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Captain George Lyon (1790-1851)
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| Captain George Lyon was born in lnverurie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
in 1790, the son of George
Lyon, long time Baillie (Mayor) of that town. He was the grandson
of James Lyon. The younger George was a military man who was commissioned
ensign in the 40th Foot in 1806 and lieutenant two years later. In
1809 he transferred to the l00th Foot Glasgow Infantry Regiment. This
regiment had come to Canada in 1805. He joined them in Canada in November
1810. |
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War of 1812
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| Serving in the War of 1812, he was present at the capture of the
American gunboats Growler and Eagle at lie aux Noix, Lower Canada
(Quebec), and was put in charge of the American prisoners who were
removed to Montreal. On the Niagara frontier on this continent at
Lundy's Lane and Chippawa (Niagara Falls area), he commanded the regiment's
eighth company at the Battle of Chippawa on July 5, 1814. At the latter
location, he carried his friend Lt. Maxwell wounded from the battlefield
(Lt. Maxwell would later become father-in-law to George Lyon's son
Robinson E Lyon). George himself was severely wounded at the Battle
of Chippawa Creek but he recovered and continued to serve with the
100"' (renumbered 99''' in 1816] until it was disbanded in 1818. |
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| In 1812 (or 1813), George was married at Sorel, Quebec to Catherine
Radenhurst (born 1793 in Lower Canada, also known as Canada East and
later Quebec), daughter of Captain William Radenhurst. Captain William
Radenhurst was born in Cheshire, England and had come to Lower Canada
in February 1776 as storekeeper to the hospital at Trois-Rivieres.
Ten years later in Montreal, he married Catherine Campbell. the daughter
of a loyalist. Captain William Radenhurst was the Commanding Officer
of Fort William Henry at Sorel, in Canada East, and later served at
Fort St. Johns located on the Richelieu River. His wife, Catherine
Campbell Radenhurst was the sister of Mrs. Thomas Rideout, the wife
of the Surveyor-General and both of them were the daughters of Alexander
Campbell of Adolphustown, Canada West, near Kingston. Captain Radenhurst
died in 1805 leaving eight children under the sole care of their strongwilled
mother. She managed to get commissions in the army for two of her
older sons and later to have the son Thomas accepted at John Strachan's
Home District Grammar School at York (Toronto). From there lie went
oil to study law in the office of his cousin George Rideout. Thomas
Radenhurst became a prominent lawyer in Perth, Ontario and also served
as a Member of the Legislature for Upper Canada. In those days, the
wives of officers often accompanied their husbands to the postings
and lived in cramped quarters in the fortresses. This too seems to
have been the case with George Lyon. Catherine obviously moved with
him since the Census of 1851 lists his daughter Ann as born at Chippawa.
George Byron was George's first male child, born back at Sorel in
1815. It is not known where their third child, Mary Eliza, was born
in 1819 (probably in Richmond), but it is documented that their fourth
child was the first male child born in Richmond, William Richmond
Radenhurst Lyon born in 1820. |
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Settling in Richmond, Canada
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| In the early summer of 1818, the military authorities decided to
demobilize the 99th Regiment of Foot Soldiers, which had been a consolidation
of the older 99th and 100th Regiments and which had been stationed
in Quebec. The members of the 99th decided to settle in Upper Canada
(later called Ontario). Following his military career, lie received
from the crown a grant of a considerable amount of land in what became
known as the Richmond area of Ontario, later given the name of Goulbourn
Township of Carleton County, just outside of Bytown (later called
Ottawa). He also held property in March Township. The Public Archives
of Canada shows documentation that he held deed to 11.000 acres of
land on the Jacques (later and still known as Jock) River. Research
shows that the amounts of land allotted were according to military
rank: 100 acres to a private, 200 acres to a sergeant, 400 acres to
a lieutenant and 800 acres to a captain. Another document mentions
an amount of 800 acres that he received. It is documented that "In
1820, Captain Lyon built mills above the village and constructed the
great dam which drowned the country above it for many miles, turning
it into a hunter's paradise for many years." Lyon claimed the mills
cost 1.00 pounds to build. The sawmill was erected about 1821 and
by April, 1826 the grist mill was fully operational. To the mill complex,
he added a distillery, which began production early in 1827, a fullingmill,
a forge, and a store at which he sold spirits and other goods, and
he engaged in the potash trade. Given their backgrounds, it was natural
that Lyon and other officers formed an elite group for leadership
and positions of prominence. Officers were on half pay whereas general
settlers were permitted to draw army rations for the first year, and
were issued with the following tools and stores: 1. To the head of
each family: 1 axe, 1 broad axe, 1 mattock, I pickaxe, I spade, I
shovel, I hoe, I scythe, 1 draw knife, 1 hammer, I handsaw, 2 scythe
stones, 2 files, 12 panes of glass and 1 pound of putty, 12 pounds
of nails (in three sizes), I camp kettle, I bed tick, and I blanket.
2. For every five settlers: 1 crosscut saw, I whipsaw, I grindstone.
3. For the settlement: 2 complete sets of carpenter's tools. The foregoing
lists suggest a marginal living standard, but this was not always
the case for the community elites. During the next year, Captain George
Lyon, now a storekeeper, imported luxury items from Montreal such
as bone china, crystal glasses, swan's down silk, fine lawn, and gold
jewellery. A further indication of the community's refinement was
the demand for books, including the current issues of the illustrated
magazine Life in Paris. The principal markets outside the local area
for the flour, lumber, and whisky were Montreal and the Point (Ottawa).
For erecting his mills, George received, in an agreement with the
Quarter-Master General's Department, extra land in the village and
in Goulbourn. He was later allowed to patent even more land to compensate
for the property flooded by his mill pond. Documentation shows that
he and also the Radenhurst family (his in-laws) at one time owned
land in the region of Sorel, Quebec, as well. George Lyon was noted
for many accomplishments: - He cut down the first tree in the area
that would become Richmond. - He was responsible for most of Richmond's
industry, having run a grist mill, distillery, saw mill and fulling
mill - all operated by water power provided by a dam he constructed
on the Jock River (a.k.a. Goodwood River) near the foot of Fortune
Street. - He served as Justice of the Peace. - He worked as a half
- pay officer for the militia. - |
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| Until the 1840s, he was one of a small group of men, many of whom
lived in or adjacent to Bytown, who effectively controlled that community.
- He served in the assembly of Upper Canada, elected in 1832. He was
defeated in the elections of 1836 and 1844. - He represented Carleton
County in the Legislative Assembly of Canada following the union of
Upper and Lower Canada, in 1846 but lost his seat again in 1847 -
1848. Richmond (named after the Duke of Richmond, Governor General)
was a major centre of influence both politically and economically
for several years. The Richmond "Elite", the core of which was made
up of former military officers, held political control during the
1820's in this area. It is written in the Richmond Sesquicentennial
Book of 1968 that "Along with Colonel Burke, four other half-pay officers
formed the inner core of the `Elite'. This group included Captain
John Lewis, Captain George Lyon, !Major Sewell Ormsby, and Lieutenant
Maxwell. These men all held various government posts. All four were
Justices of the Peace These men also participated in commercial ventures
of the town. Captain Lyon founded both the first Mill and Store and
continued to be a very successful businessman_ Lieutenant Maxwell
became a leading breeder and importer of thoroughbred stock in the
district "this Elite' held effective political control during the
1820's when Richmond, with at least a dozen general stores, four breweries
and two distilleries. a saw-mill, grist-mill and carding mill, comprised
the business and commercial center of the area. From 1824 - 1828 Colonel
Burke represented the district in the Legislative Assembly. In 1828,
he was replaced by Thomas Radenhurst, a Perth lawyer, brother-in-law
of George Lyon, and a candidate who had the sanction of the `Elite"."
Unfortunately for the future development of Richmond, the Rideau Canal
was built between Bytown (Ottawa) and Kingston. This was the major
transportation system for the area. The Jock River was only a small
tributary of the Rideau and was isolated. With the construction of
this Bytown canal in 1826 and the rapid development of the lumber
industry along the Ottawa River. Bytown became the hub of activity
and Richmond gradually lost its commercial position. It should be
mentioned that these two settlements were less than 20 miles apart.
During the building of the canal, Richmond had prospered since the
workers were largely dependent on local supplies. With the completion
of the canal, not only did commercial loyalties switch, but also political
loyalties moved away from the Richmond group. In the election of 1832,
the loyalties came down to a battle between two "Elite" groups of
the area. No longer could the Richmond group provide the greater number
of favours in the area. George Lyon was the candidate for the Richmond
group and lost out to the opposition. Later due to voter irregularities,
the winner had to resign his seat in favour of George Lyon. "Although
the Richmond leaders, Lewis, Malloch and Lyon continued to hold office
during the 1830's, Richmond's power was gone and many of the leaders
forsook their old home for the rising young town with a future - Bytown.
Thus Richmond's days of glory were over and its days of memories had
begun." This brought about considerable financial strain on the George
Lyon businesses. In 1841, he seriously considered renting out his
mill and moving. In 1849, he was forced to sell his half pay to discharge
a property obligation. He was gazetted a lieutenant in the Royal Canadian
Rifles that year but immediately sold his commission to another officer.
Captain George Lyon died in 1851 and is buried in St. John's Anglican
Cemetery in Richmond, Ontario. His wife, Catherine Radenhurst Lyon,
died on September 10, 1857 at the age of 64 years and 6 months. She
too is buried in Richmond, however the location of her grave is unknown.
Her tombstone was found inside the cemetery vault and, to this date,
has not been repaired and re-erected near the tomb of her husband.
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Captain George Lyon & The Soldier Settlers Carving Out a Home
from Carleton Saga
by H. & O. Walker
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The future Capital was largely a cedar swamp with hemlock and pine-topped
ridges of rock cropping out here and there. Dow's great swamp stretched
almost from the Rideau to the Ottawa. Of the landfall of the flotilla
at our Chaudiere and the forbidding terrain of primeval Ottawa,
an early writer has recorded "The very port they sailed into below
the Chaudiere Falls was called Bellow's Landing, but this, they
threw to the wild tempestuous winds, and called it Richmond Landing.
Here they moored their little boats and landed their families and
household goods. The little store kept by Jehiel, son of Capt. Collins,
furnished some things they required and they pitched their tents
over the plain, known for some time as the Flats. Here was a collection
of fine ladies, many of them very fair; and gallant gentlemen. "Among
the many beautiful girls, perhaps the most beautiful was the then
little Miss Hill, who afterwards became the wife of Edward Malloch,
the -LP. for twenty years for Carleton. These colonists did not
seem to see any attraction in the surroundings of the Chaudiere,
a settlement where the city now stands. Most of the place was a
cedar swamp, of deep, thick mud, so soft and watery that trees might
be said rather to float than grow on it .. . "The Government Hill
(now Parliament Hill), and Ashburnham Hill (now the slight rise
in the area of Somerset West, Cooper and Lyon streets) were then
covered with hemlock, beech and maple. The rest of the place was
a deep swale, through which years after, when the cows waded along
Bank and O'Connor streets, they had to be washed before they could
be milked." Gourlay's History of the Ottawa Valley, p. 70. In bark
huts and crude shelters that mushroomed all over the Landing and
the Le Breton "Flats" the families managed to exist while their
men folk under Color-Sergeant Hill commenced their desperate offensive
against the forest, cutting a road through to their locations 20
miles inland. When that was completed they had to construct permanent
log cabins. It was a race against time, for the winter frosts came
early that year, and the pioneers suffered greatly. Many of them
did not move out from the "Landing" until nearly Christmas. Their
first Canadian winter resulted in two casualties. It is recorded
that one man, William Dennison, of the 99th, died during the sub-zero
temperature as a result of exposure, while a woman named Osborne
was frozen to death while returning from Richmond Landing. Undaunted
by the bush and swamp which stretched away southwestward, the men
started to slash a road through it while the families were left
in their shelters all the way between Richmond Landing and Holts
and Honeywclls. In telling of the tremendous work involved in this
undertaking, one of the early chroniclers states: "To cut forty
logs and draw them for the construction of one building would be
labour for twenty good strong men, even if the trees stood around
the spot where the building was to be erected. The balsam rafters
were to be peeled, fitted, and the boards sawed, shingles to be
made by hand, and a chimney of some kind put up. How they managed
to get so many houses fit to be occupied by white people before
the thermometer registered zero is a mystery unsolved to this day."
By late November many of them must have reached their wilderness
habitation at Richmond for on November 26, 1818, Colonel Cockburn
wrote Bowies at Quebec that "four hundred heads of families have
already been located in the vicinity of Richmond . houses are building
and seven or eight Half-Pay Officers have fixed upon it as their
place of residence." Colonial Office Records Q 152 Pt I Archives
of Canada.
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| insert picture |
Soldier Settlers of the 99th and Moth Regiments building a rough
road from Richmond Landing at the Chaudiere to their wilderness settlement
at Richmond in the late summer and fall of 1818. Working against the
descent of winter the discharged soldiers lead also to build shelters
for their families until they could both finish the road and construct
homer in Richmond. (Thin was one of the murals completed before his
death by the famous Canadian artist,
the late Charles W. Jefferys, R.C.A., L.L.D. |
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| The William Dennison mentioned on the previous page as having perished
from exposure has proven to be an interesting puzzle. In the summer
of the year 2000, an e-mail was forwarded to the writer with information
that a query had been received from a descendant of the Dennison who
had died, although the name given in the query was John Dennison (1
785 - 1819). The confusion would be easy to make in this sort of research.
It was believed that his wife had died soon after. The Widow Dennison
and two male children appear on both the Census of 1821 and 1822 as
still living in Richmond. After that there is no record so she too
may have died around that time as believed. Nothing is known of their
burials since no cemetery would have been established at that early
time. We know from the query that two orphan sons - John Jr. (born
c. 1811) and William (born c. 18 12) survived, and according to the
writer of the query, were raised by Captain George Lyon and his family.
It is understood that both young men timber trade in the Bytown (Ottawa)
area. Apparently both brothers were members of the "Shiners", a tough
Irish gang employed by lumber and land barons. Family lore has it
that John and William became separated after the infamous Battle of
Stoney Monday, part of an 1849 bloody riot between the masses of unemployed
"Shiners" and their job competition among the French Canadian workers,
which left much of Bytown in rubble. The brothers evidently never
saw each other again. (The person making the query is descended from
John Dennison's line.) Later John Dennison moved to Lake Dore, north
west of Bytown where he was one of the first settlers of the area.
A respondent to the query mentions a Dennison couple from that area
having a grandson named William Lyon Dennison_ It is interesting that
the signatures of Dennisons appear as having been guests in Perth
at the wedding of Catherine Lyon and Nelson Brown in 1908. The Census
shows that a Dennison lived in the town of Perth at that time and
worked as a painter. Could these have been descendants of the orphan
boys? |
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George Byron Lyon-Fellowes - son of Capt. George Lyon
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George Byron Lyon
(later George Byron Lyon-Fellowes)
Mayor of Ottawa
and the son of George Lyon.
The grand-son of George Byron Lyon-Fellowes
was an actor, Rockcliffe Fellowes.
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| See link to web-site
with George byron Lyon (Lyon-Fellowes) |
George Byron Lyon-Fellowes |
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Information provided and based upon research by
Jim McTavish, Barbara Gibson, Reg Lyon, George Mackenzie,
Cynthia Milligan and Wendy Wain. |
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Robert Lyon, the brother of Capt. George Lyon,
was killed in last fatal duel in Canada - 13th June 1833
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| see Robert Lyon |
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| George's sister Mary Lyon (b. 1805) died in Kincardine
O'Neil, near Aberdeen. |
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| Also references in Bytown |
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