Peter Aylen

Who was Peter Aylen?

Peter Aylen was a timber producer and later public official who was, for a time, known as "King of the Shiners".

He was born Peter Vallely in Liverpool in 1799. He arrived in Canada in the 1810s, possibly as a result of running away while working as a sailor and changed his name to Aylen. By 1832, he had become an important figure in the Ottawa Valley timber trade, holding cutting rights along the Gatineau River. Aylen also owned timber limits along the Madawaska River.

During the 1830s, Aylen hired Irish labourers left unemployed after the completion of the Rideau Canal in 1832. Known as "shiners", these workers encountered difficulties competing with the more experienced French-Canadians for jobs in the timber trade. Aylen is said to have been aggressive in competing with other timber owners: cutting wood illegally on their timber limits, destroying their log booms and terrorizing their employees. This started the Shiners' War.

Left idle near the end of winter, Aylen's men mounted a campaign of violence in the Lower Town area of Bytown during the late 1830s. In 1836, the Ottawa Lumber Association was created with Aylen a member, which eliminated much of the violence along the rivers. As a result of attempts on the life of James Johnston, who had written to the Lieutenant-Governor complaining about Aylen's activities, armed patrols were set up in Bytown, which put an end to the open violence there.