The Bayfield Historical Society 20 Main St. North, P.O. Box 161 Bayfield, Ontario N0M 1G0 E-mail address: [email protected] Web-site: www.bayfieldhistorical.ca 519-441-3224 Annual Newsletter for 2020 In this Issue Covering the Events of 2019 Nicola and Peter Robinson 1,2 The Malta 2 President’s Message 3 Remembrance Day Ancestry Tree 4 Remembrance Day Event WW1 Medals and the Bake 5 Family Stephanie Talbot- Cataloguer 6 Summer Student Reflections Archives Report 7 Admiral Henry Wolsey Bayfield 8,9 Speaker Series 10,11 Board of Directors - 2020 12 Nicola and Peter Robinson On Oct. 26, the Bayfield Historical Society (BHS) hosted a gathering for two special visitors: Nicola (Nicky) and Peter Robinson from England. Nicky is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Admiral Hen- ry Wolsey Bayfield, after whom our village is named. The board of BHS hosted a social get-together at the Heritage Centre attended by local historians David Yates and Dave Gillians, members of the Bayfield Chamber of Commerce (BACC) and others to honor the visit of the Robinsons. In 1817 Admiral Bayfield began surveying the Great Lakes, Georgian Bay, St. Lawrence waterways and Eastern Canada. His detailed charts and maps continued to be in use until about 1910, said David Yates, who is undertak- ing extensive research for a book on the Admiral. Past-President Doug Brown provided background on the successful inaugural in 2019 of Admiral Bay- field Day which included a play about the Admiral done by Judy Keightley. For the second annual event BHS together with BACC will complete a memorial to Admiral Bayfield in downtown Bayfield near the library. BACC donated copies of the two Champlain Society volumes in which Bayfield’s journals are published. The Robinsons were presented with local publications: Reflections of Bayfield and For the Love of Bay- field; both publications available at BHS. continued on page 2 1 Admiral Bayfield was born in 1795 in Yorkshire, The Robinsons were charmed by the village of England. BHS has traced his ancestry back to Bayfield, and after a few more days in the area, his great-great grandfather Thomas in 1655. their next stop was Charlottetown to explore an- Nicky’s grandmother was Fanny Bayfield and it other touchstone to the past: the house where the was through Ancestry research a few years ago Bayfields’ lived is preserved as a National Histor- that Nicky connected her family tree directly to ic Site. Henry and Fanny’s P.E.I. summer home is Admiral Henry Bayfield. Nicky’s mother “was also a registered historic site. fostered” and knew nothing of her famous roots If you are visiting P.E.I. the Bayfield Historical until the search. Society can help you with locating these histori- Admiral Bayfield settled in P.E.I. and married cal landmarks of Admiral Bayfield and his family. Fanny Wright in 1838. They had six children, one During Bayfield’s time his contribution to chart- being Horace who returned to England and be- ing our waters (water being the primary means came a surgeon and of whom Nicky is descen- of transportation) made voyages for immigrants dant. Fanny Wright Bayfield was a noted artist of to the “New World” safer and assisted with the her time with several paintings on display today defence of their new home. at Library & Archives Canada and other muse- ums. Admiral Bayfield and his wife Fanny are buried in P.E.I. Nicky and Peter Robinson are in possession of a beautiful painting of birds which has been passed down through the generations with “GY” as the artist. They can now confirm that this is Gertrude Young the great granddaughter of Admiral Henry Wolsey Bayfield. Admiral Bayfield Fanny Wright The “Malta” Wreck of the Malta c1888 This image of the Malta was taken on Nov. 17. (Photo by Stephanie Talbot) Stephanie Talbot, our cataloguer at the Bayfield Archives and an avid photographer, captured photos of the exposed Malta skeleton during her morning walk this past November. It was during the night of November 24 in 1882 that Malta’s captain, Mr. Buckley, said that he mistook the light of a candle in a second-storey window on Bayfield’s shore for the Goderich lighthouse, and subsequently steered into shallow waters. While no one perished, the Malta could not be freed. For a few decades the schooner acted as a makeshift bathhouse, before being broken up and buried during the Great Storm of November 1913. Wrecks such as the Malta are not to be disturbed or moved as they are legally protected as cultural and historical resources. 2 President’s Message 2019 by Doug Brown and Ruth Gibson Doug Brown Ruth Gibson 2015-2019 Oct. 2019 The Board was successful in securing funding from the Huron Heritage Fund and Community Futures to supplement a very generous donation from an anonymous donor. This funding was used to implement the Cataloguing and Inventory project to record all historical documents and donations using a museum software called PastPerfect which was extensively researched before purchasing. This funding allowed us to hire Stephanie Talbot who mastered the program and is making good headway. Doug Brown stepped down as President in October of this year. Ruth Gibson (former Treasurer) was nominated to that position. Doug remains on the board as a Director together with Julia Armstrong, Claudia Barrett, Deborah Curran, Doug Darnbrough, Barb Durand, Joe Gray, Godfrey Heathcote, Linda Hopkins-Greenly, and Gwen Patterson. Julia Armstrong, Archivist, grew up in Stanley Township. She lives and works in Toronto as the Super- visisory Editor of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography but is frequently in Bayfield visiting family and available by phone or email for consultation. Claudia Barrett is our Assistant Archivist on site for day-to-day archival duty. Other board members have taken on projects that are equally valuable to the overall functioning of the archives. The Helen McLeod II Committee is exploring the feasibility of building a structure on the south shore of the harbour to exhibit the schooner to the public. We have met with staff from the Ausable Bayfield Con- servation Authority and received cautionary approval about building above the floodplain. Doug Culbert Limited, Land Surveyors in Goderich, have donated their time surveying the land and have given us an elevation drawing. The firm Rob McCrae Architect from Toronto did the original sketch of the structure and have agreed to look at the surveyor’s floodplain map to determine whether a structure can be built on the proposed parcel of land. In 2018 the Municipality of Bluewater proclaimed the last Saturday in April as Admiral Bayfield Day. The first celebration in 2019 was headlined by the Ennis Sisters’ concert and a play written and directed by Judy Keightley. Both performances at the Town Hall were fund-raising events for the Historical So- ciety. The plans for 2020 include the unveiling of a permanent memorial to Admiral Bayfield’s work charting the Great Lakes, St.Lawrence River, Gulf of St. Lawrence and the eastern seaboard. Financial support for this includes a Federal grant from the Ministry of Cdn Heritage & Multiculturalism and we have also applied locally to the Municipality of Bluewater‘s Community Vibrancy Fund. Doug thanks the board members for their hard work and support during his 3½ years. Together we have been committed to preserving our archival collection for years to come along with making it more ac- cessible to the public. Ruth looks forward to this exciting time and being part of our transformation to technology which will expedite recovery of documents and artifacts for viewing. This is possible with joint community and board support which benefits us and all future generations. We all thank you for supporting us. 3 Remembrance Day Ceremony 2019 Last post. Laying of the wreaths at the Cenototaph. Stories from the Ancestry Tree The Elliotts of the Albion Hotel We were asked to do an Ancestry tree for the Deacon family in Guelph. The granddaughter was most interested in her grandmother Maggie Davidson born in Bayfield, with family talk passed down that she had “Indian blood”. We found documents through Ancestry that Maggie’s parents both came from Scotland but found some other very interesting things about Grandma. Grandma Maggie Davidson (Deacon) worked at the Albion Hotel and according to the Goderich court records “had been seeing” both Fred and Harvey Elliott; story below: Nov 8, 1897, Fred Elliott 21 yrs shot and killed his brother Harvey Elliott 23 yrs. Fred was sentenced to 5 years hard labour at Kingston Penitentiary. Returned to working at the Albion Hotel but died in 1905. It appears that the root cause of the deadly argument may have been the brother’s rivalry for the affections of Miss Margaret Davidson. Davidson was a serving girl at the Albion. She had been seeing Harvey for a couple of years. Lately she had been seen with younger brother Fred. Specula- tion was rife that this may have sparked the deadly shooting that night. (by Ruth Gibson) Discovering My Roots! I have recently moved to the Bayfield area. I grabbed a map of Ontario and stuck a pin in Bayfield and here I am. My Mother had told me my Grandfather was born in Clinton, sparking my imagina- tion. I started researching my family tree. Well, to my surprise generation after generation was born, raised, married and died in either Goderich, Clinton or Exeter area. I have literally come back to my maternal roots! Not to be outdone by my maternal side, I have found a story recently that a Mrs.