To mark Ottawa’s 200th anniversary, the Centretown BUZZ community newspaper has commissioned Jack Hanna to pen an eight-part series reflecting back on the history of our city.
Jack Hanna is a retired teacher and journalist, amateur historian, and heritage chair of the Centretown Community Association.
, painted circa. 1870. (Library and Archives Canada, W.H. Coverdale Collection of Canadiana).jpg)
“Lake Allumette on the Ottawa River in Ontario”, by Alfred Holdstock (1820 1901), painted circa. 1870. (Library and Archives Canada, W.H. Coverdale Collection of Canadiana)
As a (non-Indigenous) Centretown resident, Jack Hanna reflects on the devastation caused to the Algonquin Anishinaabe people following the establishment of Bytown.
The charge of the Fenians at the Battle of Ridgeway, near Niagara, Canada West, on June 2, 1866. LAC.
Jack continues his look at local history by examining the threat posed by Americans over the years.
A contemporary map showing Richmond Landing and Richmond Road.
Jack Hanna shares the story of the Earl of Dalhousie, Captain LeBreton, and the shaping of the Rideau Canal:
A drawing by Col. John By in 1826 of the Chaudiere Falls. (National Gallery of Canada).
Jack Hanna paints an intimate portrait of the legendary overseer of the Rideau Canal’s construction, Lt. Colonel John By.
A contemporary map (possibly drawn by Lt. Col. John By) showing the location of Nicholas Sparks’ farm.
By the time Nicholas Sparks died in 1862, he had amassed a huge estate, including 400+ properties. Sometimes the most successful people get there by virtue of genius or hard work.
Jack Hanna suggests that, in Nicholas Sparks’ case, uncanny luck was an enormous factor:
Painting by Burrowes of the Rideau Canal Locks 1834
Not only was Captain Thomas Burrowes a skilled surveyor and key member of Lt. Colonel By’s management team in the construction of the Rideau Canal – he was also an very prolific painter. In fact, whenever you've looked at an image of early Bytown, there's a good chance it was one of Burrowes’ many paintings. Jack Hanna takes a look back at the legacy of Thomas Burrowes that has left us able to step back 200 years, visit shanties in woods, paddle the early Rideau Canal and stroll through the earliest days of Bytown:
An early map of Bytown, with prominent street names added.
Lt. Colonel John By was not only in charge of the Rideau Canal, he also laid out the street plan that forms the basis of today’s City of Ottawa. Colonel By planned and named our principal thoroughfare “Wellington” Street after the Duke of Wellington, the famous war hero and the Rideau Canal’s #1 proponent. By named Kent Street after the King’s son, the Duke of Kent. By also named a street after Kent’s 7-year old daughter Victoria (the future Queen) but this was later renamed Lyon Street.
Jack Hanna recounts the indelible mark Lt. Col. John By left on our city:
- Ottawa 200: Ottawa is still By’s town
Lt. Col John By
In celebration of this September's 200th anniversary of the start of the Rideau Canal and Bytown, Jack Hanna looks back on the remarkable events of September 26, 1826.
