Ken’s Bygone Sandy Hill

The story of 47-49 Daly Avenue and its first owners

Ken Clavette

When Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as the capital of the United Province of Canada on December 31, 1857, it was a decision that triggered the rapid growth of Sandy Hill. One of the earliest surviving homes in the neighbourhood was built in 1861: a double house at 47 and 49 Daly Ave., which we know today as the Ottawa Mission. The home was built by August Friedrich Wilhelm Rahe for his soon-to-be in-laws, John Heron and his wife Frances “Fanny” O’Reilly.

The Heron family were from Ireland and had become well known as a traveling musical group across North America. While making a stop in Ottawa, one of the daughters, Mary, made the acquaintance of a young lawyer, entrepreneur, and local politician, Richard William Scott. He persisted in courting her, and in 1853, he journeyed to Philadelphia to marry her. By then, he had served on the City Council, and, in 1852, as the city’s mayor. The couple returned to Ottawa, setting up house at 274 Daly Ave.

The Heron family’s connection to Ottawa and to the Scott family grew stronger when 22-year-old daughter Margaret Kathleen Teresa fell in love with and married Allan Scott, brother of Richard. Now, two members of their large family were living in Ottawa.

August Friedrich Wilhelm Rahe was a German-born merchant, living in Havana, Cuba. He met Agnes Heron somewhere along the Heron family’s travels. As they planned their wedding in Ottawa, the lot for 47 Daly Ave. went up for auction. Rahe bought it and began the construction of a new home for his parents-in-law in Sandy Hill. The Bishop of Ottawa officiated their wedding at the Notre Dame Basilica on July 25, 1862.

The gift of the double house at 47-49 Daly Ave gave the Heron family financial stability once their travelling days had ended. Thanks to Rahe’s union with their daughter, they gained a place to live, and the adjoining home provided a way for them to earn income to support the family.

The most famous tenant of 49 Daly Ave. was a friend of the Herons, Miss Abby Maria Harmon. She appeared in Ottawa in 1862, operating a private school for girls along with a Mrs. Liddel. Harmon would become a prominent figure in education in the new capital’s early years. She first established her own school for privileged girls, those not entering the convent, on Wellington Street near Kent Street before moving it into 49 Daly Ave. in 1874. It remained there until 1892, when she built her own larger school on Elgin Street, which she ran until her death in 1904. She took in both boarding and non-boarding students and employed teaching and domestic staff to support her and the students.

John Heron would pass away in 1871, and his wife Fanny, two years later. However, the homes remained in possession of the Heron family. Margaret Theresa O’Reilly, mother of Fanny, was living at 47 Daly Ave. when she passed away in her 84th year in 1879. In 1881, Fanny’s and John’s son William would set up house for his new bride and family at 47 Daly Ave. He was employed with the Inland Revenue Department of the federal government. He may have obtained this job with the support of his brother-in-law, Richard Scott, who was now a senator and a minister without portfolio in charge of Inland Revenue. His sister Marie Alexina “Aline” Heron would marry and move to Victoria in 1881.

August and Agnes Rahe did not live in Ottawa after marrying. He eventually returned to Germany where he died on October 1, 1869, in Dresden, in the Kingdom of Saxony. Agnes passed away at the age of 52 on December 11, 1889, in Florence, in the Kingdom of Italy. Together, they had four children.

In the years following the Herons’ ownership, there were several occupants of both 47 and 49 Daly Ave. The homes faced the threat of demolition in 1912 before the Union Rescue Mission made the building its new home, saving it for the future. That’s a story to be picked up in my next Bygone Sandy Hill column.

Thank you to David Jeanes of Heritage Ottawa for his assistance with the history of 47-49 Daly Ave.