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book: Thomas Mackay
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Thomas Mackay

The Laird of Rideau Hall and the Founding of Ottawa
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2021

About this book

This is the first, long overdue biography of Thomas Mackay, a major promoter of Ottawa as the capital of Canada. Mackay built the Ottawa and Hartwell Locks of the Rideau Canal, founded New Edinburgh and the Rideau Falls mill complex, built Rideau Hall, and financed the Ottawa and Prescott Railway.

Author / Editor information

Sweeny Alastair :

Alastair Sweeny is the author of several books on Canadian history and technology, including George-Étienne Cartier: A Biography, BlackBerry Planet, and Fire Along the Frontier: Great Battles of the War of 1812. He is the founding director of canadachannel.ca, a series of Canadian educational portals created by well-known authors in the fields of education and Canadian history.


Alastair Sweeny est l’auteur de plusieurs livres sur l’histoire canadienne et la technologie, dont George-Étienne Cartier : Une biographie, BlackBerry Planet et Fire Along the Frontier : Great Battles of the War of 1822. Il est le fondateur et premier directeur de canadachennel.ca, une série de portails éducatifs canadiens créés par des auteurs de renom dans les domaines de l’éducation et de l’histoire canadienne.

Topics

  • Publicly Available

    Frontmatter

    i
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  • Publicly Available

    Table of Contents

    v
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    List of Figures

    vii
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    Acknowledgements

    xix
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    A Note on Images

    xxi
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    Other Books by Alastair Sweeny

    xxiii
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    Introduction

    1
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  • PART ONE Lachine and the Rideau Canal
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    CHAPTER 1 Early Ottawa

    9
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    CHAPTER 2 From Scotland to Montréal

    25
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    CHAPTER 3 Wellington’s Generals

    43
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    CHAPTER 4 Enter Colonel John By

    61
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    CHAPTER 5 1826: The Founding of Bytown

    69
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    CHAPTER 6 1827: Canal Cornerstones

    91
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    CHAPTER 7 How to Build a Canal

    107
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    CHAPTER 8 Jones Falls, Malaria, and Black Powder

    117
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    CHAPTER 9 The Hog’s Back Dam Disasters

    125
    Ken W. Watson
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    CHAPTER 10 1829: Handsome Profits

    133
    David Gates
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    CHAPTER 11 1831: Finishing the Work

    139
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    CHAPTER 12 1832: Colonel By’s Recall

    151
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  • PART TWO New Edinburgh and Rideau Hall
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    CHAPTER 13 Militia, Politics, and Civics, 1830–1838

    161
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    CHAPTER 14 Miller Mackay, 1830–1849

    179
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    CHAPTER 15 Rideau Hall, 1838–1853

    193
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    CHAPTER 16 The Capital Idea, 1841–1849

    205
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    CHAPTER 17 Mackay a Legislative Councillor

    213
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    CHAPTER 18 Bust and Boom, 1840–1849

    231
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    CHAPTER 19 Annexation and Reciprocity, 1849–1854

    241
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  • PART THREE Railway Mania
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    CHAPTER 20 The Philosophy of Railroads, 1847–1853

    257
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    CHAPTER 21 The Bytown & Prescott, 1847–1853

    269
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    CHAPTER 22 The Keefers in Montréal, 1850–1859

    285
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    CHAPTER 23 The Queen Approves of Ottawa, 1853–1857

    297
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  • PART FOUR Thomas Keefer and the Mackay Estate
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    CHAPTER 24 The Thomas Keefer Regime, 1855–1865

    313
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    CHAPTER 25 The Sale of Rideau Hall

    325
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    CHAPTER 26 Keefer Develops Rockcliffe Park

    341
    Humphrey Carver
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    Appendix A: Rockcliffe Arms

    357
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    Appendix B: Lines on Thomas Mackay

    359
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    Select Bibliography

    365
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
November 21, 2021
eBook ISBN:
9780776636801
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
328
View content
This book is in the series
Regional Studies
This book is in the series
Regional Studies
https://doi.org/10.1515/9780776636801
eBook ISBN: 9780776636801
Keywords for this book
Archaeology; Biography; Bytown; Canadian history; Ottawa; Rideau Canal
Audience(s) for this book
General/trade;
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