Thomas Ahearn
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Thomas Ahearn, PC (June 24, 1855 – June 28, 1938) 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 ...
inventor and businessman. Ahearn, a native of
Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
,
Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...
, was instrumental in the success of a vast streetcar system that was once in Ottawa, the
Ottawa Electric Railway Ottawa Electric Railway Company was a streetcar public transit system in the city of Ottawa, Canada, part of the electric railway streetcars that operated between 1891 and 1959. Ottawa once had tracks through downtown on Rideau Street, Sparks Str ...
, and was the first chairman of Canada's
Federal District Commission The National Capital Commission (NCC; , CCN) is the Crown corporation responsible for development, urban planning, and conservation in Canada's Capital Region (Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec), including administering most lands and build ...
in 1927. He held several patents related to electrical items and headed companies which competed for decades with Ottawa Hydro as providers for electricity in Ottawa. Ahearn co-founded the
Ottawa Car Company The Ottawa Car Company was a builder of streetcars for the Canadian market and was founded in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1891 Middleton, William D. (1967). ''The Time of the Trolley'', p. 423. Milwaukee: Kalmbach Publishing. . as an outgrowth of the car ...
, a manufacturer of streetcars for Canadian markets.


Life and career

He was born in the Lebreton Flats area of Ottawa in 1855. He started as a messenger in the Chaudière office of the Montreal Telegraph Company (located in J. R. Booth's office). Within the year he was promoted to the company's Sparks Street office. At 19, he went to New York City and worked for two years at Western Union Telegraph Company. He returned to Ottawa and became chief operator for Montreal Telegraph Company. He became a manager of the
Bell Telephone Company The Bell Telephone Company was the initial corporate entity from which the Bell System originated to build a continental conglomerate and monopoly in telecommunication services in the United States and Canada. The company was organized in Bost ...
office in Ottawa in 1880. In 1881, he founded the firm of Ahearn & Soper, electrical contractors, with Warren Y. Soper, former manager of Dominion Telegraph Company's local office. He formed Chaudière Electric Light and Power Company in 1887 and he later merged it with other companies which created the Ottawa Electric Company in 1894. In 1892, he filed patents for both an "electric oven" and a "system of warming cars by means of electrically heated water". The use of this invention that year to prepare a meal which he delivered by streetcar to the Windsor Hotel caused the ''Ottawa Journal'' to say "...everything had been cooked by electricity, the first instance on record..." Thomas Ahearn filed eleven Canadian patents in all. He was founder and president of the
Ottawa Electric Railway Company Ottawa Electric Railway Company was a streetcar public transit system in the city of Ottawa, Canada, part of the electric railway streetcars that operated between 1891 and 1959. Ottawa once had tracks through downtown on Rideau Street, Sparks Str ...
, which provided electric
streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...
service in the city and had the first streetcars with electric heaters (a device he patented). After running as a vast and very successful private operation for over half a century, it was later taken over by the
Ottawa Transportation Commission Ottawa Transportation Commission was the public transit operator for the city of Ottawa from 1948 until the creation of OC Transpo in 1973. OTC took over streetcar operations from the Ottawa Electric Railway, but they were gradually abandoned for t ...
. He, with Ahearn and William Wylie in September 1893, founded the Ottawa Car Manufacturing Company which manufactured streetcars. In 1901, the
Ottawa Electric Railway Company Ottawa Electric Railway Company was a streetcar public transit system in the city of Ottawa, Canada, part of the electric railway streetcars that operated between 1891 and 1959. Ottawa once had tracks through downtown on Rideau Street, Sparks Str ...
built a 2000-foot canal just north of the Britannia Boathouse Club to generate
Hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
on the Deschênes Rapids. Although the hydroelectric project was abandoned as unfeasible, the unfinished canal was used in 1951 as the basis of the Britannia Yacht Club`s main and inner harbour, which provide 250 wet moorings, fuel and pumpout facilities, for both sail and power boats. In 1905-6, he built a new clubhouse, known as the Britannia Boating Club House. After the new clubhouse, which was designed by Charles Penruddocke William Kivas Band, was destroyed by fire on August 29, 1919, the Club returned to its present location, in a building designed by
Edgar Lewis Horwood Edgar Lewis Horwood (1868–1957) was a Canadian architect who served as Chief Dominion Architect from 1915 to 1917. As chief government architect he was responsible for many of the federal buildings constructed in this period. Drawings for publ ...
. On June 23, 1906, he was appointed as director and elected president of Ottawa Gas Company. In 1908, he formed a holding company called the Ottawa Light, Heat and Power Company, Limited, which wholly owned Ottawa Gas Company (which Ahearn & Soper bought) and Ottawa Electric Company. In this way, the private sector continued to compete with Ottawa Hydro for decades. In 1927, he was appointed by Prime Minister MacKenzie King as the first chairman of the Federal District Commission, the predecessor to the
National Capital Commission The National Capital Commission (NCC; , CCN) is the Crown corporation responsible for development, urban planning, and conservation in Canada's Capital Region (Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec), including administering most lands and build ...
. There he had a five-year term ending in 1932. In this capacity, much of Ottawa's parkway network was developed, as well as the Champlain Bridge across the
Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word "to trade", as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...
. Thomas Ahearn was appointed to the
Queen's Privy Council for Canada The King's Privy Council for Canada (), sometimes called His Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council (PC), is the full group of personal advisors to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs. Practically, ...
in 1928. By 1933, Thomas Ahearn was listed as: *The Broadcasting Committee of the Diamond Jubilee 1927, chairman *The Federal District Commission, chairman *
Ottawa Electric Railway Company Ottawa Electric Railway Company was a streetcar public transit system in the city of Ottawa, Canada, part of the electric railway streetcars that operated between 1891 and 1959. Ottawa once had tracks through downtown on Rideau Street, Sparks Str ...
, president *Ottawa Traction Company, president *Ottawa Car Manufacturing Company, president *Ottawa Electric Company, president *Ottawa Gas Company, president *Ottawa Light, Heat and Power Company, president *Ottawa Investment Company, president *Ottawa Land Association, president *Ottawa Building Company, president *Ahearn & Soper Limited, vice-president *Wallace Realty Company, vice-president *Bell Telephone Company of Canada, director and executive committee *Canadian Westinghouse Company, director *Northern Electric Company, director *Bank of Montreal, director *Royal Trust Company, director *The Guarantee Company of North America, director *American Institute of Electrical Engineers, member Thomas Ahearn died June 28, 1938. He is interred in
Beechwood Cemetery Beechwood Cemetery is the national cemetery of Canada, located in Vanier, Ottawa, Ontario. Over 82,000 people are buried in the cemetery, including Governor General Ramon Hnatyshyn, Prime Minister Robert Borden, and several members of Parlia ...
.


Ahearn & Soper

Ahearn & Soper is an Ottawa company formed as an electrical engineering and contracting business in 1881 by Thomas Ahearn and Warren Young Soper, former manager of Dominion Telegraph Company's local office. Both men were working for Montreal Telegraph in Ottawa on March 13, 1873. The two founders were responsible for the creation of many companies in the fields of communications, heat, light and power, including the
Ottawa Electric Railway Company Ottawa Electric Railway Company was a streetcar public transit system in the city of Ottawa, Canada, part of the electric railway streetcars that operated between 1891 and 1959. Ottawa once had tracks through downtown on Rideau Street, Sparks Str ...
and early electricity providers in Ottawa. Their principal contracts have been with the Canadian Pacific Railway, Bell Telephone Company, Mackay-Bennett Cable Company of New York, and the North American Telegraph Company. In the mid-1890s, they moved to 56 Sparks Street from 70 Sparks Street. In 1926, they built the Ottawa Electric Building (Albert Ewan, Architect) which still stands on 56 Sparks.


Family

Thomas Ahearn's first marriage was to Lilias Mackay Fleck. In 1892, in his second marriage, he married Margaret Howitt (likely Margaret Howit Fleck). Margaret was the daughter of Alexander Fleck, President of the Vulcan Iron Works Co., Ottawa, and his wife, Lilias Walker. Margaret was born in Montreal, and was educated at the McGill Model School and at Bute House. The couple travelled in foreign countries with their family. She served as the President of the
Victorian Order of Nurses The Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) is a non-profit charitable organization founded on January 29, 1897, and based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was created as a gift for Queen Victoria for the purposes of home care and social services. It is regi ...
. She was identified with the Local Council of Women, and the Woman's Canadian Historical Society. The couple lived at Buena Vista, 584 Maria Street, Ottawa. Thomas Ahearn's son Frank would become the owner of the
Ottawa Auditorium The Ottawa Auditorium was a 7,500-seat arena located in Ottawa, Ontario. It was located in Downtown Ottawa at the corner of O'Connor and Argyle Streets, today the site of the Taggart Family YMCA. Built primarily for ice hockey, the arena was al ...
and the
Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...
professional
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
team. Ahearn's other child, Lilias Ahearn Southam(1888-1962) married Harry Southam in 1909. Harry Southam, publisher of the
Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...
, was part of the Southam newspaper empire.


Legacy

Ahearn Avenue, a street in the Britannia Heights neighbourhood of Ottawa, is named for Ahearn. In 1949, a monument to Ahearn was erected in
Lansdowne Park Lansdowne Park is a urban park, historic sports, exhibition and entertainment facility in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, owned by the City of Ottawa. It is located on Bank Street adjacent to the Rideau Canal in The Glebe neighbourhood of central Ott ...
, consisting of a square limestone pillar with two low walls of unequal length extending perpendicularly from the pillar, four drinking fountains attached to the shorter of the two walls, and a bench extending along the back side of the longer wall. A bronze plaque on the side of the pillar facing the fountains bears a relief of Ahearn, sculpted by
Felix De Weldon Felix Weihs de Weldon (April 12, 1907 – June 3, 2003) was an Austrian sculptor. His most famous pieces include the United States Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima Memorial, 1954) in the Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, US, and the Natio ...
, with his name and the years of his birth and death. The pillar was also inscribed on the two sides of the pillar adjoining the side with the plaque; one side reads "Hon. Thomas Ahearn, P.C./Of Ottawa/Pioneer in the field/Of electric lighting/And transportation./Presented with/Central Canada/Exhibition Association/Gold Medal, 1892"; the other side reads "This/Drinking fountain/Erected/In memory of/Hon. Thomas Ahearn/In the year 1949 by/Mr. & Mrs. T.F. Ahearn". In 1967, the Ahearn Monument was moved from near the Bank St. entrance gate to Lansdowne Park to further into the park, at the rear of the Coliseum. During the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park in 2012, the monument was moved to a small plaza at the corner of Bank St. and Holmwood Ave., at the former site of Sylvia Holden Park. The monument was also altered at that time; the drinking fountains were removed, and the longer wall was lowered to the level of the bench.


References

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