HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1977-08-17, Page 15Hear fascinating stories
about early days in Bayfield
Members of the Bayfield
Historical Society recently heard
about some original research and
listened to fascinating stories
about early days. The program
was divided between two
speakers — Muriel Althoff,
Oxford, M.A., Fellow of the Royal
Geographical Society (London,
England), and Armand Manness,
long familiar with the village.
Mrs. Althoff told about
researching the life of Admiral
Bayfield last winter in England
at her family home in
Blackheath, near the National
Maritime Museum at Greenwich.
That part of England, for hun-
dreds of years, has been closely
associated with the Navy.
In this area was the Royal
Palace of Placentia, Only a small
part of it remains in one of the
crypts of the Royal Naval
College, built on the same site.
This magnificent group of
buildings, then called Greenwich
Hospital took 50 yearsto build
and was designed by Christopher
Wren in 1695 as a hospital for
aged and infirm seamen of the
Royal Navy. It held up to 3,000
pensioners at times. On February
7, 1874, Admiral Bayfield was
awarded a Greenwich Hospital
pension of 150 pounds per annum.
The Royal Naval College is
known throughout the world now
as the university of the Navy; for
every officer has to undergo
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training there at some point in his
career. It was difficult in the day
of Admiral Bayfield. He went to
sea at the age of eleven and
served on Lord Collingwood's
flagship, Queen, very early in his
career,
To do research on the Admiral,
for whom the village of Bayfield
is named, Mrs. Althoff went to
the National Maritime Museum.
It is the world's largest and most
comprehensive maritime
museum, an international centre
of maritime historical research.
The library contains 60,000 books.
Its collection of historical
manuscripts fills nearly a mile of
shelving.
One book, "Memoirs of
Hydrography", by Commander
Dawson, gave a comprehensive
coverage of Admiral Bayfield.
The speaker had this xeroxed.
It is now in the archives of the
Bayfield Historical Society,
It contained a long list of the
Admiral's charts. In the
Navigation Room, Mrs. Althoff
searched through these; but was
unable to find the one for Lake
Huron. She did find a beautiful
chart of Charlottetown harbour
and surroundings. The Admiral
lived there for 44 years, until his
death. The speaker found another
chart of nearby Murray Bay.
Both were dated 1843.
Mrs. Althoff found further
information concerning the
career of the Admiral in the book,
"The Admiralty Chart, British
Naval Hydrography in the 19th
Century. Relevant portions,
copied by her, are now also in the
local archives.
Still pursuing the charts of
Lake Huron, she wrote to the
Hydrographic Office of the
Ministry_ of Defence (Navy) at
Tauton in Southwestern England.
A few weeks ago she received the
Admiral's charts of the Bayfield
area, published September 8,
1828, compliments of the
Hydrographer of the Navy. Mrs.
Althoff has now written to the
Public Records Office in London,
England, where the Admirals
birth certificate and other papers
are said to be.
The second speaker, Armand
Manness, reminisced ; about
experiences '`in Bayfield as a
young boy: He began by telling
about•finding the signature of his
grandfather, Samuel Richard
Manness, a London, Ontario,
cigar manufacturer, in
Bayfield's Albion Hotel records
for 1897. From that time, the
Manness family holidayed there.
Mr. Manness noted that W. H.
Robinson's name appeared on the
Albion Hotel records also. He and
Mr. Manness' father in 1919
purchased the 31/4 acres of
property now called the Manness
and Robinson survey, containing
29 lots. They built their cottages
in 1920, the Robinsons on the
northwest corner, the Manness
on the southwest.
They walked to Bob Penhale's
barn and later to Miss Camp -
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Citizens News, August 17, 1977
Page 15.
bell's (Mrs. Hobert Scot-
chmere's) to draw water, Coal oil
was used for lighting and
cooking. Cows roamed the
streets, so it was necessary to
carry a lantern at night,
Mr. Manness remembered the
Merners' and Edwards' stores.
Staff members would go to the
cottages and homes, obtain
grocery orders, then deliver
them later the same day.
Diecherts', Yungbluts' and Dan
Muroe's meat wagon called at
village dwellings. Harold and
Abe Brandon delivered milk,
Murdock Ross delivered ice for
ice -boxes. Fresh whitefish and
lake trout were obtained from
commercial fishermen along the
docks.
It took three hours to come
from London to Bayfield in an
open Ford touring car. The
luggage wes held in racks, on the
running boards. Several tube
punctures occurred en route.
Mr. Manness recalled lawn
croquet games with Lucy
(Woods) Diehl and Jean (Woods)
Middleton, and watching from
the River House with his mother
when boys jumped into the
Bayfield River from high on the
old steel bridge,
The Commercial Hotel was run
by Harry Darrow, the best fly -
fisherman in the area, by Henry
Pollock, then Ed Weston, who
also ran the dance pavilion in
Jowetts' Grove. This hotel was
renamed the Lakeview and was
bought by the Seeds family, then
by George and Ada Little, who
renamed it the Little Inn.
Behind the Commercial Hotel
was Doc Johnstons' bakery.
Across the corner was Fowlies'
ice cream parlour. On the west
side of Main was the Ritz Hotel,
owned by Mrs, Martha Ritz, then
by Harry Darrah, then by
Thomas Bailey, who married
Mrs. Ritz. The hotel burned down
on Labour Day weekend, 1947,
and was later rebuilt as the New
Ritz .This fire led to formation of
the Bayfield Volunteer Fire
Department.
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