HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1967-06-29, Page 38vers
The Ogilvy family is an an.
tient one whose records go back
•to the. reign of King David I
in the 12th century. The lion.
_Angus (James Bruce) Ogilvy,
husband of Her Ro al Highness
i'rinces.s Alexandra, is the sec.
and son of the 12th Earl of
Airlie.
In the reeord of the Ogilvies
. in Canada; pioneer • millers, • it
is written that 111,1163 Gilbride
of .Airlie; of the noble stock
• of .Angus, knelt before William
the Lion, king of S c otland, and
rose Baron O. Gale Buidhe.
If Princess' Alexandra's bus.
band, while visiting -Expo 67
earlier this month, . ad hap.
pened .to look in t e Montreal
telephone directo y, he would
have found the names of many
Ogilvys and some 37 Ogilvies,
.In Montreal is the headquarters
of the Ogilvie Flour MillsCom-
pa.ny,°Limited, with plants all
across Canada and numerous
'subsidiaries such 'as •Ogilvie
• Grain Company, Lake of the
Woods Milling Co., poultry and
egg processing plants, and so
on. ,
In the directorate of the Og-
livie Milling Company today
there is not a single Ogilvie.
The descendants of Alexander,
who founded the milling bus.
Mess in Quebec ""in 1801, are
business executives and profes.
sional men in many fields. Like.
•wise, the. Hon. Angus Ogilvy,
husband of the princess, works
in the City of London with
the Harley Drayton group of
investment `trusts; of which he
became a director in 1956.
When Archibald Ogilvie, the,
pioneer miller, died in 1820,
six .children were at lff 5k1.
side. Eleven grandchildren had
been born in Canada. In the
80 years •to follow, more than
100 children were born into
this family. Of old Archibald's
seed '189 descendants entered
the 20th century: There were
among them flour millers, far.
mers, engineers, lawyers„''
gay
clergymen, bankers,” sQldieis,
merchants and civi,X servants.
They Were stewn aPout the vrorld
in many lands, but -fdur-,fifths
clung • to the kern of Canada,
land of opportunity.
Alexander's three sons, Alex.
ander Walker, William Watson
and John, held various posit.
ions in the milling company.
In 1872, John returned from a
survey of .the areas between
Lakes Hurop .,and Erie' with a
proposal for his brothers; The
market for flour was increas.
ing in southern Ontario: why not
grind its wheat there?
A mill With capacity of 250.
barrels- daily was built at Sea.
forth. An unusual feature was
its output of salt, the brine
being pumped from nearby
wells into evaporation pans
heated by surplus steam from
flour mill engines. In. 1874 a
second mill, 'f 500 barrels
daily capacity, was built. in
Goderich; toge -r with an el.
evator to sto ;- local wheat
and accept . -r'orne ship.
ments from •stern Canada.
Here, too,,a t recovery plant
was installed,
When John Ogilvie, field man-
ager, died in 1888, he and his
two brothers owned mills in
Montreal, Winnipeg, Seaforth,
azid..20 elevators in Ontario,
Manitoba and the North West
Territories, •
Alexander Oglivie's daughter
Helen, was married to Matthew
Hutchison, who came to Canada
as a boy from Largs in Scot-
land and was educated at. Mon-
treal': For some years he was
the .grain inspector of the Port
of Montreal. Eventually, he went
into partnership with his Og-
ilvie brothers-in-law and mo.
.. ve. to Goderich to take charge
of the Goderich mill on behalf
of the new partnership of Og-
ilvie
gilvie and Hutchison. It is re-
called , that the family took an
active part in -the social life
of the town.
The Huron Atlas,' 1879, lists
portant Part
Ogilvie and Hutchison, Icer.
chant millers, -Goderich, Har.
bor Mills. The date of sett.
ling in Huron county, 1874, pro.
bably relates to construction of
the Seaforth mill.
A story of the "Big Mill"
up to 1889. is summarized in a
special issue of the Signal and
Star in that year. The year of
construction is here given as
1875.
"The business," this article
states, "is .carried on under
the firm -name of Ogilvie and
Hutchison, with Mr. M. Hutch.
sion .as manager. When first
built, the mill contained 10 runs
of stone, with the necessary
belts, purifiers,' cleaning mach.•
inery etc. to give a capacity of
500- barrels a day. Soon after,
four runs of stones were added,
and in 1881 whe mill was; 'ent,
'rely remodelled to the roller
system, with a capacity of 900
barrels a day. The mill con.
tains ,31 double sets • of Allis
rolls, seven runs of stones,
36 reels, bran cleaners, etc.,
alI operated by a 100 h. p. Cor-
liss engine. A large salt block
is run in connection with the
steam `plant, capable of making
25 tons, of salt daily. An el-
evator extending from the dock
to the mill has a capacity of
200,000 bushels. The mill pio.,
neered in placing Manitoba
wheat on the eastern market,
the first 500 bushels of Man-
itoba Hard ever manufactured
into flour in Ontario being
ground there in 1878. Products
of the mill find a market chief.
ly in the Maritime Provinces."
In later years the mill pro.
duced more than 3,000 barrels
a day, and had two generators -
developing more than 500 kit:
owatts: ' This was supplemented
in the 1940's by Hydro power:
In 1905, S. S. McGaw, of the
Manitoba and Lake Huron Mill.
ing Co., joined with the Kelly
Milling Co., Brandon,' to form
the Western Canada Flour
Mills, which operated the mill
TIME CHANGES THINGS
The Last Time' You Were
Home This Store. Was Known
so
As Reg Bell Jewellery
TIME DOES NOT
CHANGE
EVERYTHING
Tfie Same Friendly
Service That This
Location Was Known For
And The Same Quality
Merchandise Is Still
Available At ... .
BRICKE
JEWELLER4
OLD -.BOYS
COME, IN AND' GET ACQUAINTED
Have AGoOd Time
In The Old Home -Town
until it was taken over in 1040
by Maple Leaf MillingCo, Four
milling here ended in 19fj0,but"
stock and poultry feeds were -
produced until 1963, when Maple
Leaf consolidated . production
elsewhere. The mill was de.
molished in October, 1963.
Col. Paul P. Hutchison, Q.c:,
a grandson of Matthew, the God.
erich miller and a member of
the Montreal law firm of Hol:
den, ,Hutchison, Cliff, Mcg
Master, Meighen and Minnion,
has supplied some particulars
of the Hutchison years in God-
erich.
- "The house which ' was the
home of my .grandparents,d' he
writes, was named Glengowan
by my grandfather, Matthew
Hutchison, whose wife was
Helen Ogilvie, a sister of Sen.
ator Alexander, W. and William
Watson Ogilvie. My family re.
cords indicate, that the part.
nership of Ogilvie and Hutch-
ison was formed ,'soon after
1872, and that Matthew Hutch.
ison and family, then moved to
Goderich, where for a time
they lived in a rented, round
house on the Square, but that
in 1880 they bought the big
property atop the cliff from
William Seymour, naming it
Glengowan. Matthew Hutchison
died in 1896 and his wife, Helen
Ogilvie, in 1913, when still liv-
ing at Glengowan. My father,
W. W. - Hutchison, went to the
Ogilvie office in Winnipeg in
1884.
"I found in • my family scrap- .
book a press reproduction of
a photograph of the Ogilvie
staff at Winnipeg in 18856 F. W.
Thom Spon appears to -have -been
the office manager, and the
ere
clerks the following: Shirley
Ogilvie, 5: A. McGaw, W, W.
Hutchison, E. G. Simpson, W. A,
Black, W. -A. Hastings, Q. W.
Hastings. The Hastings bro.
thers, my father and Shirley
Ogilvie were all first cousins .
with Ogilvie mothers,"
Glengowan was sold in 1921
by the executors of Helen Og-
ilvie Hutchison to T. G. Connon,
CPR agent. Lt is a fine example
of the central hall plan, With
large rooms on each • side at
the front, and a big bay window.
on the dining -room at the south
side. There were several fire.
places. Mrs. Charles Meakins,
daughter of the late Mr. Con.
non, 'describes the house as
exceptionally well 'built., Ser-
vants' quarters in the Hut.
cbison years were• in a cot-
tage next door to the south, now
two houses away. .
Regarding Francis ;,Jordan,
who operated "Pharmacy Hall"
at Colborne street and the
Squarez and who was an ard?nt
militiaman, Col. Hutchison
writes: "The Jordans were cou-
sins of mine through Mrs. Jor-
dan, whose mother was an Og.
ilvie..The Jordan son, Ernest,
married Isobel Proudfoot, the
Senator's daughter. E rnest died
quite a few years ago, but' Is-
obel is still living at Oakville.
She was a sister of William
Proudfoot, Q.C.,..., Toronto, he
being. a son of the Senator and
a very old and close friend
of mine. He died a few years
ago."
There is a stained-glass win.
dow in St: George's church here
in memory of Francis Jordan
.and his wife, Frances Has.
tenings.
•
THIS IS A VOLVO "CANADIAN"
SEE IT TRY IT YOU'LL BUY IT
E PERIENCE — YOU MEP
Continuous Operation Since 1940
(Volvo Sales and Service Since 1958)
It °will be a pleasure to renew old acquaintances. Come in -`and' see
us at our originallocation at 184 EAST ST.
TEL.: 524.7212
4y
Mean
fodg
We Were
Established
In 1887
E'RE
RIEN DLY
•
Carl, Harry and Red,that's us.. We're the third.
generation of Worsens ,to operate the business. The
business was started in 1887 but we're not stodgy.
We pride ourselves in being friendly guys offering
good value on quality merchandise. If you live
in town, come and see us,. .
If you are returning home for a reynion drop in ,
and renew acquaintances.
1967
A GOOD YEAR TO COME HOME
We're glad You Came
•
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