Terry Boyle's Discover Ontario 5-Book Bundle. Terry Boyle
lake levels following the construction of dams for the Trent Canal. The creation of the Trent system raised water levels on many lakes. In July 1928, a hurricane wreaked further havoc and, since 1950, the introduction of bottom-feeding carp has destroyed most of the roots of the remaining rice plants.
In the 1840s, a settlement started on the south shore of the lake. The settlers called their home Gore’s Landing, named after Thomas S. Gore, a British Navy captain who had owned land here in 1845. This was not the first visit here by white people. In 1825 Peter Robinson brought 1,875 Irish settlers from Cobourg to Gore’s Landing, across Rice Lake, and up the Otanabee River to settle in Peterborough.
Gore’s Landing began to prosper when it became the terminal point of the plank road from Cobourg to Rice Lake in 1847. A stagecoach connection offered residents and visitors the opportunity to travel. A private boarding school, F.W. Barron Boys’ School, was opened by a former headmaster of Upper Canada College. A hotel, a tavern, a general store, and several small industries made up the business section. In the early 1900s, Gore’s Landing became a boatbuilding centre and a port of call for Rice Lake steamers. More than one regatta was held at Gore’s Landing.
Gore’s Landing also has its fair share of famous people who resided here at one time or another, such as the famous nature poet Archibald Lampman; Derwyn T. Owen, who became Anglican Primate of All Canada; and J.D. Kelly, an historical artist.
Few Canadians are aware of a famous artist who built his summer home on the shore of Rice Lake, in Gore’s Landing. On January 20, 1845, one of Canada’s most prolific but least-known painters, Gerald Sinclair Hayward, was born. A man of many talents, Hayward dared to pursue life to the fullest. He enlisted for frontier service with the Port Hope Infantry Company in November, 1865. He was awarded a Queen’s Medal and discharged in April, 1866, with the rank of ensign. Next, he tried farming and railroading, but neither seemed to satisfy him. He was in his early twenties when he decided to start an entirely new career.
The art of painting miniature portraits and scenes appealed to Hayward, but it was not widely practiced in Canada, so he went to study at the Royal Academy schools in London, England, in 1870. While there, he was commissioned by many members of the English, German, and Russian courts to do miniature portraits on ivory. He painted Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), Princess Alice, the Countess of Minto, the Duke and Duchess of Buckingham, Lord and Lady Caven, the Empress of Prussia, and the Czarina of Russia. Later, in Canada, he painted the prime ministers MacDonald and Laurier.
Hayward gave his first exhibition, of 90 modern miniatures, in the United States at the Avery Galleries in New York in 1889 and continued to exhibit throughout the country. One leading newspaper said, “Mr. Hayward has become world-famous in his exclusive field and has painted more than a thousand distinguished persons in America on coming out from London.” Another paper wrote, “His work is strongly individualistic — the eye full of life, hair freely treated, fidelity in tint of complexion, with perfect harmony in tone of background, combine to make the living portrait possible to obtain.”
Hayward took up residence in New York City, but returned to Canada to build a summer home in Gore’s Landing on Rice Lake in 1900. He had never really strayed too far from his birthplace, Port Hope. Hayward built a magnificent villa with screened verandas overlooking the lake. He named his home The Willows. This was his favourite retreat, and he was so enchanted with the panoramic view from his tower window that he later painted the lake and its many islands on the walls of his dining room.
As church warden he assisted in the building of St. George’s Anglican Church in the village, and much of its artistic appearance is due to his interest in the construction. When he died in New York on March 31, 1926, his ashes were brought to Gore’s Landing by his daughter and buried in the cemetery of the church. The Toronto Star Weekly published an article on Hayward on April 3 of that year, stating, “In the passing of Gerald Sinclair Hayward, world-famous miniature painter, Canada loses one of her greatest artists.”
Unfortunately, he has been all but forgotten as a Canadian artist. The murals of Rice Lake on his dining room walls are covered with coats of paint, and his beautiful home, The Willows, is now the Victoria Inn. Gerald Sinclair Hayward’s tower room is a special one; I have stayed there myself, with my wife.
The Natives went to Rice Lake for purification and that was our experience, too. It was a wild night of rain and lightning; you could open windows in three of the four directions (and we did). The power of nature there was something to behold; we felt blessed to share that space and were amazingly refreshed by the storm. The lake was always sacred to the Natives, and Hayward’s home was sacred to him. When that’s the case, the feeling is always there for others to share.
You really should pay Gore’s Landing a visit. There are a number of architectural delights there that were built between 1848 and 1895. It is obvious that, in their incredible and unique beauty, these buildings were special to their owners. It’s a joy to look at and touch what was another’s sacred space.
Holland Landing
To his neighbours, Samuel Lount was an amiable chap. He was outspoken and campaigned for his beliefs. Samuel left Pennsylvania in 1811 and arrived near Holland Landing, where he worked hard and prospered as a farmer, a blacksmith, and a surveyor. He won a position as a Reformer and member of the legislative assembly for Simcoe County. On December 7, 1837, his life looked pretty grim. In the days leading up to this date, he became involved in William Lyon Mackenzie’s uprising against the government, the Family Compact. On that fateful day of action, he was in joint command of the rebel forces who met at Montgomery’s Tavern (which was located just north of Yonge and Eglinton). Shortly after the rebels’ defeat, he became a fugitive of the law and attempted to flee the country.
William Lyon Mackenzie escaped and remained in exile for several years before he was able to return to Canada. Unfortunately for Samuel, he was captured before he reached the American border. Samuel was convicted of high treason by the government on April 12, 1838; he was escorted to the gallows and hanged. Such was the fate of Holland Landing’s spokesman.
The village of Holland Landing had only been surveyed in 1811. Located near the site of a sawmill built by John Eves in 1808 and on the east branch of the Holland River, it was a perfect spot for settlement and industry. It was also only 48 kilometres (30 miles) north of York (known today as Toronto). The Natives had used this very spot as a landing place because it marked the end of the portage from Lake Simcoe and what is now called Georgian Bay. Archaeological evidence revealed the existence of a one-time Native village and burial ground. Many villages established in Ontario at the same time as Holland Landing were located on former Native village sites.
Quakers, Mennonites, and United Empire Loyalists arrived to settle the town. The residents of this newly established community first called it St. Albans and later Beverly. By 1821 Peter Robinson established Red Mills, which quickly became the most important mill in the area. Robinson even shipped the flour he made to Europe. That same year, a post office was opened and the citizens renamed their village Holland Landing, after Major Samuel Holland, surveyor-general of the Province of Quebec in the late 18th century.
The community seemed destined for greatness. By 1825 a stage service ran daily from York, and by 1833 a steamboat connection had been set up. All of this encouraged further growth and led to the establishment of several industries. Among them were a brewery, a distillery, two tanneries, a foundry, and Ellerby’s carding and fulling mill. In 1851 the plank road was completed and this facilitated a growing wheat and livestock trade. Cargo ships on the Holland River made Holland Landing a major shipping depot between Lake Simcoe and York.
The completion of the Northern Railway in 1853 altered the booming commerce of the village. People began to travel less by road and water, and the need for such a shipping point diminished. In the late 19th century the owner of the Toby Mill relocated his business to Collingwood, after a dispute with the village over taxes, and area businesses that were dependent on the mill suffered as a result. A number of disastrous fires swept through and demolished most of the remaining businesses, and by 1921 the village population had decreased significantly.
The village