Sir John Kennedy (26 September 1838 – 25 October 1921) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

civil engineer. He was born at Spencerville,

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

, and was educated at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

. In 1863 he was appointed assistant city engineer of

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. In 1871 he became division engineer, and later chief engineer of the Great Western System of Canada. In 1875-1907 he was chief engineer of the Montreal harbour commission. He deepened the ship canal between Montreal and

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

from 20 to 27½ feet (6.1 to 8.4 m) and designed and carried out all the improvements in Montreal harbor during 32 years. He was a member of several royal commissions for engineering purposes connected with the

Lachine Canal The Lachine Canal (, ) is a canal passing through the southwestern part of the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running 14.5 kilometres (9 miles) from the Old Port of Montreal to Lake Saint-Louis, through the boroughs of Lachine (borough), L ...

, the causes of floods at Montreal, and the completion of the Trent Valley Canal system. He was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in 1916.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, John Engineers from Montreal McGill University alumni Canadian Knights Bachelor Canadian engineers 1838 births 1921 deaths Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Harbour engineers