HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1971-09-23, Page 21•
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"T., Nishaw' was working on
the kitchen fireptace at
Gairbraid on June 28th,„ 1841,
and the event was duly recorded
by Bailey McLean, Dr. William
-•;„ ithinlop's secretary, along with
.the information that a new
house for James .Tewsley had
been , completed with stones
from the river.
Thomas Kneeshaw, 33 at the
time he attended to the Dunlop
fireplace, had come t Gtdetie, h
at least as early as 183, only six, ,
years 'after thesettlement began'.
In 1834 he had built a frame
house, expecting to be ,married
soon, but arrival' -of the first
Church of England minister to
take , up residence altered his
plans. s
The house was requisitioned
for the clergyman -by Dr. Morgan
.H amilt on , the settlement's
earliest physician, an Anglican
who subsequently made his
stable on West street available
for Sunday services. •
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The first rectory ha:s—been
described by Canon Kenneth
Taylor as "just a shack." In Days
of the Canada Company it is said
to have beem--"a rough,
almost everything he possfssed,
w nr..-MTN$170.1..ratrel
by liquor, but ., he became an
woOdWork, French windows,
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Tiger" unlo s%bfriend ees
uilt much in early Goderich
for "Tiger" Dunlop, a personal
friend, it must not be assumed.
that Thomas Kneeshaw wag
merely a handyman. ,He built
many of the largest residential
and public -buildings of
Goderieh, in 'his time, which
ended at the age of 1857. An
adequate account of:his lifework:,
_ought to .have been available in
the Huron Signal, but diligent
search Uncovered nothing except
the death dotice.
"Kneeshaw---In Goderich on
•Sunday, September 18th, 1864,
M. Thomas Kneeshaw, aged
57." ,
g
To him are 'attributed the
brickwork of the British
Exchange hotel, MacDerrnott's
Castle,. the first St. George's
.church on the Crescent, and the
Central School, now Huron
Museum, and the Prest-Egener
law Office, built , for Sheriff
Gibbons.
Dr. Dunlop may have called
"Nishaw" in ft refreshment
after the fireplace job in 1841; it
is family history that they joined
effort from time to time in
diminishing the contents of the
doctor's' famous row of
decanters. Kneeshaw finally lost
the record favors Kneesh`aw.
While no space is deeded by Dr.
Dollop's biographers to •
enumerate his posterity, Thomas
Kneeshaw and Ann Alexander
were blessed with eight children,
born between 1836 and 1853, in
time to take part in the
development *0 f„ Canada West,
and the ',Huron District in
particular. • ,
The first born, ,Alex.; was
burned td aeath, Aug, 21, 1837,
in a hotel fire in Detroit, where
the parents were visiting.
Stephen,, second son, practised
law with Ira Lewis, Q.C.; and for
a time was in partnership with
D. Slade Gooding., His baptism is
recorded in St. George's church
records, on April 29, 1849, the
same' date as for his sister Sarah,
born January 31, 1843. Stephen
Vie
.44
died in Toronto on' April 19,
1864. He was, the Goderich
paper said; "a 'young man of
brilliant talents, steady, diligent,
and thoroughly de. oted to his
The geneology and family
history fill.. a, large volume, the
Work of Miltn Theron
Kneeshaw, of St. Thomas, a
great-grandson of the founder of
the Canadian family, assisted by
his parents, Mr, and Mrs. Ernest
Kneeshaw,, of Meaford, and his
son; Harold Raymond, Who.
;drew the charts. His own line
descends through Aibert
(1849-193'7), fifth son of
"Thomas, 'and Ernest
(1884 -)fifth son of Alberto.
Albert, born • in Goderich,
-married Sarah G. J. Jones. He is
reCalled as a tall, sta,tely Man
who wore a welltrimmed
goate- and in leisure hours
enjoyed playing the banjo. He
had a daughter and. six sons,
born two years apart between
1,876 and 1889.
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Thomas(' Henry, the eldest,
became a boilermaker, and as, a
hobby raised prize-winning
rabbits, fowl and pigeons. When
he died on August 27, 1943, the
Signal -Star obituary described
him as a steam fitter and
tinsmith. "He •was .twice
'married,". the article stated,
"first to Miss Alberta Jean Ross,
and after her. death. to Miss
Verna Isabel McLeod, who
survies. Children of the first
marriage are Albert . James
Kneeshaw, of town, and Byron
Ross Kneeshaw, of Toledo,
abstainer and so continued for
and wings of many gables." 124th YEAR 38
many years.
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Of cdUrse it was rough;
Goderich houses were built of
logs or were pximitive frame
• structures for at least another,'
decade. In• any event, the Rev.
Robert ' Francis Campbell and
family were accommodated.'Mr.
''Keenshaw . in the following year
August 5th, 1835 -married Ann
Alexander, of Stanley township.
Mr. Campbell officiated.
The blg.......f-jame house 'long
known as the Kneeshaw house
stands 'on Waterton -street, the
lot (now 893) extending baolc to
Arthur street. Owner of the land'
from 1838 was Rev. Robert F.
Campbell, and it was from him
that Thomas Kneeshaw acquiltd
it in 1845. The deed sets forth:
"Between the - , Reverend
Robert Francis Campbell, of
Goderich the ,Campbell,
District,
and Province of Canada West,
clerk, and.Thomas Kneeshaw, �f
the samellace, bricklayer, for
37 pounds 17 shillings, to him in
hand paid at or before the
„enscaling or delivery thereof,
Lot 6 in the easterly side of .the
street in rear of the Crescent."
Kneeshawborrowed„ on
mortgage from the Bank of
Upper, Canada in the .following
year, so the house was probably
erected about that 6ime. It was
built facing Arthur street, and
. was of one storey.
• In 1867, merhbers of the
fainily still in Goderich moved
the house around to face
Waterloo and added a stOrey.
The property continued, in
Kneesbaw.hands until 19571' .
Because he built a fireplace
a
kit was his custom to enter
bars with ther workmen and
drink' something non-alcoholic.
A "spiked" soft drink is said to
have ended his long period of
abstinence. He never ,
again conquered the liquor habit,
but because., or his generally
good character and great skill as
a builder he remained the
leading contractor of the area
and was held in high esteem, by
the town's citizens. He diedof
what was then called "galloping
consumption." Presumably he
was buried- in the Anglican.
cemetery on the crescent. '
Col.F. S. L. Ford, CMG,MD, N.'
who published a little book—
about "Tiger" Dunlop in 1931,
wroteln-Term-s-alinost equally
'applicable to Dunlop's friend
Kneeshaw:
' "He 'was a convivial, not to
say extravagant liver, like all
men •of his time drinking more
than was good 'for him, but
doing it as the genial host or as a
welcome guest. If was the
custom at the time, and custom
is at the back of many laws.
These men were lierOiFin type,
and the present age could use
men of the same stripe and
vigor." '4`
Biographers of l,r. Dunlop
• have presented much material
about his life in Britain and
India. For Thoma S 'Kneesnavv's
story there is no counterpart. He
came- from .W„eybread (if that is
, the spelling) in Sussex, but
nobody khows when or Where
he arrived in Canada.
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In another respect, however,
Ohio, Surviving • are two -
brothers, Alex., of • town, and'
Ernest', Meaford, and a,sister
{Elizabeth) Mrs. S. S. Atrin, of
Niagara, Falls, Deceased was a
member of St. George's Anglican
church, a member of Maitland
Lodge, A.F. & A.M., and Huron
Chapter, R.A.M.,• also of' the
Ancient Order of Foresters."
Thomas' son, John Henry,
drowned at Bayfield June 23,
1931,.at the age of 20. Ile had
be,enr) candidate for the
Anglican ministry Two or three
years later, his brother Ross
married the girl John was to
have'married.
Thomas' brother ' William,
who died in 1907, was a
cabinet-maker. / Alex was a
jooper, Jong .employed at the
a
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Goderich flour mill.. Harry was a of twins: Kathryn Ann gild
h nessmaker, many years Nancy May. Alex died ""'•
toyed with Brown's- Bakery 'January, 196.
in Toronto.
Kneethaws of the',, first 'and •
$•,‘
• Ernest George, born Dec. 20,, second Canadian generations bad
1883, in boyhood rose early, to • good-sized families, and trisare'
make ,milk, deliveries in the are cousins' in many parts of the
town; Starting as a machinist at country; ine1uding,1Goderich,,but •
$2 a week, he .became highly the latter are not Male
skilled at his trade, a muscular descendants and'so 'the nanie has
man of 234 pounds. He .marrigd died out here.
Lucy J'. Horney, tenth of eleven
children of James and Mary Allan Kneeshaw, of Toronto;
Horney'; McKillop township. writes; "I was born on St.
Mrs. Homey later lived on Patrick Street on December ?I
Nekate' street, "doderich, and 1907,. arid ;regret that when my'
died here in 1937. Ernest lives in 'grandfather Albert Kneeshaw
Meaford. Elizabeth Kneeshaw, was alive I did. not pay tri4re•
the only daughter, was married attention to the stories he -'told
in St. Geofge's church on June of his early life in Goderich.
7, 1911, -to Samuel • Secord With the death _ of Isobel ,
Atkin, of Niagara Falls. Rev, Kneeshaw, Wife of.. the, late
Mark Turnbull officiated. , " Albert Kneeshaw, .a cousin •Of,
mine, I understand there are no
more living Kneeshaw S in
In the next (second
Goderich. b have many happy
Canadian) generation. Ernest
memories of youthful fun in the
Kneeshaw had four sons and Q ne
old town, and hope to visit It
daughter. Frank, the eldest son,
became , a skilled- electrician in again.
,Meaford and Collingwood and Mrs. E. L. McAstocker, 377
' lay preacher in the Church -of Huron Road, 'is a granddaughter
Christ, Disciples. I of the same Albert Kneeshaw,
and remembers him calling at
Carl Nelson,became abrasives
hoine "every Sa,turday
o Company of Canada' at Niagara
inspecror with the Carborundum
fqr,p,,,Dyster .s. tew
THURSDAY, SEL'TEMBEF. 23,1971
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THIRD SECTION
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'114k,
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45„, 4644:44,
The Kneeshaw house on Waterloo north- was built on land
'pnr'cliased by Thomas Kneeshaw from Rev. R. F. Campbell. in
q.
/1846. It was first a one -storey house facing Arthur St.,,but in
1876 was turned around and a storey, added.
.4,4trv. ,444.
member of the Grey' Regiment, a "'MeV Ireirtaliy"Kriigsta
ScoUt leader and 'Sunday School who by marriage acquired other
teacher. names, but these lines are
Written 300miles from
Milton, fourth Aild . of
Ernest, attended school in Owen
Sound' and joined the Grey
Regiment, but was rejected for
active service in World War 11.
After studying in Meaford and
Toro'nto hp, was licensed as an
embalmer in 1938, and hasbeen
an embalmer and funeral
director with P. R. Williams &
Son in Tillsonburg for the past
five years. A student of animals
and birds, he 'also does oil
paintings asa hobby. In 1940 he
married. Marjorie •13:. Craig of
Meaford. They have •One son;
Harold Raymond, a -gradate of
Arthur Voaden Voeational
School, who was ,active in the
Regiment before
employment as a draftsman with
Timken Roller Bearings.
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Alex Raymond Kneeshaw,
the youngest brother, left school
in 1944 to enlist, and was in
England by the, last day of the
year. Welt' the Royal Hamilton
Light Infantry, in Germany:he
was wounded February 25, 1945
and spent some time, in. hospital,
'rejoining his regiment in Holland
for the spring ",push”.
He was in the Highland Pght
Infantry as part of occupation
troops. Back home, he attended
a trade school in Hamilton and
became a skilled cabinetmaker,
"working 'with 'Cliff Richardson
Boat' Wbrks, Meafoid; -Glendale
Mobile Homes, London; and
Lockrey's Custom Boats. He
married Charlotte Wood; of
1.49n-dcm-and became the father ittowwwwwwwwwwW1
'Goderich, which means that
research is suspended. In any
event, this is'an attempt to fill in
some degree a gap in community
history •as regards Thomas
Kneesha'W of early • Goderich,
"an honest .and upright man,
held in the highest esteem by 'all
• who knew him."
wwwwwwwwitAnAiwiAnniti
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Another:.
Historical
article
written by
WE. EIIiott'
A
o'er 1-•
,Three of the five sorts of Albert Kneeshaw (1849-1987) are in
this group of Goderich young men, taken oh the Carey place,
St. George's crescent, possibly &turd 1898 or 1900. On the
roof of the building are Jack Tait (?), James Buchanan;.second
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row: Mon Kneeshaw, Ernie Stewart, Kenny McLeod (wearing
felt hat); third row: Jap Nichdlson, William Kneeshaw; In front,
seated, Ted Carey, Albert Kneeshaw, Andrew Lynn.
14 44
,ctitk `,42414*
,1:.41pri,Vo. 4..t 0', . 14, rgt., r..,) CA:fe) 'T 11'1 <1)0'4... > K -, , , .,i.:.4,rrletr''',4',:,?•'"to ,,) : ., ',,,.
143`::411% 0660 ivatishotattetshtdoittfwte rtitter44144.0eiefdeWpAtte- - vitoStrt irwit.411440;:lsilifsettlaid'Aiiiitilig;INWti.,Sttilltilts ,•,,''r•--,-$
before it was turned -around to front on Waterloo Street. 'At -, respectively by F.R. Sailors and Tom Brophey, are in the,
back: Ernest Kneeshaw; Mrs. Albert Kneeshaw, ,the former collection of Milton T. Kneeshaw, of St. Thornak the family
Sarah Jones; Elizabeth Kneeshaw; middle row, from left, historian. - / . . ., r
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,,, William, Alex Knee'shavv; their father, Albert, and Thomas;