People of Ottawa

Agnes Macphail is the first female member of parliament in the history of Canada.

Henry Joseph Friel was a Canadian politician, writer, and journalist. He is most well known for serving as the final Mayor of Bytown and the 4th mayor of Ottawa. He also bought the Bytown Packet newspaper a year after its founding, which later became the Ottawa Citizen.

Marie Ann Gravelle, also known as the Girl Healer, was a 19 year old girl who was believed to be able to miraculously cure debilitating ailments of all natures, a belief that was supported by testimony from the members of her township, Cyrville.

Mary Anne By Friel, also known as Mrs. H. J. Friel, was a Canadian amateur archivist and historian. She was the wife of Henry James Friel, who served as a mayor of both Bytown and Ottawa, one of the founding members of the Women’s Canadian Historical Society of Ottawa, and the creator of the oldest scrapbook consulted for this project. 

Mrs. Charles Henry Thorburn (birth name unknown) was a Canadian municipal board member, writer, and amateur historian. She was the first woman elected to the Ottawa Collegiate Board, and the first woman to serve as the board’s chairman. Information about her can be found in four of the five scrapbooks. 

Sir John Thompson was the Prime Minister of Canada. The scrapbook is mainly about his death and funeral. 

Photo via William James Topley / Library and Archives Canada / C-068645, dated January 1891.

Sir Robert Borden also served as Prime Minister of Canada. His involvement in the Scrapbooks is limited to Canada's control over its navy and his support of bilingualism.

Photo from 1911, found via Wikimedia. copyright: Public domain 

Thomas D’arcy McGee was an Irish-Canadian member of parliament, known for being a compelling orator, and a man of profound loyalty to the British crown, much to the chagrin of Fenian elements in Canada. He would be assassinated by those elements a couple years after taking up office.