After years of wandering, the former City Registry Office, located at 70 Nicholas Street, was acquired and renamed the Bytown Historical Museum. The next issue of Ottawa Citizen Headline News will soon be in your inbox. The following year, a fountain dedicated to By – now located in Confederation Park – was unveiled. Ordnance made annual requests to Parliament for project funding, but it was decided to source the canal work by contract, rather than have it done by Ordnance itself. In 1855, Bytown was renamed Ottawa. Beside him is Thomas McKay. Then in 1855 Bytown changed its name to Ottawa when it was incorporated as a city. 1811: Takes part in the Peninsular War in Portugal. In 1866 it became Ottawa University. At various locks along his journey, crowds gathered to cheer as cannons thundered. That same day, a clerk in London wrote a memorandum, or minute, following a meeting of the Lord Commissioners of the British Treasury, noting By’s supposedly unauthorized cost overruns and demanding his recall and dismissal. “Zealous and distinguished in his profession, tender and affectionate as a husband and a father, charitable and pious as a Christian, beloved by his family and lamented by the poor, he resigned his soul to his Maker, in a full reliance on the merits of his blessed Redeemer, on the 1st February 1836, aged 53 years, after a long and painful illness brought on by his indefatigable zeal and devotion in the service of his King and Country, in Upper Canada.” – Inscription on a memorial to Lt.-Col. John By, erected by his wife Esther in the Church of St. Alban in Frant, England. 1799: Graduates from the Royal Military Academy and is transferred to the Royal Engineers. Meanwhile, the Canadian Museum of Nature dates from 1856 and The National Gallery of Canada was founded in 1880. In early 1836, By suffered a stroke and, three days later, resigned his soul to his maker. The Canadian War Museum also dates from 1880. In 1855, Bytown was renamed Ottawa. John By gave his name to a new settlement built there. Yet instead of retiring with the knighthood he perhaps hoped for, By endured his final days under a cloud of impropriety shaped by unfounded accusations and political expedience. By expressed concern that the estimate was inadequate, and his own first detailed estimate, in 1827, was close to £475,000. 1812: Posted to the gunpowder works at Waltham Abbey, near London. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. To obtain written permission to reproduce materials on this website, please contact the. A perfect political storm was brewing. The early years of the WCHSO consisted of the writing historical papers, regular meetings and “Loan Exhibitions” – displays that brought together artefacts from the private collections of the members and local history enthusiasts. (It is now known as Hull). In 1830, a new government was elected in Britain, ending almost a quarter-century of Tory rule. Efforts to clear his name were futile. To obtain written permission to reproduce materials on this website, please contact the Bytown Museum, Reproduction of materials on this website, in whole or in part, is prohibited, except with the written permission from MUSÉE BYTOWN MUSEUM. All Rights Reserved. Ottawa Police, Paramedic, and Fire Services have reiterated strongly that the elimination of duplicate, similar sounding and physically disconnected streets would remove a significant impediment to timely emergency response. Within two decades of the canal’s completion, By’s branch of his family tree was extinguished. What city was called bytown? The Society opened its membership to men and changed its name to the Historical Society of Ottawa in 1956. Additionally, many workers died in blasting explosions or were crushed by falling rocks or trees. However, they were destroyed by fire in February 1916. The Capital Builders: Lt.-Col. John By, spending scapegoat. 1826: Construction of the Rideau Canal is approved. The task itself was extremely dangerous. A year earlier. Nonetheless, on Sept. 1, 1832, he handed command of the canal over to Maj. Bolton and soon set sail for England. There was an error, please provide a valid email address.