HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2016-02-03, Page 5Wednesday, February 3, 2016 • Huron Expositor 5
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'Big' Bill Forrest: A Huron County Giant
ig' Bill Forrest
was as much leg-
end as he was
legend teller. Like his '6'
6" frame, he
lived life large. Huron
County historian, Dr.
James Scott, said Forrest
'was big all the way
through, a man with a big
heart, a big mind, a big
body, and one of the big-
gest visions of this coun-
try that any man ever
had. `Big' Bill Forrest was,
undoubtedly, as the
'Toronto Star' called him
one of the `giants of
Huron County' folklore.
William Laurence For-
rest was born in 1871. He
was one of eight children
born to John and Margaret
Forrest, devout Presbyteri-
ans, who were Stanley
Township farmers. Local
historian, W.E. Elliott said
Forrest's formal education
ended at grade three but
he was fluent in Shake-
speare. A 1928 story in the
'Goderich Star' said that
when asked to recite from
Bobbie Burns, he would
'jump to his feet, standing
face to the stars' and then
'thunder out a gem from
the Immortal Bard:
The same author called
Forrest was a 'homeric'
figure who was over 250
pounds 'of live weight on
his feet, not fat but virile,
hearty, vastly torsoed,
sturdy as a ship's winch,
straightbacked as an
RMC cadet; with a pirati-
cal swing his stride' who
was 'a Viking, bred of the
Great Lakes. The roar of
the wind. The thud of
pounding water' with 'the
vigor of elemental forces.'
In a more volatile
mood, Forrest's `earthy
similies were coarse and
Corrections
An article about wind tur-
bines in the Expositor last
November stated that chil-
dren were experiencing
nosebleeds. Children were
Huron History
David Yates
original' but effectively
communicated his point
recalled `Spike' Berming-
ham, the son of Forrest's
long time business part-
ner, William Berming-
ham. Bermingham
remembered one time
when Forrest was super-
vising the construction of
a wharf in Morrisburg,
Ontario. Frustrated with
the labour force, Forrest
began 'cussing and firing
right and left' but when
he stormed back into the
office, someone left a
newspaper clipping that
read 'the man who is
worthy of being a leader
of men will never com-
plain of the stupidity of
his helpers, the ingrati-
tude of mankind nor the
inappreciation of the
public: It was a message
Forrest took to heart
because thirty years later
it was passed on to Spike
Bermingham at Forrest's
funeral.
Although a confirmed
bachelor, Forrest was
called 'the best hearted
man in seven counties
who never refused anyone
bite nor sup: His feats of
strength were phenome-
nal. Spike Bermingham
recalled an occasion when
a party of 10 labourers
were, with difficulty,
attempting to lay down a
10' cast iron watermain.
not experiencing nose-
bleeds, it was adults. The
children described in the
presentation (Property #11 &
others) had symptoms of:
When they dropped the
heavy pipe, Forrest let a
roar out and ordered the
men out of the way: He,
then, lifted the pipe waist
high hoisted it to his
shoulders and walked it to
the balance point and car-
ried it into position. It was
subsequently learned the
water pipe weightd 827
pounds.
Forrest owned several
farms, but ran none of
them. He was at times a
prospector, diver, and
probably tried his hands
at several other trades
before he went into
marine dredging and
construction At the turn
of the twentieth century,
worked on several marine
construction jobs, on the
Great Lakes. About 1905,
he `teamed up' with Wil-
liam Bermingham, the
owner of a marine con-
struction company, and
began work on the break -
walls in the Goderich
harbour. In Paul Carroll's
`Illustrated Guide to
Goderich Harbour &
Waterfront (2015), Ber-
mingham and Forrest
worked on the harbour's
breakwalls from 1908 to
1918.
At some point, during
this time, Forrest took up
residence in a 'shack' on
Ship Island, also known
as Forrest's Island, in the
Goderich Harbour basin.
Forrest continued in the
marine dredging and
construction business. In
the winter of 1910-11,
Captain William Babb
build the tug 'W. L. For-
rest' on Ship Island.
Other small tugs and
scows were built there
into the 1920's, according
to Elliott.Forrest and his
dizziness, sleeplessness,
pressure behind the eyes
and headaches.
Also a letter to the editor
in the January 13 issue about
partner, Bermingham,
had a thriving enterprise
in dredging and marine
construction projects
around the Great Lakes.
In 1929, Forrest dredged
the east part of the har-
bour for the new million
bushel expansion to the
grain elevators.
Forrest gained some
national fame when he
waged a lengthy legal bat-
tle over the rights to Ship
Island. In 1929, the
Dominion government
began dredging opera-
tions to remove the 4 acre
island as a hazard to navi-
gation. Forrest claimed
'Squatter's Rights' and
took out a 'lease of occu-
pancy' from the provin-
cial government for an
annual payment of $75
per acre for 20 years.
The courts initially
ruled in 1933 that For -
rest's lease with the prov-
ince was valid and upheld
his Squatter's rights on
the property. However,
the provincial and
Dominion governments
appealed appealed the
decision. Carroll states,
'this shipbuilder -engi-
neer, truly a local icon
throughout the marine
community, was evicted
from his island home and
retreated inland to spend
his final days in Tucker -
smith Township' where
he lived in his sisters'
farmhouse in his final
years.
Although Forrest was
ordered off the island in
1942, Edmund Daly from
Seaforth recalls being
entertained by Forrest at
his shack on Ship Island
after returning home from
serving overseas with the
RCAF in 1944. Forrest's
ORPP stated that Jessica
Trepanier submitted the let-
ter, when it should have had
MPP Lisa Thompson as the
byline.
cook and housekeeper, Joe
Webb, kept 'things neat
and tidy' and served the
'largest goose' he had ever
seen on a massive oak
table 'that must have
weighed a ton: Yet, the `first
course' was Scotch served
in glass tumblers without
water or mixers (It was not
until summer 1962 that
Ship Island was dredged
out of the harbour).
Forrest enjoyed his
retirement in Tucker -
smith. One visitor said
that Forrest 'lived with his
beautiful antiques, lamps,
dishes, silver and a
mahogany bar' which
came from Captain Wil-
liam Babb's famed Ocean
House hotel.
Spike Bermingham vis-
ited Forrest at Christmas
in 1951. He brought For-
rest a much appreciated
giant bottle of Scotch. Ber-
mingham knew Forrest's
his heavy drinldng days
were over because the
bottle lasted a long time.
On September 8, 1952,
Forrest died in
Haileybury, Ontario
after a brief illness. He
was buried in the Hills -
green Cemetery with his
parents.
The `Goderich Star'
wrote that Forrest had
three ambitions 'all of
which he had realized: to
own a farm, to have his
name on a ship and to be
a contractor: He achieved
all three and much more.
As Professor James Scott
wrote, 'Big' Bill Forrest
was 'a legend in himself.
He, being of the race of
giants, was a trailbreaker,
a man who loved to pit
his great strength of mus-
cle, mind and heart
against the forces of
primitive nature. He
wasn't afraid of anything:
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