New Edinburgh - Ottawa's Scottish Village
McKay’s story begins in Scotland. Born in 1792, McKay was an accomplished stonemason and architect, trained in Perth. In 1813, he married Ann Crichton, with whom he had 16 children over the course of 30 years. By 1817, McKay was in Montreal and Along with another Scottish stonemason, John Redpath, he got to work on the Lachine Canal. “(McKay) brought with him no capital, save his integrity of character and energy in the prosecution of his business interests,” said a history of the Scottish Presbyterian Church in Montreal.
As you travel through New Edinburgh you’ll see that the street names reflect the McKay family’s as the founders. Though Thomas lived his entire life as a McKay, for some reason following his death, his family adopted the form MacKay. Hence the spelling of MacKay. There are also streets named after 4 of his 6 children: John, Charles, Alexander, and Thomas. As well, Chrichton was his wife Anne’s maiden name, and Keefer were the surname of his son-in-law.
Today, little of New Edinburgh’s industrial legacy remains. But there are several buildings still standing which harken back to it’s time as a village with people from all walks of life: mill workers, foremen, Doctors, teachers etc.
The Fraser School House at 62-64 John St. c. 1837 is the oldest dwelling in New Edinburgh. MacKay built it for the workers constructing his new home at Rideau Hall. In 1838 it was converted into a school and teacher John Fraser lived in one half while the classroom was in the other.
The McLatchie House at 25-29 Crichton St. c. 1867, is the only example of a BOARD and BATTEN double residence remaining in New Edinburgh. Board and batten, or board-and-batten siding, describes a type of exterior siding or interior paneling that has alternating wide boards and narrow wooden strips, called "battens." The boards are usually (but not always) 1 foot wide. The boards may be placed horizontally or vertically. The battens are usually (but not always) about 1/2 inch wide. It was built by W.R. McLatchie as worker’s housing in the early years of the village.
MacLeod House at 92 Stanley Ave. c 1867. This 1 ½ story stone house is an excellent example of early homes of New Edinburgh. It was built for Douglas MacLeod who came from Scotland’s Isle of Skye to work in one of Thomas MacKay’s Mills.
Bell House, 151 Stanley Ave, c.1868. The original 1 ½ story western section of the house was built for Dr. W.R. Bell as a medial office while the 2 ½ story eastern section was added in 1880 as an attached residence.
The Allen House, 35 MacKay St. c. 1864, is an impressive 2 ½ story house was built to accommodate senior employees of Thomas MacKay’s Mills.
The Henderson House, 34 Alexander c. 1864. is a spectacular 2 ½ story clapboard house is typical of Second Empire style and is an example of the evolving architecture of the village. It was built by John Henderson manager of the MacLaren Lumber mill, also the first treasurer of the village and later Clerk of the City of Ottawa.
McKay’s Legacies:
Rideau Hall, the 0.36-square-kilometre (88-acre) estate at 1 Sussex Drive, with the main building consisting of approximately 175 rooms across 9,500 square metres (102,000 sq ft), and 27 outbuildings around the grounds. It is one of two official royal residences maintained by the federal Crown, the other being the Citadelle of Quebec. Once the house became the official residence of the governor general, it was termed formally as Government House. But, Rideau Hall stuck as the informal name and the existence of two names for the building led to some issue: in 1889 the viceregal consort, the Lady Stanley of Preston, was rebuked by Queen Victoria for calling the house Rideau Hall; it was to be Government House, as in all other Empire capitals. Today, however, Rideau Hall is the commonly accepted term for the house, with Government House remaining only in use for very formal or legal affairs; for example, royal proclamations will finish with the phrase: "At Our Government House, in Our City of Ottawa”.
The site of Rideau Hall and the original structure were chosen and built by stonemason Thomas McKay. With his newly acquired wealth, McKay purchased the 100 acre site overlooking both the Ottawa and Rideau Rivers and built a stone villa where he and his family lived until 1855 and which became the root of the present day Rideau Hall. The name Rideau Hall was chosen by Thomas McKay for his villa, drawing inspiration from the Rideau Canal which he had helped construct, though the house was also known colloquially as McKay's Castle.
Earnscliffe, the current site of the British High Commissioner’s residence was built by Thomas McKay's company for his son-in-law, John McKinnon, in 1855. McKinnon died suddenly in 1866 and the house was purchased by another of McKay's sons-in-law, Thomas Keefer. Two years later, he sold it to Thomas Reynolds, a railroad developer. Reynolds resided there for several years, and it was during this period that the house got the name "Earnscliffe", an archaic term for "eagle's cliff". Reynolds died in 1879, and his son sold the house to Sir John A. Macdonald in 1883. Macdonald had earlier stayed with Reynolds, and there are some stories that he gave it its name. When Sir John A. Macdonald visited, they discussed about its name as "Eaglescliffe", but he suggested the old English world for eagle, "Earn" and his suggestion was accepted. In 1888, Macdonald made several additions to the structure. In 1891, Macdonald fell ill, and he died in his room at Earnscliffe.
His widow, Lady Macdonald, briefly continued to reside in the home after his death, and Queen Victoria made her Baroness Macdonald of Earnscliffe. Soon, however, Lady Macdonald and her daughter departed for England and leased the house to Lord Treowen, commander of the militia. Over the next decades, the building was home to several local notables, including Mrs. Charles A.E. Harriss. In 1930, William Henry Clark, the first British High Commissioner to Canada, arranged to buy the house for the British government. It has been the home of the British High Commissioner ever since.
McKay Lake (formerly Hemlock Lake) named after Thomas McKay located on the east side of Rockcliffe, the lake is a great place for a walk, and another one of those places that’s “lost in plain sight.” Open to the public, but unknown to most people in Ottawa. You can walk along around the east side of the lake by entering the gate for the Caldwell-Carter Conservation Area on Hillsdale Road. The lake itself is a natural spring fed lake, and was once a favored swimming hole. If you walk far enough along the path, however, you will eventually come to “The Pond,” which is not natural. It was formed, the story goes, when sand was excavated for the construction of the Chateau Laurier. When the excavations were over, the water later rushed in.
