A   RIDEAU   IMAGE

Lower Brewers 1831
Brewer's Lower Mill; Masonry of the Lock nearly completed, Excavation for the Canal in progress, 1831-32
Thomas Burrowes, watercolour
(Archives of Ontario, I0002187)

The lock, constructed “in the dry” in the canal cut is almost complete. A coffer dam at the lower end keeps the water from the original channel of the Cataraqui River out of the works. At the head of the former channel a waste weir has been constructed to control the level of water above the lock. On the right side, labourers are hand dredging the riverbank to provide a direct navigation entrance to the lock.

About this Painting: This painting one of about 80 known paintings of the Rideau Canal done by Thomas Burrowes. They are held by the Archives of Ontario. The set came from a private collection discovered in an attic in Detroit in 1907 (gifted to the Archives of Ontario by A.H.D. Ross in 1948). The set is incomplete, many paintings are missing. They were painted by Thomas Burrowes who started work as a surveyor on the Rideau Canal in 1826 and became an Overseer of Works. When the canal was completed, he became Clerk of the Works for the southern section of the canal, settling in Kingston Mills and working until his retirement in 1846. His paintings date from 1827 to 1861.

Read about the history of this lockstation


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© Ken Watson