Fitzroy Harbour History Municipality of OTTAWA: CARLTON County County seat: Ottawa, which is also the capitol of Canada. Communities include: Aylmer, Britannia, Carp, Edwards, Fitzroy Harbor, Galetta, Kars, Kinburn, Metcalfe, Osgoode Station, Ottawa, Ottawa Junction, Richmond, Stittville, West Osgoode. The village of Fitzroy Harbour in Fitzroy Township was set up as a fur trading post in 1796. There were people and activity in the village from that time onwards. By about 1830 the steamboat from Aylmer, P.Q. went as far as Fitzroy Harbour but couldn't get past the rapids to go further west on the Ottawa River. Settlers portaged around the rapids and were picked up by another steamboat to go to the Upper Ottawa Valley, e.g. Renfrew on the Ontario side, Fort Coulonge on the Quebec side. As the timber trade developed, a "horse railway" was built on the Quebec side of the River - horses pulled carts on a train track to move people (settlers and shantymen) and goods around the rapids to go upstream. The early Catholic people at Fitzroy Harbour, either permanent or just moving through, often used the church facilities of St. Michael's at Corkery in Huntley Township. Also, itinerant priests from both St. Michaels, Corkery, and Notre Dame, Bytown "overlapped" - there are records from Fitzroy in both churches. source: http://www.bytown.net/fitzroy.htm A capital city, 150 years late. "Legend holds that Fitzroy Harbour's founder dreamed of making this sleepy village Canada's capital. Amalgamation made that dream -- myth or not -- come true", Kevin Ritchie of The Ottawa Citizen writes. In the 1800's the city founder, Charles Shirreff, lobbied the British Crown to fund a canal system connecting the Ottawa River to the Great Lakes through Georgian Bay. Majestic white pine can be found throughout this area beside the Ottawa River. Fitzroy Harbour is a community within the city of Ottawa in eastern Ontario. It is located on the Ottawa River at the mouth of the Carp River. A branch of the Mississippi River known as the "Mississippi Syne" also empties into the Ottawa to the west of the town. The town was founded by Charles Shirreff in 1831. There was a waterfall known as Chats Falls on the river here, later replaced by a hydroelectric dam. Fitzroy Provincial Park is located nearby. The town was formerly part of Fitzroy Township. source: http://www.rootsandrivers.ca/html_e/town_info_e.php?town=FIT Fitzroy is an historic township originally part of Carleton County in eastern Ontario, Canada. Fitzroy was located in the western part of the county, bordered to the northeast by Torbolton Township, to the southeast by Huntley Township, to the southwest by Lanark County and to the northwest by the Ottawa River. The township was established in 1823. The first permanent settler is believed to have been Charles Shirreff around 1818. Shirreff founded the settlement of Fitzroy Harbour in 1831. The township was an important centre of the timber trade during the 19th century. In 1974, the township was amalgamated with Huntley and Torbolton to form West Carleton. In 2001, West Carleton became part of the new city of Ottawa. Fitzroy took its name from Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy, son-in-law to Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond who was Governor General of British North America from 1818 to 1819. According to the Canada 2001 Census, the Township had a population of 4,528. Reeves 1850 J. Steene -- 1857 T. Elliott -- 1862 William Dean -- 1863 John Neil -- 1865 James Hubbell -- 1866 William Dean -- 1867 John Neil -- 1868 Allen Fraser -- 1872 John Neil -- 1878 Allan Fraser -- 1880 David MacLaren -- 1882 Charles Mohr -- 1896 A.E. Riddell -- 1897 n/a -- 1907 F.S. McClure -- 1909 Charles Mohr -- 1912 W. Boyle -- 1916 J.C. Greene -- 1918 T.B. Wilson -- 1922 R.G. Tripp -- 1929 John Shannon -- 1935 Stuart Craig -- 1940 V.E. Major -- 1959 Harvey E. Craig -- 1965 Hiram Wilson -- 1973 Jack Shaw. source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitzroy_Township%2C_Ontario