Lebreton Street is named in honour of Captain John Lebreton, born in 1779 in England, moving to Newfoundland with his parents as an infant. In 1795, he joined the Royal Newfoundland Fencible Regiment as an ensign and became a lieutenant in 1798. Between 1809 and 1812, he held the position of Deputy Assistant Quartermaster-General in Quebec, followed by an appointment as adjutant of the Voltigeurs Canadian.
Lebreton participated with distinction in nine actions during the War of 1812. In October 1813, he was sent to Detroit under truce to request the humane treatment of prisoners taken by the Americans, but secretly he was to assess the American’s strength at Detroit and on Lake Erie. He was severely wounded and disabled at the Battle of Lundy’s Lane in July 1814. Promoted captain in the 60th Foot in 1816, he went on half pay soon after.
In 1819, he was granted a parcel of land in Nepean Township, an area that he called Britannia but which later would become known as Lebreton’s Flats. Settling on his land and erecting mills, he was the subject of a controversy when the Governor accused him of acting on privileged information about the government’s intention to build a new depot at Richmond Landing (near the present-day Supreme Court building), and a possible starting point for the Rideau Canal.
Following the death of his wife, Lebreton moved to Toronto where he died a year later in 1848.
