère was declared Venerable, in recognition of her heroic practice of faith, hope and charity.

Sister Louise Charbonneau invites us to fully appreciate the legacy of this innovative and virtuous pioneer of Bytown, the Venerable Élisabeth Bruyère, and the cause for her beatification and ultimate canonization.

• In English – As Bytown Celebrates 200 Years, Let Us Remember Our Founders Venerable Élisabeth Bruyère: An Innovative and Virtuous Pioneer of Bytown 1845-1876
• In French – Alors que Bytown célèbre ses 200 ans, souvenons-nous de ses fondatrices: La vénérable Élisabeth Bruyère : une pionnière innovante et vertueuse de Bytown, 1845-1876

Sister Louise Charbonneau is a Sister of Charity of Ottawa (SCO). The Sisters of Charity of Ottawa, known as the Grey Nuns of the Cross, have been following in the footsteps of their foundress Élisabeth Bruyère since her arrival in Bytown in 1845.

The City of Ottawa Archives joins in marking 200 years since the founding of Bytown, by presenting a serialized look at the community’s early development.

“Bytown: Construction Camp to Fledgling City” explores the transformation of a frontier settlement into a vibrant urban centre. Through archival records, historical insights, and profiles of key figures, follow this series as the Archives brings Bytown’s story to life—one chapter at a time: https://ottawa.ca/en/node/3042265

The City of Ottawa Archives are the custodians of permanent and historical civic government records on behalf of the City of Ottawa and its many departments, as well as local, community records with historical value. They preserve, acquire and make these documents accessible for City staff, the public, and other researchers, for present and future generations.

Join us as we (carefully) flip through the withering pages of a (barely) surviving copy of the August 16, 1926 edition of the Ottawa Evening Citizen -- and travel back a century and explore some of the news items and advertisements published in the newspaper’s special “Centenary Edition”, kicking off Ottawa’s celebration of its first 100 years.

FRONT PAGE “CENTENARY EDITION” 

August 16, 1926

Bold headlines announce that “Mayor Hands ‘Key’ of City to Visitors”, “Throng on Parliament Hill for Centenary Official Opening Ceremonies” and “Sunday Scenes at Lansdowne Park When Centenary Opened with Garrison Church Parade”.

(Let’s not be confused! A fourth unrelated headline is inserted reporting that “Empty Casket in Case Alleged to Contain the Body of Kitchener”, a story that has nothing to do with Ottawa’s Centenary but rather a discovery at a train station in London, England.)

On the same page, the Citizen boasts that “1,400 pounds of ink will be consumed” publishing this special 128-page Centenary edition.

For more on that week’s celebration of Ottawa’s 100 ^th birthday, check out James Powell’s “Ottawa’s Centenary”: todayinottawashistory.wordpress.com/2019/07/20/ottawas-centenary/

FIRST SHOWING OF “BEN HUR” IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE

August 16, 1926

This silent-era MGM classic, showing at Ottawa’s Auditorium, accompanied by a touring symphony classic is the “first time shown in the British Empire” and “will not be shown here again for at least 12 months”.

James Powell tells us more about the remarkable legacy of the Auditorium (1923-1967): todayinottawashistory.wordpress.com/2024/08/31/the-auditorium-the-aud/

CENTENARY STAMPEDE 

An advertisement for the week-long Centenary Stampede, the highlight of Centenary celebrations at Lansdowne Park. James Powell tells us more about this “Most Thrilling Sporting Event!”: todayinottawashistory.wordpress.com/2025/10/25/the-centenary-stampede/

A CENTENARY “WELCOME!” 

August 16, 1926

We were being promised “Two Big Weeks of Fun and Merriment” August 16-28, with the Centenary celebrations – the Stampede and Historical Pageant – at Lansdowne Park the first week, with the Central Canada Exhibition (the “Ex”) hoping to capitalize on the wave of momentum when it takes over the venue the second week.

Note: “Reserved Seats for all events on sale at Centenary Headquarters, Russell House Block, Phone Q. 1127”.

On the same page, an ad for Fournier’s noting that the retailer will be closed Wednesday (August 18) for “Ottawa’s Birthday” but offering broadcloth shirts for as low as $1.79 and neckties and socks for under a dollar for those who shop on Tuesday.

Also on the same page, a listing of “Radio Programs” from stations broadcasting as far away as Philadelphia and New York City, including a report on the previous two nights’ radio reception, courtesy of the Department of Marine and Fisheries: “Sunday  – Reception good. Saturday  – Fair, with some static and slight fading”.

“OTTAWA CENTENARY AWAY TO SPLENDID START” 

August 16, 1926

“Impressive Church Parade Features Sunday Ushering City’s Big Celebration”, “Thousands of Visitors From Near and Far in Capital”, “Crowded Streets, Gaily Decorated and Illuminated”.

On the same page:

A Bishop visiting from England for the Centenary, preaching at Christ Church Cathedral, pleads with the congregation to “Keep Canada British”, stating “We welcome those from other countries, and God knows where they call come from, but don’t let us, for God’s sake, lose the British ties of blood which once bound the early settlers of Canada.”

Mackenzie King (leading the Opposition during Arthur Meighen’s brief 3-month tenure as Prime Minister that summer) is accused by one of Meighen’s ministers as repeating “false statements” accusing the Customs Department of “maladministration”.

Saturday night’s “annual sweet pea show”, put on by the Westboro Horticultural Society is deemed “a signal success, as evidenced by the large attendance and the many entries”.

SPORTS PAGE – TWO HOMERS FOR BABE 

August 16, 1926

“Babe Ruth and his mighty bat were busy over the week-end” against the Washington Senators,”Babe Brings Home Run Total Up to 39”. (The Babe would finish 1926 with 47 home runs, the fifth highest in his career, batting a career-high 60 homers the following year.)

Also on the same sports page:

Four new “Dominion” records were established in swim meet held in the Rideau Canal this past weekend.

Toronto’s team in baseball’s International League narrowly remained in first place (the Toronto “Maple Leafs” would go on to win 29 of the next 38 games and win the league championship for their last time until 1943.

The local “Lauriers” of the Independent Baseball League were beaten by Wakefield before a crowd of 2,000 on Porter’s Island.

Four Canadian and three U.S. power boats competing in a regatta on the Ottawa River.

Centenary motorcycle and bicycle races drew a large crowd at Lansdowne Park.

Almonte beat the Defence HQ in cricket at Rideau Hall.

Also on the same page, the day’s “Our Boarding House” cartoon featuring the tall-tale-telling “Major” Hoople.

“O.E.R. (OTTAWA ELECTRIC RAILWAY) NEWS” 

August 16, 1926

“The daily bus service to the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club, via Mooney’s Bay, has been discontinued because the revenue form passengers fell far below the cost of operation.”

This sort of blunt announcement may have become frequent in the 1920s, as the rapid increase in automobile ownership began to precipitate a correspondingly sharp decline in street car ridership, eventually leading to the termination of Ottawa’s street car system by 1959.

In a valiant effort to reverse the trend, “O.E.R. NEWS” goes on to quote a national U.S. survey reporting that, with depreciation and upkeep “it costs the average automobile owner $700 and year to own and operate a car”.

Also quoted is a Kansas City Railway Co. ad that claims one of its main routes is “30 minutes by street car: cost 7 ½ cents” vs. “22 minutes by private auto: cost 50 cents”. The O.E.R. NEWS goes on to comment “this is making generous allowances to the private conveyance. Ask any motorist who has to come to the center of the city. Unless he starts very early in the morning he must lose all speed results in looking for a place to park.”

This unflattering verdict against the automobile is followed by the grim story of an eight-year old newsboy from Scranton, Pennsylvania who lost his life when he slid under the wheels of a car while trying to sell a newspaper to one of its passengers.

Finally, in a separate advertisement on this same page, the Ottawa Electric Railway lets potential customers know that it is now offering the services of motorized coaches, in addition to its street car service.

The late Cliff Scott wrote about the rise and fall of the Ottawa Electric Railway: www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/publications/ottawa-stories/significant-technological-changes-in-the-city/ottawa-s-street-railways 

RETAILERS HOP ON BOARD THE CENTENARY BANDWAGON 

August 16, 1926

Poulin’s, Max Feller, Freiman’s, Devlin’s, Fisher’s, Murphy-Gamble, Bryson-Graham and the Ottawa Beach Motor Company were among the Ottawa merchants to take out ads in this special Centenary edition.

Devlin’s welcomes “visitors to Ottawa” to the “fair village of Colonel By”. With stores required to close Wednesday for the Centenary, Murphy-Gamble and Freiman’s advertise Tuesday-only specials.

James Powell writes about some of these icon retailers of Ottawa’s past:

todayinottawashistory.wordpress.com/2017/10/07/bryson-graham-ltd-ottawas-greatest-store/ 

www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/publications/ottawa-stories/important-public-and-private-buildings-in-the-city/meet-me-at-murphy-s 

www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/publications/ottawa-stories/important-public-and-private-buildings-in-the-city/poulins-ottawa-s-store-of-satisfaction

Among the settlers who populated Bytown, many were francophones. By examining the stories of her own francophone ancestors, Sonja McKay reveals a window through which we obtain a glimpse of what life would have been like for many French-Canadians during that era.

Sonja McKay is a retired public servant and social policy analyst, an amateur genealogist, and member of the Historical Society of Ottawa. 

Zéphérine Brunet, a French Canadian in Bytown, 1830s-1850s

Among the settlers who populated Bytown between 1826 and 1855, there were many francophones who came from what is now Quebec. Some of them were my ancestors. I will describe the experiences of a few of them in this article.

Many French-Canadians arrived in Bytown to work in the growing lumber industry in the 1840s and ‘50s. As well, some highly-educated French Canadians came to Bytown (e.g. physicians, lawyers, religious officials, business owners and their families). Lucien Brault’s 1941 in-depth thesis on the history of Ottawa recounts that by 1851, there were 2,056 French Canadians in Bytown, out of a total population of 7,760. Over 25% of the population were francophones.

We know too, that the land and waterways around Ottawa had already long supported Indigenous families and nations – notably the Algonquin Anishinabe nation on whose traditional lands Bytown emerged. Bytown was not a beginning for the Ottawa region, but it was the beginning of my personal family history here.

This article tells the stories some of my francophone ancestors and their friends who came to Bytown in the 1830s and ‘40s. A key figure is Zéphérine Brunet, my great-great-grandmother. In learning bits of information about her and her family, we can see a glimpse of what life was like for labouring French Canadians in those days.

A quest to learning about the origins of my grandpère, Adonias Robillard

I never met my grandfather, Adonias Robillard, because he died before I was born. Adonias was born in 1893 in Ottawa, and he did metalworking until his death in 1955. My mother, Carmen, remembers him as a kind and loving father. Carmen grew up in a franco-Ontarian family in Eastview (now Vanier). Her mother Eva Létourneau was born near Québec City and migrated to Ottawa with her parents when her father obtained a civil service job in the federal government. The couple married in 1930. My family has few photos of Adonias – one was taken on his wedding day. It shows him dressed in his best outfit, probably standing outside his bride’s home on Friel Street in Lowertown Ottawa.

Figure 1: Adonias Robillard and Eva Létourneau, circa 1930. Photo courtesy Carmen McKay

 When I searched for more information about Adonias, I found that both of his parents were born in the Ottawa area (one in Gatineau) and all four of his grandparents were either born in Bytown or moved to the town before 1855.

Bytown in the 1830s was in a period of transition from the building of the Rideau Canal in 1826-32 towards becoming a booming lumber town. Between 1835 and the mid-1840s, it seems there were more people than jobs in the lumber industry, and consequently conflict. It’s said that the Shiner’s War between mainly French-Canadian and Irish lumber workers took place then. There was no police force and no jail. What could go wrong?

1830s: Zéphérine Brunet, her family and friends

The earliest of my great-great-grandparents to arrive in Bytown was Zéphérine Brunet. She moved here with her parents in the year 1835, or possibly a year or two earlier, when she was just six years old.

Zéphérine’s approximate year of arrival in Bytown is decipherable because of records of her siblings (and her own) dates of birth and places of birth. The eldest of 9 children were born in St. Eustache (just north-east of Montreal) where her parents had married. Zéphérine and others were born in La Petite Nation (which includes what are now the towns of Papineauville and Montebello on the north side of the Ottawa River). Zéphérine was born in the summer of 1828. Her youngest two brothers were born in Bytown – one in 1835, the last in 1840. So, they were in Bytown by 1835.

Zéphérine’s father, Janvier Brunet, is identified as a “journalier” or labourer in various documents. The family migrated following employment opportunities, with mother Narcisse and children making a lively home wherever they went. It’s possible Janvier worked mainly in Bytown (rather than away in a lumber shanty), perhaps in a lumber yard, or assisting a merchant in the ByWard market.

The Brunet family knew another family that came to Bytown around the same time – the Brûlés. Both families spent a few years living in La Petite Nation east of Bytown on the north shore of the Ottawa river, a region named in reference to the Indigenous people that already lived there. That region of la Petite Nation was just beginning to be settled by Europeans in the early 1800s. Similarly to Bytown in the 1820s, there was not yet a permanent church or priest assigned to the area. Missionaries would travel to the area every few months. In fact, Zéphérine was not baptized until five months after her birth, probably due to the family’s distance from a priest.

The Brunet and Brûlé families may have held land leases in La Petite Nation, but I found no evidence of this. Possibly they were employed by leaseholders to cut trees, clear rocks or till the soil. Perhaps, once the trees were sold, they moved on. For whatever reason, both the Brunet and Brûlé families moved to Bytown in the 1830s.

My family’s picture starts to become more clear in the 1840s as more records of births, marriages, and deaths appeared in my family tree.

The 1840s

In 1843, a law was passed called the Vesting Act. This made the acquisition of land and establishment of public amenities more feasible in Bytown, where previously the residential lots had been merely available for lease to townsfolk. This encouraged people to invest more in building solid homes.

In this context, a still-standing heritage building on St. Patrick Street in Lowertown was built in approximately 1842 by Thomas Brûlé, a francophone blacksmith. Whether he began building it before or after the Vesting Act was passed, it seems likely he would have finished it as an owner of the lot, not just a tenant, as the building was solidly built enough to still stand today. Located at 288-290 St. Patrick Street, the building’s façade sits close to the street, and it has two front doors, indicating it formed two side-by-side homes. Behind the house one can glimpse a paved yard that once might have held a shed for a horse or a pig.

Figure 2: Brûlé House, 288-290 St. Patrick Street, 2024. Photo credit: Sonja McKay

 As the Brunet and Brûlé families’ children grew up, well, they got married. Zéphérine Brunet married Edouard Brûlé on July 1, 1846, in Bytown. Edouard was a brother of Thomas, and Thomas served as a witness. The marriage would have taken place in a wooden church, the precursor of today’s Notre Dame Cathedral. (Construction of the cathedral had begun in 1841, and the walls and roof were completed in 1846, but it was not quite ready to host services yet.) Edouard made a living in the logging industry, and may probably have spent significant time away from his wife. They had two daughters by 1849. As I’ll show below, it’s very likely they lived in the Brulé house with Thomas and his family.

As author Michael McBane described in his excellent 2022 book, Bytown 1847: Elisabeth Bruyère and the Irish Famine Refugees , Lowertown was a muddy, crowded place in the 1840s. Most homes were built of wood and the streets were not paved. There was no municipal plumbing or electricity. Many households kept animals such as horses and pigs in their yards, the latter to eat the leftover scraps and to be butchered for food. Cows were allowed to feed on local grass. Land not yet built on served as vegetable gardens in summer. Ice hauled from the river in winter was stored and sold in summer to cool food. Potable drinking water was scarce, and outbreaks of communicable diseases occurred.

Another event of the 1840s is worth noting here: Thomas Brûlé participated in the “Stoney Monday” riot in September of 1849, another violent episode in our city’s past. He and another man were charged with murdering the only person to die that day, but both were acquitted. It turned out no one saw who shot the victim, David Borthwick. The riot had erupted between people of different political views, which had coalesced into a dispute over whether to invite the Governor General to Bytown or not. I imagine the trouble Thomas found himself in worried his family greatly. In the end, he was free to resume his livelihood.

Figure 3: Plaque on Brûlé house 288-290 St. Patrick Street, Ottawa. Photo credit: Sonja McKay 

The 1850s – A husband’s death, a new marriage

The 1851 census (taken in January 1852) shows that Zéphérine Brunet and her now three young children lived with Thomas Brûlé and his family -- see the orange circle in the census image, beside Zéphérine’s name, followed by her three daughters Heloise, Exina, and Theodosie. This residence must have been the 288-290 St. Patrick Street building, though no street addresses were given on the census. Sadly, Zéphérine was described as a widow. How could this be, I wondered?

Figure 4: Excerpt of 1851 Census showing those living with Thomas Brûlé. Source: Library and Archives Canada.

Edouard had died a mere two months earlier, on November 14, 1851. A chilling note on the church register for his burial reads “tué par la chute d’un arbre” – Edouard was killed by a falling tree. It’s mainly because of this note that I assume Edouard worked in logging industry, and this was likely an accident in the forest while felling trees. The notation was written by father Damase Dandurand, a priest who arrived in Bytown in 1848 and who went on to serve the Roman Catholic community for the next 30 years. Thomas Brûlé was a witness to the ceremony.

This sad event had a silver lining, however, at least from my perspective. Edouard’s death paved the way for Zéphérine to remarry and have more children – one of whom became my great-grandmother Joséphine.

Zéphérine married her second husband, Eugène St. Jean, in Bytown on October 10, 1853. Eugène lived in Bytown, and he was from a town north of Montreal – St. Roch de l’Achigan. Again, the ceremony was performed by father Damase Dandurand, and Thomas Brûlé was a witness. The wedding likely took place inside the new Notre Dame cathedral, as it had been consecrated on September 4, 1853. Though the church’s decorate elements remained to be completed over the coming years, it already stood as solid beacon for the Roman Catholic community in the town.

Figure 5: Notre Dame Cathedral, Ottawa. Photo by Michel Rathwell, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The couple had five children together – a son and four daughters. Their youngest child, Joséphine, grew up to become my great-grandmother (Adonias’ mother). By the 1860s, the family had moved to the northern side of the Gatineau River – just across the Ottawa river in Pointe-Gatineau. This is where Joséphine was born in 1866.

Not much is known about Eugène St. Jean other than the interesting fact that he studied classics at the College de l’Assomption between 1839 and 1841 in Quebec. I imagine from this that he may have worked as a clerk or some other occupation which required education. Unfortunately, he too passed away before 1871 when Zéphérine appears in the 1871 census as a widow in Pointe-Gatineau.

Later, Zéphérine moved back to the Ottawa side of the river, showing how closely connected the two sides of the river were (as they are to this day). She married a third time, and lived to the ripe old age of 96.

Conclusion

This story focussed on the Bytown days of my family’s history. As we know, Bytown was renamed Ottawa in 1855, and soon was appointed by Queen Victoria to become Canada’s capital city. My family’s Ottawa story continued until my mother met my father in Ottawa. While I was raised primarily in an English-speaking household, I am proud of my francophone heritage and happy to share some of it with readers.

My heart is filled with gratitude to know that these relatives, and other settlers, survived in Bytown through the help they gave each other. It saddens me to know they also grieved the early deaths of loved ones, but this was common for the time. This story demonstrates in a concrete way how families survived by cooperating and sharing resources, and moving to where there was work. We can glimpse through them, much about what life in Bytown was like for its francophone settlers.

References:

Brault, Lucien (1941). Ottawa: Capitale du Canada de sesorigines à nosjours . PhD Thesis presented to University of Ottawa.

Brault, Lucien (1946). Ottawa Old and New. Ottawa Historical Information Institute. Available at the Ottawa Public Library.

Centre de recherche en civilisation canadienne-française.Vie française dans la capitale. A virtual museum website about Ottawa’s francophone history. Bilingual. https://www.viefrancaisecapitale.ca/ Accessed 2026-02-03.

McBane, Michael (2022).Bytown 1847, Elisabeth Bruyère and the Irish Famine Refugees.Available in bookstores and at the Ottawa Public Library.

Notre Dame Cathedral. https://notredameottawa.com/history . Accessed 2026-02-02.

André Pinard takes us back to a pivotal moment in a period of cultural tension in Bytown. Read the story (in French): Première réunion publique bilingue à Bytown

André Pinard is originally from Ottawa's Lower Town. He pursued a career in education in Northern Ontario and the Ottawa region.

Many thanks to CTV Ottawa and CFRA iHeart radio for highlighting our bicentennial celebrations planned for 2026.

Watch HSO spokesperson Ben Weiss on CTV Ottawa Morning discuss the Historical Society's bicentennial plans. And stay tuned to the end of the clip to see a 100-year old relic from the centennial celebrations in 1926 to compare civic festivities of yesteryear!  Link to Ottawa turns 200 this year video. 

Check out our Bytown 200 story collection: www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/resources/bytown-200

William Pittman Lett, who was 13 years old when the Rideau Canal opened, went on to witness and, through his poetry, chronicle the evolution of rough and tumble Bytown into the capital of a nation.

Now, for the first time ever, HSO member Bryan D. Cook’s biography of William Pittman Lett can be accessed digitally: Introducing William Pitman Lett : Ottawa's First City Clerk and Bard 1819-1892 along with Lett’s prolific collection of poetry spanning most of the nineteenth century, including Lett’s iconic “Recollections of Bytown and Its Old Inhabitants”.

Bytown’s taverns were notoriously abundant in number – but the Chateau Lafayette (“The Laff”) boasts the distinction of being the only of those Bytown era drinking houses to still remain in operation today. Founded in 1849 as “Grant’s Hotel”, Reformers took refuge inside during Bytown’s infamous Stony Monday Riot of that year.

Ashley Newall takes us back to when the tavern known today as the Chateau Lafayette was in the “thick of things” when our city was known as “brawling, rioting, lusting, wenching Bytown”.

Ashley Newall is an Ottawa singer-songwriter-musician and history writer, whose stories can be found his Capital History (CapHistOttawa) social media pages, his ashleynewall.ca website and on Apt613.ca. 

Chateau Lafayette Pre-History, Part 1: 1849-1863

Les contributions en français sont les bienvenues!

Aidez-nous à souligner l’année 2026, le 200e anniversaire du début de la construction du canal Rideau et de la fondation de Bytown.

Nous invitons les récits portant sur le canal Rideau ou Bytown (1826-1855), sur l’histoire de la région d’Ottawa antérieure à ces événements, ainsi que sur l’impact de leur établissement sur la vie et les moyens de subsistance des Autochtones.

Toutes les contributions sont les bienvenues. Les textes sélectionnés seront publiés sur une page Web spéciale du site de l'HSO, accessible à tous, y compris aux enseignants. Les contributions admissibles peuvent être soumises sous différents formats, notamment par écrit ou en format audio/vidéo.

Nous espérons également intégrer les contributions sélectionnées aux nombreuses autres plateformes de l’HSO, telles que le blogue de l’HSO, le bulletin Capital Chronicle de l’HSO, les articles et la section « Histoires d’Ottawa » de notre site web, et potentiellement la série de brochures de l’HSO. Tous les textes seront également diffusés sur nos réseaux sociaux.

Visitez la page principale du Le défi de narration du bicentenaire de Bytown200 de l'HSO 2026 pour en savoir plus. Comme pour tout le contenu de notre site web, veuillez cliquer sur le bouton « FR »  (en haut de la page) pour la traduction française :

www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/hso-news/the-hso-2026-bytown200-bicentennial-storytelling-challenge

Visitez la page de notre Collection de récits du bicentenaire de Bytown200 HSO 2026 pour découvrir notre collection de contes en constante expansion :

www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/resources/bytown-200

James Powell takes us back to the early days of the Rideau Canal and Bytown with stories about the Shiners’ War, the Stony Monday Riot, The ByWard Market, Bytown’s first newspaper, Bytown's journey to becoming Canada's capital... and more.

James is the author of the blog Today in Ottawa's History giving  a day-by-day account of local history.

The Chaudiere Bridges
One of the most pressing priorities for Lt. Colonel By and his engineering colleagues, was to span a bridge across the Ottawa River in order to transport essential supplies and workers from Wright’s Town urgently needed to begin construction of the Rideau Canal: The Chaudière Bridges, 28 September 1826

The Canal
James  shares the story of one of the most remarkable engineering feats of its era – the construction of the Rideau Canal: The Canal, 29 May 1832

The Shiners’ War
For the better part of a decade, lawlessness reigned as Bytown’s citizens were terrorized by violent gangs of thugs known as the “Shiners”, cunningly manipulated by the ruthless and ambitious Peter Aylen, a man willing to fuel religious and linguistic division in his attempt to solidify his own unassailable Ottawa Valley timber empire: The Shiners’ War, 20 October 1835

Ottawa’s First Newspaper
500 copies of Bytown’s first newspaper hit the streets on February 24, 1836. James Powell flips through the pages of that first four-page edition and takes a peek at what its first subscribers would have been reading: Ottawa’s First Newspaper, 24 February 1836

The ByWard Market
James Powell traces the history of Lowertown’s almost two-century old ByWard Market: The Byward Market, 4 November 1838

Corporation of Bytown
John Scott was elected the first mayor of Bytown – twice. Initially incorporated in 1847, with John Scott elected as Bytown’s first mayor, Bytown’s charter was subsequently disallowed following a dispute with the Ordnance Department, the military administration that had become accustomed to being in charge since the days of Lt. Colonel John By. James Powell shares the story of how matters were eventually resolved and how, upon reinstatement of Bytown’s charter, John Scott was, for a second time, elected as Bytown’s first mayor: The Corporation of Bytown, 28 April 1847

Stony Monday Riot
In 1849, the Stony Monday Riot erupted in Lowertown between the Reformists and the Tories. Dozens of injuries and one death resulted when as the (mostly Protestant) Tories, furious over the impending visit of the Governor General, Lord Elgin, clashed with the (largely working-class Catholic) Reformists: Stony Monday Riot, 17 September 1849

Lord Elgin Visits Bytown:
Remarkably, Lord Elgin’s visit in 1853 -- only four years after the Governor General had been forced to cancel his visit following Bytown’s violent Stony Monday Riot -- resulted in Lord Elgin’s recommendation that Bytown to be chosen as the Province of Canada’s new capital: Lord Elgin Visits Bytown, 27 July 1853

Choosing Canada's Capital 
Toronto, Kingston, Hamilton, Montreal and Quebec City were among Bytown’s rivals in the intensely-fought contest be chosen as the Province of Canada’s new capital. Bytown even went so far as to change its name to “Ottawa” in hopes of distancing itself from its (well-earned) reputation as a violent and uncivilized backwoods lumber town. James Powell retraces Bytown’s surprising journey to becoming Queen Victoria’s unexpected choice as Canada’s new capital: Queen Victoria Chooses Ottawa, 31 December 1857

Ottawa’s Centenary
In celebration of Bytown’s 100th anniversary in 1926, the Ottawa Journal published an article predicting what Ottawa might be like a century later, in 2026. Today, as we mark the 200th anniversary of the founding of Bytown, James Powell takes us back to 1926 for a look at those predictions and at how else our city celebrated our centenary: Ottawa’s Centenary, 16 August 1926