BYTOWN ANTIQUE & BOTTLE CLUB
Bytown Antique & Bottle Club
2016 Show Display
Moses C. Edey - Prominent Ottawa Architect
The 43rd annual Bytown Antique Show, held on April 24, 2016, was organized by the Bytown Antique & Bottle Club of Ottawa, combining an antique show and sale with a unique, educational display highlighting the work of Moses Edey (1845-1919). Edey was a prominent Ottawa Valley architect of the late 19th Century.
Born near Shawville, Quebec, Moses Chamberlain Edey was proud to be a ninth generation direct descendent of the two original Edey immigrant brothers who came to America, on the ship the Handmaid, from Bristol, England. This is documented in 1630, in the town hall records at Plymouth Rock Colony, Massachusetts.
Edey was educated first as a carriage maker in Arnprior, and then as an architect in the U.S.A. Edey was a gifted, hands-on architect who designed over 125 buildings, including the jewel of Lansdowne Park, the Aberdeen Pavilion. It is also known as The Cattle Castle. The Aberdeen Pavilion was built under his supervision in 1898 for the Central Canada Exhibition. Edey also designed the Daly Building, Ottawa’s first department store, the railway station in Aylmer, Quebec, along with many other commercial, institutional and residential buildings in Ottawa and the Ottawa Valley.
Between 1893 and 1901, Edey designed three major blocks of retail and office buildings in the town of Renfrew. These were: a commercial set of buildings for Alexander Barnet on Main Street in 1893-94; a commercial block for Patrick Devine in 1893; and the Mackay Block in 1896. He also designed a residence for Mayor John Mackay on Raglan Street South in 1900.
The display included several original drawings of buildings, awards, hand tools, photographs of Edey and a scale apprentice’s model of a sleigh in wood and metal that he designed and built in 1865, at the age of 20. This was the first time that most of this material had been on public display. Descendants of Edey were on hand to discuss his life and achievements.
 MOSES CHAMBERLAIN EDEYMoses Chamberlain Edey, 1845-1919, Ottawa, Ontario, architect of Aberdeen Pavilion, Daly Building, Centretown United Church and the Garland Building. He set up shop on Sparks Street. Photo taken in 1869 at the age of 24. |  MOSES CHAMBERLAIN EDEY & WORKERSMoses C. Edey, with apron, holding the square level tool, standing with working crew members. |  MOSES C. EDEY - SHOW DISPLAYThe Moses Edey display organized by the Bytown Antique & Bottle Club at their annual show and sale, held at the Nepean Sportsplex, April 24, 2016. |
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 MOSES C. EDEY - DIPLOMA 1887The Agriculture and Arts Association diploma was awarded to Moses Edey, in 1887, at the age of 42, for design of a wrought iron fence and gate. |  ABERDEEN PAVILION - 1994Now a National Historic Site, the Pavilion, also called the Cattle Castle, was going to be demolished in 1991, due to structural issues. The City of Ottawa reversed its decision, and restored it to a cost of $5.3 million. It is the only large scale exhibition building in Canada surviving from the 19th Century. |  ABERDEEN PAVILION - 1898Designed as the central hall for the Central Canada Exhibition, by Moses Edey in 1898. It took two months and $75 000 to complete. It was inspired by London's Crystal Palace. Built by Dominion Bridge Company. |
 MOSES EDEY - CHILD'S SLEIGH 1865By the 1860's, Moses Edey had completed apprenticeships in architecture and construction of buildings, as well as in carriage design and construction. He had moved to Arnprior at 17, where he worked in carriage making for 2 years. This sleigh was built by Moses Edey, at the age of 20, as part of his apprenticeship, 1865. |  MOSES EDEY - TOOLSA collection of various measuring tools owned by Moses Chamberlain Edey. |  MOSES EDEY - TOOLSA collection of a plane, drill, measuring tools, and leather wallet owned by Moses C. Edey. |
 MOSES EDEY - LEATHER WALLETClose up of his signature on his leather wallet stating - M. C. Edey, 95 Arthur St. Ottawa, Ont. |  MOSES EDEY - ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGSOriginal hand coloured, made to scale, architectural drawings by Moses Edey for Mr. Patrick Devine, Renfrew, Ontario. Illustrated are the front, rear, north, and south elevations, with accurate measurements, windows and doors, 1893. |  MOSES EDEY - ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGSHand coloured, detailed architectural drawing by Moses Edey showing a close up of the front elevation of the Patrick Devine storefront in Renfrew, Ontario. |
 MOSES EDEY - GARLAND BUILDING 1898Moses Edey designed the John M. Garland Wholesale Dry Goods Building in 1898. It was located at the southeast corner of Queen Street and O'Connor Street, in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. Dry goods for consumers meant cloth, pins, threads and such, including ready-to-wear clothing. Garland's was in business for 108 years, closing in 1969. The building was demolished in 1969. |  MOSES EDEY - J. J. HENEY HOUSEArchitectural scaled drawings for Mr. J. J. Heney's house, by Moses Edey. Drawing states: Return to M. C. Edey, Architect, 457 Somerset St., Ottawa. |  MOSES EDEY - GARLAND BUILDING STAMPMoses Edey designed this rubber stamp which was used on the John M. Garland Wholesale Dry Goods Building stationary, as a business logo. |
 MOSES EDEY - ELECTRIC RAILWAY CO.This postcard illustrates the building designed by Moses Edey for the Electric Railway Company. It was used as the company's lunch room, and ice cream parlour for tourists. It was on the Ottawa-Aylmer Rail Line, in Aylmer Park, Ottawa. The exact date of the building is still to be determined, but likely built the same time as the Aberdeen Pavilion and other Landsdowne Park Buildings (1897-98). |  MOSES EDEY - DALY BUILDING 1905The Daly Building was a historic department store and office building in Ottawa, Ontario, that was demolished with much controversy in 1991–92. The building, designed by Moses Chamberlain Edey, opened as the T. Lindsay department store on June 21, 1905 and was Ottawa's first department store. It was located at the prominent intersection of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive. Click on the photo to learn more about Edey's architecture, through a blog website. |  MOSES EDEY - DESCENDANTSDirect descendants of Moses Chamberlain Edey. Left to Right: James Daniel Allen Cameron, Gail Patricia Cameron-Watters, Alvin John Nikiforuk Cameron, Donald Alexander Cameron. |
 CBC RADIO INTERVIEWListen here to CBC Radio host Giacamo Panico, interviewing Moses Edey's great grandson, Nick Cameron. The radio host talks first about the upcoming Bytown Antique & Bottle Show on April 24, 2016, by asking how much would you pay for an amber beaver Mason jar? Click on the picture to get to the audio link. |  MOSES EDEY - DESCENDANTSDescendants of Moses Edey, standing in front of the Bytown Antique & Bottle Club Show Display, April 24, 2016. Left to Right: James Daniel Allen Cameron, Gail Patricia Cameron-Watters, Alvin John Nikiforuk Cameron. |
Moses Edey - A Gifted Architect
Barry Padolsky, heritage consultant and Ottawa architect, commented on the two key buildings in Canada’s capital designed by Edey:
“Moses Chamberlain Edey was a gifted and prolific Ottawa architect who practiced at the dawn of 20th century modernism. His design for the Aberdeen Pavilion, a National Historic Site, endures as a dramatic steel structure costumed in the apparel of an 17th Century Italian cathedral. His design for the Daly building, inspired by the rising skyscrapers of Chicago, was Ottawa’s first modern building, was sadly demolished by government misrule in 1991 - 1992.”
The Aberdeen Pavilion was restored in 1992, and in 2000, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada chose it as one of the top 500 Canadian buildings of the last millennium.