Glebe Community Association (GCA), the voice of the Glebe community in Ottawa, Canada

The 1800's Timeline

Events occurring between 1800 and 1849

1809 Ira Honeywell builds the first house in Nepean (north of Woodroffe and Carling Avenues along the Ottawa River).
1811 John Honeywell, son of Ira, is the first white child born in Nepean.
1812 By this time Lot G (from Glebe Avenue to Chamberlain, east of Bronson to Main Street) was owned by William Fraser, and lot I (from Fifth Avenue south to Broadway, from Bronson east to Main Street) was owned by Richard Duncan Fraser (sons of Loyalist Thomas Fraser). The Clergy Reserve (Lot K) was still unassigned.
1814 Abraham Dow purchases Lot H of Concession B (Dow's Lake area west of Bronson), most of which is swamp.
1815 The first road (little better than a trail) through the Glebe (and only the second in Nepean Township) is built from the Chaudiere south and just east of Dow's Swamp. (roughly on the height of land along Bronson to Holmwood, then east to the White House property, then south to Billings Bridge.) This was abandoned in 1830 when the Rideau Canal was cut through 'the notch', severing the road north of the knoll where the White House once stood.
1816 The Military District of Johnstown is set up, centred on Perth. It includes Carleton County. The Glebe becomes part of the Military District of Johnstown.
1819 May 31, second Treaty with the chiefs of the Mississauga is signed at Kingston for 2,748,000 acres of additional Indian lands north and west of the Rideau River. John Ferguson represented the British government.
1822 Census of Nepean township registers 191 residents in 37 families.
1823 District of Bathhurst created from part of the former District of Johnstown, centred on the military settlement at Perth, the largest village in the region. The Glebe becomes part of the Military District of Bathhurst.
1824 First settlers in Nepean receive titles* to their lands (and voter eligibility). *Another source of confusion in records is that the person granted land, did not always fulfill the conditions (usually settling, building and clearing) to get title to the land. As well, many squatted, built, and farmed land for which they had no title.
1826 February, Colonel By confirmed as superintending engineer of the proposed Rideau Canal between Kingston and the Ottawa River.
1826 September 21, Colonel By arrives in Wrightville (later Hull) to begin exploring possible routes for the Rideau Canal.
1826 George Patterson, Chief of Commissariat for Colonel By granted land in lot G, Concession C (for whom Patterson's Creek was named). and builds the first house in the Glebe just north of Patterson's Creek along the canal. (actual date house was built is unconfirmed).
1827 There are 580 residents in 76 families in Nepean. Of these, 73 are males 19-39, who were eligible for the militia.
1827 autumn, the banks of the proposed Rideau Canal from the Ottawa River to Hog's Back are cleared. The wood is "logged, piled and burned".
1827 Earth dam at south end of Dow's Great Swamp started.
1828 Canal workers swell the population to 2,758 residents in Nepean, 757 males aged 19-39.
1828 May 4, tender to excavate five miles from first eight locks at Entrance Bay on the Ottawa River to Dow's Great Swamp let to an American excavator, Walter Fenlon. It is a two year contract @ 20 cents per cubic foot.
1830 Antony Swalwell re-surveys parts of Rideau lots for Colonel By to correct inaccuracies of earlier surveys.
1832 St. Louis Dam built at northwest end of Dow's Great Swamp, flooding it to become Dow's Lake.
1832 Long Island Road extended from Manotick north over the St. Louis Dam to Bytown.
1832, May, the Rideau Canal opens to traffic from Kingston to Bytown.
1832, October, Colonel By returns to England to answer questions concerning the expense overrun in building the Rideau Canal.
1833 William Stewart purchases land south of the Bytown city limits between Gladstone and Chamberlain, east of Bronson, which would eventually form the north boundary of the Glebe.
1837 April 3, Lot H granted as a glebe to St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church.
1839 The Mutchmor's go west.
1839 autumn, Senior Royal Engineer ordered an inspection of ordinance lands the full length of the canal, hoping to gain rents from squatters - the holdings of unauthorized residents were identified.
1841 Upper and Lower Canada are united into the new Province of Canada. The Glebe becomes part of the Province of Canada.
1843 Total annual revenue from renting the glebe lands to St. Andrew's Church was 19 pounds.

Events occurring between 1850 and 1859

1850 In March, Bytown is linked to Montreal by telegraph.
1853 American vessels allowed to use the Rideau Canal, boosting trade in Bytown, especially lumber exports.
1854 On Christmas Day, the first train of the Bytown & Prescott Railway arrives in New Edinburgh.
1855 On New Year's Day, the town of Bytown was incorporated as the City of Ottawa with a population of nearly 10,000.
1856 June 19, Rideau Canal lands transferred to government of Upper Canada.
1858 January 17th, Ottawa announced as the new capital of the Province of Canada.
1859 Update by perambulation of squatters on former ordinance lands.
1859 December 10, motion to make Ottawa Capital of the Province of Canada passes in the legislature, sitting in Quebec by a vote of 64-59.

Events occurring between 1860 and 1869

1860 September 1, the Prince of Wales lays the cornerstone for the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings.
1861 The Mutchmors return to the Glebe.
1862 Plan of subdivision prepared for land east of Dow's Lake.
1863 Mrs. Fraser, widow of Richard Duncan Fraser, gains control of lot I east of Dow's Lake (had been appropriated without compensation by Colonel By), had the land laid out as suburb of Fraserfield.
1863 John Hickey dies - sons divide farm and operate as (market) gardeners and nurserymen east of Concession (later BronsonAve.) , north of what will later become Powell Avenue.
1865 First lots in Fraserfield sold, French-Canadians removed, suburb remains largely undeveloped, and is sold in 18?? to J. R. Booth as a lumber yard.
1865 By autumn arriving civil servants for the new capital of the Province of Canada drive up rents to double, beginning land boom.
1865 September Bank St extended south of city limits at Gladstone (then called Ann), southern boundary of By Estate) by The Ottawa and Gloucester Macadamized Road Company, with Toll Gate at McLeod Street.
1865 December - bridge over Patterson Creek completed.
1865 December - first two miles of Bank Street macadamized.
1866 May - July Bank Street swing Bridge over the canal built.
1866 June 8, the first meeting of the Houses of Parliament held in the new Parliament Buildings, Ottawa.
1867 August, Bank Street Road completed to Billings Bridge.
1867 Alexander Mutchmor builds Abbotsford House, 954 Bank Street, the longest standing building in the Glebe. *Some sources date this building as 1872.
1867-9? A few brick houses built on lots sold by Mutchmors.
1867 July 1, the British North America Act comes into effect, and the Dominion of Canada, composed of the provinces of Canada (Ontario, Quebec), New Brunswick and Nova Scotia comes into being.
1867 Canal lands transferred to new Dominion government, Secretary of State.
1867 June, Abbotsford, the Alexander Mutchmor home on Bank Street completed.
1868 City of Ottawa Agricultural Society acquires 19 acres (Lansdowne Park).
1868 St. Andrew's Church divides Glebe Lands into fifteen 10 acre (approx.) garden plots & rents them to tenants.
1869 James Meakin builds the Gate hotel on Bank Street north of Patterson's Creek west of Bank to accommodate farmers coming to market.

Events occurring between 1870 and 1879

1870 Autumn, St. Louis Dam cut to flood north to Preston Street and save Ottawa from devastating forest fire coming from the west.
1870-71? Ralph Mutchmor and EC Barber rent 48 acres of the Glebe for a trotting course called Mutchmor Park (circular track and hunters course), also build Turf Hotel on west side of Bank north of Fifth.
1871 James Galleta Whyte builds his home on the highest point along the Driveway, the landmark 'Whyte House' (which burns down in the 1980's).
1872 Thirteenth running of the Queen's Plate in Mutchmor Park, raced 1.5 miles. Horse barns and a grandstand are built along the north side of Mutchmor (later Fifth Avenue).
1872 Alexander Mutchmor opened a subdivision of 34 lots west of Bank Street, on streets named Percy and Ella after his children. 28 lots were auctioned in the spring, purchased mostly by labourers.
1872 Alexander Mutchmor's dry goods firm of Garland, Mutchmor & Company purchased 54 acres of the Lewis Williams farm on the south bank of the Rideau Canal between Bank and Bronson, north of Sunnyside for $10,300, and subdivides 127 building lots as the village of Rideauville.
1873 Wm. F. Powell builds the Grove Hotel south of Patterson's Creek, just east of Bank.
1873 Development of Colonel By's estate land begins between Laurier Avenue and Gladstone Avenue, pushing urban growth south.
1873 Land boom collapses due to economic depression in USA, and slowing of demand for milled lumber. The depression last until the 1880's.
1873 Canal ordinance lands turned over to the Department of the Interior. The canal reserve was reduced to 200 feet on either side of the waterway. The remainder was serveyed into lots and sold at auction May 13. Many squatters were evicted.
1874 May 15, Ottawa Citizen lists house for sale in 'The Glebe'. First recorded use of this expression applied to the area.
1874 Trustees of St. Andrew's Church gain permission to sell or mortgage Glebe lands, rented at the time to gardeners for $600 annually.
1875 William Hickey laid out the subdivision of Bloomingvale between Bank and Metcalfe Streets, south of Isabella, but sells only two lots fronting on Bank Street.
1875 The Ottawa and Gloucester Macadamized Road Company erects new toll house on Bank Street opposite Abottsford House.
1875 The Provincial Exhibition is held on the grounds of the Ottawa Agricultural Society (later Lansdowne Park).
1876 Elgin Street extended through Stewarton over Patterson Creek to Ottawa Agricultural Society grounds.
1876-9 Population of Ottawa drops 1700 to 23,789, although population of Nepean increases by 531 as people move out of town to lower taxation.
1877 The Inkerman Street block of 34 lots is laid out on the east end of the Patterson property by Joseph Hinton, but no lots are sold.
1879 There are 23 houses scattered through the Mutchmor Estate.
1879 January, Garland, Mutchmor & Company, goes bankrupt, and all assets were sold at auction in March for 59 cents on the dollar.
1879 Alexander Mutchmor sold Abbotsford to Ottawa mayor C.H. Mackintosh, and left for Kansas City.

Events occurring between 1880 and 1889

1880 Twenty-first running of the Queen's Plate in Mutchmor Park.
1884 Duncan Smith leases 8 acres of Glebe lands east of Bank Street from St. Andrew's for market gardening.
1887 Provincial Exhibition held at Lansdowne Park for third time. Over 15,000 attend.
1888 A petition of 48 residents south of Stewarton (Glebe area) protest against annexation by Ottawa. There are only 43 dwellings, and a total population of 209 on about 600 acres.
1888 Central Canada Exhibition Association established, Lansdowne Park improved, and the first annual exhibition opened September 24 (20,000 attended).
1889 January 1st, land south of Gladstone to the canal and west to Dow's Lake annexed into the City of Ottawa.
1889 August 23 The Ottawa Journal says Abottsford will accommodate 75 inmates as it becomes The Protestant Home for the Aged.

Events occurring between 1890 and 1899

1890 St. Andrew's subdivides the Glebe east of Bank Street.
1890 Duncan Smith takes a lease west of the old race course? (on Glebe lands?).
1891 June, Ottawa Electric Railway Company opens Bank Street Line from Wellington Street to Lansdowne Park. This opens the Glebe to suburban living as people commute to work downtown.
1892 Church built at 91 Fourth.
1893 Buffalo Bill Cody holds his 'Wild West Show' on the Metropolitan Grounds east of Bank, south of Pretoria.
1894 First Presbyterian mission in the Glebe built at 53-55 Third Avenue.
1895 Berwick Cottage built at 20 Ralph
1896 Mutchmor School designed by E.L. Horwood, built for $10,470, opens as a four room school.
1898 September 19, the Aberdeen Pavilion (built by Shawville architect Moses C. Edey) is opened at Lansdowne Park by the Governor-General.
1898 Summer, wooden church of St. Mathews built facing First near Bank.
1898 Two lots purchased for $2,200 at Bank and Fourth for Fourth Avenue Baptist Church, wooden church built.
1898 First Avenue Public School opens as an 8 room school (no bridge yet over Patterson Creek at O'Connor) designed by J. Albert Ewart, built for $20,484.
1899 Lord Strathcona's Horse Regiment camps in Aberdeen Pavilion for two weeks before shipping out to the Boer War.
1899 The federal government establishes the Ottawa Improvement Commission (OIC) which is the forerunner of the National Capital Commission. Planner Frederick Todd saves Patterson Creek area for park land.