Up the Gatineau! Article
This article was first published in Up the Gatineau! Volume 10.
Footnote to History
Edward Haycock, Engineer and Public Contractor
Edward Haycock was born in Shrewsbury, England, June 14, 1813. His father was John Haycock, a timber merchant and soap manufacturer, residing at Swan Hill Court, Shrewsbury and his mother Esther, daughter of William Hilton of Hempstead, Hertfordshlre. Edward’s paternal grandfather, John Hiram Haycock was the first of a line of architects that “changed the face of Shrewsbury" and “provided some of the best examples of typical Victorian architecture in Shropshire". Nothing is known of Edward's early life or education although it appears that he made no attempt to follow this artistic trend.
In 1833 Edward immigrated to Canada. The following year he married Mary Butler, daughter of Johnson Butler, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Lincoln Militia during the War of 1812. Mrs. Haycock, as co—heiress of Johnson Butler’s estate, was assigned 600 choice acres of farmland in Brooke Township near present-day Sarnia. This alone would have guaranteed a tidy income but the Haycocks soon disposed of this land, the last lots being sold in May, 1840. Instead Haycock turned his hand to engineering and, for a number of years, was employed by the Great Western Railway, first in Woodstock and later in Hamilton. He then moved to Port Hope, tried farming, worked in the engineering office of the Port Hope, Lindsay and Beaverton Railway Company and later constructed a portion of this railway.
During his stay in Port Hope, Haycock met his future partners Ralph Jones, a contractor, and Thomas Curtis Clarke, chief engineer with the P.H.L. and B. Railway Company. The alliance was styled Jones, Haycock and Company and their most successful venture was the construction of the Government Buildings in Ottawa. This work was the crowning achievement of Haycock’s career and, no doubt, his proudest moment was at 11:30 a.m., April 2, 1860 when his daughter, Mary Emily, then a little girl of 4, with a special silver trowel ceremoniously laid the first stone.
The original Government Buildings of the Capitol included the East and West Blocks, then called the Departmental Buildings, and the Centre Block, then called the Parliament Building. Tenders for construction were let November 22, 1859. Despite some irregularities in bids, Thomas McGreevy of Quebec City was awarded contracts on all three buildings. However, in early December, McGreevy was given authority to relinquish the contracts of the two Departmental Buildings to Jones, Haycock and Company, then of Port Hope. The latter contract was signed December 7, 1859.
Of special interest in this project were the quarrying operations, which introduced Haycock to the art and difficulties of mining as well as to the potential returns of mines. Sandstone, for facing, was drawn from four quarries, 10-12 miles from the Departmental Buildings. Haycock seems to have been in charge of these operations, which in the early stages involved an average labour force of 86 men and 43 teams. However, by 1861, quarrying had declined in importance and the contractors were able to concentrate whole-heartedly on the construction site.
After a lengthy delay, due to exhaustion of Government funds, the East and West Blocks became available for occupancy in the Autumn of 1865, but by the time of final payments to Jones. Haycock and Company in December 1868, the original tender of $278,810 had escalated to $1,036,423.
Jones, Haycock and Co. also tendered the construction of the proposed Governor General's Residence on the recently purchased property at Majors Hill. Their bid was accepted and a contract was drawn up. However, the contractors were reluctant to accept the Governments’ specifications. The contract was to be signed on or before January 19, 1861 but Jones, Haycock and Clarke did not appear and the contract was withdrawn. lt then became evident that the Department of Public Works had insufficient funds to initiate this project and plans lay dormant until April, 1864 when the Government rented Rideau Hall and Majors Hill became a park. Jones, Haycock and Co. had a minor contract in the alterations of Rideau Hall in 1866. The Government's account with the partnership was closed in December, 1868.
Haycock's later contracts were somewhat less notorious. ln 1869 he successfully tendered the construction of the Bic-Ftimouski section of the Intercolonial Railway. The contract was awarded as a lump sum but its inflexibility doomed it from the start. Samuel Hazelwood, Intercolonial‘s supervisor for the St. Lawrence district, and Roderick McLennan, Intercolonial‘s resident engineer, were loath to allow Haycock reductions necessary to work within the limits of the contract. Sanford Fleming, the Chief Engineer, tried to intercede on Haycock's behalf, but this was to no avail and Haycock gave up the contract after one season.
Courtesy of Dr. Donald D. Hogarth