Born in Scotland, McKay emigrated to Canada about 1817 and worked as a mason in Montreal until 1826, when he began building the entrance locks of the Rideau Canal and the first bridge across the Ottawa River joining present-day Ottawa and Hull. In 1829, McKay acquired land where the Rideau River met the Ottawa. Here he laid out the village of New Edinburgh, and established an industrial complex that, by 1848, included two sawmills, a grist-mill, woollen factory and distillery. In 1838, McKay built his residence, Rideau Hall, a two-storey stone structure used after 1865 to house Canada's governors-general. Active in municipal and provincial politics, McKay sat on Bytown's first council (1828), represented Russell in the Legislative Assembly (1834-41), and served on the Legislative Council (1841-55).

Location

In the park at the corner of Sussex Drive and John Street near the site of his former New Edinburgh industrial complex, Ottawa

Themes

• Communities
• People
• Politics and law
• Transportation systems and communications