John By

Lieutenant-Colonel John By (born 1779, died 1835 or 1836) was a British military engineer, best remembered for his work in Canada, and in particular for supervising the construction of the Rideau Canal.

By was born in London, England in 1979. He studied at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and joined the Royal Artillery but soon transferred to the Royal Engineers. In 1802 he was posted to Canada for the first time, where we worked on the fortification of Quebec City and improving navigability of the Saint Lawrence River. During the Napoleonic wars he returned to Europe, where he served in Spain under the Duke of Wellington from 1811 until 1815.

With the end of the war By retired from the military, but in 1826, in view of his engineering experience in Canada, he was recalled and returned to Canada to supervise the construction of the Rideau Canal. This task, which took 6 years and employed 4,000 men, was an engineering triumph but, but upon his return to London, By faced accusations about the finances of the project. Officials of the British Treasury Board suggested that he had made a number of unauthorised expenditures, and By spent the remaining years of his life attempting to clear his name. Sources differ on the exact date of his death, suggesting either 1835 or 1836.

John By gave his name to the settlement of Bytown, where the Rideau Canal meets the Ottawa River, which was later to be renamed Ottawa. The By Ward market in Ottawa's Lower Town still bears his name, and his statue stands in nearby Major's Hill Park. Also in Ottawa are Colonel By Secondary School and Colonel By Drive, which follows the first stretch of the canal through the city from Lower Town to the falls at Hogs Back. In 1979, Canada Post issued a stamp bearing his image to commemorate the bicentenary of his birth.