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To mark the 150th anniversary of Confederation, we’d like to introduce you to some of the people who have shaped and built the National Capital. First in our regular series: Philemon Wright.
He was a patriot who fought as a sergeant against the British in the American Revolutionary War. A farmer with deep roots in Massachusetts. An entrepreneur who carved out new markets in everything from lumber to the sale of hops for beer. And he played a pivotal role in the building of the Rideau Canal.
Monument to Hull founder Philemon Wright.
Philemon Wright’s influence in shaping the settlements that would become the national capital can’t be overstated.
It’s the story of a man who had everything he needed in his home state. But Wright’s alpha personality pushed him to want more. He moved North into the wilderness to find it.
“At the end of the 18th century, there (was) no new land in New England. But, here, there was a lot of land,” says Michel Prévost, the University of Ottawa’s chief archivist. “He came from Woburn, which is very close to Boston, 700 kms from here. Can you imagine? There were no roads around here. That’s why he came during winter: it was easier to travel during winter.”
Wright’s well-off farming family had gifted him land in and around Woburn, so he could carry on the family’s business following the war. Judging the offering too meagre, he instead pressed deep into Upper and Lower Canada, seeing the Chaudière Falls in 1796. He returned in 1798 and 1799, finally deciding that the spot where the Ottawa and Gatineau rivers met was ideal for a settlement.
READ: Ottawa is changing before our eyes: As we hit Canada’s 150th, where is the capital going?
Thick brush filled the area. There was no town for miles, but a handful of Native Canadians to trade with lived in the area.
In 1800, Wright convinced a number of family members, military personnel he had served with and tradesmen to follow him in the dead of winter to create a farming community near the falls, which he named the “Columbia Falls.” The name never stuck.
He did better with the name of his first farm: he dubbed it the “Gatteno” Farm, a name later altered by Francophones to become Gatineau, now the name of the city Wright’s efforts would ultimately forge.
Other farms were built, including the Britannia Farm, the Dalhousie Farm and the Columbia Farm, situated around Columbia Pond. Today that pond is known as Lac Leamy.
The growing agricultural community boomed, attracting more of Wright’s relatives from Woburn. They included Caleb Brooks in 1818, Wright’s nephew (and great-great-grandfather of Ottawa politician and former chair of the National Capital Commission Jean Pigott and her sisters, Grete Hale and Gay Cook).
The constant need to receive supplies from Montreal forced Wright into the entrepreneurial game. He built a lumber mill, a grist mill, a foundry, a leather tanning shop; brought in a shoemaker; created a distillery which would make alcohol for the locals but also for trading with other communities; helped establish a bakery; and got a tailor. Wright handed much of the control for these enterprises to his wife and nine children while he focused on the area’s overall development.
Popular restaurant “Brasseurs du Temps”, located at 170 Rue Montcalm in Gatineau is a brewhouse and museum where Philemon Wright, founder of Hull started his first brewery.
Wright’s businesses were built in Lower Canada (Quebec). Development in what would become Ottawa did not occur until later. But this once-isolated area became one of the fastest-growing settlements in Lower Canada.
“He was involved in everything,” says Prévost. “The Post business, the farms, religion. He played a role of prime importance with regards to economic development. If you wanted something here, it had to be built. If not, you had to go to Montreal to buy something. He started from nothing.”
While farming helped to clear land and open more area for development, it was the demand for wood for the Napoleonic Wars, from 1799 to 1815, that presented the biggest opportunity for Wright. Britain’s demand for lumber to build ships was immense.
Wright’s community of farms, which had started calling itself Wright’s Town, was ideally located to send rafts of timber 300 kilometres down the Ottawa river to the St. Lawrence and off to Quebec City. The colony sent its first raft, dubbed “Colombo” – made of 700 pieces of squared oak and 900 planks and beams – along the 300-km route in July 1806. That trip would set the path for the next 100 years of timber trading in the Ottawa Valley, securing the economic future of both Hull and, later, Ottawa. Wright’s wife, Abigail, also pushed her husband to use his newfound status to influence the government of Lower Canada to secure schooling for Wright’s Town, in 1808.
MORE: Your checklist for the best Canada 150 events in Ottawa
The War of 1812 – which saw Americans attempt to invade and conquer The Canadas – gave birth to what is perhaps the most defining moment in Ottawa’s history. Realizing his trade routes could be easily disrupted, Wright pondered a route that would travel inland from Montreal to Kingston.
“It was he who first proposed the Rideau Canal; and I have heard him, with pleasure, propose many other works equally great and ingenious,” wrote John Mactaggart, the Royal Engineer in charge of the construction of the Rideau Canal, in his book Three years in Canada: an account of the actual state of the country in 1826-7-8.
Wright’s idea was so potent that government immediately began to plan the building of the canal.
While the construction was handled by the British government and overseen by Lt.-Col. John By, Wright secured most of the contracts for supplies, materials and craftsmen. He even built most of the locks, including the iconic locks one through eight at the foot of Parliament Hill, and some farther away, including at Burritts Rapids.
“It’s amazing to see how powerful he was,” notes Prévost. “He was everywhere. Colonization, farmer, businessman, municipal officer, politician: it’s him and his family that controlled everything in the Outaouais side.”
With European immigrants arriving to the area for work, Wright turned his distillery into the area’s first brewery around 1821. That brewery still operates today at 170 Rue Montcalm. The building is occupied by Gatineau microbrewery Les Brasseurs du Temps.
ALSO: Oh, the places you’ll be: We’re building something special here in the city of Ottawa
The brewery became even more important when construction of the Rideau Canal started in 1826. The government of Upper Canada restricted access to alcohol on its side of the border in a bid to keep drinking problems under control. But Wright’s brewery wasn’t in Upper Canada. He welcomed the workers with open arms. His actions started a 195-year-old tradition of Ontarians cross the Ottawa River to get easier access to alcohol.
Wright won election to the House of Assembly of Lower Canada for the Ottawa riding in 1830. He passed away in June 1839 at the age of 78. When he died, his family held 38,500 acres on the North side of the Ottawa River. Prévost says that was more than double the amount of land held by all other settlers combined on the Quebec side
The businesses, the roads, the trades and industry created by Wright continued to boom long after his death. In 1841, Lower Canada joined Upper Canada in The Province of Canada as the country took steps towards Confederation in 1867. Wright’s Town would officially become incorporated in 1875 and renamed Hull, later folded into Gatineau as a result of amalgamation in 2002.
Wright’s relatives in this region now number in the hundreds and live on both sides of the Ottawa River.
Capital Builders: Ottawa’s original rock star — the man who chose the cornerstone of Parliament
Philemon Wright, capital builder:
Birth/death: Sept. 3, 1760 – June 3, 1839 (age 78)
Positions: Farmer, first permanent settler in the National Capital Region, entrepreneur, councillor in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada.
Claims to fame: Founder of Wright’s Town, which later became Hull. First person to tap into the lumber trade, which would shape the nation’s capital. Opened the first brewery in the area and was among the first to sell hops to John Molson in Montreal. Conceived of the Rideau Canal, and buit of many of the locks along the Rideau Canal.
A View of the Mill and Tavern of Philemon Wright at the Chaudiere Falls, Hull, on the Ottawa River, Lower Canada, 1823, by Henry DuVernet. The brewer founded by Wright was farther upstream.
“Brasseurs du Temps”, located at 170 Rue Montcalm in Gatineau, is a brewhouse and museum where Philemon Wright, founder of Hull started his first brewery. Part of the display includes an image of this 1798 contract between Philemon Wright and John Molson for hops.
The grave site of Philemon Wright is photographed in the cemetery of St. James in Gatineau, Wednesday, December 7, 2016 where notable founders of Ottawa/Gatineau are buried.
查看原文...
He was a patriot who fought as a sergeant against the British in the American Revolutionary War. A farmer with deep roots in Massachusetts. An entrepreneur who carved out new markets in everything from lumber to the sale of hops for beer. And he played a pivotal role in the building of the Rideau Canal.
Monument to Hull founder Philemon Wright.
Philemon Wright’s influence in shaping the settlements that would become the national capital can’t be overstated.
It’s the story of a man who had everything he needed in his home state. But Wright’s alpha personality pushed him to want more. He moved North into the wilderness to find it.
“At the end of the 18th century, there (was) no new land in New England. But, here, there was a lot of land,” says Michel Prévost, the University of Ottawa’s chief archivist. “He came from Woburn, which is very close to Boston, 700 kms from here. Can you imagine? There were no roads around here. That’s why he came during winter: it was easier to travel during winter.”
Wright’s well-off farming family had gifted him land in and around Woburn, so he could carry on the family’s business following the war. Judging the offering too meagre, he instead pressed deep into Upper and Lower Canada, seeing the Chaudière Falls in 1796. He returned in 1798 and 1799, finally deciding that the spot where the Ottawa and Gatineau rivers met was ideal for a settlement.
READ: Ottawa is changing before our eyes: As we hit Canada’s 150th, where is the capital going?
Thick brush filled the area. There was no town for miles, but a handful of Native Canadians to trade with lived in the area.
In 1800, Wright convinced a number of family members, military personnel he had served with and tradesmen to follow him in the dead of winter to create a farming community near the falls, which he named the “Columbia Falls.” The name never stuck.
He did better with the name of his first farm: he dubbed it the “Gatteno” Farm, a name later altered by Francophones to become Gatineau, now the name of the city Wright’s efforts would ultimately forge.
Other farms were built, including the Britannia Farm, the Dalhousie Farm and the Columbia Farm, situated around Columbia Pond. Today that pond is known as Lac Leamy.
The growing agricultural community boomed, attracting more of Wright’s relatives from Woburn. They included Caleb Brooks in 1818, Wright’s nephew (and great-great-grandfather of Ottawa politician and former chair of the National Capital Commission Jean Pigott and her sisters, Grete Hale and Gay Cook).
The constant need to receive supplies from Montreal forced Wright into the entrepreneurial game. He built a lumber mill, a grist mill, a foundry, a leather tanning shop; brought in a shoemaker; created a distillery which would make alcohol for the locals but also for trading with other communities; helped establish a bakery; and got a tailor. Wright handed much of the control for these enterprises to his wife and nine children while he focused on the area’s overall development.
Popular restaurant “Brasseurs du Temps”, located at 170 Rue Montcalm in Gatineau is a brewhouse and museum where Philemon Wright, founder of Hull started his first brewery.
Wright’s businesses were built in Lower Canada (Quebec). Development in what would become Ottawa did not occur until later. But this once-isolated area became one of the fastest-growing settlements in Lower Canada.
“He was involved in everything,” says Prévost. “The Post business, the farms, religion. He played a role of prime importance with regards to economic development. If you wanted something here, it had to be built. If not, you had to go to Montreal to buy something. He started from nothing.”
While farming helped to clear land and open more area for development, it was the demand for wood for the Napoleonic Wars, from 1799 to 1815, that presented the biggest opportunity for Wright. Britain’s demand for lumber to build ships was immense.
Wright’s community of farms, which had started calling itself Wright’s Town, was ideally located to send rafts of timber 300 kilometres down the Ottawa river to the St. Lawrence and off to Quebec City. The colony sent its first raft, dubbed “Colombo” – made of 700 pieces of squared oak and 900 planks and beams – along the 300-km route in July 1806. That trip would set the path for the next 100 years of timber trading in the Ottawa Valley, securing the economic future of both Hull and, later, Ottawa. Wright’s wife, Abigail, also pushed her husband to use his newfound status to influence the government of Lower Canada to secure schooling for Wright’s Town, in 1808.
MORE: Your checklist for the best Canada 150 events in Ottawa
The War of 1812 – which saw Americans attempt to invade and conquer The Canadas – gave birth to what is perhaps the most defining moment in Ottawa’s history. Realizing his trade routes could be easily disrupted, Wright pondered a route that would travel inland from Montreal to Kingston.
“It was he who first proposed the Rideau Canal; and I have heard him, with pleasure, propose many other works equally great and ingenious,” wrote John Mactaggart, the Royal Engineer in charge of the construction of the Rideau Canal, in his book Three years in Canada: an account of the actual state of the country in 1826-7-8.
Wright’s idea was so potent that government immediately began to plan the building of the canal.
While the construction was handled by the British government and overseen by Lt.-Col. John By, Wright secured most of the contracts for supplies, materials and craftsmen. He even built most of the locks, including the iconic locks one through eight at the foot of Parliament Hill, and some farther away, including at Burritts Rapids.
“It’s amazing to see how powerful he was,” notes Prévost. “He was everywhere. Colonization, farmer, businessman, municipal officer, politician: it’s him and his family that controlled everything in the Outaouais side.”
With European immigrants arriving to the area for work, Wright turned his distillery into the area’s first brewery around 1821. That brewery still operates today at 170 Rue Montcalm. The building is occupied by Gatineau microbrewery Les Brasseurs du Temps.
ALSO: Oh, the places you’ll be: We’re building something special here in the city of Ottawa
The brewery became even more important when construction of the Rideau Canal started in 1826. The government of Upper Canada restricted access to alcohol on its side of the border in a bid to keep drinking problems under control. But Wright’s brewery wasn’t in Upper Canada. He welcomed the workers with open arms. His actions started a 195-year-old tradition of Ontarians cross the Ottawa River to get easier access to alcohol.
Wright won election to the House of Assembly of Lower Canada for the Ottawa riding in 1830. He passed away in June 1839 at the age of 78. When he died, his family held 38,500 acres on the North side of the Ottawa River. Prévost says that was more than double the amount of land held by all other settlers combined on the Quebec side
The businesses, the roads, the trades and industry created by Wright continued to boom long after his death. In 1841, Lower Canada joined Upper Canada in The Province of Canada as the country took steps towards Confederation in 1867. Wright’s Town would officially become incorporated in 1875 and renamed Hull, later folded into Gatineau as a result of amalgamation in 2002.
Wright’s relatives in this region now number in the hundreds and live on both sides of the Ottawa River.
Capital Builders: Ottawa’s original rock star — the man who chose the cornerstone of Parliament
Philemon Wright, capital builder:
Birth/death: Sept. 3, 1760 – June 3, 1839 (age 78)
Positions: Farmer, first permanent settler in the National Capital Region, entrepreneur, councillor in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada.
Claims to fame: Founder of Wright’s Town, which later became Hull. First person to tap into the lumber trade, which would shape the nation’s capital. Opened the first brewery in the area and was among the first to sell hops to John Molson in Montreal. Conceived of the Rideau Canal, and buit of many of the locks along the Rideau Canal.
A View of the Mill and Tavern of Philemon Wright at the Chaudiere Falls, Hull, on the Ottawa River, Lower Canada, 1823, by Henry DuVernet. The brewer founded by Wright was farther upstream.
“Brasseurs du Temps”, located at 170 Rue Montcalm in Gatineau, is a brewhouse and museum where Philemon Wright, founder of Hull started his first brewery. Part of the display includes an image of this 1798 contract between Philemon Wright and John Molson for hops.
The grave site of Philemon Wright is photographed in the cemetery of St. James in Gatineau, Wednesday, December 7, 2016 where notable founders of Ottawa/Gatineau are buried.
查看原文...
