This painting shows the locks being constructed. Only the excavation for the lower lock has been completed, while in the upper lock, the timber sleepers (foundation) have been laid and the walls are being built. Above the lock, an embankment with a clay puddle core has been built to hold back the water in the artificial canal channel, located above the original Cataraqui River channel to the right. Most of the buildings located adjacent to the original channel belong to John Brewer.
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. |
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