Clinton News-Record, 1974-05-30, Page 13Joe Weber of Kitchener, left and Margaret Mallory, right, check one of the shards of pottery
recovered with Dr. Edward R. Riegert of Wilfred Laurier University.
One of the heavy cast iron doors from the Burns Pottery was unearthed recently and covered
one of the kiln's two fire boxes, Masters student Prince Chitwood holds the door.
two of the 20 university students who unearthed the burns Pottery carefully taped together
One of the ten-inch crocks afterall the pledeS were excavated from the &re on the Mervyn
Lobb WM on the Maitland concession. Nancy Saunders and Sandra Woolfrey worked with
some Of the more than 10,000 shards that were uncovered,
Probably the only known
piece of Burns pottery that had
been preserved was by Henry
James Thompson, Goderich
Township, who wrote in his
diary, November 7, 1888, that
he went to the pottery for a
load of apple barrels and that
he paid 10c for the gallon jug
he purchased from Sonny
Burns. The preserved piece of
pottery, probably a collectors
item, is a red clay pickle crock,
glazed on the inside only, and it
is owned by Thompson's son,
Harry, of R.R. 2, Clinton. It
was largely through his interest
in the old Burns Pottery that
the archaeological project
developed,
In the late I800's, with the
depression of world trade, and
cheaper techniques of'
producing glass and tin ware,
the Burns Pottery along with
other potteries in Ontario and
Quebec, Started to decline.
A publication on the David
Burns Pottery will be forth-
cotning in 'approximately one
year's time, and according to
Dr, Riegert, will be available to
all persons interested in the
history and the design of the
pottery.
'The artifacts for the project
will be shared by the RDA,
and the university for further
study and reference. It is inw
tereeting In note that the romp,
Prince Chitwood, a masters student in archaelogy at Wilfred Laurier University of Waterloo
points to the north,,.th.tpf the retangular kiln, as uncovered In an archaeological project this
mciiith" in 'Gerderfch TcWriehip, 'Wear the Maitland 'ConteSakin.
the R.O.M. Another brother
George is listed in an 1877
Collector's Roll for Goderich
Township as an owner, along
with David, of 80 acres of land
for which the taxes were $9.50,
on lot 18, 16th concession,
David Burns took over the
pottery business shortly after
he arrived in the township.
With his wares loaded on a
"democrat", a four-wheeled
wagon, with its one seat in
front, and hauled by one horse,
he would set off through the
country. It is reported that one
of his customers was a
storekeeper by the name of
Timothy Eaton, at Kirkton.
Eaton shortly after became the
founder of what turned •out to
be 100 years later, the largest,
single private company in the
world.
der of the R.O.M., Dr, Charles
Currelly, was a native of Huron
County.
What happens when the
David Burns Pottery Ar-
chaeological project is com-
pleted? Dr. Riegert hopes that
a group of local persons who
are interested in the history of
Huron County, and its in-
dustrial development, will per-
manently mark the site and
preserve it from eventual
deterioration.
Inspired by
Local Resident
Mrs, John (Daisy) Torrance Of Goderich toWnship is a
great granddaughter of Bernard Pohlman evans, Who found
the "china" clay on the banks of the Maitland giver. The
clay was used for the pottery.
Clinton, Ontario Second Section
Thursday, May 30, 1974
109 Year No. 22
Students unearth century-old pottery at Holmesville site
An early Canadiana pottery
has been successfully un-
covered this past month in
Goderich Township on the
Maitland Concession as the
result of a joint archaeological
project of the Royal Ontario
Museum, Toronto arid Wilfred
Laurier University, Waterloo.
David William Burns, of
Ireland, began the pottery in
the late 1850's on a small plot
of land between lots 45 and 46
— property now owned by Mr.
and Mrs. Mervyn Lobb, R.R. 2,
'Clinton. It continued in
operation until the turn of the
century.
The Burns Pottery turned
out hand-made utility pots,
pans, jugs, flat milk bowls for
skimming milk, jars and crocks
in a wide variety of colored
glazes.
The excavation, which was
started May 1st by some 20
Wilfred Laurier students, has
uncovered a rectangular kiln,
double-walled with two fire
mouths. Two heavy cast iron
doors that covered the fire
boxes were also uncovered, No
whole pots were excavated.
(The early history of .Clinton
lists a, foundry, and one won-
ders if, by chance the doors
were cast there.)
An 84-year-old retired Clin-
ton merchant, Clifford Lobb'
who resides on Shipley
Street, says that the kiln stood
eight feet high. He recollects as
a young, -boy watching Burns
throwing his pots on a foot':
powered wheel. "It was won-
derful what he did with his two
bare hands," remarked Mr.
Lobb, who when very young
lived some 40 to 60 rods away
from where the pottery stood.
Loading the wood through the
doors, Burns would say, "Well,
I'm going to burn some pot-
tery!"
First Course
Ever Offered
The "dig" is a credit course
entitled "Historical Ar-
chaeology", and it is the first
such course offered by a
Canadian university. The
project, which is to be finalized
by June 1, is co-ordinated by
David Newlands of the
Canadiana Department of the
Royal Ontario Museum and Dr.
Edward R. Riegert, Wilfred
Laurier University, Waterloo.
'For the students, the back-
breaking job — in days of ex-
tremely cool, below normal
weather conditions — or those
few bright ones that the sun
literally baked their skin, the
project is merely applying the
information that they earlier
studied in the classroom, Con-
trary to what the "passerby"
might think - they are not being
paid.
The picturesque property,
where the pottery once stood on
the Maitland Concession, rolls
down along an old road
covered with an orchard and
stops at the river, Burns, like
other 19th century potters,
could not regulate the firing
temperatures, and consequently
many kiln loads were ruined.
And so extensive areas of
discarded property have also
been examined by the crew.
Digging for a second kiln, one-
quarter of a mile away from the
uncovered one, and nearer to
the river, at the time of writing,
look promising, says Dr,
Riegert.
"Archaeology is 'destruction'
in order to help us 'construct'
early history" said Dr, Riegert.
Briefly he traced the process of
excavation and of recording:
pottery shards are retrieved
from carefully controlled layers
of soil in grickled squares, with
the pottery from each layer
being maintained in separate
buckets. Each blanket load of
shards is washed, after which
each shard is labelled as to the
site and the year, the square,
the layer it Came from and a
registry number, A five by eight
inch card is prepared for each
artifact, on which is recorded
the above information together
with a description of the ar-
tifact and its diameter. Later a
drawing will also be made.
Whenever possible, pieces that
fit together are glued, with fur-
ther reconstruction being done
later. Notes made in the field
as the excavation 'goes on, as
well as scale-drawn plans and
photographs, maintain a con-
stant record of the excavation.
At this date, more than
10,000 shards were recovered,
and of these, 4,000 were con-
'sidered significant enough to be
registered.
The Maitland Concession
has been a busy one this past
month, The Mervyn Lobbs,
•• who made the."dig" possible by
granting permission for the ex-
cavation on their property, con-
tributed, no doubt, to the com-
fort and the health of the crew.
Mrs. Lobb, assisted by her
daughter-in-law,. Mrs. Bruce
Lobb, and her niece, Eleanor,
served a hot dinner, complete
with home-baking, each Mon-
day to Thursday evenings, to as
many as 20 who were seated at
the dining room table at one
sitting along with nine of their
own. Mrs. Lobb said it was like
preparing for a silo-filling time
each evening, but they enjoyed
the group.
The crew set up camp of
tents and trailers in the yard of
Mr. • and 4 Mrs:- Murray Lobb;
where they used the barn as a
technical laboratory, and the
double garage which is at-
tached to the home, as a kit-
chen-dining room, where they
made their own breakfasts and
lunches.
Coin Flip
For Lots
In 1832 when Bernard
Pohlman Evans, a Welshman,
came to Canada, he tossed a
coin at the office of the Canada
Company in Goderich to see
which lots he and his two
travelling companions would
settle on in Goderich Town-
ship. Evans was 57 years old at
the time, a well-to-do, well
travelled man, with wife and
family, while Charles White
Williams and Robert Graham
were in their early 20's. While
his estate in England was
large, he knew nothing, about
farming, but he did realize that
there was no substitute for the
water that the Maitland River
would provide. He built himself
a "mansion" of a home - a
two-storey log cabin, 'and he
hung its walls with hides to
keep the winds out. It was on
the river bank that he later
found "china" clay, clay which
he realized was suitable for
producing pottery.
From his great grand ,
daughter, Mrs. John Torrance
(Daisy Williams) who lives in
Goderich Township (and in-
cidentally she is a grand-
daughter of Charles White
Williams) we learned - "the
clay was like old-fashioned.
putty that we used to buy. After
it was hauled from the river
bank by means of a horse, it
was mixed in a huge tub with
water, to separate the stones
and twigs." A well-educated
man, he saw the value of the
clay and so he sent to Ireland
, for a potter.
The potter proved to be
Davis William Burns (1843-
1905), who was later to marry
Evans' daughter Ellen in a
ceremony in St, Paul's
Anglican Church, Clinton in
1865, (There are two great
grandsons presently living in
Toronto), He was not the only
immigrant, nor the only potter
in the Burns family , for it is
recorded in a recent copy of
"Early Canadiana Pottery"
that Samuel, his brother was a
potter at Markham frona 1811
to 1884 a. Site which was ex.
eavated several years Ago by