John By

                                     
                    Lieutenant-Colonel John By supervising the 
                    construction of the Rideau Canal 


By: Anthony Lombardi
Date: March 4th, 2019
Updated January 9, 2020


Full name: John By

Duration of life: 1779/83-February 1st, 1836

Nationality: British

Trade: Second lieutenant, lieutenant, second captain, first captain Brevet major, lieutenant colonel, member of the Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers and the Board of Ordinance.

Achievements/Reputation: undertook major fortification and engineering projects in Britain and Canada. Founder of Canada's future capital: Ottawa.

Birth and Early Life
The birth date of this important character in Canadian history is disputed. John By was born anywhere between 1779 and 1783 in Lambeth, England. He attended the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich, graduating from there on August 1, 1799.

Life
By married Elizabeth Johnson Baines in 1801. After serving in Woolwich and Plymouth, he was stationed for the first time in Canada in 1802. He worked on the small locks on the St. Lawrence River and on the fortifications of Quebec City. He did well, and was promoted as second captain. 

Later on, he was called to serve in Portugal in 1811 in the Peninsular War, and returned to England in 1812, where he was appointed Brevet Major. There, he accomplished some more engineering feats: he designed and had built an arms factory in London in 1814. Unfortunately, his wife also died that year, without having any children. By did not wait too long, and was married again in 1818 to Esther March, who bore at least two daughters. In 1821, By retired and stayed in London, being appointed Lieutenant-Colonel in 1824. 

The main feat of By's life was yet to be accomplished. In order to strengthen the border between Canada and the hostile United States, he was appointed Commanding Engineer of the Rideau Canal project, probably due to his experience in engineering and the fact that he had worked in Canada previously. This was in 1826, so retirement did not last very long. 

As he constructed the canal, a small community was being created for the workers in the project. It was called Bytown, and it was from here that all the affairs for the canal were conducted. According to John H. Taylor, By himself was in charge of the town and also owned some land south of the settlement that he purchased for 1,200 GBP (2,110.42 CAD), which was undeveloped for many years.

During the construction of the canal, By encountered many problems, including certain costs for the construction, contract extensions, and clashes with other people on the Board of Ordinance, his army colleagues also involved in engineering. The circulation of information was not easy, as orders took a while to arrive from London to the construction site. Furthermore, as of 1830, the Parliament was reluctant to his project and his reputation was getting worst. However, the canal was done and By traveled on it in 1832. According to Ken W. Watson, By spent approximately 803,774 GBP (1,413,701.39 CAD).

Unfortunately, at around the same time, By was called back to England on accusations of overspending, according to Robert F. Legget. It was there that his military career ended, and he never got a public hearing with the Parliament. He tried getting his name cleared in public and even demand recognition for having achieved a very big colonial engineering project, in vain.

Death
By suffered a stroke in October 1834, but underwent a more severe one two years later. On February 1st, 1836, John By passed away in Frant, England, without any public recognition. 

Legacy
Unfortunately, By's name and memory quickly disappeared in England as he had no one else to continue fighting for his name. His last surviving descendants, his granddaughters, died when they were still young.

However, the Rideau Canal did come in handy for military reasons, such as the 1838 Battle of the Windmill. And, in 1855, the name of the small town he founded was changed to Ottawa. Little would By have known that his Bytown (without the name obviously) would become the capital of the Dominion of Canada in 1887. It remains Canada's capital. 

Watson notes that it wasn't until the 20th Century that prominent historians such as Legget began examining John By's image, and made him a celebrated figure of Canadian history. Research has concluded that the accusations of overspending were technically wrong, and did not go against Parliament orders.   


Sources

Book
Taylor, John H. Ottawa: An Illustrated History. James Lorimier & Company Publishers and the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Toronto, 1986.

Picture
Jeffreys [sic], C.W. Heritage Ottawa, https://heritageottawa.org/colonel-day . Accessed March 4th, 2019.

Web
Legget, Robert F. "By, John." Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 7, University of Toronto and Université Laval, 1988, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/by_john_7E.html . Accessed March 4th, 2019

Legget, Robert F. "John By." The Canadian Encyclopedia, June 12, 2008, edited March 4th, 2015, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-by . Accessed March 4th, 2019. 

Watson, Ken W. "Bye By." Rideau Canal World Heritage Site, http://www.rideau-info.com/canal/tales/bye-by.html . Accessed March 4th, 2019.

Xe Currency Converter. https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/ . Accessed March 4th, 2019.