By Nancy Miller Chenier
When Lieutenant Colonel John By lived on Colonel’s Hill, now called Major’s Hill Park, he could be seen riding out most days on his black horse. As William P. Lett recalled “Seated upon his great black steed, Of stately form and noble breed.” He is rightfully honoured as the builder of the Rideau Canal and the founder of Bytown, but he was also a family man.
Described by historian John Taylor as “a reasonable approximation of an eighteenth century British squire,” Colonel By moved to the two-storey stone house on the hill above Lowertown in June 1827. He was in his late 40s while his young wife, Esther March By, a well-connected wealthy heiress, was in her late 20s. Their two daughters, Esther March, born in 1819, and Harriet Martha, born in 1821, along with several servants were the other occupants in the By household. From the verandah, the family could look out over the steady growth of Colonel By’s village. In 1828, there were more than a hundred buildings, of which about 40 were stores or tradesmen’s shops.
With the principal house in the community, John and Esther By entertained and often accommodated eminent visitors travelling along the Ottawa River. Lord Dalhousie visited in 1827 and 1828 to follow the progress of both the canal and the developing town. In the autumn of 1827, Sir John Franklin, Arctic explorer, laid one of the canal stones and stayed as an overnight guest. In 1828, Joseph Bouchette, Surveyor General of Lower Canada, was one of the visitors who admired the magnificent view from the verandah.
The By girls were of different ages with schooling provided by two different teachers. James Maloney, who emphasized reading, writing, arithmetic, and English may have taught the older daughter Esther while a Miss Knapp, perhaps connected to the Mrs. Knapp with the Upper Town school, may have taught the younger Harriet Martha. When the girls were not engaged in academic studies, they likely did embroidery and other needlework with their mother.
No doubt the Colonel’s family set an example by attending religious services, and in Bytown, Anglican services were offered at the small Wesleyan Methodist chapel on Rideau Street. The most recorded public event for the family together was the special trip along the completed canal in May 1832. They started off from Kingston in the steamboat Rideau and, after a week with stops at various small communities along the canal, arrived back in Bytown.
The departure of the By family in 1832 marked the end of an era for Bytown and for the small family. Colonel By’s engineering accomplishments were under scrutiny and before the end of the decade, both he and his wife, Esther, had died leaving two teenage girls to grieve. Colonel By’s public recognition as a family man is on the memorial erected by Esther at the Frant church in East Sussex. There he is described by the words – “tender and affectionate as a husband and a father”.