HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1976-06-24, Page 31Admiral ].,I.iyfbid...
(continued&irons page 8A) and three on Lake
cordingly- Thus,
if weather Superior(approx). -- both sides
conditions permitted, the whole of the lakes. He learned to speak
party was almost continUously on the language of five tribes of
the move. As the boats Indians.
proceeded. they would sound the
depths. Ali this had to be worked
out in detail by the Admiralty
Surveyor and memorized by his
assistants. One of the punts had
to follow along the shore to bring
away the flags whenever the
boats were two stations below
them.
Working hours were never less
In 1827 Bayfield Was appointed
to the survey of the St. Lawrence
from Montreal through the
Straits of Belie Isle to Capt St.
Lewis on the Labrador coast,
together with all navigable
streams. also *nticosta; Mingan,
the Magdalens, Prince Edward
Island, Cape Breton and the coast
of Nova Scotia westward to
Halifax, including Sable Island.
far into the night to get • much- Descriptions of these areas and
needed lunar and stellar ob• his work there are in the Library
servations. Also. the surveyors at Charlottetown. P.E.I. today
had to study and carry out the and. from these writings. ane can
following instructions: (a) One see how meticulous he was in his
iaset of sights of the sun's altitude, work and bis observations.
for longitude per chronometer This. then, is the man whose
should be taken morning and name has been given to places.
evening by each officer having a waters. and ships. But Bayfield
timekeeper. (b) The meredian ._.Ontario — our village — is the
altitudes to be obtained whenever only one with the honour of
possible by every officer. (c) The having been personally chosen by
two leading boats must always this great surveyor himself as a
rendezvous at the same place good site for a town.
each night and the others exactly While living in Quebec. be was
one day behind, pitching their married on April 8th, 1838(at 43
tents where the leading boats had years of age) to Fanny. only
the previous night. (d) A flag (or daughter of General Charles
some fresh bark) must be left on Writht and they had six children:
some ,conspicuous point by the Henry. Charles. Horace,
Helen.
lead boats for the third boat. At 10 Edward and Gertrude.
p.m. rockets must be sent up His promotions were to the
from one of the vessels — the d Nov.8
officer(having a timekeeper)
must observe the instant of ex-
plosion — or. if blue lights were
used. the instant they were ex-
tinguished must be noted. All this
had to be to the half -second —
that was for the purpose of noting
difference in longitude.
Defense and diplomacy were
behind the first surveys of Lake
Huron and its connecting waters:
1) Gother Mann. a British
military engineer was com-
missioned in 1788 by Lord Dor-
chester, then governor-general of
Canada. to make a report on the
coasts and harbours of Lakes
Ontario, Erie and Huron.(This
was after the American
Revolution and the British
continued to occupy Ontario
ports. ) . He wrote about this
land: "A great solitude, little
known or frequented except by
some Indians".
2) After the European Wars
arising out of the French
Revolution and the war of 1812,
Sir Edward Campbell. Rich
O commander-in-chief of
rank of Commander.whenever it reached the iiesired
George Castle and Walter Westlake spent many chilly winter days operating their ice -cutting
machine in the 1930's.
Iceharvest once important
Today. with electric
refrigerators and freezers., few
think of how much winter frosts
were needed up to a half century -
or even a quarter century ago.
The ice in . the' river was
anxiously watched and.
1826; to flag rank Oct. 1856; to
Vice Admiral April. 1863 and to
Admiral in 1867. He received a
medal with his name on it from
Queen Victoria — this medal, his
compass. a treasured small chest
and other articles are in the
possession of his great-grandson.
Dr. Edward(Ted) Bayfield in
Tallahassee. Florida.
Great men are not always
recognized as such by . those
amongst whom they move.
Residents of . Charlottetown
where the Bayflelds lived on
Queen St. from 1841 on likely
though**. of him only as a familiar
figure whom they respected for
his dignity. powers of observation
and keen mind. They had a lovely
'summer residence at Kippach
Shore on Hillsborough Bayi