Born in Bobcaygeon - 175 Years of the Trent-Severn Waterway

In 2008 the Trent-Severn Waterway National Historic Site of Canada will mark the 175th anniversary of the construction of the first lock on what later became known as the Trent Canal. The scene was set after the War of 1812 when the military wanted a secure waterway through the heartland of Ontario to avoid the exposed St. Lawrence River-Great Lakes route. At the urging of the Duke of Wellington, British authorities built the Rideau Canal (1826-1832) and surveyed a possible route through the central part of the colony. Despite an interest by colonial officials, no further action was taken. By the 1830s, settlement was pushing into the Kawartha Lakes region and local entrepreneurs began pressing the government for improved transportation links to Lake Ontario. In February 1833 the legislature of Upper Canada ( today Ontario) allocated a whopping $10,000 for improvements to the waterway. Frederick Rubidge was hired to design the lock and supervise construction. In 1833 the contractors Hoar, Pierce and Dumble of Cobourg began construction work at Bobcaygeon. The following year, they completed a small wooden lock which measured 128 feet in length, 28 feet in width with only 4 ¾ feet of water on the lower sill. As part of the project, they also built a modest 973 foot canal cut on the southern shore of the Big Bob Channel, connecting Sturgeon and Pigeon Lakes.

Encouraged by this development, the government hired Nicol Hugh Baird to survey and estimate the scope of work and cost for a proposed canal route to go all the way from Lake Ontario to Georgian Bay. Canal design was in its infancy in Canada and the new lock at Bobcaygeon proved ineffective because of higher than anticipated water levels, fissures in the bedrock and leaks in the lock. John Langton, a prominent local politician was not impressed, referring to it as "an apology for a lock." However, local entrepreneur Thomas Need was delighted with the work as his grist and saw mill were powered with waters from the canal. The development at Bobcaygeon prompted the government to begin an ambitious program of lock construction from Trenton to Lake Simcoe. A financial crisis in the late 1830s and political turmoil following the Rebellions of Upper and Lower Canada put a hold on construction work. Funds set aside for lock construction were diverted to repairing forts and arming the militia to defend against cross border raids by American sympathisers with the rebel cause. In an attempt to resolve the political crisis, the British government joined Upper and Lower Canada into one province, a move that would have far reaching implications for the proposed waterway improvements and the future of Canada.