Lieutenant Colonel John BY (1781-1836)
and the Rideau Canal, Canada

Although war between Britain and the United States lasted from 1812 to 1814, there was little fighting between the two countries. However, the British government was acutely aware that the St.Lawrence River, which links the Atlantic Ocean with the Great Lakes and Upper Canada, was vulnerable to blockade by the Americans at any time as it formed the frontier between the two countries for two-thirds of the distance between Montreal and Lake Ontario.

As a secure water communication into Upper Canada was considered essential, plans were drawn up for the construction of a waterway between the Grand, or Ottawa River, below the Chaudiere Falls upstream from Montreal, and Kingston, at the Eastern end of Lake Ontario.

However, thirteen years of debate and planning were needed and it was 1825 before the approval of the British government was given. But in just six years the Rideau Canal was complete and operational, less than half the time needed for the approval.

Lieutenant Colonel John By, Royal Engineers was appointed Commanding Royal Engineer (CRE) for this project in April 1826. His brief - "to conduct and execute the construction of the Rideau Canal in Upper Canada with the assistance of a junior officer".

John By was born in 1781 and after passing through the Royal Military College, Woolwich, was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1799, transferring to the Royal Engineers later in the same year.

His first posting to Canada was to Quebec in 1802, where he was stationed for nine years. During this time he was involved in a number of engineering projects on the improvement of river access to the settlements in Ontario. He was successful in these and was commended for his technical knowledge and competence.

In 1811 he was sent to Portugal during the Peninsular War and after taking part in two sieges of Badajoz returned to England to take command of the Royal Gunpowder Mills at Faversham, Purfleet and Waltham Abbey. In 1821, owing to reductions in military establishments, he was placed on the unemployed list but in 1826 was sent back to Canada to design and construct the Rideau Canal.

On arrival, he carried out a detailed survey of the proposed route and made his headquarters just below the Chaudiere Falls, where a settlement quickly developed. It was named Bytown.

The initial concept was to have locks 20ft x 108ft in size but John By had not been back in Canada for long before he realised that a larger canal would offer considerable advantages and proposed locks 50ft x 150ft with a 10ft water depth. Not only would these speed up military traffic but they would also benefit the commercial economy in those areas where British interests were still active.

At the same time, By proposed that the original estimate of £169,000 should be raised to £528,000, a threefold increase. In the final analysis, it was agreed that the locks should be 33ft x 134ft with a minimum water depth of 5ft, but the Commission added recommendations that additional defence works should be undertaken, thus worsening an already weak financial situation.

Climatic conditions in that part of Canada lead to severe winters and the construction season was restricted to little more than half of each year. Arriving in Canada in June 1826 meant that little other than planning and preparatory work could be done before the spring of 1827.

The canal entrance, appropriately named Entrance Bay, comprises a set of eight locks which raise the water level by 80ft. Initially, the lock sizes were to be as originally proposed but in 1828 everything had to be changed following the agreement to increase the lock dimensions, with consequent changes to the specification and the method of construction. Many dams were constructed to raise the water level between adjacent locks, flooding some rapids and thus making it possible to construct the locks at a greater distance from each other.

Much of the construction work on the Rideau Canal was carried out by specialist local contractors - masonry for the locks and dams, timber and ironwork for the lock gates and excavation for the channels which were to link the many small lakes along the line of the canal. In all, 47 masonry locks and 52 dams were spread over the total length of 123 miles. These raised vessels 283ft via 33 locks from Bytown to summit level at Upper Rideau Lake with a descent of 162ft via 14 locks to Kingston.

The canal was opened in June 1832, but the project cost had exceeded the original estimate, due to even more difficult conditions than had initially been anticipated. Despite approval in many quarters for the way in which the project had been carried out, the Parliamentary Committee on Canadian Canal Communications in London made a vicious attack on John By and his management of it. It was alleged that a cost over-run of £83,000 on the sum of £715,000 originally sanctioned by Parliament - a mere 11.6% - had been incurred without prior approval.

Despite strong support from the British military authorities and from the Canadians for the way in which the project had been managed, the Treasury had its way and Lt.Col.By was summoned back to London in November 1832. While even that committee agreed that " the works had been carried out with care and economy", someone had to be the scapegoat for the over-spend and this was John By. This was despite the fact that he had regularly submitted schedules of expenditure against budget, with estimates for further anticipated expenditure for the completion of each sector.

Having hoped for some official recognition for his achievements in Canada, John By was massively aggrieved by this savage treatment and his military career was virtually at an end. He retired to his home in Frant, near Tunbridge Wells, where he died at the age of 55 in February 1836, and where he is buried. Apart from the memorial in the local churchyard, his most significant acknowledgement is in Canada where, in 1854, Bytown, on its incorporation as a city, was re-named Ottawa.

In 1858, Queen Victoria selected Ottawa as the capital of the Dominion of Canada - a fitting tribute to John By for the major role which he had played in the early development of this vast country.