“My father, R. W. Scott (an Irish Catholic) was Mayor of Bytown in 1852, being but 27 at the time. The (Protestant) Orangemen asked him if they could walk in procession through the streets of Bytown on the 12th of July.

He gave them permission to do so. The other (Catholic) Irishmen said, ‘If you let those (Protestant) Orangemen walk, there will be trouble, we will stone them’.

My father said: ‘If you do, you will stone me, I am going to head the procession’ and so he did. (I have heard it said that he rode a white horse, but I am sorry to say that is not true.)

He lived in Lower Town; from there he drove a horse and buggy on to the Sappers Bridge, and when the Orange Parade came along he joined it, leading them all through Lower Town.

Not a stone was thrown, but he was defeated for Mayor when the elections came around. The Irish Catholics wouldn't vote for him because he joined an Orange procession, and the Orangemen wouldn't vote for him because he was Catholic."

The above is a short excerpt from “The Irish Settlers of Bytown and Early Ottawa", a chapter from Lillian Scott Desbarats' fascinating memoir, “Recollections", published in 1957, in which she recalls the time her father, Richard Scott, tried to play “peace maker” in pre-Confederation Bytown.

View the accompanying document for her full text regarding her father’s exploits on July 12, 1952: The Irish Settlers of Bytown.

Richard W. Scott survived this defeat and went on to an extraordinary career in the Ontario Legislature and Canadian Parliament, serving as Secretary of State in the Cabinets of both Alexander Mackenzie (1874-1878) and Wilfrid Laurier (1895-1908) and serving in the Senate until 1913.

Sir Richard Scott was one of the leading proponents behind Ottawa’s eventual choice as Canada's capital. He was also responsible for the 1863 Scott Act guaranteeing the right to separate schools in Ontario and the 1878 Scott (Temperance) Act allowing counties and municipalities to prohibit the sale of liquor.

In Bytown Pamphlets #80, #81, #82 and #84 we have published further excerpts from Lillian Scott Desbarats’ 1957 memoir “Recollections”: www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/publications/bytown-pamphlets