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, 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”) can be accessed digitally: Introducing William Pitman Lett : Ottawa's First City Clerk and Bard 1819-1892