For other men with the same name, see John Rochester (disambiguation)

John Rochester (May 22, 1822 – September 19, 1894) was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 industrialist, mayor of Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 from 1870 to 1871, and a member of the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 representing Carleton

Carleton (Ontario electoral district)

Carleton was a federal and provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1968, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1867 to 1987...

 from 1872 to 1882.

He was born at Rouses Point, New York

Rouses Point, New York

Rouses Point is a village in Clinton County, New York, United States, along the 45th parallel. The population was 2,209 at the 2010 census. The village is named after Jacques Rouse, an early settler....

 in 1822 and first came to Bytown

Bytown

Bytown is the former name of Ottawa, Canada's capital city. It was founded on on September 26, 1826, incorporated as a town on January 1, 1850, and superseded by the incorporation of the City of Ottawa on January 1, 1855. The founding was marked by a sod turning, and a letter from Governor General...

 with his family in 1827. He was the son of John Rochester Sr., born in Berwick on Tweed

Berwick-upon-Tweed

Berwick-upon-Tweed or simply Berwick is a town in the county of Northumberland and is the northernmost town in England, on the east coast at the mouth of the River Tweed. It is situated 2.5 miles south of the Scottish border....

, England in 1786, and his wife Barbara Young, born 1790 in Sunderland, Northumbria, England. There were nine offspring: Susanah (James Anderson), James (Ann Frost), Elizabeth (McLaughlin), George (Marion Baillie), John Jr. (Elizabeth Bevitt), Mary Ann (George Honey Preston), Emily (Cressle, Norman), William (Helen Baillie), Margaret (William Bunting). 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 (which he took over in 1856 and sold to James in 1870) and he also opened a tannery at that time and operated two sawmill

Sawmill

A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....

s at Chaudière Falls on the shore of the Ottawa River in the Lebreton Flats

Lebreton Flats

LeBreton Flats is a neighbourhood in Ottawa, Canada. It lies to the west of Centretown neighbourhood, and to the north of Centretown West with "Nanny Goat Hill" as the dividing line...

 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.

John Rochester Jr. was for 11 years a member of Ottawa City Council. He was a staunch Wesleyan Methodist and helped establish a local order of the Orange Lodge

Orange Institution

The Orange Institution is a Protestant fraternal organisation based mainly in Northern Ireland and Scotland, though it has lodges throughout the Commonwealth and United States. The Institution was founded in 1796 near the village of Loughgall in County Armagh, Ireland...

 and was also a Freemason. He co-founded the Ottawa Free Press, was vice-president of the Ottawa Agricultural Insurance Company and was a partner with former Ottawa Mayor John Bower Lewis

John Bower Lewis

John Bower Lewis, QC was the second mayor of Bytown in 1848, the first mayor of Ottawa from 1855 to 1857, and a member of the 2nd Canadian Parliament from 1872 to 1873....

 in the Metropolitan Trust and Loan Company.

In 1845, he married Elizabeth Ann Bevitt. He served as president of the Ottawa Saint George's Society

Royal Society of St George

The Royal Society of St George is an English patriotic society established in 1894 to encourage interest in the English way of life, and English customs and traditions. It operates from offices in Folkestone, Kent.-History:In 1415 St...

and the Ottawa Ladies' College. Rochester died in Ottawa at the age of 72 after suffering for several weeks from a kidney ailment.