As uOttawa students, many of you may be wondering who are the people our buildings are named after? In this short series, I’ll explain to many of you who, and why, our buildings are named after these historical figures.
Colonel By Hall is the name of the building on the south end of campus, and is one of the many homes of Faculty of Engineering students. But who is Colonel By and why is one of the campus buildings named after him?
In the early 1800’s, the Governor of Canada at the time turned the first sod at the beginning of construction of a canal in the Ottawa area. This canal eventually became the Rideau Canal, and was one of the largest engineering feats of the 1820’s. While today we see the Rideau Canal as beautiful scenery, a place to kayak in the summer and skate in the winter, it was once a tactical creation in order to transport goods and assist against invasions (i.e. the prior invasion during the War of 1812).
The engineer in-charge of the job was Lieutenant-Colonel John By. He was tasked with designing the canal and overseeing its construction, with the idea of creating a navigable waterway between the Ottawa River and Kingston. The construction of the waterway took several years and resulted in the deaths of many immigrant men (primarily Irish) who were brought to Canada specifically to assist in the construction of the canal. The majority of these deaths were as a result of diseases, like Malaria, or by day-drinking accidents on the construction sites. At this time, Colonel By also caught one of the many illnesses that the workers were passing around and almost did not survive to see the final construction of his canal.
When the Rideau Canal was finished there were a total of 52 dams and 47 locks. Colonel By received praise for his engineering innovation, allowing for the canal to include so many dams and locks, especially with the most difficult construction being located at Hogs Back Falls. The Canal first opened in 1832 and quickly became a commercial success. On Colonel By’s return home, he was often chastised for his overspending on the creation of the Rideau Canal. However, in Canada, he is continued to be remembered as the engineer who built the Rideau Canal.
Today, the road alongside the canal is known as Colonel By Drive that extends from the Ottawa River to well past Carleton University in the southern end of Ottawa. At uOttawa, we remember him in the name of one of our several engineering buildings, recognizing him as one of the many great Canadian engineers.