This cache was put out to help celebrate Canada Day 2009, so dress up in your finest red and white and take a tour of our fine city
John A. Macdonald was Canada's first prime minister, and was knighted for his efforts in bringing about Confederation. His role in creating Canada, and the realization of his dream to build a transcontinental railway, have fixed his place as a nation-builder in Canadian history.
Sir John A. touched many areas in Kingston and this cache will take you on a historic tour to visit these areas. There are two sites that I did not include in this cache.
- Kingston City Hall at 216 Ontario Street. Macdonald was an alderman from 1843 to 1846. Kingston City Hall is a must tour when visiting Kingston, See the medallion for the laying of the cornerstone (second floor near Mayor's office). Also see the oil full-length portrait of Macdonald painted in 1863 by William Sawyer (1820-89) in Memorial Hall.
- Bellevue House, Sir John A.’s residence. Please go to GC16971 (KAM #1 Bellevue House) for a fabulous tour of this National Historic Site.
The cache will take you to 11 historic sites. There is nothing hidden at any of these sites, and all information that you will require is readily available on plaques. There is no need to climb, poke, prod etcetera. Please treat these areas with the respect that they deserve.
At each waypoint you will have to find the answer to a couple of questions and calculate the co-ordinates for the next waypoint.
The posted co-ordinates will take you to Cataraqui Cemetery, Sir John A. Macdonald’s final resting place. Let’s start the quest!!!
Waypoint 1 (Posted) Cataraqui Cemetery
a. Find plaque that shows the year the gravesite was restored and subtract 972 from this number.
b. Find the age of Sir John A.’s mother when she died and add 1068 to this number
Subtract (a) from the posted North co-ordinates
Subtract (b) from the posted West co-ordinates
Waypoint 2
a. Take year that house was demolished and subtract 711
b. Take year that Sir John A’s brother-in-law purchased house and subtract 1732
Subtract (a) from Waypoint 2 North co-ordinates
Subtract (b) from Waypoint 2 West co-ordinates
Waypoint 3
a. Take the address of house and subtract 188
b. Take the year house was built and add 171
Add (a) to Waypoint 3 North co-ordinates
Subtract (b) from Waypoint 3 West co-ordinates
Waypoint 4
a. Take year on second line and subtract 1634
b. Take number of years on 3rd line and add 54
Updated numbers due to new plaque
Add (a) to Waypoint 4 North co-ordinates
Add (b) to Waypoint 4 West co-ordinates
Waypoint 5
a. Take last two digits of the year the house was built and add 27
b. Take last two digits of the house address and add 7
Add (a) to Waypoint 5 North co-ordinates
Subtract (b) from Waypoint 5 West co-ordinates
Waypoint 6
a. Take day of the month that Sir John A.’s wife died and subtract 25
b. Take last two digits of the year the house was built and subtract 9
Subtract (a) from Waypoint 6 North co-ordinates
Subtract (b) from Waypoint 6 West co-ordinates
Waypoint 7
a. Subtract the last two digits of the year the house was built from the street address and subtract 6
b. Take last two digits of the year their son was born and add 59
Subtract (a) from Waypoint 7 North co-ordinates
Subtract (b) from Waypoint 7 West co-ordinates
Waypoint 8
a. Add the last two digits of the years that he rented this house together and add 10 to the total
b. Add the street addresses together and subtract 20
Add (a) to Waypoint 8 North co-ordinates
Subtract (b) from Waypoint 8 West co-ordinates
Waypoint 9
a. Digital root of year plaque erected
b. Date plaque was erected is wxyz. b=xz
Add (a) to Waypoint 9 North co-ordinates
Subtract (b) from Waypoint 9 West co-ordinates
Waypoint 10
a. Take the street address and subtract 8
b. Take the address the law firm moved to on Clarence Street and add 7
Add (a) to Waypoint 10 North co-ordinates
Add (b) to Waypoint 10 West co-ordinates
Waypoint 11
a. Take the year the english only plaque was erected. Subtract the number of years that Sir John A. was the centre of public life and then subtract 1000.
b. Take year the house was built and subtract 33
Subtract (a) from Waypoint 11 North co-ordinates
Add (b) to Waypoint 11 West co-ordinates
These are the co-ordinates for the final resting spot for the cache.