Issue No. 146 - Sep 2014 - The Historical Society of Ottawa

The Historical Society of
Ottawa !ews
ISS& 1207-1838
President’s Report
by George Neville
For the building of the Rideau Canal, it
is generally known that Lt.-Col. John
By was dependent on Scottish
stonemasons for construction of the
locks and associated buildings
supported by Irish and French
Canadian labourers (navvies). When
record of an Irish stonemason working
on the Rideau Canal from 1828 comes
to light with subsequent settlement in
Gloucester Twp. as in the case of
William Brennan (b. 1789, County
Sligo, Ireland), it is time not only to
celebrate such discovery but also to
marvel at the many new connections
opened up by an inquiry in late June
from Linda Brennan Gallagher of
Michigan (see pp. 5-8 this issue).
William Brennan with his wife
Miriam Richardson (from Compton,
Quebec) whom he married in Montreal
in 1828, settled in Gloucester Twp. in
1831 on land formerly owned by
William Fraser. This William Brennan
became a warden with Notre Dame
church and a township clerk. While
the Historical Atlas of Carleton County
(H. Belden & Co., 1879) renowned for
its extensive and comprehensive
history section, makes no mention of
Brennan as a stonemason, it does
provide the following insights about
him in Gloucester on p. xxxvii:
From these we find that the
Township was independently organized
in 1832, and that the first "Town
meeting" was held at the house ofJohn
Cunningham on the 2nd of January of
that year, the following being chosen to
occupy the various Township offices:
Willian Brennan, Clerk; Geo. Sparks
and Wm. Johnston, Assessors; John
Dunning, Thomas Doxey, Robt.
Issue &o. 146
Forseyth, John Freeman, Hugh
McKenna, and Gustavus Clements,
Pathmasters; Bradish Billings, Patk.
Daveny,
and
M.
Dewell,
Poundkeepers; John Evans and James
Otterson, Town Wardens; Bradish
Billings was Chairman of the
Commission of Justices under whom
the meeting was held. (Some of these
meetings were held in the Brennan
tavern - notes from Ruth Brennan
Tawney to Linda Brennan Gallagher.)
The Municipal representation for
1842, the first year of the existence of
the Dalhousie District, was as follows:
Wm. Smyth, District Councillor;
William Brennan, Town Clerk; Herman
Hulbert, Patrick McGuire, Thomas
Doxey, John Freeman, and Alexander
Scott, School Commissioners; Gustavus
Clements, Assessor and Collector.
The next year (1843) Gustavus
Clements was appointed Clerk, and
performed the duties of the office three
years.
September 2014
Barracks Hill Cemetery established
~1827 (contained within the area later
defined by Sparks, Metcalfe,
Queen,and O'Connor streets) but in an
adjacent catholic area; likewise his
wife, Miriam (d. 1844) and his motherin-law, Polly Dearborn (d. 1835). As
Prof. Bruce Elliott has explained in his
City Beyond*, the Catholics had leased
a cemetery area from Louis-Théodore
Besserer in 1830 just south of Rideau
St., but they were required to give it up
when Besserer decided to subdivide his
Sandy Hill lands for housing. They
then acquired a site adjacent to the
older Protestant cemetery south of
Barracks Hill, and started burying there
in 1839. When the Barracks Hill
Cemetery was closed in 1845, the
remains of these three persons
(probably marked by wooden
memorials at the time, but William's
marble tombstone may just have been
there by then) were at some point
removed and allegedly interred into a
single grave in the Catholic portion of
the newly established Sandy Hill
From the above information, we note
that Wm. Brennan (obviously literate)
was the first Township Clerk of
. . . . . Cont'd page 4
Gloucester until 1843 when he must *Bruce S. Elliott, The City Beyond, A
have relented because of developing History of #epean, Birthplace of
weakness of body.
Canada's Capital 1792-1990, Corp. of
When Wm. Brennan died on 8 March the City of #epean (1991) p. 89. ISBN
1842, he was likely buried in the 155036-258-5.
In This Issue:
President's Report-------------------------------------------------------------------------------1
Coming Events: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------2
HSO Speaker Topic & Profiles for Sept. to Nov. 201 4-------------------------------- 3
Wm. Brennan. Irish Stonemason, Rideau Canal Worker -------------------------- 5
Seeking Location of West Troy Bells ----------------------------------------------------- 8
Historia Poetice Aperta - Topley's Summer 1 871 ------------------------------------ 9
New HSO Board Members - Biographies ----------------------------------------------- 9
Ottawa Colloquim on Gothic Architecture -------------------------------------------- 1 0
Bouquet for HSO & its Newsletter --------------------------------------------------------11
Former J.R. Booth house photos ---------------------------------------------------------11
Farewell to Jean L'Espérance's HSO Library Custodianship -------------------1 2
Autumn Excursion and Christmas Dinner Announcements ------------------ 4, 8
HSO !ewsletter
Page 2
September 2014
The Historical Society ofOttawa
Patron: His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D.
Governor General of Canada
The Historical Society of Ottawa was founded in 1898 (as the Women's Canadian Historical Society of Ottawa).
Its objective is to increase public knowledge of the history of Ottawa by its publications, meetings, tours, outreach
and participation in local heritage events and also by its co-operation with the Bytown Museum, a store of
artifacts reflecting Ottawa's history from Bytown days and into the present century. Its headquarters is in the
Bytown Museum, Lt.-Col. By's Commissariat Building, constructed of stone in 1827 and located at 1 Canal Lane
by the Rideau Canal between the Château Laurier and Parliament Hill.
Board Of Directors
President: George Neville [email protected]
Secretary: Margaret Back [email protected]
Treasurer: Kery Peterson-Beaubien
[email protected]
Awards: Alan McLay (Penultimate Past President)
Don Baxter
[email protected]
Ed Bebee
[email protected]
Mary Edwards
[email protected]
Grace Lewis
[email protected]
Dave Mullington
[email protected]
Don Ross
[email protected]
Committees
Awards
Library/Archives
Membership Chair
Nominations
Newsletter
Publications
Telephone
Tours Coordinator
Web Liason
Webmaster
Coming Events
61 3-729-0579
61 3-236-71 66
61 3-565-0277
61 3-730-2264
61 3-745-3430
61 3-741 -7838
61 3-824-5490
61 3-825-1 890
61 3-829-8430
61 3-592-2539
Alan McLay
Grace Lewis
Don Ross
Alan McLay, Don Ross, Mary Edwards
Arthur Beaubien ([email protected])
Ed Bebee ([email protected])
Barbara Whitfield, Pat Richardson
George Neville
Dave Mullington
John Reeder ([email protected])
All general correspondence should be addressed to:
The Secretary; The Historical Society of Ottawa
P.O. Box 523, Station “B”
Ottawa, ON K1 P 5P6
HSO Email: [email protected]
HSO Web Site: hsottawa.ncf.ca
A note regarding Membership renewals ­ For regular members of
The Historical Society of Ottawa, your renewal date is shown on your
address label on this newsletter. Please check it and see that you are
up­to­date. If not, a renewal form is available for you to photocopy on
the last page of this newsletter, or just send us a cheque that shows
your current address and phone number.
Friday, September 26
Monthly Meeting Rick Turcotte
“Ottawa's Dual Role: Collecting
& Recording Facts and Events.”
Routhier Community Centre*
1:00 p.m.
Friday, October 31
Peter Ryan
"History of Fires & Fire­
Fighting Methods in Early
Ottawa"
Speaker:
Routhier Community Centre*
1:00 p.m.
Friday, November 28
Michel Prévost
Speaker:
"St. James: The Oldest
European Cemetary in the
National Capital Area*
1:00 p.m.
Wednesday, October 8
Agro­Historical Autumn
Excursion
8:30 am St. Richard's Anglican
Church, Merivale Rd.
9:00 am St. Thomas the Apostle
Anglican Church,
2345 Alta Vista Dr.
Wednesday, December 3
Annual HSO Christmas
Turkey Dinner
St. Richard's Anglican
Church Hall
Merivale Road at Rossland
12:30 p.m.
*Parking at the Routhier Community Centre - from Cumberland Ave., between St. Patrick St. and Guigues Ave.
September 2014
HSO Speaker Profiles for Monthly
Meetings, Sept. - Nov., 2014
HSO !ewsletter
Crystal Beach to Rockcliffe Park,
Downtown to the Airport and all points
26th Sept. 2014 - HSO Speaker: Rick in between. This was a real rewarding
experience for my later years, though
Turcotte - "Ottawa's Dual Role:
being a young lad, had yet to discover
Collecting & Recording Facts and
why I was so impressed with my city.
Events of Ottawa the City and
Later in life, work and marriage
Ottawa the &ation's Capital"
necessitated a move to Nepean, but it
Abstract. From an enjoyable wasn’t long before it was recaptured by
pastime, to a major personal project – Ottawa, so it seems I’ve always been a
how could that happen? The pastime – part of our great city.
collecting books. The project –
In the 1980s I began my book
discovering the dual character of collection, which over the years
Ottawa. The municipality of Ottawa changed to focus on books on or about
and Ottawa the Nation's Capital. Ottawa. I soon discovered answers for
Different roles, but similar history. In some of the sights, buildings, statues,
many instances it is quite captivating, street names and local events I had
though understanding the dual role witnessed when I was younger. This
phenomenon of Ottawa is a major new found knowledge of Ottawa, was
project of reading, learning, not only beneficial, but rewarding.
researching, verifying and recording
My wife, being from Kent, England,
many new or assumed facts.
meant I gained an excuse to travel
Comparing Ottawa to other Ontario overseas and see her beautiful and
cities, I soon discovered that apart from historic country. We have travelled
the usual influences, provincial and from coast to coast in Canada
municipal, Ottawa has two extra forces discovering more of Canada’s history,
that shape and influence this beautiful and we have taken bus and boat tours as
city.
we played tourist in Ottawa.
The Federal Government’s direct
This area has so much to offer we
control in many ways on Ottawa’s daily only need two more life times to
business and international influences accomplish our project.
because Ottawa is the Nation's Capital.
We have found that it is 50% fun,
How these influences affect or 25% perseverance and 25% toil.
conflict with Ottawa’s growth,
The result – a perfect hobby for a
maturity, improvement and image on retired history enthusiast.
the Canadian or International stages is a
project of many paths that lead to
rewarding gems of research material
that still impress me after 30 years of 31st Oct. 2014 - HSO Speaker: Peter
combing through the facts.
Ryan - "History of Fires & FireFighting Methods in Early Ottawa"
Profile. Born and raised in the Glebe
near the old swing bridge and streetcar Abstract.
loop on Bronson Avenue, made me - Background to the founding of the
aware of some of Ottawa’s historic and Bytown Fire Brigade (BFB).
beautiful surroundings at a very early - Short video tour of our BFB Museum
(1986 - 1987).
age.
In my youth, with my C.C.M. bicycle - Overview of 20 some various major
and later my super fast 3 speed Raleigh, artefacts.
I cycled all around the area every - Chaudière Banner.
summer. From Manotick to Kingsmere, - Major fires in Bytown - Ottawa and
Area.
Page 3
- How to visit our building and tour
the displays.
Profile. Peter Ryan (born April 10th
1936, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)
received education for Grades 1 to 8 at
Red Wing, Grade 9 at Notre Dame of
Sion, and Grades 10 to 11 from Red
Wing (by correspondence), British
Empire Test (BET) (Grade 12) Royal
Canadian Navy.
Job History - Construction 1953,
Apprentice cook (Hotel Saskatchewan)
1953 - 1954, sold ELNA sewing
machines 1954, worked on farms in
various positions (1954-1955), and
joined RCN (Communications Special
Branch) 1955-1957. Joined Ottawa
Fire Department (professional fire
fighter) 1957 - 1996. Incorporated the
construction company Design & Build
1970 to-date.
Special interests & activities - Helped
organize Ottawa Firefighters Curling
Club (1966 - 1979).
Director Southern Ontario Firefighters
Curling Assocation (1970 - 1978).
Member of original board of directors
Ottawa Firefighters Recreation Assoc.
Member Canadian Progress Club 1982
- 1990 (President 1984 -1985).
Zone Governor Eastern Ontario &
Quebec (1987 - 1990).
Founding Member Bytown Fire
Brigade 1980 - to-date. (President,
Vice-President, Director).
Co-Chair Millenium Cross Canada
Tour Committee (1999 - 2001).
Ottawa Firefighters Community
Foundation (Construction co-ordinator
for building of Firefighters Memorial
at Ottawa City Hall), 2002 to-date.
Organized and developed a 6 month
basic woodworking course (hand tools
only) for people on work fair programs
(2003 - 2009). This program received
an Achievement Award from the
province for the success rate for the
graduating students (76 percent of the
graduates were working at a real job
within 6 weeks of graduation).
Page 4
HSO !ewsletter
28th &ov. 2014 - HSO Speaker:
regional and national heritage and
Michel Prévost - "St. James: The
archival awards over the past years.
Oldest European Cemetary in the
&ational Capital Area"
Abstract. Established in 1820, the
oldest European cemetery in the
National Capital Area is the resting
place of many of its first residents,
including the founder of Hull,
to Osgoode Twp.,
Philemon Wright, his wife Abigail
Mountain hamlet, and
Wyman and their descendants. Many
&orth Grenville County
regional
personalities,
notably
successful landowner Nicholas Sparks
and John Scott, first Mayor of Ottawa,
Wed., 8th October 2014
are buried here. St. James Cemetery
contains impressive monuments and
Via Stage Coach Rd. to
gravestones. It owes its name to the
former Anglican Parish of St. James, Upper Canada Cranberries,
then by Pepperville Rd. to
whose fine stone church building,
located on Promenade du Portage,
Mountain Path Certified
dates back to 1901. The Church was
& &atural Products
deconsecrated in 2007 and the
Cemetery is now an historical site
Cafeteria lunch at
recognized by the Québec Heritage
Kemptville
Law. Michel Prévost was closely
Agricultural College
involved in this designation and he will
followed by a tour of the
explain why it was so important for
him to protect this historical cemetery
campus (last chance)
for the future generations.
HSO
Agro-Historical
Autumn Excursion
Profile. Michel Prévost is the
University of Ottawa Chief Archivist
since 1990 and the President of the
Outaouais Historical Society since
1997. He has dedicated his energies to
spreading an awareness of history and
preserving Ottawa Gatineau, Eastern
Ontario and Outaouais's heritage over
the past 35 years. His unflagging
commitment to preserving the
historical integrity of this region's
heritage has been the foundation for an
abundance of published articles as well
as numerous appearances on radio and
television. Through his writing,
heritage tours and many other
activities, Michel Prévost has raised
awareness of the importance of
safeguarding the architectural heritage
of the National Capital Region. Michel
Prévost was honored by many local,
Thence to a Chilean alpaca
farm on way to Oxford Mills
& Oxford Station
$65.00*, for Tour & Lunch
8:30 AM, St. Richard's
Anglican Church, Merivale Rd.
9:00 AM, St. Thomas the
Apostle Anglican Church,
2345 Alta Vista Dr.
Reservations to President
613-729-0579
<[email protected]>
*Includes $15.00 Non-refundable
Pre-registration Fee to cover
College Cafeteria Commitment
September 2014
. . . . . Cont'd from page 1
Cemetery. Dr. Elliott doesn't know
when the Catholics stopped burying at
the Barracks site; they were the last of
the four denominations to acquire a
cemetery at the new Sandy Hill site
since they had only recently acquired
their one on Queen St. a couple of
years before the other denominations
started looking at moving elsewhere.
When the Sandy Hill Cemetery was
closed in 1873 with the opening of
Notre Dame Cemetery in 1872, the
remains of these three persons,
according to Brennan family history,
were interred together at Notre Dame
Cemetery, Section C, marked by a
tombstone erected to the memory only
of Wm. Brennan.
It is noteworthy from the Notre
Dame burial record that the remains of
Wm. Brennan were interred on 10th
March when the ground would still be
frozen to a depth of at least 2 feet and
still overlaid with snow. Perhaps this
was the best time of year for removal
of bodies for transfer, in spite of the
arduous working conditions, for
minimization of contagion as well as
sepulchral odour.
The Latin inscription, 'Requi os eunt
impace. Amen.', on the weathered
Brennan marble tombstone is unusual,
given the laconic nature of Latin
composition. 'Requi' and particularly
'impace. Amen.' are clearly discernible;
'os' is singular for bone, 'ossa' for
bones, and 'eunt' means 'they go', 3rd
person plural, present active tense of
the infinitive 'eo', to go. With the
Brennan family lore in mind that the
remains of three bodies are in one
grave, I proposed in consultation with
Wayne Pointen, retired Latin teacher,
that perhaps the broken Latin was
intended to convey, 'May the bones go
and rest in peace'. Bruce Elliott held to
a traditional rendering, 'Requiescant in
pace' (May they rest in peace) pointing
out that 'os' could be 'es' and 'eunt' as
'cant', both portions so badly weathered
. . . . . Cont'd page 11
September 2014
HSO !ewsletter
Page 5
Quest for the Silver Pocket
Watch of William Brennan,
Irish Stonemason, Rideau
Canal Worker on McCabe List
Compiled by George Neville from
Correspondence with Linda
Brennan Gallagher,
GGGrandaugher of William
Frederick Brennan
This quest and saga has deep roots. It
began in 1965 when Linda Gallagher's
distant cousin, Ruth Brennan Tawney,
a GGrandaughter of William Brennan,
and her husband James Tawney of
Annapolis, Maryland, visited the
Bytown Museum in Ottawa with the
original land grant for Wm. Brennan's
property. Their intent was to leave the
land documentation with the HSO
Museum, but as "they had stacks of
land grants similar to ours and not
really interested in acquiring more ...at
that time" [letter Ruth to Linda, 7 Nov.
1977], Ruth "gave the museum a silver
pocket watch that had belonged to
William Brennan" that had been passed
down to her father.
As Linda Gallagher was to learn
from her various e-mails to the HSO
and the Bytown Museum preparatory
to her one-day visit to Ottawa on 17th
July 2014, neither the HSO nor the
Bytown Museum has record of
receiving such a watch in spite of
diligent search of records, including
contacting the Nepean Historical
Society, the Gloucester Historical
Society, the Billings Estate Museum,
and the City of Ottawa Archives, all to
no avail. Unfortunately, Ruth Tqwney
did not obtain any receipt of her
donation to the Bytown Museum and
HSO at the time.
For her one-day visit to Ottawa from
Central Lake, Michigan, where she is
Editor of The Antrim Review (Bellaire,
Michigan 49615) on-route to visit her
son in Vermont, Linda "wished to see
anything pertaining to
her
gggrandfather, William Frederick
1842 Burial record for Wm. Brennan from the Drouin Collection, LAC.
Brennan, who was an Irish canal
stonemason on the Rideau Canal from
1828 until the canal was completed,
when he settled on 300 acres of land
obtained by a land grant from William
Fraser, opened a travern, became a
Notre Dame church warden,
town[ship] clerk, and died of unknown
causes in 1842 (age 53) with 5 small
children at home. He had married
Miriam Richardson (b. 1804 in
Compton, Canada East) in Montreal in
1828. Their infant daughter, Cornelia,
died in 1828; twin daughters Mary Ann
and Eliza Ann (b. 11 May 1830), son,
James Frederic (b. 2 January 1834),
Matilda (b. 22 January 1838), and
William David (b. 29 December 1840)
were living when Miriam died 4th
April 1844 (age 39) at her residence in
Gloucester.
Linda had information to the effect
that not only was William Brennan
buried in Notre Dame Cemetery in
Ottawa, but also his wife, Miriam, just
two years later in 1844 at age 40, born
a Baptist American, as well as
Miriam's mother, Poly Dearborn, who
died in Gloucester Twp., Canada West,
in 1835, all in a single grave. Linda
believes that William was too young
for his death to have been 'natural'
because he had time to write a Will that
says "Being strong in mind but weak in
body", she wonders if he was one of
those Canal workers who contacted
malaria one too many times. His wife,
Miriam, was also ill for she had time to
convert to Catholicism on her
deathbed. Linda's suspicians about
William living and dying a Roman
Catholic were found true - he was a
church warden for Notre Dame, and he
voted for Daniel O'Connor in the 1836
Rowan and Brennan Memorials in !otre Dame
Cemetery, Ottawa, Section C. Photo by G. !eville.
Linda Gallagher beside the marble tombstone of her
GGGgrandfather, William Brennan in Section C,
!otre Dame Cemetery, Ottawa, to the right of the
Rowan obelisk. Photo courtesy ofGeorge !eville.
The inscription on the weathered stone is:
In Memory of / Wm. Brennan / who died / March 8,
1842 /in the 50 year /ofhis age.
Requi os eunt impace [?]. Amen.
election - despite the fact that he
married an American Baptist who was
the daughter and granddaughter of
Baptist ministers. Even stranger is the
fact that not only Miriam converted,
presumably to be buried with her
husband, but also her mother must
have as she too is buried in Notre
Page 6
Dame in a single grave with her
daughter and son-in-law. Linda had
always been led to believe that the
Brennans were Protestant.
As for burials, it is conceivable to this
compiler that William Brennan (d.
1842), his wife, Miriam (d. 1844), and
his mother-in-law, Polly Dearborn (d.
1835) were each first buried in the
Barracks Hill cemetery established
~1827, just in time for the 1828 flood
of malaria epidemic victims, but closed
in 1845. In the 1840s, the Sandy Hill
Cemetery was established with four
adjacent sections for each of the Roman
Catholics, Episcopalians, Wesleyan
Methodists, and Presbyterians until
1873 when it too was closed and
bodies and memorials were removed to
either Beechwood or Notre Dame
cemeteries established in 1872. The
fact remains today that there is only a
single marble slab in Notre Dame
Cemetery (Section C) to the memory of
William Brennan (only).
It is remarkable that the young
Brennan family was able to survive
after the early death of both their
parents. The children, five in all that
lived past childhood, including twin
daughters, all found their way to
Michigan as teens after their oldest
brother, Linda's great grandfather,
emigrated to work on the railroad in
Michigan, exept for the youngest, who
emigrated to Malone, New York,
working his way through college to
pass the bar, becoming an officer and
war hero in the Civil War, then a
senator for the state of New York, until
his suicide from arsenic in 1881,
apparently from involvement in some
sort of government scandal.
Thanks to help from Glenn Clark,
President of the Gloucester Township
Historical Society and to Grant Vogl,
Exhibits Coordinator at the Bytown
Musuem, Linda now knows exactly
where William Brennan's 300 acres of
land was located on the Rideau River
about a mile south of the Hogs Back on
HSO !ewsletter
the Gloucester Twp. map of the 1879
Carleton Co. Atlas (H. Belden & Co.),
south-west of a little burg called
Gateville (the sourthern part of
Billing's Bridge settlement). Just
where the Rideau River/Canal runs
west-east a short distance, there is
marking of the west-east BASE LINE
(from the river) and that of a hotel
(Mooney's Tavern) at the SW
intersection of roads, and just south of
that there is property owned by
Michael Gleason, below that owned by
G. Otterson & Jno. Otterson, and
below that by Joseph Nelligan. Today,
that property is a subdivision near
Otterson Rd. (named after the Otterson
family) and Riverside Drive.
William Brennan paid 100 pounds
for his property in 1831 at a time when
he had a wife and at least one child to
support. Linda wonders how he
managed to save the money for the
purchase (no evidence for loans or
mortgage) in just 3-4 years as a
stonemason on the Rideau. If Linda's
information is correct from the 1833
Tithe Applotment records in William's
native County Sligo of Ireland, his
brother Thomas was renting just six
acres of land in 1833, which indicates
that the Brennans did not have much
financial backing in Ireland. Linda also
knows that at some point, William sold
or gave 100 acres of that land to his
brother Thomas since the 1837
Gloucester Twp. Assessment shows
both as owners of adjoining property
on the Rideau River. This is proof,
too, that Thomas did indeed emigrate
to Canada sometime after 1833 with
his wife Mary (no children listed).
Note from the following Bill of Sale
from Peter Fraser to William Brennan,
recorded at 5 p.m., Friday, the 21st of
February 1834, in Book 6 ...(illegible
signature) Registrar, District of
Bathurst, that William was in
NEPEAN Twp.
A Memorial to the Registered
pursuant to the Statue in the case made
September 2014
and provided. - Of an I#DE#TURE,
dated the Seventeenth day ofSeptember
in the Year of our Lord One Thousand
Eight Hundred anf Thirty One. Made
Between Peter Fraser of the Township
of Oxford acting executor of Wm.
Fraser of the one part, and Wm.
Brennan of the Township of #epean,
Yeoman, of the other part, purporting
to be a Deed of Bargain and sale,
whereby the said Peter Fraser, for and
in consideration ofone hundred pounds
of Lawful Money of Upper Canada,
hath Granted, Bargained, Sold,
Aliened, Transferred, Conveyed, and
Confirmed unto the said Wm. Brennan,
his Heirs and Assigns FOREVER, ALL
A#D SI#GULAR that certain parcel or
tract of Land and premises lying and
being in the township of Gloucester,
County of Rusel (sic), Ottawa District,
formerly called the Eastern District and
province of Upper Canada containing
by admeasurement one hundred acres
be the same more or Less being
composed of Lot number One, above
Lot number twenty five near the Centre
of the said township of Gloucester
which said one hundred acres are in
Rair (sic) of the two hundred Acres of
Lot number One Pursuant to the
Government Deed, that is to say fifty
chains #orth, sixty six Degrees East
then #ortherly twenty chains parallel
with the two hundred acres in front of
Said Lot then south sixty six Degrees
West fifty one chains to the Rair (sic) of
the front two hundred acres ofSaid Lot.
Together with all Houses, OutHouses, Woods and Waters thereon
erected, lying and being; and all and
singular the hereditaments and
appurtenances to the said premises in
anywise belonging: TO HAVE A#D
TO HOLD the same unto the said Wm.
Brennan his Heirs and Assigns, to the
sole and proper use, benefit and behoof
of the said Wm. Brennan, Heirs and
Assigns, FOREVER. Which said Indenture
or Bargain and Sale is witnessed by
Richard L. Garlick, yeoman and Isaac
September 2014
HSO !ewsletter
Page 7
Boltom (sic), yeoman ofthe township of
Oxford and this MEMORIAL thereof is
hereby required to be registered by me
the said Wm. Brennan.
Grant ee(?) therein named.
As Witness my Hand and Seal this
eighteenth (?) day of February in the
Year of our Lord One Thousand Eight
Hundred and thirty first.
SIG#ED A#D SEALED I# PRESE#CE OF
Richard L. Garlick
Wm. Brennan.
Registrar (?)
The original Crown Grant of this land,
issued on Sheepskin dated September
4, 1800, was signed by Peter Hunter,
Lt.-Governor, conveying 300 acres of
land then in Russell County, Upper
Canada to one William Fraser. The
original document, formerly in
possession of Mr. and Mrs. James
Tawney, was aquired as a gift to Mrs.
Tawney from the widow of her uncle
Robert Brennan (Ruth Tawney's
grandfather) who had acquired it from
his family. The initials of George III
are in the upper left hand corner of the
Grant that reads as follows:
GEORGE the THIRD, by the grace of
God, of Great Britain, France, and
Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith,
and so forth. To all to whom these
Presents shall come, GREETI#G, Know
Ye that we of our special grace, certain
knowledge, and mere motion have
Given and Granted, and by these
presents DO GIVE and GRA#T unto
William Fraser of the Township of
Edwardsburg in the County ofGrenville
in the District of Johnstown of our said
Province, Esquire, his heirs and assigns
forever: All that parcel of land situate
in the Township of Gloucester in the
County ofRussell in the Eastern District
in our said Province, containing by
admeasurement Three Hundred acres
be the same more or less, being Lot
#umber One above Lot Twenty Five
near the Centre of the said Township of
Goucester, together with all the woods
and waters thereon lying, and being
Western central portion ofGloucester Twp. map from the 1879 Belden Carleton County Atlas showing parts ofthe
Brennan settlement area south of the Hog's Back and the BASE LI!E (now Walkely Road) and present day St.
Laurent Blvd. being the division between Rideau River Frontage and Ottawa River Frontage. Labelled map
courtesy of the Gloucester Historical Society. HSO added marking of outlined area below BASE LI!E comprises
the 1879 Otterson and !elligan lots, Lot 1 Conc. II (100 acres), former William Brennan property. Partial Lot 25
(above) is that triangular segment abutting the Rideau in Junction Gore, containing the tavern.
under the reservations, limitations,
herein after expressed: which said
Three Hundred acres ofland are butted
and bound or may otherwise be known
as follows:
That is to say, Commencing on the
River Rideau in the limits between Lot
#umber One and Two then north sixty
degrees east one hundred and fifty one
chains, then northerly parallel to the
River twenty chains, then south sixty six
degrees west one hundred and fifty one
chains to the river and then southerly
along the Edge of the River against the
stream to the place ofbeginning.
These descriptions of the Fraser and
Brennan lands in Gloucester Twp. are
not readily understandable or
seemingly correct in their delineations.
No reference is made in the legal
description to Concession number, but
these lands (100 acres) are in the
northern portion of Conc. II (Rideau
Front) of six concessions (plus a
broken front including Long Island)
whose Lot numbers start at the Base
Line (now Walkley Rd.) from 1 to 30
to the border with Osgoode Twp. The
nearly equally large eastern portion of
Gloucester Twp. extends south through
nine concessions from the Ottawa
River (crossing the Base Line) to abut
with Osgoode Twp. with Lots running
from 1 to 20 west of Russell Co. except
for Lots 21-26 that extend westerly but
north of the Base Line to the Ottawa
River. The irregularly shaped area
remaining north of the Base Line and
west of Lot 26, Concessions III to I is
called the Junction Gore that contains
Gateville and the Billings Bridge
settlement, Janesville, and Rock Cliffe.
The Crown Deed to William Fraser
goes on for some additional length
reserving to the Crown as follows:
"Saving nevertheless to us, our heirs
and succesors, all Mines of Gold and
Silver, that shall or may be hereafter
found on any part of the said parcel or
tract of land hereby given and granted
Page 8
as aforesaid; and saving, and reserving
to us, our heirs and successors all white
Pine Trees, that shall, or may now, or
hereafter grow, or be growing on any
part of said parcel or track of land
hereby granted as aforesaid."
Additionally, the Grant would be null
and void if there had been any
reservation heretofore made and marked
for the Crown by the Surveyor General
of Woods, or his lawful Deputy. A
further condition of the Grant was that
Wm. Fraser, his heirs or assigns, had
within Three years to erect and build, or
cause to be erected and built, in and
upon some part of the said parcel or
tract of land a good and sufficient
dwelling house, or not being in his or
their own right lawfully possessed of
any house in the said province, or if the
land should pass by virtue of any sale,
conveyance, enfecffment or exchange,
or by gift, inheritance, descent, devise
or marriage and not within twelve
months after possession not having
taken the oaths prescribed by law, the
land shall revert to the Crown. This
Grant to Wm. Fraser for 300 acres in
the Twp. of Gloucester, District of
Johnston, was Recorded in the
Registrar's Office on 30th November
1800, Liber P Folio 9, signed by Wm.
B. Peters, Asst. Registrar.
The Richardson Connection
Linda Gallagher has provided some
tantalizing information on her
GGGGrandfather David Richardson,
William Brennan's father-in-law. She
thinks that he might have travelled with
Philemon Wright (the timing would be
right) because Daniel Wyman travelled
with Wright on his first expedition
north, and David Richardson and
Daniel Wyman were cousins, both with
deep roots in Woburn, Massachusetts.
David's line of Richardsons was
Thomas, Samuel, Stephen, Stephen,
Ebenezer, and Zebadiah. Zebadiah
Richardson served nine months in the
Revolutionary War. He resided in
HSO !ewsletter
Plymouth, New Hampshire, many
years, in Amherst, N.H, two years, in
Sanford, Maine, two years then
Fryeburg, Me, for the remainder of his
life He was a Baptist minister and was
pastor of the Baptist Church of
Fryeburg from 1787 to 1805 when the
church was dissolved. He then
connected himself with the Baptist
Church in Corish, Me, still residing in
Fryeburg. He died from bilious cholic
about 1820 in Sanford, Me, during a
visit to that place. His wife Rebecca
died in Fryeburg in 1822, age 82.
Zebadiah's oldest son, David (b. 5
August 1763 in Nottingham West - now
Hudson, N.H.) married Polly Dearborn
who died in Gloucester, U.C. Polly
Dearborn's mother was a Snow which
goes back to the Mayflower. David
served three months in the army of the
Revolution, for which near the close of
his life he drew a pension. After
marriage he lived on the farm of his
wife's uncle Peter Dearborn on Baker's
River in Danville, Vermont, and then to
Compton, Canada East, in 1801 having
purchased a farm in the south end of
that town. In 1823, he sold it and
bought another farm in what is now
known as "Richardon's Village" where
he erected a grist mill. In 1827 or
1828, he sold again and removed with
his wife and unmarried son David to
Gloucester Twp., near Bytown, Canada
West, where Polly died in 1835.
September 2014
Annual HSO Christmas
Turkey Dinner
Catering by
Rachel Ayoub
Wed., 3rd December 2014
St. Richard’s Anglican
Church Hall at
Merivale Rd. & Rossland
Dine to harp interludes by
Patricia Marshall
$27.00/person
Arrive - 12 &oon for Punch
Serving - 12:30 PM Sharp
Contact Mary Edwards
Tel. 613-824-5490 or at
[email protected]
for Reservations
Seen any cast West Troy Bells?
An unusual inquiry, received in late
June from Gene Burns of Watervliet,
N.Y., on the banks of the Hudson
River, asks if there is a bell in the
Ottawa Court House and the name of
its foundry. Watervliet, from Dutch
meaning 'swift waters', was formerly
called West Troy until 1896 when the
name was changed. Most bells that he
has located were cast in West Troy,
300 bells in Canada alone, as well as
66 court houses with W. Troy bells.
Gene Burns <[email protected]>
This Rosamond Woolen Mill bell, cast in West Troy !.Y., was originally cast in 1867 and cast again in 1901 by
Meheely & Co. It is on display together with the explanatory plaque (to the right) at the Almonte Textile Mill
Exhibit in the former warehouse ofthe Rosamond Mills. Photo courtesy ofGeorge !eville.
HSO !ewsletter
September 2014
Historia Poetice Aperta
Summer
1871
Once more the partridge haunts the brake
Afield the linnet sings;
The red trout rises on the lake,
And laughing loons weird echoes wake,
On high sound wild dove’s wings.
Where flaunts the iris in the dale,
His mate the plover calls,
The deer rush down the leafless vale,
On dreaming hounds and hunters hale,
The flickering firelight falls.
Once more on swift Ottawa’s stream
I launch my trusty bark;
Where minnows leap with silver gleam,
- The mallard mocks, ‘tis but a dream –
I wake, the world is dark.
William James Topley
“Summer 1871 ” is the third in our
series featuring four seasonal poems
composed by William James Topley,
portrait and landscape photographer.
They were sent to his dying friend,
William Pittman Lett, first City Clerk
of the City of Ottawa. In the course of
researching Lett’s biography, I
unearthed the following letter that
accompanied Topley’s gifts of verse.
As you can read, Topley was a member
of Lett’s annual deer hunt and a great
admirer of the “Bard of Ottawa”. In his
own poetry, Lett describes vividly his
hounds and guns, the thrill of the chase
and his comrades around the campfire
for whom he prepared new verses to
old songs and rhymed tales of hunting
and fishing in the wilderness of the
Ottawa valley. It must have been very
difficult for him to miss the hunt due to
his final illness.
week to be where
The deer rush down the leafless vale On dreaming hounds and hunters hale
The flickering firelight falls.
The Season reminds me of a wish I
have had for some time and which I
must gratify, by sending you some
souvenirs of my camp life.
I know you will appreciate them
especially this fall, as you do not
expect to be out.
I have ventured to add a few verses, a
poor tribute to one who has for so
many years delighted us with his song.
At any rate, it is the best I can do.
With best wishes,
William J. Topley
New Society Archives
come to light
by Ron Elmer
Nine old films and 3 audio tapes dating
back to the 1960s have been uncovered
recently. Of the 9 films, 3 have been
consolidated into one U. C. Village
recording. The films were shot by the
Misses Grace McNeill and M.C. Wilson
who covered the following Society tours:
1956 Gatineau Trip
Ottawa, Oct. 4 1891 1960 Kingston and Old Fort Henry
1961 Upper Canada Village
Dear Mr. Lett
I am gathering my documents ready 1961 Burleigh Falls and Rapids
for camp hoping by this time next 1965, Sept. Boat Trip on the Ottawa River
Page 9
1969 Upper Canada Village
All these old 8mm films have been
successfully converted to a 32 minute
DVD for retention by the Society.
The audio tapes (cassettes) cover the
following subjects:
May 4, 1984 Dr. Pendergast
May 15, 1981 Bytown Museum Opening
May 12, 1982 A day in the Life ofEsther BY
These tapes have been converted to a
CD for future use by the Society. The
material was originally unearthed and
listed by JMCH (Jean McNiven &
Carolyn Horricks?) on 13 April 2000.
Biographies - HSO Board Members
Grace Lewis
Grace Lewis was born and raised
in the small Ontario farming
community of Riceville, with an
extensive Scottish/English heritage.
She worked for the federal
government for 35 years, first in
Agriculture Canada then in Health
Canada. She has been of assistance
to her husband as he developed the
web site www.bytown.net. She now
lives in Barrhaven and is Librarian
for the Ottawa Branch, Ontario
Historical Society. She joined The
Historical Society of Ottawa a
couple of years ago and enjoys the
talks given and has expanded her
knowledge of the history of Ottawa.
Kery Peterson-Beaubien
"Some time ago Kery (no one is sure
exactly when unless she tells them)
was born. For an extended period of
time, she grew continually older, but
she's since decided she doesn't believe
in aging, and so now indefinitely
remains at a stable and enduring age. In
the spare time that she doesn't have,
she writes songs and sings them for
people whether they want to hear them
or not. She also teaches music to
anyone who cares to learn about it, and
rehearses with several collective
conglomerates of musically-minded
individuals."
Page 10
HSO !ewsletter
THE ORIGINS AND SIGNIFICANCE OF DOMESTIC GOTHIC
ARCHITECTURE IN OTTAWA: A COLLOQUIUM
A two-day colloquium will be held Brittain-Catlin has recently traced this
plan to A.W.N. Pugin, the father of the
Friday, Sept. 26 and Saturday, Sept.
27 on the neglected subject of English Gothic revival. Though
Earnscliffe, the best known, was later
Ottawa's residential Gothic architecture, including tours, lectures, an home to prime minister John A.
exhibit, and a keynote address by Macdonald, the houses were built for
Ottawa
merchants,
Dr. Timothy Brittain-Catlin, an leading
industrialists and professionals,
architectural historian from the UK.
including three members of the Pinhey
The event, which is open to the
public, is sponsored jointly by connection, who had built a GothicCarleton University Department of influenced church on their rural estate
History and its Dean of the Faculty of in the 1820s.
An authority on Pugin and the author
Arts and Social Sciences, the
Pinhey's Point Foundation, and of the most comprehensive work on his
domestic architecture, Tim BrittainHeritage Ottawa.
In the late 1850s the prospect of a Catlin of the University of Kent School
of Architecture will introduce us to
design competition for Ottawa’s
Parliament Buildings drew a number Pugin’s Gothic on the Friday evening
at 7 pm. His lecture, hosted by
of English architects to the new city.
Heritage Ottawa, will take place at St
Like Parliament and Ottawa’s Gothic
Alban’s Anglican Church (1867-68),
churches, their Gothic residential
commissions helped transform a once a controversial bastion of high
church ritualism. Saturday morning
frontier lumber town into a colonial
will feature lectures in 2200 River
capital, identifying Canada and its
Building at Carleton University by
capital as progressive partners in the
David Jeanes of Heritage Ottawa on
British Empire. These stone villas
shared both fashionable Tudor the adoption of the form in Ottawa, and
ornament and a revolutionary Ian Badgley of the NCC on their
‘pinwheel’ floorplan, in which four archaeological legacy.
Optional tours on the Friday include
wings revolve outward from a central
stairhall. Architectural historian Tim Earnscliffe, the earliest and most
StiffBros., stereoview ofEarnscliffe, c1872. LAC PA-012694.
September 2014
Photo of Timothy Brittain-Catlin from University of
Kent School of Architecture. Photo courtesy of T.
Brittain-Catlin.
prominent local example of the form,
and two very different Gothic revival
churches: the romantic ruins of
Hamnett Pinhey’s Old St Mary’s
(1822-25) and its successor New St
Mary’s (designed 1909 by architect
J.W.H. Watts, first curator of the
National Gallery of Canada), adjuncts
to the Pinhey estate on the Ottawa
River, where our guests will enjoy a
picnic lunch sponsored by the Pinhey's
Point Foundation. On the Saturday
afternoon there will be a bus tour to
view the surviving villas, beginning
with lunch at Cabotto’s restaurant (a
rural example of pinwheel Gothic near
Stittsville).
An accompanying exhibit by the
Pinhey’s Point Foundation that will
also offer background on ecclesiastical
and civic gothic will move onto
campus from Pinhey’s Point Historic
Site for the colloquium and will then
take up residence in the Department of
History for the remainder of the
autumn term.
The colloquium is open to the public,
but spaces will be limited (especially
for the tours), so please contact Bruce
Elliott at [email protected] as
soon as possible to indicate your
interest in attending.
September 2014
HSO !ewsletter
established along the Ontario side of
as to be virtually indecipherable, but the St. Lawrence R. (e.g., Kingston or
spread out and disconnected from Prescott) that were there prior to 1850
'Requi', disguising the first word, when direct rail connections between
'Requiescant', May they rest. Because Canada and Vermont facilitated the
of the fragmentary inscription of the importation of marble slabs that could
Latin with intermittent wide spacing, be carved and elaborated by marble
Bruce thinks the composer probably workers resident in Bytown.
wrote the Latin properly (apart from
using the plural 'requiescant' rather
than the singular 'requiescat' which
would be right for a stone to Wm.
alone), but that the stone cutter misread
it by inserting improper spacing and
getting 'in pace' contorted.
Below the fragmented Latin on the
Brennan tombstone, the following
badly weathered poetic inscription
appears (with thanks to Bruce Elliott
for his assistance in deciphering it):
Plaque on former J.R. Booth house. Photo, G. !eville.
. . . . . Cont'd from page 4
Ye sons ofmen who do pass by
Or gaze upon my tomb
As ye are now, so once was I
In vigour, youth and bloom
As I am now, so ye must be
Lo silent in your grave
Prepare for death and pray for me
And mercy for me crave.
Bruce Elliott notes that the verse
reflects a Catholic sensibility, in urging
prayers for the deceased, so perhaps it
was provided to the stone cutter as well
along with the Latin that he misread
and improperly inscribed.
From his studies of tombstones,
Bruce Elliott suggests from the 1842
date on Wm. Brennan's memorial that
1842 is a little early for white marble
tombstones in Ottawa. To him, it looks
similar to the white marble tombstones
that began to proliferate westward into
N.Y. State from Vermont with the
completion of the Erie Canal (1825),
with inscription only and none of the
Victorian iconography that one
associates with the post-1850 products
(pointing fingers, shaking hands,
willow trees, etc.). The memorial may
have been acquired in N.Y. State or in
one of the few early marble works
Page 11
Bouquet for the Newsletter &
HSO (submitted May, 2014 with
membership renewal)
I really enjoy the Newsletter & the
publications.
Have not looked at my huge Ottawa
history research files for a year because
of a health glitch that laid me low, but I
am getting back into action and have a
couple of 'booklet' ideas.
I miss the great meetings & the
wonderful bus trips and being in
Ottawa - such a great city!
I'm probably forgotten but pass my
greetings to Mary Edwards, Barbara
Whitfield & Pat Richardson please!
Elizabeth Carroll
Vancouver, B.C. V6G 2L2
<[email protected]>
Present utilization ofthe former J.R. Booth resisdence, 252 Metcalfe. Photo courtesy ofGeorge !eville.
South east side of former J.R. Booth house at 252
Metcalfe St. Photo courtesy ofG. !eville.
Frontal view of former J.R. Booth house at 252
Metcalfe St. Photo courtesy ofG. !eville.
Page 12
HSO !ewsletter
Farewell to Jean L'Espérance's Montreal, also in Ottawa at Library and
Archives Canada, and in the Inuit Art
HSO Library Custodianship
Library of Indian and Northern Affairs.
For the past 5 years Jean L'Espérance By the 28th June, Jean had assembled
has served The HSO as Volunteer the last of eight boxes of HSO
Librarian for its collection on the 3rd documentation for deposition in the
floor of the Bytown Museum attending City of Ottawa Archives (picked up in
to requests for information and visitors early July), 14 similar boxes having
by appointment. During the past year been removed for deposition in early
or so she was busy verifying the May. Her last note to the President
holdings against the digital record of summarized the content of a group of
the collection and removing surplus six boxes for removal to his basement
copies, often of poor condition, storage: copies of Canadian Historical
available for sale by the HSO with Review 1920-1928, 1929-1937, 1939proceeds to the HSO Research & 1948, March 1949 - March 1975,
Development Fund. Jean's fondness Women's Canadian Historical Society
for books began when she learned to of Ottawa (WCHSO) Annual Reports
read under the tutelage of her 1922-1944, Ontario Historical Society
grandfather John Sedorski, and her Papers and Records 1900-1920,
career as a librarian began when she Canadian Historical Association Index
was given the task of running the 1922-1951 and Reports 1950-1957.
library of the girl's boarding school that These the President picked up along
she attended. Later she worked in the with HSO rubber ink-stamps, the
public library of the Borough of Society's Seal impressing machine and
Hackney in London [England] and the collection of library cards for books
other libraries in Britain, at McGill and on outstanding loan from the HSO
Sir George Williams College in Library Holdings.
September 2014
The Historical Society of Ottawa
gratefully acknowledges the financial
support of the City of Ottawa and the
Ministry of Culture of the Government
of Ontario.
The Society is indebted to Jean
L'Espérance for her voluntary work,
interest and above all her devotion to
the cause, especially by way of the
extensive preparation for removal of
the HSO Library collection to the City
of Ottawa Archives.
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