Henry J. Friel - Ottawa, Ontario
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N 45° 25.726 W 075° 41.758
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Henry J. Friel, former mayor of Bytown and Ottawa, is the subject of this artistically decorated utility box located on Sussex Drive in Ottawa, Ontario.
Waymark Code: WM11TB4
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 12/15/2019
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Henry J. Friel
Sussex Drive businessman Henry J. Friel served as mayor of Bytown and Ottawa. When Thomas D'Arcy McGee was assassinated in 1868, Friel matched the city's $2 000 reward with his own earnings.
A sombre looking Mayor Friel, sporting a full beard, looks in the distance after receiving news of Thomas D'Arcy McGee's assassination by a shot fired from a handgun by Patrick J. Whelan. McGee was given a state funeral in Ottawa known to be one of the largest funerals in Canadian history and interred in a crypt at the Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges in Montreal.
Died: 7 April 1868, Ottawa
Profession: Politician, Journalist, Poet
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"Henry James Friel was an Irish Catholic who moved to Bytown from Montréal with his family at the age of three. Bytown became the City of Ottawa in 1855 and Friel, having previously served as alderman and mayor of Bytown, was major of Ottawa during most of the 1860s.
A reward poster for the apprehension of those involved in the assassination of Thomas D’Arcy
McGee. Library and Archives Canada.
In 1868, when Member of Parliament Thomas D’Arcy McGee was assassinated, the City offered a $4,000 reward for the apprehension of those responsible. Half of this money came out of Friel’s own pocket, around $100,000 in today’s money. Proclamation asking businesses to close out of respect for Friel after his passing. Ottawa Daily Citizen, 18 May 1869.
Friel was a political reformist whose newspaper, The Bytown Packet, later became the Ottawa Citizen. When he died in 1861, the City cancelled the planned Victoria Day celebrations. His memorial declared him to be “one of Ottawa’s best friends”.
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Henry J. Friel
Henry J. Friel, un homme d’affaires de la promenade Sussex a été maire de Bytown et d’Ottawa. Quand Thomas D’Arcy McGee fut assassiné en 1868, M. Friel a personnellement offert une prime équivalente à celle de la ville d’Ottawa, soit 2000 dollars, à qui trouverait le meurtrier.