We filled the virtual bleachers on the evening of Wednesday, April 9th, 2025 as we watched Steve Rennie start for the Historical Society of Ottawa. Steve is a baseball writer and researcher who lives in Ottawa. A former journalist, he is the president of the Ottawa-Gatineau and Eastern Ontario chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). In the spring of 2024, he presented on Ottawa’s early baseball history at the Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference in Cooperstown, New York. He has a particular interest in 19th century baseball in Canada and enjoys unearthing long-forgotten games and teams. He is a contributor and co-editor of “From Bytown to the Big Leagues: 150 Years of America’s Pastime in Canada’s Capital: Ottawa Baseball from 1865 to 2025” available online  and his upcoming work will cover early baseball history in the far north and during the  Klondike Gold Rush.

Steve began his session with a brief introduction to the origins of the sport.  Although it has been widely claimed that Abner Doubleday invented baseball in 1839 in Cooperstown, New York, this myth has been debunked by baseball historians, the Doubleday family not living in Cooperstown at that time. The game had clearly existed earlier. It had made its way to Canada by 1838, the first recorded game being played in Beachville, Ontario. The Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York formalized a set of rules in the 1840s that were widely adopted and form the basis of today’s rules. Steve highlighted some of the differences, pitching being underhand, the batter being able to accept as many pitches as he liked as long as he didn’t swing and an out being recorded if the ball was caught on the first bounce. He pointed out that early on there were no gloves, catcher’s masks, or other protective equipment.

By the 1850s, Steve explained, Base Ball had become very popular, especially in the New York metropolitan area and was spreading following the rail lines. International play began as early as 1860 when a game was played by a team from Buffalo against a team from Hamilton, while another was played a few weeks later by teams from Ogdensburg and Prescott. Steve showed us that the Prescott team was identified in the newspaper as Greenville, but he suspects that it could have actually been Grenville, as in Leeds and Grenville. In 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first fully professional Base Ball team, leading in 1871 to the establishment of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players.

Steve told us that the first game he has so far been able to find in the Ottawa area took place in Metcalfe on September 13, 1865. An interesting aspect of the write-up of this event is that there was no description of the play, indicating that the readers must have been familiar with the game and that it must have been played locally for some time.

In 1867 Ottawa’s first Base Ball Club was formed, the New Dominion Club of Ottawa, likely taking its name from Confederation. They established a Club House at the Ottawa Skating and Curling Club on Albert Street and played in a field behind it. Shortly after their formation they travelled to Ogdensburg for a game, which they lost 141 – 20. Scores of this type were not uncommon in the early days due to the differences in pitching, rules and the relative experience of the players. The next year saw increasing interest in the game, the New Dominion Club often splitting into two teams to play themselves. They also played a team of mechanics, a 4 game set against a local cricket club, in which 2 games were Base Ball and 2 were cricket. There were 2 more games against the team from Ogdensburg, losing both but doing well in the first of thee two matches. There was a strong social element in the sport at this time, the games being followed by dinners, drinks and songs. In 1869, or just after, their club house and the field on which they played was subdivided into lots and sold, bringing an end to the New Dominion Club of Ottawa.

In 1871 a new club was formed, the Ottawa Base Ball Club, which included a number of members of the earlier New Dominion Club. Steve explained that they were responsible for creating the first Ball Park in Ottawa, actually in Stewarton, a separate village. The park was in the Gladstone/Cartier area to the canal and was needed to host a game on August 27, 1872 against the Boston Red Stockings, the most famous team in the world at that time. The Red Stockings returned to play a second game in 1873, Ottawa losing both games.

Steve gave us a bit of information about two of the early stars that are associated with Ottawa. George Latham, an American born player, played for the Ottawa Base Ball Club against the Red Stockings in the 1873 game. He joined the Red Stockings briefly in 1875 before moving on to play for a number of other teams. Jack Humphries was born in North Gower and was the first locally born player to go to play in the Major Leagues, serving as a backup catcher for a couple of teams.

Although Base Ball was very popular in Ottawa during the 1880s and 1890s, all the teams were amateur. Teams based around professions, government departments, or other local towns competed against each other. In the summer of 1898, Steve explained, the Ottawa Citizen started a campaign to bring professional Base Ball to Ottawa. The timing was good as the Rochester team of the Eastern League was in financial difficulty and so in mid-July it relocated to Ottawa. Met with initial excitement, the attraction faded as the team struggled to a losing season, and continued to lose money, an estimated $4,000 in just its 6-week stay in Ottawa. The team, known as the Senators, as was the team in Washington, folded at the end of the season. It was some years before Ottawa had another professional Base Ball team. July 19, 1898: Jimmy ‘Gussie’ Gannon leads Ottawa to its first home victory in professional baseball – Society for American Baseball Research

You can view Steve’s full presentation at: Ottawa’s Early Baseball History - The Historical Society of Ottawa

Steve also produced a pamphlet for us which has even more information and can be found on our website at: 127. Forgotten Gems: Ottawa’s Early Baseball History (1865–1900)

Steve Rennie, author of “Forgotten Gems: Ottawa’s Early Baseball History” and “From Bytown to the Big Leagues: 150 Years of America’s Pastime in Canada’s Capital” recounts the early history of baseball in Ottawa.

If you didn’t have a chance to hop aboard Black History Ottawa’s excellent bus tour last summer then grab a seat now. The Historical Society of Ottawa is proud to partner with Black History Ottawa for a virtual re-creation of the tour. The bus leaves on Wednesday, February 12, 2025 at 19:00, or anytime through the link below. Our driver tonight is Jean-Marie Guerrier.

Jean-Marie is a cardiology technologist at the Ottawa Heart Institute. He is a member of the Board of Flo’s Seniors Health and Care Programs Network and has more than 25 years of volunteering in Montreal and Ottawa. Jean-Marie’s name is now inscribed on Ottawa’s Wall of Inspiration at City Hall and he is also the Vice-President of Black History Ottawa.

The bus tour evolved from an earlier project that looked at slavery in Canada and how it remains today embedded in the street names in Ottawa. It was felt that a broader project that highlighted the accomplishments and contributions of Canadians of African descent would shift the focus to the positive and be an inspiration to younger Canadians.

The first stop for our virtual bus was Notre Dame Basilica, where we have evidence of the first Black family recorded in Bytown.  In 1844, Perry Adams and Henrietta Joyce baptized their child Frances.  A few steps down Sussex Drive we find the Royal Canadian Mint, which has produced a number of coins that highlight the contributions of Black Canadians or events of historic importance. These include: Willie O’Ree, Oscar Peterson, the Black Loyalists, and the Underground Railroad, among others.  Jean-Marie noted that the Bank of Canada produced a vertical $10 bill in 2018 featuring a portrait of Viola Desmond. Viola was a Black business woman from Halifax who, in 1946, was arrested, jailed overnight, and fined for sitting in the whites-only section of the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow. Her appeal to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court was unsuccessful, serving as a catalyst to the Civil Rights movement in Canada.

We swing briefly up to the Canada Post building on Sparks Street, where Jean-Marie tells us of some of the Black Canadians that Canada Post has featured on their stamps. These include: Albert Jackson, Mathieu Da Costa, and Chloe Cooley. We then popped over to Osgoode Street in Sandy Hill where Jean-Marie told us Chloe Cooley’s tragic story. Osgoode Street is named for William Osgoode, who on December 31, 1791, was named the first Chief Justice of Upper Canada. In March 1793, Chloe Cooley, a young Black slave, was, despite her struggles and calls for help, bound and taken across the Niagara River to New York State and sold by her enslaver. What happened to her after is unknown. On July 9th 1793, during Osgoode’s term, legislation was passed to limit, but not abolish, slavery in Upper Canada.

From here, Jean-Marie drove us to Rockcliffe Lookout, where we could see across the Ottawa River to lands where London Oxford, the first Black settler in the area arrived in March 1800 as one of the five families in the party led by Philemon Wright. It is unclear if he was alone or if he had a family with him. On June 11, 1806, London was one of the five men who took the first timber raft down the Ottawa River and then on to Quebec City.

From there we travelled to the Lord Elgin Hotel where Jean-Marie gave us some background on the Underground Railroad. Between 1800 and 1865, this secret network of routes and safe-houses allowed some 30,000 escaped slaves to make their way to Canada. In 1847, Lord Elgin was appointed as the first Governor-General of the Province of Canada, and two years later, Reverend William King established the Elgin Settlement (aka Elgin-Buxton Settlement), in his name in southwestern Ontario. It was one of the last stops on the Underground Railroad and now a National Historic Site. In the second half of the 1800s many other Black settlements were established across Canada, including in both British Columbia and Alberta.

In Lowertown, Jean-Marie told us the fascinating story of Paul Barber and the Barber family. Born into slavery, Paul was sold to the Barber family in 1852 at age 4. They were horse breeders and trainers in Kentucky and taught Paul the skills. In 1885 he moved to Ottawa and in 1892 married Elizabeth Brown, a white woman from Renfrew County, this being the first known inter-racial marriage in Ottawa.

We then stopped at Laurier House, former residence of Prime Minister Sir Wilfred Laurier, who was responsible for Order-in-Council PC 1911-1324, which was approved on August 12, 1911, and prohibited immigration of Blacks to Canada and declared that they were unsuitable to the climate and requirements of Canada.

Jean-Marie had us “get off the bus” at the National War Memorial so we could learn more about the contributions of Black Canadians in the Canadian military. During both World Wars Black Canadians faced and fought racism in the recruiting practices of the Canadian military. Despite these challenges, during the First World War some 1,300 Black Canadians served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. They participated in many actions, including the battle of Vimy Ridge. On July 5^th 1916, Canada formed the 2^nd Construction Battalion, a Black unit lead by white Officers, four of these Officers being from Ottawa. In the Second World War, thousands of Black Canadians joined the armed forces and served throughout Europe. They continued to serve with distinction in the Korean Conflict through to today.  Nearby there are also relevant memorials which relate to those who served during the American Revolutionary war and the war of 1812,. To learn more stories of Black Canadian Veterans, please visit: Black History | Black Canadian Veterans Stories

We made a quick stop at Browns Cleaners where we learnt the story of Herbert “Pops” Brown and his wife Estelle. Herbert came to Canada in 1937, serving in the Canadian army between 1939 and 1942. His family joined him in Canada in 1953 and they moved first to Hull and then to Ottawa opening Brown’s Cleaners and Tailors on Murray Street in 1957. Having worked through the immigration challenges themselves, the Browns opened their home and business to support newcomers from the Caribbean and Africa. The nickname “Pops” arose as Herbert was a stand-in father at some weddings of young women who had come to Ottawa under the West Indian Domestic Scheme. Estelle often made the dresses. The family sold the business in the late 1970s but asked that the new owners retain the name.

Next, Jean-Marie took us to the old Union Station, currently the home of the Senate. It served as Ottawa’s railway station until 1966. This site is important for a couple of reasons. On April 27, 1954, Donald Moore led a delegation to Ottawa to meet with the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Walter Harris. The discussions, related to Canada’s discriminatory immigration policy, eventually leading to the government adopting the West Indian Domestic Scheme a year later. See: West Indian Domestic Scheme (1955–1967) National Historic Event.  The railways are of special significance to the Black community as many Black men were employed as porters or sleeping car porters, to serve the railway’s passengers. Portering was one of the few employment opportunities for Black men prior to the 1950s. Pay and working conditions were poor, eventually leading the porters to unionize for improved conditions.

The West Indian Domestic Scheme shows up again as Jean-Marie took us to the YM/YWCA. The YM/YWCA, though not at this location at the time, was the meeting place for many of the young women who had come to Ottawa through the scheme. They met on Thursday afternoons, their only time off from their 7-day work week, to share companionship and information. These women, once liberated from their domestic service contracts, went on to advance their education, open businesses, and establish many of the social and community organizations directed to Caribbean immigrants in Ottawa. The current YM/YWCA stands on the site of the old Ottawa Auditorium, where the Hull-Ottawa Canadians played some of their home games. Willie O’Ree, the first Black player in the NHL, was a member of this team after being traded from the Boston Bruins to the Montreal Canadians who owned the team. He was sent down to the Hull-Ottawa minor league team without being given a chance to play for Montreal.

We next stopped at the statue of Oscar Peterson beside the National Arts Centre, where Jean-Marie challenged us to guess the occupations of Oscar’s mother and father. Not surprisingly, based on what we had learnt so far, his mother was a domestic worker and his father was a porter. Born in Montreal, he was a world-famous musician and activist. One of his compositions, the 1963 Hymn to Freedom, was widely adopted by Civil Rights movements around the world: Oscar Peterson - Hymn To Freedom

We made a series of other stops along the way, one at the Public Service Alliance Commission, where we heard about Cal Best, a noted union organizer and activist. At the Ottawa Police station on Elgin Street, Jean-Marie told us a bit about the first Black officers who joined the service in the 1970s, the first Black women who joined the service in the 1990s, and Peter Sloly, the first Black Police Chief in Ottawa, who held the position from October 2019 to February 2022. We then moved to City Hall, where we acknowledged Rawlston King, who became the first Black City Councillor in Ottawa, 164 years after its incorporation. Jean-Marie also told us of some Black Ottawans who have received the Order of Ottawa and of the Black athletes in the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame, including Olympic Gold Medalist Glenroy Gilbert.  We then paused at Nelson Mandela Square on Elgin Street across from the Human Rights monument. This was dedicated on Thursday July 17th 2014 in recognition of his life-long dedication to democracy and human rights.

From there we moved to the University of Ottawa where Jean-Marie gave us some information on a couple of remarkable health care professionals. Myrtha Lapierre was the first Black Francophone woman in the Nursing Program at the U of O, earning both a B.A. and an M.A. She taught nursing in hospitals and at Algonquin College between 1961 and 1997 and was very active in empowering immigrant women in Ottawa. The City of Ottawa declared October 25, 2008, as “Myrtha Lapierre Day” and in 2018 she was appointed to the Order of Ontario. The second person mentioned was Dr. Rudy Gittens, long-time doctor for many of our local sports teams including the Ottawa Gee-Gees, the 67s, the Rough Riders and the National Men’s Soccer team among others.

Our final two stops were at Rideau Hall where Jean-Marie told us a bit about the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean. After arriving in Canada as a refugee in 1968, she completed her education before serving as a journalist with both Radio-Canada and the CBC.  She served as the 27^th Governor-General of Canada between 2005 and 2010. In 2010 she was appointed as the Special Envoy for Haiti for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and from 2015 to 2018 served as the Secretary-General of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.

As we slow down at the end of our journey we pass Parliament Hill, where Jean-Marie highlighted the careers of several Black MPs including Jean Augustine and Lincoln Alexander. Jean Augustine was born in Granada and came to Canada in 1960 under the West Indian Domestic Scheme. Following her contract she obtained a teacher’s certificate in Toronto, followed by a B.A. and an M.A. in Education from the University of Toronto. After working as a teacher and school principal she entered federal politics, becoming the first Black woman elected to Parliament. She served as the Parliamentary Secretary to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien from 1994 to 1996. From 2002 to 2004, she became the first Black woman to hold a Cabinet position, serving as the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and the Status of Women. In 1995 she introduced the Bill in the House of Commons that eventually led to February being officially recognized as Black History Month. Lincoln Alexander was the first Black Canadian Member of Parliament in 1968. In 1979 he became the first Black Cabinet Minister and on September 9, 1985, he became the 24^th Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, the first Black Canadian to hold such a position anywhere in the country.

You can view Jean-Marie’s full presentation, which contains many further examples, at: Black History in Ottawa Streets

The virtual tour is only a sample of the real thing, so put aside some time this summer to hop on the real bus for the full experience.

The weather on that evening, Sunday, December 27^th 1942 was miserable. The Ottawa Valley was hit with a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain as the local 550 train made its way from Petawawa toward Ottawa. Mist rising from the rivers and the blackout, necessitated by the war added to the darkness.

By contrast, it was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, February 22^nd, 2025 when almost 60 of us gathered at the Main Branch of the Ottawa Public Library to hear Jamie Bramburger relate the tragic story of the wreck of train 550 at Almonte on the night of December 27^th, 1942. Jamie Bramburger ;was trained as a broadcast journalist and spent 14 years working as a news director, assignment editor, and news reporter in radio and television, before joining Algonquin College’s Pembroke Campus as its Manager of Community and Student Affairs. Jamie is the author of two books, Go Kings Go - A Century of Pembroke Lumber Kings Hockey, and Sudden Impact -The Almonte Train Wreck of 1942.

Jamie told us that the 550 had left Petawawa at 5:35 that afternoon, pulled by a locomotive known by its crews as the “Cantankerous Old Hog”, which had a boiler leak, further diminishing its efficiency. Being at the end of the Christmas holiday, it was pulling 10 wooden coaches, about 3 times its normal length, mainly women and families returning to their government work in Ottawa. It was a “milk run”, stopping at every station along the way for more passengers, arriving in Almonte at 8:32pm to a station crowded with well-wishers saying farewell to their own family members and guests. The sound of Christmas carols filled the night air.

A troop train with13 metal coacheshad left Chalk River shortly after the departure of 550 from Petawawa, Jamie explained, that it had been instructed to get to Ottawa as quickly as possible. Trains travelling along the same track in the same direction were protected from collision by a 20 minute block. This was a forced stop at each station by the following train to ensure that there was a 20 minute gap between the time it left and the preceding train had left. This was enforced at each station along the route that was staffed, and the procedure was followed at Renfrew and again at Arnprior. In Almonte, at 8:38, as the 550 was preparing to leave, the troop train slammed into the back of 550, totally destroying the last 2 coaches and finally coming to rest halfway into the 3^rd last coach.

Jamie did his best to describe to us the horror of the scene that unfolded. Many were killed instantly, some were seriously injured, some were thrown from the train and were not found until the next day. Ultimately 38 were killed or died within a few days while over 150 others were injured. Almonte responded heroically, the townsfolk flocking to the crash site to lend assistance, driving their cars to the site to use their headlights to illuminate the wreck and surrounding area. The nearby O’Brien Theatre was turned into a casualty clearing station while the Town Hall became a temporary morgue. The small Rosamond Memorial Hospital and the town’s 3 doctors and few nurses were overwhelmed but worked without stop to treat the injured as other medical help was brought in from the surrounding towns and finally a hospital train arrived from Ottawa.

The soldiers from the troop train also swarmed to action, bringing their blankets and their first aid kits. Though there were no casualties on the troop train, 8 members of the military were killed on 550, making their way back to Ottawa.

Jamie shared with us the stories, accompanied by photos, of a number of the individuals that were involved in the crash. One story was of Jean O’Brien, who survived with serious injuries only to discover that her husband, Harold, and 2 year old son, Jackie, had perished. Another highlighted a nursing Sister, Anne Thorpe, who tore pieces from her own clothing to treat the wounded, took the hospital train back to Ottawa, then went immediately to work for her regular hospital shift. There was also the story of Thomas Lynn, who suffered a serious leg injury in the crash that prevented him from serving in the Armed Forces. He kept the ticket of his trip in his wallet for the rest of his life, unbeknownst to his family. We invite you to check out the filmed presentation to obtain the details of these and many others stories through the link toward the end of this article. Jamie pointed out that the impact of the injuries and of the lives lost lasted throughout the lifetimes of those who survived and continues, through the 80 years that have now passed. It has become an integral part of these families’ history.

Despite the scale of the tragedy, the wreckage was quickly cleared and the rail line was open again the next day. As Jamie explained, there was a war on.

Officials sought to understand the cause of the disaster and Jamie told us that there were 5 separate inquiries. One was conducted by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), one by Canada’s Transportation Commission, one by the Ontario Provincial Police, one by the military and finally there was a Coroner’s Inquest. Using Freedom of Information requests, Jamie was able to obtain details of 4 of these, which included interviews with all of the crew members of both trains. No information seems to have survived from the investigation conducted by the military. The Coroner’s Inquest, held on January 7, 1943, from a jury of 5 business men from Almonte, cleared the crews of both trains of any responsibility for the accident, concluding that the CPR was responsible. Their justification being that the CPR had failed to staff the station in Pakenham and so the troop train was not held at that station to provide the mandatory 20 minute block.  Canada’s Transportation Commission disagreed, finding fault with both crews. The Commission found that the troop train was travelling too fast and was not under control of its engineer, Lorne Richardson, while also citing the crew of 550 for not lighting a flare at the back of their train.

There was one more death. Jamie told us about John Howard, who was the conductor on the troop train, and so the one in charge. He had been in the caboose at the time of the crash but had worked tirelessly after. Just prior to the inquest he took his own life.

 We were fortunate to be joined in the audience by a daughter of one of the survivors, who generously shared her family’s story. Her mother was thrown from the wreck and not found until the following day. Her injuries were extensive and she was not expected to live, but did so, spending a year in the hospital recovering. She was told that she would not be able to have children, but went on to have 6, and lived into her late 70s, though still suffering from the effects of the crash.

In 1978, the railway station in Almonte was torn down and has since been replaced by the Public Library. In 2012, the tracks themselves were removed. In 2002 two granite markers were erected by the North Lanark Historical Society at the corner of Mill Street and Bridge Street to commemorate the accident.

Jamie’s session was filmed by HSO volunteer Jenny Armina and can be viewed in full on the HSO YouTube channel.

An article by Jamie can be found on the Historical Society of Ottawa blog at: Sudden Impact - The Story of the 1942 Almonte Train Wreck - The Historical Society of Ottawa

We would also encourage you to try and get a copy of Jamie’s book, Sudden Impact -The Almonte Train Wreck of 1942. 

Note: It was with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Jamie Bramburger, only weeks after being honoured to have Jamie as guest speaker for our February HSO Speaker Series. Our thoughts remain with Jamie's family and friends, and the Algonquin College and Ottawa Valley communities in which he played such an important role.

A message from Algonquin College: https://algonquintimes.com/college-mourns-sudden-loss-of-jamie-bramburger

We began our speaker session of March 22, 2025 at the Main Branch of the Ottawa Public Library on a somber note as Ben Weiss informed us of  the unexpected death of Jamie Bramburger who had been our guest speaker just one month earlier. All of us at the Historical Society of Ottawa extend our condolences to Jamie’s family, friends and colleagues.

As March 7, 2025 marked the 225^th anniversary of the arrival of Philemon Wright and his party to this area, we were pleased to welcome Rick Henderson, a direct descendant of Philemon Wright, who gave the 28 of us a brief insight into the vision, achievements and legacy of his famous ancestor. Philemon, who was born in Woburn, Massachusetts, received a land grant of more than14,000 acres from the Crown under the Leaders and Associates Program. The group he led to settle the area consisted of his own family, that of his brother and those of his two sisters-in-law. London Oxford, a free black man also accompanied Philemon, though it is unclear whether London had a family or was alone. A group of 33 axe-men / labourers and 7 slaves also came with them. By 1806, as land was distributed, there were more than 20 partners occupying nearly 4,000 acres, including a French-speaking family, that of François Loizeau. By 1821, there were over 100 partners occupying more than 10,000 acres, including dozens of francophone families.

Rick pointed out that the successful agricultural community grew to include lumbering, quarrying. mills, smiths and all manner of infrastructure. By 1826, when plans were being formalized for the construction of the Rideau Canal, it was this developed infrastructure at Wrightstown that made the project possible. Had Wrightstown not been established and a success, Rick believes that it is doubtful the canal would have been built and without the canal there would have been no Bytown to become Ottawa.

Despite the significance of the event on local history, the City of Gatineau has no plans to mark this anniversary.

There is much more to learn about Philemon Wright and Wrightstown. Please check out Rick’s blog at: Capital Chronicles

Following Rick Henderson’s well-received presentation, we were pleased to welcome Dr. Andrea McCrady, who spoke to us on the history of the Peace Tower Carillon and the five individuals who have served as the Dominion Carillonneur since 1927.

Dr. McCrady started playing the carillon in 1971 at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. She then studied at carillon schools in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. While studying music at McGill, she played the carillon at St. Joseph’s Oratory then in Toronto at the carillon at the University of Toronto and the Canadian National Exhibition. From 1990 to 2008, she coordinated the carillon program at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane, Washington, where she also practiced family medicine. In 2008, Andrea received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Denver, retired from her family medicine practice and accepted the position of Dominion Carillonneur, there being no qualified Canadian to fill the position. Andrea became a Canadian citizen on July 1^st 2017.

Andrea told us a bit about the carillon. The carillon is a musical instrument comprising at least 23 bronze bells, (a chime consisting of 8 – 22 bells). It is manually played through a keyboard with both keys and pedals. The bells are stationary, their clappers being generally of iron and hung to one side within the bell. The bells are tuned when cast and never need retuning unless damaged. Every carillon is unique, as the tower in which it is housed serves as its sound box, giving each a distinct voice.

Andrea explained that when the original Centre Block was destroyed by fire in 1916, it was planned to replace the single bell in the Victoria Tower with a set of 4 bells so it could mimic the Westminster chime. Senator George Bradbury of Manitoba proposed that a carillon be installed in the new Peace Tower as a more fitting tribute to the Canadians who had fallen during the Great War. The Peace Tower carillon is composed of 53 bells, that were cast by Gillett & Johnston in Croydon, England between 1925 and 1927, and has a range of  4 ½ octaves. The largest bell, the Bordon, weighs 10,090 kg, while its clapper weighs 229kg. The tower was built around the largest bells, which have remained in-place through the current Centre Block restoration. The carillon was first played publicly on July 1^st 1927, being featured on a nation-wide radio broadcast in celebration of Canada’s 60^th anniversary.

Andrea went on to give us a brief history of her four predecessors.

Percival Price was the first Dominion Carillonneur, at age 26, from 1927 to 1939, having previously been the carillonneur at the Metropolitan Church in Toronto and the first carillonneur at the Rockefeller Carillon in New York.  His musical program consisted mainly of classical works and folk songs. Over his life he is credited with over 1,000 compositions and arrangements. He was a composer, teacher, carillon architect, campanologist (a person who studies bells and the art of ringing them), author, professor, lecturer, historian and one of the founders of The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GCNA) in Ottawa in 1936.

Robert Donnell was the carillonneur of the Cutten Memorial Carillon at St. George’s Church in Guelph before becoming the assistant to Percival Price in1936 and Dominion Carillonneur in 1940. He served with the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1942 to 1945. His programs also consisted chiefly of classical works and folk songs. He was forcibly retired in 1975 having reached the mandatory retirement age of 65. He produced over 2,000 arrangements during his lifetime, but requested that his family burn these upon his death, to which they complied.

Émilien Allard played in the Royal Canadian Air Force’s Central Band as a clarinetist from 1942 to 1945. Following the war, after additional studies and work, in 1955 he was appointed carillonneur at St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montréal and won the International Carillonneurs’ Prize in Mechelen in 1958. He became the Dominion Carillonneur in 1975, introducing French Canadian folk songs to the repertoire along with more complex works featuring the innovative use of unusual scales and rhythmic patterns. He composed 50 works for carillon, made more than 700 transcriptions, and wrote works for chamber ensembles and symphony orchestras. He died in 1976.

Gordon Slater learned to play the carillon at age seven. He had finished second in the competition that led to the appointment of Émilien Allard, so was appointed Dominion Carillonneur upon the death of his predecessor, beginning the role in 1977. Never a composer himself, he is a brilliant improvisational performer who broadened the scope of the materials played. He retired as Dominion Carillonneur in 2008 but continues to perform.

Andrea explained that apart from playing the carillon, she is actively teaching it. This initially involved a group of students from the University of Ottawa, but in 2011 she joined the Carleton University Associate Performance Faculty where she leads the Carillon Studies program. Carleton University now offers a Certificate in Carillon Studies, the only Canadian university to do so.

Andrea shared many clips of recordings during her fabulous presentation, ranging from the formal and somber Last Post to the energetic and always entertaining theme from Star Wars. She has also shared the following links with us:

• Carillon - History, Art and Architecture - Parliament of Canada
• Carillon - Histoire, art et architecture - Parlement du Canada

Though the carillon has been quiet now for the past three years, there are many recordings that can be enjoyed online and it is hoped that the Dominion Carillon will be performing again by July 1st 2027 to celebrate its 100th anniversary.

Beginning on April 2, 2025, subscribers to Rogers TV will be able to enjoy a fascinating new weekly series, “Time Travelling with the Historical Society of Ottawa”, a collaboration between Rogers TV and the HSO.

Each week's new episode will air Wednesday @ 7:30 p.m. and then be rebroadcast Friday at 5:30 p.m. and the following Tuesday @ 10:00 a.m. on Rogers TV Channel 22.

Here is the schedule of episodes and our featured presenters:

Wednesday, April 2 @ 7:30 p.m.
"Go Exploring" with Paul Weber

Wednesday, April 9 @ 7:30 p.m.
"Glimpses of Forgotten Ottawa" with Kevin Ballantyne

Wednesday, April 16 @ 7:30 p.m.
"Philemon Wright and his town" with Rick Henderson

Wednesday, April 23 @ 7:30 p.m.
"Gord Atkinson: Ottawa's Oldest Teenager" with Peter Atkinson

Wednesday, April 30 @ 7:30 p.m.
"Bytown 1847: Elisabeth Bruyere and the Irish Famine Refugees" with Michael McBane

Wednesday, May 7 @ 7:30 p.m.
"Ottawa's Golden Age of Rock and Roll" with Jim Hurcomb

Wednesday, May 14 @ 7:30 p.m.
"The Changing World of Photography" with Paul Couvrette

Wednesday, May 21 @ 7:30pm
"From Steamboats to the NHL: The Cowley Family" with Christine Jackson

Wednesday, May 28 @ 7:30pm
"Ottawa's Surprising Connections to Basketball's Beginnings" with Leo Doyle

Wednesday June 4 @ 7:30pm
"An Archaeologist's Perspective: Uncovering the Ottawa Area's Ancient Past" with Jean-Luc Pilon

Wednesday, June 11 @ 7:30pm
"Black History in Ottawa Streets" with Jean-Marie Guerrier

In addition, a series of French-language episodes have been been recorded to be broadcast on Rogers TV Cable 23.

All episodes were recording last Fall at the Rockcliffe Park pavilion, courtesy of the National Capital Commission.

After initial exclusive broadcast on Rogers TV, the series will be made accessible on the HSO website.

On the evening of Wednesday, October 9, 2024, the Historical Society of Ottawa delved into its own past with an exploration of the early decades of the Women’s Canadian Historical Society of Ottawa (WCHSO) and the remarkable women who formed and ran it. We were pleased to again welcome Connie Wren-Gunn, who reprised the session she had presented at our 125^th Birthday Bash in the summer of 2023. Connie is a professional historian, being the Director, Content & Interpretative Products for Know History. She holds an M.A. in History from Carleton University and is an accomplished writer and passionate researcher.

Connie explained that the women who founded the WCHSO were primarily women of privilege, from prominent local families, who were also responsible for the formation and operation of many other organizations and charities within Ottawa. Women had few rights in the late 1890s, and a number of organizations were created by women, such as the National Council of Women and the International Order of the Daughters of the Empire, which were focused on improving the position of women in society. Although a number of working women were involved in the formation of the WCHSO, they did not remain active with the organization for long. This may be due, in part, to the WCHSO holding its meetings on weekday afternoons.

Connie pointed out that the women who formed the WCHSO were trailblazers, giving women a voice they had never had before. Although some 20 Historical Societies were formed in Canada between 1869 and 1900, the WCHSO was the only one formed and managed entirely by women. It was also the first Canadian Historical Society to send a delegate to the annual meeting of the American Historical Association, Jenny Simpson, in 1909.

Connie then gave us the story of the founding of the WCHSO starting from June, 1898 when thirty-one women met at the home of Matilda Edgar, the wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons. Their goal was to promote and preserve the history of Ottawa through publications and through the collection of artifacts. This collection eventually grew into the Bytown Museum, which opened in October 1917. The WCHSO was run as a formal organization, with a constitution, bylaws, officers with assigned responsibilities, scheduled meetings and a membership fee, initially 50 cents yearly, which was not raised until the 1930s. They also published a detailed annual report, which they began after about a decade of operation. The formality of the organization was an important point, as they realized that it would be too easy for them to be perceived simply as a group of ladies, sitting around, sipping tea and chatting. They were serious in what they were doing and wanted everyone to understand it.

Connie went on to describe some of the activities undertaken by the WCHSO in their early years. These included fundraising, money always being in short supply, the creation of scrapbooks based on local news clippings, see the link below, the staging of two major exhibitions of local artifacts and the lobbying of governments for the preservation of historic sites and the creation of plaques and monuments to honour significant events, such as Confederation, and  individuals, chief among these being Lieutenant-Colonel John By.

She then told us a bit about Transactions, a journal published by the WCHSO, which consisted of 10 volumes appearing between 1901 and 1928, which contained over 130 essays. Most of these papers were written by WCHSO members, and although some were based on archival documents, most were based on previously published books, or recorded the memories of local families. Much of the focus of the papers was on early life in Bytown and the Ottawa valley, reflecting the hardships faced and overcome by the early settlers.

Connie explained that in the early part of the 20^th century, universities began introducing mandatory methodologies for historical research for their graduate students requiring original research based solely on written archival documents. This professionalization of history discounted the work of passionate amateurs, such as the women of the WCHSO. Perhaps in response to the growing criticism from professional historians, the WCHSO modified their content of Transactions, reducing them in size and increasing the number of articles written by men. Connie pointed out that in the volume published in 1922, seven of the ten articles were written by men. The WCHSO, perhaps as a further response, shifted its focus away from its writings to the collection and preservation of artifacts in the Bytown Museum.  

In 1956 the Women’s Canadian Historical Society of Ottawa became simply the Historical Society of Ottawa.

A full recording of Connie’s session can be viewed at: The Story of Us - The (Women's Canadian) Historical Society of Ottawa Est. 1898.

Connie’s Master’s Thesis can be read in full at: Etd | The Women's Canadian Historical Society of Ottawa: Constructing Public Memory and Preserving History in a Changing City, 1898-1932 | ID: j67314577 | Hyrax

The work performed by the 4^th year Digital History class of the University of Ottawa on the scrapbooks created by the WCHSO can be viewed at: Ottawa U Scrapbooking Ottawa History - The Historical Society of Ottawa

The Historical Society of Ottawa has a page on its website dedicated to the WCHSO, which can be viewed at:   WCHSO - The Historical Society of Ottawa  

Rick Henderson, author and fourth great-grandson of Philemon and Abigail Wright, paints a portrait of a man and his family whose legacy had a profound impact on the future of the capital and the nation. Note: this is a French-language presentation.

Enjoy this Zoom version of this summer's Black History's bus tour from the comfort of your home – and learn about the impact and outstanding contributions of Black Canadians to our city, presented by Jean-Marie Guerrier, Vice-President, Black History Ottawa.