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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
President’s Reportby 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. 1 789, 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., 1 879) 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.
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.
From the above information, we note
that Wm. Brennan (obviously literate)
was the first Township Clerk of
Gloucester until 1 843 when he must
have relented because of developing
weakness of body.
When Wm. Brennan died on 8 March
1842, he was likely buried in the
The Historical Society of
Ottawa !ewsISS& 1207-1838 Issue &o. 146 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. 1 844) and his mother-
in-law, Polly Dearborn (d. 1 835). 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
. . . . .Cont'd page 4
*Bruce S. Elliott, The City Beyond, A
History of #epean, Birthplace of
Canada's Capital 1792-1990, Corp. of
the City of#epean (1991) p. 89. ISBN
155036-258-5.
Coming EventsFriday, September 26
Monthly Meeting Rick Turcotte“Ottawa's Dual Role: Collecting& Recording Facts and Events.”Routhier Community Centre*1:00 p.m.
Friday, October 31Speaker: Peter Ryan"History of Fires & FireFighting Methods in EarlyOttawa"Routhier Community Centre*1 :00 p.m.
Friday, November 28Speaker: Michel Prévost"St. James: The OldestEuropean Cemetary in theNational Capital Area*1 :00 p.m.
Wednesday, October 8AgroHistorical AutumnExcursion8:30 am St. Richard's AnglicanChurch, Merivale Rd.9:00 am St. Thomas the ApostleAnglican Church,2345 Alta Vista Dr.
Wednesday, December 3Annual HSO ChristmasTurkey DinnerSt. Richard's AnglicanChurch HallMerivale Road at Rossland12:30 p.m.
A note regarding Membership renewals For regular members ofThe Historical Society of Ottawa, your renewal date is shown on youraddress label on this newsletter. Please check it and see that you areuptodate. If not, a renewal form is available for you to photocopy onthe last page of this newsletter, or just send us a cheque that showsyour current address and phone number.
The Historical Society of Ottawa was founded in 1898 (as the Women's Canadian Historical Society ofOttawa).
Its objective is to increase public knowledge of the history ofOttawa 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.
Page 2 HSO !ewsletter September 2014
The Historical Society ofOttawaPatron: His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D.
Governor General of Canada
Board Of Directors
President: George Neville [email protected] 61 3-729-0579
Secretary: Margaret Back [email protected] 61 3-236-71 66
Treasurer: Kery Peterson-Beaubien
[email protected] 61 3-565-0277
Awards: Alan McLay (Penultimate Past President) 61 3-730-2264
Don Baxter [email protected] 61 3-745-3430
Ed Bebee [email protected] 61 3-741 -7838
Mary Edwards [email protected] 61 3-824-5490
Grace Lewis [email protected] 61 3-825-1 890
Dave Mullington [email protected] 61 3-829-8430
Don Ross [email protected] 61 3-592-2539
CommitteesAwards Alan McLay
Library/Archives Grace Lewis
Membership Chair Don Ross
Nominations Alan McLay, Don Ross, Mary Edwards
Newsletter Arthur Beaubien ([email protected])
Publications Ed Bebee ([email protected])
Telephone Barbara Whitfield, Pat Richardson
Tours Coordinator George Neville
Web Liason Dave Mullington
Webmaster 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 K1P 5P6
HSO Email: [email protected] HSO Web Site: hsottawa.ncf.ca
*Parking at the Routhier Community Centre - from Cumberland Ave. , between St. Patrick St. and Guigues Ave.
September 2014 HSO !ewsletter Page 3
HSO Speaker Profiles forMonthly
Meetings, Sept. - Nov., 2014
26th Sept. 2014 - HSO Speaker: Rick
Turcotte - "Ottawa's Dual Role:
Collecting & Recording Facts and
Events of Ottawa the City and
Ottawa the &ation's Capital"
Abstract. From an enjoyable
pastime, to a major personal project –
how could that happen? The pastime –
collecting books. The project –
discovering the dual character of
Ottawa. The municipality of Ottawa
and Ottawa the Nation's Capital.
Different roles, but similar history. In
many instances it is quite captivating,
though understanding the dual role
phenomenon of Ottawa is a major
project of reading, learning,
researching, verifying and recording
many new or assumed facts.
Comparing Ottawa to other Ontario
cities, I soon discovered that apart from
the usual influences, provincial and
municipal, Ottawa has two extra forces
that shape and influence this beautiful
city.
The Federal Government’s direct
control in many ways on Ottawa’s daily
business and international influences
because Ottawa is the Nation's Capital.
How these influences affect or
conflict with Ottawa’s growth,
maturity, improvement and image on
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
combing through the facts.
Profile. Born and raised in the Glebe
near the old swing bridge and streetcar
loop on Bronson Avenue, made me
aware of some of Ottawa’s historic and
beautiful surroundings at a very early
age.
In my youth, with my C.C.M. bicycle
and later my super fast 3 speed Raleigh,
I cycled all around the area every
summer. From Manotick to Kingsmere,
Crystal Beach to Rockcliffe Park,
Downtown to the Airport and all points
in between. This was a real rewarding
experience for my later years, though
being a young lad, had yet to discover
why I was so impressed with my city.
Later in life, work and marriage
necessitated a move to Nepean, but it
wasn’t long before it was recaptured by
Ottawa, so it seems I’ve always been a
part of our great city.
In the 1980s I began my book
collection, which over the years
changed to focus on books on or about
Ottawa. I soon discovered answers for
some of the sights, buildings, statues,
street names and local events I had
witnessed when I was younger. This
new found knowledge of Ottawa, was
not only beneficial, but rewarding.
My wife, being from Kent, England,
meant I gained an excuse to travel
overseas and see her beautiful and
historic country. We have travelled
from coast to coast in Canada
discovering more of Canada’s history,
and we have taken bus and boat tours as
we played tourist in Ottawa.
This area has so much to offer we
only need two more life times to
accomplish our project.
We have found that it is 50% fun,
25% perseverance and 25% toil.
The result – a perfect hobby for a
retired history enthusiast.
31st Oct. 2014 - HSO Speaker: Peter
Ryan - "History of Fires & Fire-
Fighting Methods in Early Ottawa"
Abstract.
- Background to the founding of the
Bytown Fire Brigade (BFB).
- Short video tour of our BFB Museum
(1986 - 1987).
- Overview of 20 some various major
artefacts.
- Chaudière Banner.
- Major fires in Bytown - Ottawa and
Area.
- How to visit our building and tour
the displays.
Profile. Peter Ryan (born April 1 0th
1936, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)
received education for Grades 1 to 8 at
Red Wing, Grade 9 at Notre Dame of
Sion, and Grades 10 to 1 1 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) 1 957 - 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).
regional and national heritage and
archival awards over the past years.
28th &ov. 2014 - HSO Speaker:
Michel Prévost - "St. James: The
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,
Philemon Wright, his wife Abigail
Wyman and their descendants. Many
regional personalities, notably
successful landowner Nicholas Sparks
and John Scott, first Mayor of Ottawa,
are buried here. St. James Cemetery
contains impressive monuments and
gravestones. It owes its name to the
former Anglican Parish of St. James,
whose fine stone church building,
located on Promenade du Portage,
dates back to 1901 . The Church was
deconsecrated in 2007 and the
Cemetery is now an historical site
recognized by the Québec Heritage
Law. Michel Prévost was closely
involved in this designation and he will
explain why it was so important for
him to protect this historical cemetery
for the future generations.
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,
Page 4 HSO !ewsletter September 2014
HSOAgro-HistoricalAutumn Excursion
to Osgoode Twp.,
Mountain hamlet, and
&orth Grenville County
Wed., 8th October 2014
Via Stage Coach Rd. to
Upper Canada Cranberries,
then by Pepperville Rd. to
Mountain Path Certified
& &atural Products
Cafeteria lunch at
Kemptville
Agricultural College
followed by a tour of the
campus (last chance)
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
*Includes $15.00 Non-refundable
Pre-registration Fee to cover
College Cafeteria Commitment
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
ofWm. 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 from page 1
. . . . .Cont'd page 11
Quest for the Silver Pocket
Watch ofWilliam Brennan,
Irish Stonemason, Rideau
CanalWorker on McCabe List
Compiled by George Neville from
Correspondence with Linda
Brennan Gallagher,
GGGrandaugher ofWilliam
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
HSO !ewsletter Page 5
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. 1 804 in
Compton, Canada East) in Montreal in
1828. Their infant daughter, Cornelia,
died in 1828; twin daughters Mary Ann
and Eliza Ann (b. 1 1 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 1 844 (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
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
September 2014
Linda Gallagher beside the marble tombstone ofher
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.
1842 Burial record for Wm. Brennan from the Drouin Collection, LAC.
Rowan and Brennan Memorials in !otre Dame
Cemetery, Ottawa, Section C. Photo by G. !eville.
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 1 833 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 21 st 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
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, Out-
Houses, 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
Page 6 HSO !ewsletter
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.
1 842), his wife, Miriam (d. 1 844), and
his mother-in-law, Polly Dearborn (d.
1 835) 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
1 873 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
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, 1 800, 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 ofour 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 ofJohnstown ofour 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
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 ofRussell 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
September 2014
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 ofoutlined 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.
HSO !ewsletter
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
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.
Seen any castWest 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 1 896 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]>
Page 8 September 2014
Annual HSO ChristmasTurkey DinnerCatering 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
for Reservations
This RosamondWoolen 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 RosamondMills. Photo courtesy ofGeorge !eville.
HSO !ewsletter
Summer
1871Once 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.
Ottawa, Oct. 4 1891
Dear Mr. Lett
I am gathering my documents ready
for camp hoping by this time next
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 ofmy 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
Historia Poetice Aperta
New SocietyArchivescome to lightby 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:
1 956 Gatineau Trip
1960 Kingston and Old Fort Henry
1961 Upper Canada Village
1961 Burleigh Falls and Rapids
1965, Sept. Boat Trip on the Ottawa River
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, 1 981 Bytown Museum Opening
May 12, 1 982 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 BoardMembers
Grace Lewis
Grace Lewis was born and raisedin the small Ontario farmingcommunity of Riceville, with anextensive Scottish/English heritage.She worked for the federalgovernment for 35 years, first inAgriculture Canada then in HealthCanada. She has been of assistanceto her husband as he developed theweb site www.bytown.net. She nowlives in Barrhaven and is Librarianfor the Ottawa Branch, OntarioHistorical Society. She joined TheHistorical Society of Ottawa acouple of years ago and enjoys thetalks given and has expanded herknowledge of the history ofOttawa.
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."
September 2014 Page 9
HSO !ewsletter
A two-day colloquium will be held
Friday, Sept. 26 and Saturday, Sept.
27 on the neglected subject of
Ottawa's residential Gothic architec-
ture, including tours, lectures, an
exhibit, and a keynote address by
Dr. Timothy Brittain-Catlin, an
architectural historian from the UK.
The event, which is open to the
public, is sponsored jointly by
Carleton University Department of
History and its Dean of the Faculty of
Arts and Social Sciences, the
Pinhey's Point Foundation, and
Heritage Ottawa.
In the late 1850s the prospect of a
design competition for Ottawa’s
Parliament Buildings drew a number
of English architects to the new city.
Like Parliament and Ottawa’s Gothic
churches, their Gothic residential
commissions helped transform a
frontier lumber town into a colonial
capital, identifying Canada and its
capital as progressive partners in the
British Empire. These stone villas
shared both fashionable Tudor
ornament and a revolutionary
‘pinwheel’ floorplan, in which four
wings revolve outward from a central
stairhall. Architectural historian Tim
Brittain-Catlin has recently traced this
plan to A.W.N. Pugin, the father of the
English Gothic revival. Though
Earnscliffe, the best known, was later
home to prime minister John A.
Macdonald, the houses were built for
leading Ottawa merchants,
industrialists and professionals,
including three members of the Pinhey
connection, who had built a Gothic-
influenced church on their rural estate
in the 1820s.
An authority on Pugin and the author
of the most comprehensive work on his
domestic architecture, Tim Brittain-
Catlin of the University ofKent School
of Architecture will introduce us to
Pugin’s Gothic on the Friday evening
at 7 pm. His lecture, hosted by
Heritage Ottawa, will take place at St
Alban’s Anglican Church (1867-68),
once a controversial bastion of high
church ritualism. Saturday morning
will feature lectures in 2200 River
Building at Carleton University by
David Jeanes of Heritage Ottawa on
the adoption of the form in Ottawa, and
Ian Badgley of the NCC on their
archaeological legacy.
Optional tours on the Friday include
Earnscliffe, the earliest and most
prominent local example of the form,
and two very different Gothic revival
churches: the romantic ruins of
Hamnett Pinhey’s Old St Mary’s
(1 822-25) 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.
Page 10 September 2014
THEORIGINS AND SIGNIFICANCEOFDOMESTIC GOTHIC
ARCHITECTURE IN OTTAWA: A COLLOQUIUM
Photo ofTimothy Brittain-Catlin from University of
Kent School of Architecture. Photo courtesy of T.
Brittain-Catlin.
StiffBros. , stereoview ofEarnscliffe, c1872. LAC PA-012694.
HSO !ewsletterSeptember 2014 Page 11
as to be virtually indecipherable, but
spread out and disconnected from
'Requi', disguising the first word,
'Requiescant', May they rest. Because
of the fragmentary inscription of the
Latin with intermittent wide spacing,
Bruce thinks the composer probably
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):
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
1 842 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 (1 825),
with inscription only and none of the
Victorian iconography that one
associates with the post-1 850 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
established along the Ontario side of
the St. Lawrence R. (e.g., Kingston or
Prescott) that were there prior to 1850
when direct rail connections between
Canada and Vermont facilitated the
importation of marble slabs that could
be carved and elaborated by marble
workers resident in Bytown.
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
. . . . .Cont'd from page 4
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.
Plaque on former J.R. Booth house. Photo, G. !eville.
Present utilization ofthe former J.R. Booth resisdence, 252 Metcalfe. Photo courtesy ofGeorge !eville.
Page 12 HSO !ewsletter
The Historical Society of Ottawa
gratefully acknowledges the financial
support of the City of Ottawa and the
Ministry of Culture of the Government
ofOntario.
Membership Renewal FormThe Historical Society of Ottawa
Date_______________________Renewal/New________________No. Members______________________Name_______________________________________________________________________________Name (for mailing)______________________________________________________________________
□ Address Unchanged(Show Changes Below)Street________________________________________________________________________________Postal Code________Phone (res)________________Phone (work)________________EmailAddress___________________Interest(Activities?)________________________________________Volunteer?__________________________________
Membership fees PaymentSingle $35/year Membership $____________________________Student $10/year Donation $____________________________Family $50/year Total $____________________________Single Life $350
Charitable receipts for federal income tax purposes will be issued for donations.Please photocopy and complete this form and mail it with a cheque, made payable to The Historical Society of Ottawa, to:
Membership, The Historical Society of Ottawa
P.O. Box 523, Station B.
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 5P6
Farewell to Jean L'Espérance's
HSO Library Custodianship
For the past 5 years Jean L'Espérance
has served The HSO as Volunteer
Librarian for its collection on the 3rd
floor of the Bytown Museum attending
to requests for information and visitors
by appointment. During the past year
or so she was busy verifying the
holdings against the digital record of
the collection and removing surplus
copies, often of poor condition,
available for sale by the HSO with
proceeds to the HSO Research &
Development Fund. Jean's fondness
for books began when she learned to
read under the tutelage of her
grandfather John Sedorski, and her
career as a librarian began when she
was given the task of running the
library of the girl's boarding school that
she attended. Later she worked in the
public library of the Borough of
Hackney in London [England] and
other libraries in Britain, at McGill and
Sir George Williams College in
Montreal, also in Ottawa at Library and
Archives Canada, and in the Inuit Art
Library of Indian and Northern Affairs.
By the 28th June, Jean had assembled
the last of eight boxes of HSO
documentation for deposition in the
City of Ottawa Archives (picked up in
early July), 1 4 similar boxes having
been removed for deposition in early
May. Her last note to the President
summarized the content of a group of
six boxes for removal to his basement
storage: copies of Canadian Historical
Review 1920-1928, 1 929-1937, 1 939-
1948, March 1949 - March 1975,
Women's Canadian Historical Society
of Ottawa (WCHSO) Annual Reports
1922-1944, Ontario Historical Society
Papers and Records 1900-1920,
Canadian Historical Association Index
1922-1951 and Reports 1950-1957.
These the President picked up along
with HSO rubber ink-stamps, the
Society's Seal impressing machine and
the collection of library cards for books
on outstanding loan from the HSO
Library Holdings.
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
ofOttawa Archives.
September 2014
