Description Thomas Cantley 1857 - 1945 and Memories of Bonniebrae

Thomas Cantley 1857 - 1945

The forebears of my father, Thomas Cantley, came from Aberdeen, Scotland to Sydney River, Cape Breton when Charles Cantley's Uncle, one Alexander Cantley of His Majesty's Navy received a grant of land at Sydney River.   Being a bachelor he asked his nephew George Cantley to join him in the new country.  George came to Sydney River and settled there.  Some years later when Rev. Dr. McGregor began preaching in Pictou County they moved to East River, Pictou County, to have the benefit of religious training for their children.  Charles, the fatheer of Thomas Cantley and son of George lived in New Glasgow on the lot on Temperance Street where Nordeau Goodman recently resided.  Quite a large brook used to run through what is now Laurie Park and Charles planted the willow and elm trees there to try to cope with the erosion of its banks.

This Charles Cantley married Catherine Fraser who was a descendent of "Ian Rhuadh" Fraser who came to Halifax in 1794 on the Brig "John" and walked to Churchville where he soon married a daughter of John Robertson and they settled at Springville.

My father Thomas Cantley went to the Public School in New Glasgow up to Grade VI when he left to go to learn telegraphy at the Drummond Mine where an explosion soon occured. From there he went to work as a clerk at McCurdy's General Store at the south end of Provost Street where Irving Oil Station now is.  There he learned a lot about trade and in 1879 in (silent) partnership with James D. McGregor opened a china shop on Provost Street where McCarron's is now.  When the Eastern Extension of the Intercolonial Railway opened its line to Cape Breton, Cantley and Company supplied the china and crockery for the big festivities attendant upon that gala event.

During his years at the 'Steel Works' the Eastern Car Company was organized and this has been the backbone of local industry ever since. Wabana Mine in Newfoundland was added to the ventures of the Company and provided the iron ore so necessary to steel production. 

Ship building was commenced during the First World War and in all, seven steel ships were built by the Company at the river's edge of the Car Works near the locks at a place called Cantley Point which was where his grandfather first owned land after coming from Cape Breton.  My grandfather had been a ship builder who built, along with his brother William, seven sailing ships on the East River near where the Goodman parking lot now is.  Fill has made the river much narrower now but in the old days of the town there were lively shipyards there.  Many of the Carmichael ships were built there as were ships by other builders.  The last ship built at New Glasgow was the"James William" in 1908 and I recall my terror when the old steel bridge opened sideways from the centre in order to allow the "James William" gay with flags on the day of her launching go down the river that find day while throngs looked on. 

In 1883 he married Maria Jane Fraser of Pictou Town; of that marriage were born five children; three sons, Charles, Lang and Howard who worked at the Steel Works and Donald Fraser who was a lumberman and contractor; two daughters, Helen who died in 1911 of a ruptured appendix before the days of antibiotics and Marian who married W. Thomas Hayden, Q.C. and I am the sole survivor of Thomas and Maria Cantley's children.  I lived longer in the house "Bonniebrae' than anyone else, even my father and only sold it when all had predeceased me and I found myself living there alone for almost a year.  My father deed the house to me in 1941 and I was 'chatelaine' there from 1930 on the death of my mother until I sold the house to M. R. H. Porter in 1970 and moved to Halifax.

My recollections of the house follows.

Bonniebrae

Every year Thomas Cantley went to England, Scotland and the Continent of Europe travelling in the interests of the Steel trade and during these visits he was impressed by the fine homes he was in the old land.  In his mind's eye he visualized a fine stone house in New Glasgow and determined to have one built for his family.  Plans were drawn up, strangely enough by an architect from Tennessee, and these are in the possession of R. H. Porter in fine condition showing every detail  of measurements and planning.  The stone was quarried out the Little Harbour Road at 'Smelt Brook' the stream which flows from Fraser's Mountain down to Trenton at the point where the brook goes under the railway near the crossing north east of the town limits.  My father showed me the place which is near where a power line is now.

In 1903 before the construction of the stone house was commenced the corner lot held the former home of the Cantley's and it was moved next door where it is now owned by William C. Eastwood.  The boys lived with their father in the house during the winter move, but the girls and their mother spent the winter in Halifax, I being an infant.  It took most of the the winter to complete the move to the new site but nothing was broken and life continued in the old house on the new site until the stone house was ready for occupancy a year and a half later.

The costs proved to be more than anticipated although it was all done with day's labour at the going rates of 50 cents per hour for the stonemason and 35 cents for his helpers; the painter's wages were $2.25 per day and I have many of the receipted bills.

The house has two towers and twenty-seven rooms in all, including six bathrooms.  The tubs are large, in fact as children we used to pretend we were swimming in one of them.  The plumbing fixtures were English by Skanks & Company and when they wore out replacements were hard to find, however local ingenuity usually overcame that.  The stonemason was a Scotsman, James King, whose daughter Jean King Fraser (Mrs. Billie Friday) died only last winter.  The carpenter in charge was John Johnson whose own brick house on Albert Street is owned by Doulgas Dunlop.  The plumbing was done by Stewart Bros.  James Stewart was the father of Hughie Stewart, Ann Stewart and Mrs. Hugh MacKay.  All the painting and decorating was done by John Turner & Sons.

There are eight fireplaces, plus a very large one in the basement which came out of the frist Tavern in New Glasgow called The Rock which was at Bell's Corner and torn down when the Siveright Building was to be built.  The floors throughout, with the exception of the kitchen and pantries were all of hardwood; the ones on the bottom floor being of parquetry, each room having a different design and came from England arranged on a cloth backing ready to be laid.  The sample design is from some left over from the second floor hall.  The tile work was also British.  The most of the woodwork was milled at Rhodes Currie of Amherst or Dand's Shook Milll which was where McGregor Bedding has a plant near the river bank.  The wainscoting in the dining and sitting room is made of Jarrahwood.  Jarrawood resembles mahogany and is an expectionally hard durable wood which is native to Australia.  Some of the early streets in London, England were paved with it before ashphalt came into use.  The kitchen and pantry floors were made of real tile imported from England, had a blue and white and red border and these floors were washed daily; and easy job as the washed as easily as one's face and showed soil as readily I might add.  Over the range was an ingenious, for the times, arrangement to take cooking ordours off into the main chimney.  It consisted of a large hood over the stove under the centre of which was a swing flap which could be opened or closed easliy by means of a chain.

The laundry in the basement had three white enamel tubs and a coal stove which could heat a set of four drying racks which slid in or out of an interior heated frame.  My children spent many happy hours playing on these racks which provided a sort of trapeze of parallel bars which they could not resist.  For ironing flat pieces there was a large cold mangle which consisted of three wooden rollers which were turned by hand by a weighted wheel.  This made an excellent job of ironing curtains; sheets and any flat article.  At house cleaning time the neighbours used to bring their bedspreads and the like for easy ironing.  Who turned the heavy wheel?  Whoever could be impounded; it took strength and some accuracy and I early became proficient although once or twice my fingers were caught in the rollers.

The house was heated by hand fired coal, then an 'Iron Fireman' and latterly by oil.  In 1951 Matheson's Foundry made two big boilers, one for the Frist Baptist Church and one for Bonniebrae and it was quite a feat to get it into the cellar.

The tile rood is the original one and with minor repairs each season has stood up well for all its seventy-two years.  The Porte-cochere at the side door was removed in 1950.  Between the Wars two cannons were on the lawn, one from the Crimean War and the other the First World War, but these were given for scrap during World War II as a patriotic gesture.

If the 'Crown of a house is Hospitality' we enjoyed that, as both my mother and father liked having company.  Many business people were visitors, some from the Old Country before the 1914 War bringing their personal servants with them.  There was seldom a Sunday when there was not at least one guest for meals and the drawing  room rang with music when the Hymn Book was sung through from cover to cover.  My mother was very fond of music and sangin the Pictou Choir where her father was Choir leader and read music 'like a book'.

Unfortunatley, mother lost her voice almost completely when she was only twenty and thereafter could speak only in a whisper.  That did not deter her from making music as she whistled beautifully in a clear light and pleasing tone, even the Hymns in Church.  That whisper of hers carried long distances and we used to caution her to be careful as people could hear things she did not always intend to be overheard.  She had a great sense of humor and the house was lively with her enjoyment of life when she was well.  The continual strain of her speaking difficulty took its toll of her health and she had to have repeated operations on her throat in Boston and New York which shortened her life.  

My father was a hustler, up every morning at six, drove to the Steel Works to be there at seven when the men commenced work.  His sons went to the Works to work each summer when they reached the age of sixteen and were expected to learn the trade in the Machine Shop.  Howard became Superintendent in later years as he continued to work there.  Charles became an Engineering Consultant and during the 1914 War was brought home temporarily to help solve the technical details relating to the shells being made in Trenton. 

The barn housed five horses, including a riding mare, a cow and generally a pony.  One of the series of ponies was named Wellington whose life span was during the young days of the boys.  Wellington was a great pet, willing to please and the boys one day after school coaxed him up the two flights of the steep narrow stairway leading to the third floor of the barn by putting oats on each succeeding step until he reached the top floor.  A great achievement.  How to coax him back down was the next question.   In vain they tired every strategem for three days but Wellington remained unwilling to risk the descent. So. there he remained until my father came home and took over the problem; also without success.  A block and tackle had to be rigged and Wellington was lowered out of the barn window with a canvas secured about his middle and he was lowered navy fashion safely back to Terra Firma.

Bonniebrae, as the stone house was called, knew all the joys and vissitudes of family living form sixty-seven years.  Four weddings were solemnized, two babies born, one Christening was performed, fourth deaths took place within its rooms and thirteen family funerals. 

Since passing into the hands of R.H. Porter it has provided a quiet sheltering haven for numberless bereaved and sorrowing people.  It seems a useful and dignified rold for the old home in the town which was HOME to our family from 1857 until 1970, one hundred and eighteen years.

Marian Cantley Hayden

Halifax, NS
June 25, 1975