Martello Tower is a distinctive masonry FORTIFICATION used in defence of British North America in the first half of the 19th century. The name is likely derived from references to a stone tower on Cape Mortella in Corsica, which had proven particularly resistant to an English attack during the French Revolutionary wars. Round towers had begun to replace square towers about the year 1000 AD, reflecting improved skills of masons. The advantage was that a round tower offered fewer blind spots to shelter an attacker and better deflected projectiles. The 16 squat, flat-roofed towers built in British North America from 1796 to 1846 were distributed as follows: Halifax (5), Saint John (1), Québec City (4) and Kingston (6). The Kingston towers, constructed 1846-48 at the height of border tensions with the US, were the most complex in design. None of the towers was ever subject to attack; 11 have survived.
 Martello TowerDuring 1813 Royal Engineers and local military built this massive Martello tower on a hill above the harbour of Saint John (courtesy Library and Archives Canada).
Author
JAMES MARSH
Links to Other Sites
Marg Newton
A profile of Marg Newton from the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame.
Fortifications of Québec National Historic Site
This Parks Canada site is dedicated to the Fortifications of Québec city. Includes nicely illustrated historical notes about the French and British contributions to the fortifications.
The Canadian Register of Historic Places
Canada is home to a vast array of fascinating historical sites. Many of them are illustrated and described in this searchable online database of Canadian historic places that are of local, provincial, territorial, and national significance.
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| On Monday August 29, 1864 half the cabinet of the Canadian government boarded the
steamer Queen Victoria at Quebec. They had heard that representatives of Nova Scotia, New
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| Pierre Elliott Trudeau, politician, writer, constitutional lawyer, prime minister of Canada 1968-79 and 1980-84 (b at ... |
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| Few countries were affected as severely as Canada by the worldwide Depression of the 1930s. It is estimated that ... |
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| Louis Riel, Métis leader, founder of Manitoba, central figure in the NORTH-WEST REBELLION (b at Red River ... |
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| Evangelical Christian Church, often called the Christian Church (Christian Disciples), is a denomination stemming from ... |
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| Few countries were affected as severely as Canada by the worldwide Depression of the 1930s. It is estimated that ... |
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| The Toronto Maple Leafs are a HOCKEY team, was formed in 1927 when Conn SMYTHE purchased and renamed the Toronto St ... |
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| Sears Canada Inc, headquartered in Toronto, is a Canadian retailer incorporated in 1952. In 1953 operating under the ... |
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| John Ware, "Nigger John," horseman, rancher (b near Georgetown, SC 1845; d near Brooks, Alta 11 Sept 1905). ... |
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| Land claims are dealt with by a process established by the federal government to enable INDIANS, INUIT and ... |
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Browse the rich visual resources of The Canadian Encyclopedia through thematic galleries of Canadian Art, History, Nature, People, and Science and Technology.
Illustrations, lively text, animations, sounds and games help make learning about Canadian history, art, geography, architecture and other topics entertaining as well as informative.
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This unique resource includes more than 6000 events from Canadian and world history. It can be searched by era, subject, keyword or date. To find out what happened on your birthday, select the month and day of your birth.
This selection of the 100 "greatest" events in Canadian history was made by editor in chief James H. Marsh to draw attention to events that have left an indelible memory in the minds of later generations.
| THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MUSIC IN CANADA |
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| John (Edward) Ronan. Administrator, teacher, choirmaster, composer, b Colgan, near Orangeville, Ont, 28 Oct 1894, d Toronto 15 Oct 1962; MCG, LCSC (Rome, Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music) 1936. He attended Hamilton Teachers ... |
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