178 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



of the First Parliament were held. The building* with the additions 

 were destroyed by fire before 1800. 



The Lieutenant Governor in remodelling the old Navy Hall buildings 

 formed an assembly hall in one of them, and this is the hall referred to by 

 General Lincoln in his diary, and by the Duke de la Rochefoucauld 

 in his Travels. The largest of the original buildings was 125 

 by 60 feet; the two smaller buildings were 25 by 81 feet, and 36.6 by 24 

 feet. 



As wi-iters upon the early history of the Niagara Peninsula still 

 treat these questions as if theie were some doubt as to wheie the 

 First Parliament was opened and wheie the sessions were held, I 

 thought it well to make the evidence accessible. When I was re- 

 reading what had lately been written on the subject I found that by 

 praiseworthy zeal the Dominion Government had been induced to 

 spend a sum of money upon an old building which now bears this marble 

 tablet ''One of four buildings called Navy Hall, 1787. One was alteied 

 for Gov. Simcoe, 1792. He had one, believed to be this one, prepared 

 for the Parliament 1792, called Red Barracks 1840, moved up 1864, 

 almost a ruin 1911. Restored by Dominion Government 1912 by 

 petition of Niagara Historical Society." 



It seemed to me highly doubtful that any of the log buildings of 

 Navy Hall could have survived until 1912. When one considers the 

 conditions which prevailed in that vicinity in 1813, it appeared in- 

 conceivable that so perishable structures in such exposed positions 

 could have remained. I began to look into the facts with a feeling 

 that the structure had had honour thrust upon it, but that I must 

 endeavour to establish this legend rather than destroy it. Let us 

 test it, first by the dimensions of the building. The edifice now in 

 situ is 100 by 25 feet. No building on the site in Simcoe's time was 

 of this size. The large building transformed for his residence was 

 125 by 60 feet, the two smaller buildings were 25 by 81 feet and 36.6 

 by 24 feet respectively, t The store-houses marked " G " in Plan I 

 were ordered to be erected in 1799, i.e. three years after Simcoe left 

 Canada and the buildings which made up the Navy Hall group in 

 1800 are given by Hon. Peter Russell X in his statement. This is suf- 

 ficient in itself to dispossess the usurper; whatever may be the date 

 of its erection it was not built when Simcoe was in the country. That 



*Extract from general statement of Public Property in this Province (Upper 

 Canada) by Hon. Peter Russell. "The house generally called Butler's Barracks. 

 This house underwent a thorough repair and two wings were added for the Legislature 

 to meet in. This house has since been burnt." See Appendix for a full copy of 

 this interesting statement, 



tSec plan I. 



JSee appendix "A." 



