The Bytown Mechanics' Institute is an Upper Canada example of a knowledge transfer organization aimed at encouraging grassroots participation. These institutions were Victorian and moralistic in tone and class-oriented in structure which, in part, explains their failure. However, they show the tendency towards democratic institutions in the early history of Canada where the border between the United States and Canada was more fluid than in the present era and encourage such ideals. These institutions attempted to include the working class, French Canadians and women, where the British social model did not support these inclusions. The composition of the executive of the Bytown Mechanics' Institute in its various formations illustrates this and exemplifies the issues of cost and available leisure time that would eventually cause the institute's failure.
Origins
In the 1830s, newsrooms were beginning to open in Bytown, Upper Canada. Newsrooms were spaces where reading materials, especially newspapers, were made available presumably to those who subscribed and paid for the materials. Newsrooms were set up in the British Hotel in Upper Town and another in McArthur's Hotel in Lower Town. The longevity of these organizations was influenced by the long hours of the working class.
In 1845, clerks in Bytown organized The Mercantile Library Association. This association appears to have been an extension of the Upper Town newsroom as both were housed in the British Hotel.
Institute timeline
The lifespan of the BMI was relatively short, and the institute does not appear to have merged with any other organizations. The timelines of the BMIA, the Ottawa Natural History Society and the Ottawa Literary and Scientific Society are blended as three naturally related organizations.
Bytown Mechanics' Institute — 1847–1849
Bytown Mechanics' Institute and Athenaeum — 1853–1869
Ottawa Natural History Society — 1863–1869
Ottawa Literary and Scientific Society — 1869 – c. 1907
History
Bytown Mechanics' Institute
The Bytown Mechanics' Institute (BMI) was established in 1847. This first Mechanics' Institute was not long-lived and closed two years later. The Bytown Mechanics' Institute and Athenaeum (BMIA) was officially established January 29, 1853.
The Bytown Mechanics' Institute differed from the newsrooms in that the founding fathers were not clerks or members of the working class; they were employers and professionals. The social leaders of Bytown formed the BMI: Hon. Thomas McKay, George W. Baker, Horatio Blasdell, John Scott, William P. Lett, John Bower Lewis and all resident clergymen.
Lack of participation had several causes. First, the subscription fee of five shillings was likely too high for the majority of the area's inhabitants. Second, it is unlikely that there were enough working men who would be attracted to such an organization. Lumberjacks were largely French-speaking and used French language institutions. For anglophones, the Carpenters' and Joiners' Society had largely the same purpose. Third, fund raising events were generally failures. Finally, and most critically, there was no newspaper support or advertising. The continuity of the BMI through to the BMIA was broken between 1850 and 1852.
French Canadian membership, although sparse, stopped in 1849 after the Stony Monday Riot in September. Local francophones formed their own similar organization, Institute canadien français d'Ottawa, in 1852. The stratification of Ottawa was both social and cultural.
Bytown Mechanics' Institute and Athenaeum
The Bytown Mechanics' Institute and Athenaeum began in January 1853. The BMIA had strong support from Robert Bell the publisher of The Ottawa Citizen. As required, a declaration dated January 29, 1853 was sent to the Provincial Government requesting incorporation. The Province of Canada provided the incorporation, and fees were set at one pound annually. Donations to the new BMIA included a recently shot heron, a hawk, a crow and a box of Indian stone implements.
In 1856, the BMIA changed its name to the Ottawa Mechanics' Institute and Athenaeum to reflect the name change of the town. Later, in 1868/9 the Ottawa Natural History Society and the Ottawa Mechanics' Institute and Athenaeum were merged by Provincial Act into the Ottawa Literary and Scientific Society.