The Gloucester Historical Society

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Public Notice - The Gloucester Historical Society notifies all members that photographs donated to the Society over the years may be copied, distributed or published by the Society or the Ottawa City Archives. Whenever possible, credit will be given to the original donor of a photograph. If you have donated photographs to the Society and you wish to restrict the use of those photographs, please notify the Gloucester Historical Society.

Billings Bridge - The most important entry point from Gloucester into Ottawa since 1830.
Here we see the current bridge on opening day, September 2, 1915
Photo by Binks & Wallis and supplied courtesy of Library and Archives Canada, Copy Number C-014138

Township of Gloucester County of Carleton Ontario, Canada Originally, all the land bordering the Ottawa River east of the Rideau River to the Cumberland Boundary and south to Osgoode Township, belonged to what was then, the Township of Gloucester. Parts of the township were annexed by the City of Ottawa over the years, or were incorporated as separate municipalities. Eastview (now known as Vanier) was incorporated in 1908 and Rockcliffe Park in 1925. Annexations began with New Edinburgh in 1887 and followed by a much larger annexation in 1950. The remainder of the township was incorporated as a city in 1981. The city was then amalgamated as part of the city of Ottawa in 2001. The township is divided into four parts. First, the Junction Gore is bounded by the Ottawa River on the north, the Rideau River on the northwest, St. Laurent Blvd on the east and Walkley Road on the south. The Ottawa Front is bounded by the Ottawa River on the north, Osgoode Township on the south, Cumberland Township on the east and St. Laurent Blvd. and Ramsayville Road on the west. The Rideau Front is bounded by the Rideau River on the west, Walkley Road on the north, Ramsayville Road on the east and Osgoode Township (Mitch Owens Road) on the south. A small portion of the township along the Rideau River west of Spratt Road and covering from Honey Gables to Manotick is known as the Broken Front. Within these boundary, small villages and distinct communities were founded. A list of Gloucester Place Names can be found here. For the purpose of this list, the Ottawa Front was divided into two. The north portion is bounded by the Mer Bleue, a natural dividing point, and the Walkley Road baseline. A historic map of the township showing many old and modern place names can be found here . A map showing modern community names can be found here . Farms and market gardens flourished in the villages and communities in those early days. The township also originally included some of the Ottawa area's most expensive residential real estate in Rockcliffe Park. Many stories are written about these past times. The Gloucester Historical Society's publications, along with other interesting research material and books on local history may be viewed at the Society's research room at 4550 Bank Street (off of Leitrim Road).

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The Gloucester Historical Society participates in Doors Open Ottawa - The Gloucester Museum artifacts and the Grace Johnston History Room will be open to the public on Saturday, June 2, 2012 and Sunday June 3, 2012 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Many of the artifacts relate to Gloucester's old rural heritage. St. James' Anglican Church Leitrim, the first English Church of Gloucester Township circa 1860 will also be open next door. The weekly Sunday worship service at 10:30 a.m. is open to the public as well as a picnic being held in the churchyard starting at Noon, also on Sunday. The church is a good example of a rural 19th century Anglican church. Interpretive tours will be provided in both buildings. For further details, click here.

Next Board of Directors Meeting - Saturday, May 19, 2012  9:30 a.m., 4550 Bank Street, Lower Level off of Leitrim Road (next to Fire Station). The following meeting will be on Saturday, June 16, 2012 9:30 a.m. The general public is welcomed to attend.

New - Gloucester History Page Improved  - (February 13, 2011) A lot of information has been recorded in the Gloucester historic time-line over the last 5 years but as the time-line has grown more comprehensive, it has also become more difficult to find specific facts and stories. To make it easier, a comprehensive index has been added and navigation links will facilitate moving around the page. Click here to see the latest history page and index.

New - Google Discussion Group - The Gloucester Historical Society now has a Google Group so that Gloucester History and Genealogy can be discussed publicly. This is great opportunity to share information and make inquiries. To join the discussion: Gloucester Historical Society Google Discussion Group Visit this group If you would like an e-mail subscription to the Gloucester Historical Society discussion, you can do so here: Subscribe to the Gloucester Historical Society Discussion Group Email: Visit this group

Important Announcement - Once again in 2012 for the period of May 3rd until October 25th, the Grace Johnston History Room will be open to the public each Thursday from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. This is a great opportunity to research family or Gloucester history and talk to our experts. For the address and directions, please click here.

New - Gloucester Photo Index - Click here to view a listing of photos in the Gloucester Photo Collection now stored at the Ottawa City Archives. To view the photos, it is necessary to go to the Ottawa City Archives.

Gloucester Place Names Project - Perhaps, one of the most important research projects in the Society's history. The Society is attempting to identify and assemble all place names, past or present, within the original territory of Gloucester Township and provide some information on each.. This will be an evolving project which will lead to the publication of a book. In the meantime, our research will be appearing on this website. You are welcome to review our Place Names page.

Honey Gables - The Gloucester Historical Society is pleased to announce that we are collaborating with a community researcher with the end goal of producing a detailed written history of Honey Gables authored by the community researcher.

Bayview Public School - This school is now located in Hunt Club but for well over 100 years, it was a fixture on Riverside Drive near Mooney's Bay. It was originally known as School Section #7 Gloucester but has been known as Bayview School for much of its recent history. The most recent school building across from Mooney's Bay was demolished in 2009. Click here to learn more on the history of this school.

Volunteers - If you are interested in history, there are opportunities to learn more about your community by helping out in the history room. Please contact us for details.

Donations - The Gloucester Historical Society always welcomes donations that preserve Gloucester History. We will accept family histories, community histories, organization histories, church histories, school histories, photographs, historic documents and artifacts. Items of historic significance will be preserved in an appropriate local museum or local archives. If you would like to donate something, please contact us.

GHS Newsletters Now On-Line - Click here to view almost every Newsletter published by the Gloucester Historical Society since 1993.

1837 Gloucester Assessment Roll - Click here to view an alphabetic listing of heads of households that appeared on the assessment roll that year. The listing includes the location of where they lived or owned property, the number of acres cultivated and uncultivated and the family size categorized by sex and age. .

New Publication (November 3, 2011) - Place Names of Ottawa, Canada's Capital 1791-1950 by Robert Serré, 2011 This book covers 695 names associated with the present territory of the City of Ottawa, and the former County of Carleton. Included are cities, towns, villages, hamlets, neighbourhoods, subdivisions, crossroads, wards, townships, districts, cemeteries, beaches, wharves, islands, resorts and train stations. For more information, click here. New Publication - Hawthorne Reflections - compiled by Laurel Sherrer, 2010 This 81 page book includes memories of Hawthorne Public School, originally Gloucester School Section #16. It was written for the occasion of the 111th anniversary of the school. New Publication - Gloucester Lions Club Inc., History of the first 42 Years 1968 - 2010 by the History Committee of the Gloucester Lions Club and Robert Serré. Edited by Glenn Clark, 2010. A detailed history of the charitable work performed by the Gloucester Lions Club and its members over the years. 83 pages, 90 photos and illustrations, 70 of which are in colour. The book also includes a complete list of members throughout the years, club presidents and award recipients. New Book (written in French) - "À LA MÉMOIRE DE MES ANCÊTRES" by Robert Roy with the collaboration of Robert Serré Robert Roy was born in Orleans. After several years of genealogical research, he produced, with the assistance of GHS president Robert Serré, a book that was published on October 29, 2010. This 184-page book, which includes 263 photos and illustrations, provides lineages for fifteen ancestors, fourteen going back to France, and one to England: Roy, Bruyère, Marion, Bigras, Bouchard, Blanchard, Cléroux, Foubert, Versailles, Lacourse, Cousineau, Cantin, Chalifoux, Bouet, and Dunning. This book also contains a considerable amount of information about the history of the Lower Ottawa Valley, the communities of Saint-Joseph d’Orléans, Embrun, Marionville, Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Navan and Sarsfield, as well as a bibliography. It sells for $25.00. To order a copy, simply e-mail bob.roy@rogers.com, or call 613-741-2765. New Publication - “Perseverance, Pranks and Pride – Tales of the One-Room Schoolhouse” by Joy Forbes. The book focuses on the life and times of English- and French-speaking individuals growing up in the Ottawa Valley region who attended or taught in one-room schoolhouses from around the turn of the century until 1992 when the last one closed in Ontario. There are approximately 75 short stories about individual experiences as well as brief histories of many schools. Il y a quelques histoires en français. It also includes many interesting photographs and images of memorabilia, which until now have not been documented. Contributors of note include Larry Robinson of the Montreal Canadiens, Graham Ritchie of Ritchie’s Feed and Seed, as well as the well-known local author, Mary Cook, who was also gracious enough to compose a very flattering preface. The book can be purchased online at www.oneroomschoolhouses.ca The Gloucester Historical Society is proud to have provided contacts and information in support of this project. New Publication - Gloucester Township Ratepayers for the Years 1855, 1864 and 1872 tabulated by Bob Serré, 2009 This 55 page book lists ratepayers by family name and also by lot and concession number. The 1864 and 1872 lists also identify the School Section that each family belonged to. NOUVELLE PUBLICATION - Le 17 juin 2009, la Société historique de Gloucester a publié un livre intitulé *Familles pionnières de Saint-Joseph d’Orléans dans l’Est de l’Ontario*. L’auteur est Robert Serré. Le village de Saint-Joseph d’Orléans a toujours chevauché la frontière entre les cantons de Cumberland et de Gloucester. Un tiers environ des 53 familles décrites dans ce nouvel ouvrage relèvent du canton de Cumberland. On y trouvera aussi une liste des sources consultées, un index des noms des conjoints et conjointes, et une photo en couleur de l’église Saint-Joseph. Cette nouvelle publication se vend 10 $ (commande postale : ajouter 3 $). Pour en savoir plus, communiquer avec Robert Serré, Publications SHG, 1057, promenade Riviera, Ottawa ON K1K 0N7; courriel bob.rosealine@gmail.com (téléphone 613-749-0607). First time Available from the Gloucester Historical Society - Historic Homes and Buildings of the Billings Bridge Community, A Self-Guided Tour by Joan McEvoy Rooney, 2004 This 29 booklet provides a suggested tour of many historic homes in the Billings Bridge area and particularly the old market garden community of Rideau Park. Each house is photographed and the history is explained. New Publication - Pioneer Families of St. Joseph (Orleans) in Eastern Ontario by Bob Serré, 2009 This 48 page book provides information on 53 families in this community that straddled the boundary between Gloucester and Cumberland Townships. About one third of the families listed resided in Cumberland. Further information can be found here. New Publication - Remembering Carlsbad Springs (Gloucester Township) by Mary Boyd and Robert Serré, 2009 This 32 page book provides the fascinating history of this community built around mineral springs and the 19th and 20th century spas that developed as a result. Further information can be found here.

Did you know? 1. Green Island where Ottawa's former City Hall was located was once part of Gloucester. 2. The north half of Long Island at Manotick was once part of Gloucester. 3. Hog's Back Falls bordered on Gloucester. 4. Rideau Hall and the 24 Sussex Drive (the Prime Minister's residence) were once in Gloucester 5. The Village of Rockcliffe Park was once part of Gloucester. 6. The City of Vanier was once part of Gloucester. 7. The jumble of roads, ramps and bridges next to RCMP Headquarters on the Vanier Parkway was once the thriving village of Hurdman's Bridge. 8. Greenboro Transitway station is adjacent to the former village of Ellwood. 9. Billings Bridge was once the centre of Gloucester Township including the first bridge to Bytown, a post office, 2 schools, 3 churches, the township hall, an Orange Hall, 3 ice houses, a brickyard, a toll gate and several other businesses. 10. The intersection of Russell and Walkley Roads was once the village of Hawthorne, traces of which have entirely disappeared. 11. Cummings Bridge once crossed via the island south of the current bridge. The island is named Cummings Island, named after the Cummings family who lived on the island for many years. 12. Ottawa's streetcars once travelled into Gloucester as far east as the north end of St. Laurent Boulvevard where the RCMP stables are now located. 13. The current Billings Bridge and Cummings Bridge were both originally designed for streetcars but neither would ever be used for that purpose. 14. Gloucester had two historic airports at Rockcliffe and Uplands, however, the first inter-city airmail flight into Ottawa used neither. That historic flight in 1913 made use of Slattery's Field, south of Clegg Street in Ottawa East.

Picture of the Month - April 2012 The Dominion House Hotel, the first hotel built at Carlsbad Springs Photographed on July 1, 1876 In 1868 a group of seven business men from Ottawa formed joint stock company called the “Dominion Stock Compamy” . They bought 40 acres of land including the “spring grounds” from Sam Eastman. They built a substantial hotel called the Dominion House. They had the mineral grounds improved, a pump house built, and kiosks were added over five of the Springs and a foot bridge was added from the spring grounds over the Bearbrook creek. Also built was a small steeple chase course, which of course attracted the sporting crowd from Ottawa. They operated a stage coach line out the Russell Road from Ottawa to the Springs during the summer months. At that time the only mode of travel was by horseback, stage coach or buggy etc. (The bridge in the background runs Russell Road over Bearbrook Creek) The names of the men who started this venture were: Mr. Chauncy Bangs a future Mayor of Ottawa, Mr. Bangs owned the first cottage at the “Springs”. Mr. Borbridge who owned a leather and harness shop in Ottawa. Mr. Birkett of the “Birkett Hardware” store in Ottawa. Mr. Henry Bate who owned a large wine business and later a grocery store. (Mr. Bate would later become Sir Henry Bate.) Mr. Thomas Birkett who owned the Birkett Hardware store. And a Mr. Basset and a Mr. Barrett. By coincidence all their names started with the letter “B”. The “Dominion House” operated quite successfully for a number of years until it was destroyed by fire. The photograph also shows a metal fountain that could be set on fire at night because the amount of gas that was produced with the water at the site. Unlike later hotels built at this location, this hotel did serve liquor. It is rumoured that Sir John A. MacDonald stayed at this hotel.

About the Logo: For many years the Gloucester Historical Society used the wooden bicycle which had been made by 17 year old James Blair in 1898. The official logo as shown above was designed by R.N. Strong, Graphic Designer, who was commissioned to come up with a meaningful design. The original bicycle is incorporated in the design and the colours of the Gloucester Historical Society, yellow and green are used. The green in the part below the word "Gloucester" represents a ploughed field, complete with furrows.

Last Updated May 18, 2012

The Gloucester Historical Society acknowledges the financial assistance of the City of Ottawa Copyright © 2011, 2012 Gloucester Historical Society. All Rights Reserved.