HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1967-06-29, Page 21in Irish St
"The Castle" Residence
"Tht e known to old.
h� Castle,'"
er residents it of Goderich as
MacDe1mott's Castle, wasbuilt
about 1862 by Henry Mac,
Der nott (the Canada. Company
grant was in 1861) and is said
to be patterned after one in
Ireland. MacDermott never -fin.
*shed the $q are tower- at the
east ""side, and part of the in.
terior; including the` drawing
room, was' incomplete when he
ran Feat of money. In 1862
he gave to John Murphy - who.
ever he may have been — a
mortgage for 2,000 pounds;
His wife, Mary MacDermott,
died June 8th, 1864, but, the
family continued to live at the
castle for another quarter—cen.
tury:..Henry died March 1, 1889,
and his •will, made in 1882,. -
contains no mention of the Cas.
tle or oti}et real estate. Yet
his4 executors in 1903 sold the
property to'Jessie H. ,Cameron
wife of Hon, Malcolm Colin
Cameron. • It - M y have been
istory.
acDernno
that MacD
ermott retained so
little equity in it that he did
knot trouble to list it in his
will.
Value, of the estate at the
time of MacDermott's death
was stated to be oily $2,047..
including • household goods and
furniture, piano and paintings,
$600. and cash, .$1,443. The
will is signed by Sir "James
Lakin Robinson as surrogate
clerk. It 'bequeathed the est.
ate to support of unmarried
.73
In the few short years that we have
been established, quality has become
the byword.
daughters and after their death
or marriage was to be equally
divided apong -surviving chit,
dren. Ole son, William Mar.
tin Ma.GDerinott, = had died in
.18 :.At Mr. M acD er inott's
death, according to the Huron,
Signal o> the week following,
'there survived Wie daughters
and one -son.
MacDermott senior Was fdr
many sears deputy Master in
Chancery for the County of
Huron, and evidently he rated
also as a leading churchman.
It is- related that when St. Oeo.
rge's church vias burned in
November 1879, and services
were held temporarily in the
courthouse, MacDermott sal on'
a -raised dais.' When the reetor
Rev. E. L. Elwood, reached
what his distinguished parish.
loner reckoned a good stopping
point, the latter would haul etft
'a huge watch and examine its
face ostentatiously. If the hint
were not promptly taken, he
would tap on the floor with his
cane.
The Huron S.igeal -of March
15, 1889, .recorded no fact of
interest about Mr, MacDeripott
other than his legal office. It
did not mention the castle. It
did state that the immediate
cause- of' death was a fall two
days, previous, in which he suf.
feted a scalp wound, "believed
to .have contiiSottJhe brain."
Henry MacDermott junior,
known about Goderichior some
reason as, Tom, was. born in
1857., and lived to the age of 92.
At one time he worked at Sam.
uel- Platt's salt plant.: He was
fond of lawn and alley bowling
and after he ceased to be active
and ' being a bachelor, he lived
at Hotel Bedford. There for a
long time his meals`.were taken
to his room. Later he was
attended by a trained nurse
_Until he was taken to hospital,
and there died two weeks later,
in 1949.
' When the C,a.merons acqui led
the castle ie 1903, they built it
up to three storeys. Mrs. Cam.
' eron the initials in the south
window are hers — was an . in.
valid. and for her covenience-
Was Oldest Citizen
an elevator was installed in the
tower,
r. It wasen out when
the castle was divided°into
apartments, A stair in the tower
leading Brom' the second to the
third floor, was restored when,
the elevator came out.
Malcolm • •Gramme Cameroh,`
K.C.,e followed whis• father and'
grandfather in public service.
Mayor bf Goderieh in 1902, again.
in 1910-11,h„e was Liberal mem.
`terfor•.WeM Huron'• in .the Leg.
islature: from 1902- to 1908. His.
law firm in Goderioh was Cam.
eron, Holt, and Cameron. 1n
Toronto he bad been a member
of the firm of Ross (Hon. G.W.)
Cameron and Robinette (T.C.)
His ,wile, the former Fiera
McLean, for some years pc.
cupied' a house on . Caledonia
Terrace, in sight of the castle.
Title •to , the castle passed
to Malcolm Graeme Cameron
in 1912, - s:nd it remained in
the family tintil 1926. Dr. Wes.
ley Reid had long desired tq
acquire it, and requested his.
brother Charles (Mayor of God.
erich, 1912-15) to do so for
him when it -came- 04 the 1maP"
e as
MAO
The
W triad
c .
e
ur .
`IR p
-when Dr. Reid was in Furope.
Subsequent owners were WRQ,
Kretzinger, a. VA, steel exp,
e cutive; V.A. 'llretzipor,, and
in 1950, the late Darwin R
Challenger:. The -castle' flow,
' belongs to Brian Ainslie.
'Sine of the original -lot on,
St George's Cresientwas "one
acre, two rods, 35 poles." It
evidently adjoined -the first
Anglican church site; for
buria g, were made "as far east
aR the • castle." Five r-esid.
ences now stand on the orig.
inal church property,
The sturdy old castle has
undergone many, changes; in.
side and. out, in close to a
century noW. The heavy gothic
doors were replaced in the time
of the Camerons with more
modern ones, but they were
preserved until a, few years
ago before berg broken up.
The portico over . the driveway,
also a feature of the Cameron
regime, was replaced by the
present shorter one in the time
.of'the Dret*ingers, Wh;e> , the
anadian. Pacific Rway ,al
oarne
Into Gadertclv ,
the
river hank,in 190'l, the
• vating toppled a number a1 ocniar
trees 'near 'thetop ,ot the
at Uie .castle., The
a 8 . ,tieXxli!int[ox'.the'
m l.e-'
age.
And what o1'the tower roolrs;
housewives -'"nay wonder. No..
*1)004 -11,0W knows what -04M q. ' ...
Dermotts used them tory but ....
ground -floor tower room was
the Challengers,. kitchen. On
the second floor there is a bed.,•
room and. a little" stair • thAt
leads to the top floor. ' In, the.
top of the tower, is "cupboard
space — and the old elevator
wheel - and from it a wonder• ,
' #u1 view of the Maitland valley
and the town.
• The castle possesses ,,ii ret -
Place in every room" .and they
all work, when required,
BACI( IN GODERICH for
"OLD. HOME WEEK"? WHY NOT VISIT
THE OLD MILL
BLYTH, -ONTARIO
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FACTORY OUTLET PRICE1 2.50
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To Our. Centennial
'Old Home Week
SALTER- HOME FURNISHINGS
THE SQUARE
5247455
Colborne • Pioneer Was 101 -
The late Mrs. William Straughan, a pioneer resident of Colborne
township who died March 3, 1958, had celebrated,._her,100th
birthday March 2 of the preceding year. At that time she .was
honored by a host of - friends and relatives and by the Kinsmen
club of Goderich, the county of Huron, prbvince of Ontario,and
the Dominion of Canada. Born in 1857, the former Grace Watt
married William Straughan .July. 10, 18'77. They celebrated
their diamond anniversary is „1937. Mr. Straughan died in
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LEATHER
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WE HAVE IN STOCK OVER 3,000 PAIRS
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Long Sleeve—y3.98
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ALYTH (Just 15 minutes from. Goderich) TEL..: 523.9373
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