Wellington Street, home to Parliament Hill, is named for Arthur Wellesly (1769-1852), the first Duke of Wellington, who led the allied forces that defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, on June 18, 1815.
It was Wellington – who went on to become British prime minister — who commissioned the construction of the Rideau Canal, the waterway meant to provide a secure route for supplies and communications between Montreal and Kingston.
Canal builder Col. John By chose the name Wellington for the main east-west street in Bytown, as the settlement at the canal’s northern terminus would be called.
The street was laid out much wider than the standard street width of 20 metres or one chain; Wellington would be 30 metres wide.
The first houses erected on Wellington Street were simple log cabins in 1826. The first house built belonged to Thomas Burrowes, assistant overseer of works. It was in this house that the first child was born in Bytown on Nov. 25, 1826. The boy was named John By Burrowes in honour of Col. By, but he died shortly afterwards and was buried in Sandy Hill.
Wellington Street was used to serve traffic between the Chaudière Bridge and the Sappers Bridge (now the Plaza Bridge). There were turnstiles at both ends of the street to admit walkers through the fence, which prevented the officers’ cows — pasturing on Barrack Hill (now Parliament Hill) — from going astray.
With the construction of the Parliament Buildings in 1860, Wellington no longer served as a residential street – except further to the west past LeBreton Flats. At one point, Wellington was considered Canada’s “Little Wall Street” because of the high concentration of banks in the area.
Now many national landmarks, including Confederation Square, the Supreme Court of Canada and the Bank of Canada, make Wellington Street a major destination for tourists, protestors, local residents and foreign dignitaries.