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WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 1986.
Ransford house is oldes
By Alan Rivett
TUCKERSMITH TWP. - It may have been
built in 1834, but Ransford House, arguably
the oldest dwelling in Huron County, refuses
to show its age. The stateliness and old-
fashioned charm which permeates through
the building is as evident today as it must
dihave been 152 years ago.
Its exterior, although fitted with wood
siding around the turn of the century, shows
no sign of wear and tear. Even the
porchlight, now electric, is a remnant left by
the first owner, Henry Ransford, who was
also one of the original settlers in the Clinton
area.
Inside the spacious pioneer home on the
estate which Henry Ransford named
Stapleton after his father's estate in
England, the brick double fireplace used to
heat both the kitchen and the living room.
It's not used for heating now, but in bygone
days, the crackling five was a welcome sight
to the Ransford family on a cold night
during the harsh Huron County winters.
Thebasswood roof beams in the house,
while cleaned and varnished over the years
to remove the black stains from the chimney
smoke, still bear the scrapes made by the
broad axe and adz (an old carpenter's tool)
when the logs were harvested and shaped
into the frame for the house.
Surprisingly, the house, which is nestled
behind •a row of pine trees just east of
Clinton, has endured the test of time and has
experienced little change since Henry
Ransford painstakingly crafted it. In
addition to leaving the Victorian -era estate
IIto future generations, Henry Ransford also
left a diary; which is also remarkably still
intact, detailing the building of the house.
Currently, the diary and the task of
maintaining the history -laden building has
fallen to present owners Bill and Mary
Hearn, who pt 'chased the home in 1981.
Historical Building
In a step to continue to preserve the
building, the Hearns applied and received
approval to make Ransford House a
designated historical building in Ontario
last year. Under the agreement, says Mrs.
Hearn, they can't make changes to the
property without the approval of the local
heritage committee which, in this case, is
the Tuckersmith Township Council.
The arrangement, however, is
satisfactory with the Hearns as they're also
" interested in preserving the property for
posterity.
"The guidelines say we can't take away
from it's value as a heritage property," says
Mrs. Hearn. "That doesn't bother us,
because we think it should be retained as a
heritage property."
Since taking over the house from former
owner Derek Adshead, who owned it for
about 10 years, Mr. and Mrs. Hearn have
made mostly cosmetic renovations to the
building, including tongue and groove siding chronicled the circumstances regarding his
on the garage which was built in the early settling in the Clinton area, and the actual
'60s. Windowshave also been replaced construction of Ransford House in 1834.
which are in keeping with the shape of the Henry Ransford's decision to travel to,
window. and eventually settle in Canada, was a
However, the main project they've decision rendered out of necessity. Without
encountered since taking ownership, says any prospects of work in England in 1832, he
• Mrs. Hearn, is rebuilding the foundation set out to Canada to discover what it had to
, under the dining room, which was done with offer. He had seen Canada once before on a
the assistance of a grant from the local side trip to Nova Scotia while on his way
heritage committee. They have considered back to England after leaving the sugar
reverting the sunroom overlooking the refinery in Jamaica.
Bayfield River at the rear of the house back "I spent the winter at home... looking
to a porch but later decided against it. about to see if I could do anything in
150th Celebrations England. But, no one suggested anything for
Last July 1, during the Tuckersmith me. My father, I fancy, could'not and things
. - Township 150th birthday celebrations, were so different from what I had been
Ransford House was opened to the public. accustomed to that I was determined to go
Mrs. Hearn said 'over 200 visitors came to abroad again somewhere. There was a great
view the house. rage for emigration to Canada, so I thought I
"We sent' out invitations to friends and would go and have a look and judge for
neighbors and to'people who were interested myself," he intimated in his diary.
in the house. The Goderich band came down He left Liverpool on April 1 and arrived in
to play and there was a fireworks display. New York on May 1. After visiting the cities
We had a lot of fun at that," said Mrs. of Philadelphia, BaltimoreandWashington,
Hearn.he started for Canada on May 16; 1832. In
Besides the .open house, Mrs. Hearn also early June he reached York (now Toronto)
prepared a brief history of the house and the and described it as a place with "one decent
Ransford family in the Tuckersmith tavern called the Manson House and some
Township History Book. 5,000 to 6,000 inhabitants." While there, he
Two years ago, Mrs. Hearn said the hired a wagon for Goderich.
family threw a birthday party for the house Met Vari Egmonds
•to mark its 150th birthday. On this occasion, Near Stratford, the wagon broke down and
over 250 invited guests visited the house. he called on the help of Constant Van
"We even had a birthday cake and ice- Egmond, who was working on the road (now
cream," she said. Highway 8) being cut through the bush.
Intriguing Astieets They continued on with the use of Mr. Van
The history of Ransford House is one of Egmond's wagon and yoke of oxen to his
the intriguing aspects of owning the house. father Colonel Van Egmond's farm near
Mrs. Hearn says the family is so curious as ' Hullett Township.
to the history of the house that, last summer, "... From whence we walked to Goderich
they took a trip to England to seek out the after spending a few days in examining the
various places and residences out}fined in land with which I was so pleased that I was
r' determined to buy and settle there," he
Henry Ransford's diary. -:,
There, they discovered a Victorian wrote at the time.
residence in the Chelsea district of England After being unable to. strike an agreement
Which he called Huron Lodge, named, of with a Canada Company agent named
course, after Huron County. They also Charles Prior in Goderich, he journeyed to
looked for a home in Bristol, England where Toronto, where a Cholora epidemic was
he lived as a boy, and also for a starch raging, in order to purchase the land from
factory which he built and operated in the Canada Company, but he had to make a
Battersea, England during the late 1840s. separate trip to Toronto a month later to get
11? But, they were unable to find any traces of the deeds. He then hurried back to Goderich
these buildings, she said. to explore his property.
The Hearns credit Idella Willis, who 3,400Acres
owned Ransford House for 20 years, for "I walked down to see my land that I had
keeping intact the diary . and old bought, 3,400 acres, and had a regular
photographs from the turn of the century. • exploration for three or four days," he
The diary was given to Mrs. Willis by Mel wrote. "I engaged lodging at the Van
Ransford, the grandson of Henry Ransford Egmond's where we remained over a month
and the last of the Ransford's to own the . amusing ourselves, with walking over the
house. She, in turn, left the diary to the next land to find out the best site to build a house,
owner, Mr. Adshead; who passed the shooting, fishing and trying to get men to
clear up a' few acres. Rut, no men were to be
lustdrical documents on to the Hearns.
Mrs. Willis was also involved with much of had." deeds to the land, he
the restoration of the house, including the After receiving the
refurbishing. of the wooden beams, left in Septe
mber of 1833 for England to pack
ened b chiinney soot over the yearn up his, belongings at Stapleton to take with
Steck y, tower which . t o Canada. He also tnet his future wife,
She, also built a large wooden him t headingbacltto
held a clock beside the house which might Prances Richardson, before
someday be pout back in Working order, said
Canada, Upon *riving back hi Huron
Huron dwelling
n *i4 Seven weeks later on June 22, 1834, the
entourage arrived at the site of his home in
Huron County. What Henry Ransford
discovered was not exactly what he had
anticipated.
"I walked down to Stapleton and there to
my dismay, although the wheat, grass and
potatoes were all growing well, the
carpenter had done nothing but put up the
siding at the east end of the house.
"There was nothing for (us to do) but to
sleep at the tavern and hurry on the
carpenter," he wrote.
While still in the process of building the
house, the Ransfords and Walkers decided
to move into the unfinished dwelling "owing
to the discomfort of the tavern," in Clinton.
Herein, Henry Ransford describes their
unfinished, albeit primitive, household.
" We lived on the south side, the Walkers
on the north. They spread their beds on the
west side under the upper floor. I and my
wife slept on the half upper as our bedroom
which we reached by a ladder that I had to
make before we could go to bed.
"Our kitchen and fireplace was a large,
hemlock stump outside the house, our
dinner table a broad cherry board, six feet
long on top of the flour barrel. For chairs,
we used our trunk and boxes and, the piano
case made a capital cupboard."
In the ensuing summer months, Henry
Ransford continued to work tirelessly on the
house, hauling limestone from the river
bank beside the house in order to make
plaster for the walls. For a chimney, small
boulders gathered by the river bank was
used to build a stone foundation for the
chimney. When building the actual
chimney, he recalled in his diary the
frustrating circumstances surrounding its
construction.
"I was lucky to get a bricklayer, Jerry
Atkins... After cutting a whole through the
roof for the chimney, it set in to rain and I
had to sit over it with an umbrella for three.
or four hours so that the man should not stop
working."
The feeling of pride and accomplishment
shines through in Henry Ransford's written
thoughts on the newly -completed fireplace,
like nowhere else in the diary. It was a
source of pure and simple enjoyment.
"The evenings were getting cold and only
those who have ,gone through the same
labor, anxiety and toil can enter into the
_. feeling - of . delight when a blazing._firezwas
roaring up the chimney and we all sat round
and enjoyed it," he wrote, adding he had
built a double fireplace which divided the
kitchen and sitting room.
Ransford home refuses to show its age
Mrs. Hearn.
Ransford's Diary
The diary, which is a fascinating piece of
historical literature in itself, tells of the life
and times of Henry Ransford - a man who
could be described as an adventurer and a
brilliant engineer, having built and operated
a sugar refinery in Jamaica at the age of 20,
erected three houses including Ransford
House in Huron County and, after leaving
Canada in 1946, founded the starch works in
Battersea, England.
On a brief visit to Canada in 1868, Henry
Ransford also established Stapleton Salt
Works along the Maitland River near
Goderich which was the forerunner of the
he
mInodern salt evaporating plant.
process he founded a method of evaporating
salt into a useable form whichmade it a
viable industry. The salt works was
managed by his two sons Richard and John
until 1907.
In exacting detail, Henry Ransford
Makes Move
To Clifton
A
True to his chameleon nature, Henry
Ransford, his wife Frances and eight
children only remained at Stapleton for five
years. In 1840, he began building a house on
64 acres of land he had purchased the year
before overlooking the Maitland River near
what is presently called Piper's Dam. In
March of 1841, the house was still
incomplete, ,but the Ransford's decided to
move into the house which he called Clifton.
He had rented Stapleton to a man named
Gosman.
During their six year stay at the Goderich
area residence, Henry Ransford continued
to farm as well as taking on duties as the
treasurer of Huron County. However, in
1946, he received an offer to become the
manager of the starch factory in Batersea,
England which was owned by his brother
Evill and his friend, a Mr. Welch. All their
household effects and livestock were sold
before departing for England in April of
1846. Clifton was rented to a man named
John Haldam.
Ransford's sons Richard and John
continued to run the farm at Stapleton until
the early 1900s. But, their partnership in
running the farm was not a smooth one.
Both returned to England on a number of
occasions to complain to their father about
disagreements between the brothers
concerning the farm. Richard eventually
took over the soul occupancy of Stapleton ,
along with his wife Florence Hale of Clinton.
However, after he and his wife moved to
Goderich, John took over the farm.
The last reference in the diary to
Stapleton was in 1879 when Henry Ransford
made what was to be his final pilgrimage to
his Huron County home. He departed from
Liverpool on August 2, 1879 with his sister
Caroline, Mr. Welch and his brother to
Clinton. The reason for their journey is
unclear, however, it may have been a
sentimental visit as Henry was advancing in
years.
"Welch and his brother reached Stapleton °
Mary and Bill Hearn are the present owners of the Ransford House on my birthday the 27th (August) where we
County in June of 1833, he began the task of
clearing the land and building a house.
"1 at once hired mento clear the land. I
fixed, on a pretty spot overlooking the river
on, lots 39 and 40. I marked out 10 acres and
got three or four cleared so that 1 could build
the frame of my house- and sowed some
three acres in clover and grass."
I hired a man named Hamilton, a good
heaver, and he and I raised the frame, .got
the roof, and shingled it.+.1 also bargained
with a carpenter named 1Precitan to floor
the house, get out the siding and make the
windows, but none of which he did. I boarded
at Vanderburgh's. (a hotel in Clinton) all this
time and Saw many who came up to settle."
Married Frances Rlehardson
In November of 1833, Henry Ransford
departed for Britain once more, this time to
visit his brother. On January 23, 1834; he
married Frances Richardson in a small,
ceremony in her hometown of Henley,
England. In May of 1834, he left the London
docks with his new wife, along With servants
Mr. and Mrs, Thomas .Walker 4nd four
children, bound for Canada.
all dined. John, Willy (Richard) and Florie's
father and mother spending a very pleasant
evening dancing in the drawing room which
had formerly been two bedrooms, one my
father had occupied. The other where
myself and my wife slept for many years
and where our four eldest children where
born.,
"I had formerly built this house in 1833. It
had since been much dilapidated but when
Richard was going to be married he had
restored it and made additions," Henry
Hansford wrotein the diary of his final visit
to his beloved` Stapieton. He died 14 years
later on March28,1893,,