Fathers Of Confederation

 More artifacts of the Victorian Age are found here.

When the discussions came about that would lead to Confederation of the Canadian dominions, Ottawa would end up serving as the new country's capital.

This reproduction is of the Fathers Of Confederation. The original painting was lost in the 1916 fire that destroyed the original Centre Block.

Two of the leaders who brought Confederation to life were co-premiers of the Canadas. John A. Macdonald and George-Etienne Cartier are seen here as busts.

Here we have the presentation sword and scabbard of Lt. Colonel Brown Chamberlin, a militia officer who repelled a raid by the Fenians after the Civil War. You may remember that I've mentioned how Irish-American veterans of that conflict tried repeatedly to invade Canada in the years after the war in an attempt to hold it for ransom and force Britain to grant independence to Ireland. The Fenian Raids, as they were called, were influential in uniting the colonies into Confederation after time and again, the invaders were driven out.

One of the targets of the Fenians was a man who had once counted himself as one of their number. Thomas D'Arcy McGee had been a radical in his native Ireland, but had come to the new world, settling into life as a journalist, lawyer, and ultimately politician after seeing the benefits of a British style of parliamentary democracy play out in his new homeland. He would be the most eloquent of the Fathers of Confederation, coming to a new way of thinking. The Fenians never forgave him for it, and he was assassinated coming home from Parliament one night in 1868.

He was a close friend of Macdonald, who was by this time the country's first prime minister. The shock of his murder swept the country.

Some artifacts and photos of the assassination era.

It was a habit in the time to create a death mask of a person who had just died. Because of the injuries sustained in the shooting- McGee had been shot in the back of the head, disfiguring his face- that was not possible. A cast was made of his hand, and it is here, along with one of his books. A fitting tribute, to such a fine writer. 

In 1916, Parliament Hill was the scene of a major fire, with Centre Block going up in flames.

The flag that flew from the tower that night finds its home here.