Henry James Friel (1823 – May 16, 1869) was mayor of Bytown in 1854 and then of Ottawa in 1863 and 1868-1869.He was born in Montreal of Irish Catholic parents in 1823. His family moved to Bytown, which was later renamed Ottawa, in 1827. In 1846, he purchased the Bytown Packet, a local newspaper, with John George Bell. He sold this paper in 1849; it was eventually to become the Ottawa Citizen.