A walk down memory lane 

Steamboats on the Ottawa River

(see "Columns" page for more from Charlie Trinque)

For over 100 years, between 1832 and 1940, steamboats travelled on the Ottawa River between Aylmer and Chats Falls.

It started in 1832 when the Lady Colborne was launched from the wharf near Symmes Inn in Aylmer. Charles Symmes and his friends Joseph Aumond and John Egan had formed Aylmer’s first steamship company, Union Forwarding, offering daily morning trips to Quyon and returning the same day.

In June 1846, a larger and more splendid iron steamer called the Emerald was launched by the Union Forwarding and Railway Company. She was built in Aylmer, and was 140 feet long, and had two decks. The Emerald had staterooms, and a well-appointed dining room and bar.

Starting in 1857 one could take a ‘first class omnibus’ from Ottawa and catch the 8:30 am sailing of the Ann Sisson at Aylmer. “Breakfast was enjoyed during the leisurely sail on the Ottawa River with several stops at small settlements on the way.

At the end of the 1879 navigation season the Union Forwarding Company gave up competing with the railway that was advancing up the Valley and ended its river transport.

The G.B. Greene, often described as the ‘Queen of the River,’ was built for the Upper Ottawa Improvement Company in 1896. She was used primarily for hauling logs on the Ottawa River, but also provided passenger trips out of Queen's Park, notably evening excursions, which became very popular in the years just before the First World War.

Some notable steamboats built in Aylmer for use on the Ottawa River:

1832 Lady Colborne, 100 feet long, carried freight and mail and in off hours was used for towing timber, burnt in Britannia Bay in 1845, Captains Tom Crowley / John Grant

1846 The Emerald, 140 feet long, built to replace the Lady Colborne, Captain W. Findlay

1857 Ann Sisson, 139 feet long, 1857-1868 carried passengers, 1868-1871 towed timber,

            1871 dismantled and sunk in Britannia Bay, Captain Denis Murphy

1860 Chaudière, passengers, timber and freight

1871 Jessie Cassels, built in 1871, used for excursions (music and dancing), used for logging, Captain Cassels

1880 The Albert, sister ship to the Chaudière, Captain Cummins, dismantled in 1917

1887 G.B. Pattee, dismantled in 1944, Captain John Murphy

1890 Bella Ritchie, 88 feet long, used for excursions as well as freight and livestock, Captain A.C. Davis

1896 The Mink, 37 feet long, ferried passengers and cargo between Aylmer and Britannia, converted to 51 feet long in 1911, used to move log booms and sank in Lac Deschênes in 1945

Steamships built in Quyon include:

1896 The G.B. Greene,145 feet long, a towboat and converted to accommodate 250 passengers, burnt at the Quyon wharf in 1916, returned to service 1917-1940, Captain Chartier

1900 The Weldon, 88 feet long, built for excursions and local transport, struck by lightning and burnt in Breckinridge Bay in 1919, Captain John Murphy

1904 G.B. Pattee II, 88 feet long, built for pleasure rides, bought in 1952 by Captain T. Fuller and converted into the S V Blackjack

In 1899, for $1, you could take the Hull Electric Train from Hull to Queen's Park in the morning, then catch the Steamer G.B. Greene from Queen's Park to Quyon and back in the afternoon and return to Hull on the Hull Electric Train in the evening.

Sources: Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Rewind, Capital Chronicles, and Heritage Pontiac

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