Cantley 1889 Articles
The following article first appeared in The Echo of Cantley Volume 33 no 8, March 2021. This article is made available for the enjoyment of others with the express permission of the Echo of Cantley.
Cantley’s Municipal History: 1889
By Patricia Lawlor
Evolution of Cantley, the Municipality
| July 1, 1855 - | Township of Hull established |
| 1857 - | Cantley’s first post office established. Cantley’s first postmaster, William Hamilton, named our municipality “Cantley,” the name used by residents and neighbouring municipalities ever since. |
| 1880 - | Township of Hull is divided into the Townships of South Hull and West Hull. |
| 1889 - | Township of East Hull splits from the Township of West Hull. East Hull included Cantley and the area extending beyond its current boundaries. |
| 1971 - | Township of East Hull changes its name to City of Touraine. |
| 1975 - | Touraine (and other districts) merge to form the City of Gatineau. |
| January 1, 1989 - | The municipality of Cantley separates from the City of Gatineau. |
Fortunately, municipal council meeting minutes dating from 1889 were archived, providing insights into early municipal history. The following information was obtained from Cantley’s first municipal council meetings in 1889.
The Municipal Corporation of East Hull was incorporated on September 12, 1889. Councillors were elected on October 16 with Cantley’s Howard Brown (son of Thomas Brown) serving as Clerk of elections. Unlike today's municipal voting process, people were not elected for specific positions. At the first general meeting on October 28, 1889, councillors elected Alexandre Prudhomme first as chairman and then as mayor of “The Municipal Council of the Municipality of the East part of the Township of Hull, County and District of Ottawa, Province of Quebec”. Since there was no town hall in Cantley, this, and subsequent meetings, were held at the home of James A. Davis.
Minutes of the November Council Meeting record a motion and amendment put forward for the position of Secretary-Treasurer. The motion was to appoint the mayor’s son John Prudhomme “at a salary of $100 per annum to include all works of this Council”. The amendment, for Howard Brown to be appointed at $80 salary to perform the same duties, was defeated. Therefore, John Alexander Prudhomme became Secretary-Treasurer until his resignation in December 1920. He died on January 27, 1921.
Also at November’s meeting, Council passed a motion that Alonzo Wright, M.P. “shall not be charged a toll for crossing the Gatineau Bridge with his carriage”. A committee was then struck to call upon Mr. Wright to request his aid to obtain funds to rebuild the bridge (today’s Alonzo Wright Bridge).
A special meeting was called on November 25th concerning the Gatineau Bridge. Councillor Robert Kerr was appointed to order timber for the upper structure of the bridge from Hurdman's Mills. The Secretary-Treasurer was authorized to pay Isaie Galipeau $12.00 for piling stones for the bridge.
December’s meeting addressed several financial issues such as: payments authorized for road and bridge work in District 5, Secretary-Treasurer’s salary retroactive to October 16, Howard Brown to be paid $2 for serving as clerk for the October elections. By-law No. 7 was passed levying a general tax to meet the expenses for 1890: county tax $30, salary of officers of the Council $100, jury funds $12, valuation $80, general expenses $50, printing $25, roads and bridges $105. A committee was appointed to take the necessary steps to obtain a $1,500 loan to repair the Gatineau Bridge and to start the work as soon as possible. Because elections for councillors were held annually, Patrick Maloney was appointed returning officer for the January 13, 1890 election.
So ended the 1889 sessions of the newly established Municipal Council with the final motions for this and the November meetings being “That this meeting adjourn semidia” (sic).
So ends this article sine die until future Echo articles about interesting Council happenings.
Portion of map showing landowners of Cantley in 1875 including those mentioned in this article. From the 1875 Valuation Roll of the Municipality of West Hull prepared by Mr and Mrs E. Ryan. Map is available from the Gatineau Valley Historical Society. Click on map to enlarge.