John Rochester

Who was John Rochester?

John Rochester was a Canadian industrialist, mayor of Ottawa, Ontario from 1870 to 1871, and a member of the Canadian House of Commons representing Carleton from 1872 to 1882.

He was born at Rouses Point, New York in 1822 and first came to Bytown with his family in 1827. He was the son of John Rochester Sr., born in Berwick on Tweed, England in 1786, and his wife Barbara Young, born 1790 in Sunderland, Northumbria, England. There were nine offspring: Susanah, James, Elizabeth, George, John Jr., Mary Ann, Emily, William, Margaret. The Rochesters were a pioneer family in early Bytown that branched out into timber and mining enterprise across the Canadian shield. Many Rochesters had distinguished military careers.

Other early Ottawa Valley names, besides marriages listed above, connected to the Rochester family include: Cole, McDougal, Church, McLaren, and Bryson, to name but a few.

He and elder brother James established a brewery and he also opened a tannery at that time and operated two sawmills at Chaudière Falls on the shore of the Ottawa River in the Lebreton Flats area of Ottawa. The area, south of Lebreton and bounded today by Bronson, Booth, Rochester and Preston Streets was once Rochesterville before amalgamation with Ottawa.