London Lost A Fortune

The Curious Case of Peter Birtwistle
   I have a reference to this gentleman for reasons I don't recall. He was a successful jeweler in London, Ontario in the early part of the last century. When I went searching for information about him, I found some, but nothing from local sources or newspapers. My search was limited to electronic resources that are available from my chair. 
   Perhaps someone associated with The London & Middlesex Historical Society might try firing up a microform machine and having a look through the local papers. One of the references I provide below (from a Florida newspaper), cites a London Free Press article from 1920(1).  A cursory search has not yielded any historical articles about him.
  Why should one bother with Mr. Birtwistle?
   One reason would be to try and figure out why this wealthy bachelor decided to leave all his money to Colne in Lancashire rather than London in Ontario.
  Here is what I have found from the sources provided below.
  Birtwistle emigrated (twice) from England. According to the brief history found on the Colne website, he partnered with a Joseph Pickles here in London. He became one of this city's most successful jewelers and was a well known diamond merchant. His business was at 113 Dundas Street, the ground floor of which was occupied by the Winslow Brothers shoe store. He later moved to 116 Dundas and lived above the shop(3d). If the current street numbers are similar, the location would be in the block where Kingsmill's used to be. Like most rich Canadians, he spent the winters in the south.
   What did the wealthy bachelor plan to do with his money when he died?
  There is one reference which indicates his niece was to be his beneficiary, but they quarrelled and she left for Australia (3d).
   The next suggestion is that the inheritor was to be the St. George's Society. It is found in the source mentioned just above, which also states that he was president of the London society from 1901 to 1907. Apparently he had a disagreement with the Society as well. When Birtwistle died in 1927, the Border Cities Star reported that: "According to the Trust and Guarantee Company, it had originally been Mr. Birtwistle's intention to leave this sum in trust for the benefit of the aged poor of London, Ontario, but certain disagreements which occurred later, notably what is known as the St. George's Society incident caused him to alter this determination(2).
   Although Birtwistle was a charitable chap, he must have been a bit touchy since there was also an incident with his next intended beneficiary, the city of London. In the 1935 Border Cities Star article it says that "the city of London was reported to be named the sole beneficiary in his will, but following disagreement with the city officials his home town was named to receive the estate."
   In 1941, when officials from his hometown of Colne showed up to attempt to get the money, the headline of a related article refers to the dispute with someone representing the city of London: "London Estate Is Sought Now For Colne, Eng.: Late Jeweler's Fortune Lost to Adopted City Because of Old Slight," Globe and Mail, Mar. 11, 1941.It begins with this sentence: "A real or fancied offense of certain citizens of London, Ont. in 1907, cost that city's aged and needy poor a sum of over $600,000 , which may now be turned over to a town in England..." It is further noted that, "The nature of the "offense" is not known. Some claim that it was a disagreement between a wealthy bachelor jeweller and city officials over city audits." 
   Colne was the heir chosen as you will see by looking at the related websites.           Apart from his alleged argument with the city, or the "incident" with the St. George's Society, perhaps he just wanted to leave the money to a place in his homeland, since an affection for it is suggested by his membership in the Society. It appears that the local branch still exists and if their records do as well, maybe more can be learned from them.
    Birtwistle had the money placed in trust for 21 years which explains the rationale for some of the articles provided which are listed in chronological order. There are four articles from 1935 because officials from Colne came asking that the money be released because of the depression. In 1941 they came again because the money was needed because of the damages caused by the war.
   The Supreme Court judgment from 1938 concerns the tax issues related to the Birtwistle Trust and a link to it is provided.
   It may be that an historian (or a historian, if you prefer American usage) has studied this issue and was overlooked by me. If not, and you decide to do a little investigating, make sure you search for "Birtwistle" since it can easily be replaced in searches by "BirDwHistle."

Current Colne Websites

The Peter Birtwistle Trust is a Registered Charity and Registered Social Housing Provider (RSH no 5086) based in Colne, Lancashire. 
Peter Birtwistle Retirement Housing Site.

Sources:

1. 1920 
"Lakeland Visitor Gives Old Folks of His Town a Tea Each Year," The Lakeland Evening Telegram, Feb. 23, 1920. Here is a screen shot and it indicates that the Free Press is the source.

2. 1927
"Million Left to Poor Folk: Former London Man Wills Estate to Native Town," Border Cities' Star, April 27, 1927. [ The Border Cities Star was a Windsor, Ontario newspaper. An apostrophe sometimes appears in the title - Cities' .]

3. 1935
a) “Colne Dignitaries Here Today Seeking Bequest For Town," Toronto Star, May 30, 1935.
b) “$1,000,000 Bequest For English Town: London, Ont. Jeweler Left Money To Accumulate Interest,” The Globe, May 31, 1935.
c) “Mayor of Colne in Canada,” The Manchester Guardian, June 1, 1935.
d) "Seek Estate of Londoner: Thousands Bequeathed to Lancashire Town by P. Birtwistle - Payment Deferred: Delegation Asks Money In Advance Because of Depression," Border Cities' Star, May 31, 1935.

4. 1938

Supreme Court Judgments: "Peter Birtwistle Trust v. Minister of National Revenue."

5. 1941

“London Estate is Sought Now for Colne, Eng.: Late Jeweler’s Fortune Lost to Adopted City Because of Old Slight,” The Globe & Mail, Mar. 11, 1941

6. 2018

Millionaire's Legacy Lives on With 12 New Bungalows in Colne," Nic Marko, Lancashire Telegraph, March 18, 2018.

"Pendle Enterprise And Regeneration Ltd (PEARL) has completed the construction of the £1.4million housing development at Carry Lane for the Peter Birtwistle Trust.

The Trust was founded by Peter Birtwistle who emigrated from the UK to Canada but left his entire fortune to provide housing for people in his home town of Colne when he died in 1927."

Post Script
   In Mulcahy's Miscellany I have provided a few historical posts about London, none of which would constitute much of a threat to the real historians of this city. Two of them relate to London during the period when Birtwistle resided here (at least during the summer.) This, slightly frivolous one, at least illustrates how one can find out about London by searching papers from places far away - those places where more resources from the past have been digitized - "Lonely in London c.1920." Another is about the KKK - "Verminous Missionaries."
   I mentioned Kingsmill's above and was pleased to see that the picture of the inside of that store, buried in one of my posts, still exists. If you click on the image in "Detour", you will see an example of the elegance that once existed on Dundas Street. 

A Year-End Bundle of Nostalgia

    It is another rainy day and you have likely had enough of the holiday season, so I will attempt to offer something for you to do. Although shopping is involved, it is not the kind of shopping you just did in an awful, crowded mall. There used to be better places in which to shop and you can visit a few below.
   One of them is in La Ronge, Saskatchewan, but it will not be there next year. The story about its impending closure was told twice by the CBC and you can read and watch or listen to those stories here. Robertson's Trading Post is worth visiting one last time. (Content Warning: Although I don't usually provide one, I will note that anti-fur, animal lovers might be traumatized by some of the photographs provided. Others may be 'harmed' by learning that for some people, a typical work week was 12 hours per day, 7 days a week. )
   Almost by accident, Mulcahy's Miscellany contains other stories about the general stores of our past. Anyone interested in such ancient emporiums who stumbles upon this post, will find information about the old relics that once were -- village stores, department stores, ranging from Robertson's in La Ronge to Kingsmill's in London.

Meet the Robertsons
   On Dec. 3, 2023, the CBC offered this story: “The Trading Post: An Iconic Northern Store is Shutting Down After 56 Years,” by Kenneth Latimer. Apart from the excellent photographs, you will also see a video of the Robertsons (7 min.) Here is a bit from the piece: 
   Alex and Phyllis Robertson moved to a small community in northern Saskatchewan with little more than dust in their pockets, big dreams and dedication.
   They started up a tiny general store and fur trading post, not knowing that Robertson Trading would still be running strong 56 years later in La Ronge, Sask., or that it would come to be regarded as a gem of the north. 
   Their son Scott Robertson has worked at the store since he was a child and has been managing the iconic shop for decades. He’s tormented by his decision to shut the store down.
   The store, known locally as the Trading Post, is technically a general store, but it’s also an Indigenous art gallery, a genuine Canadian antiques show, a bucket-list destination for tourists, and an outfitter for camps and people heading into the bush.
   The unofficial museum operates on the town’s main street across from Lac La Ronge, which is on the edge of the Canadian Shield.

   On December 6, the CBC presented this story which contains an audio account (50 min.) of "Blue Sky" with Leisha Grebinksi: "People Reflect on Legacy of Robertson Trading As Store Winds Down After 56 Years: It's the End of an Era for Iconic Trading Post in Northern Saskatchewan."   Additional information about La Ronge and Robertsons is found on the website of Tourism Saskatchewan. 

General Stores in General
   In the post mysteriously hidden under the title "Dorfläden,” you will learn that the Germans are favouring village stores over "Big-box" ones. As well, it contains descriptions of some that are left in Ontario and books about them. In the usual "Post Script" it is noted that those in London years ago, used to sell booze and soon "convenience" stores here may be able to do so again. 

    During the pandemic I did a post called "Detour" which showed how one could go out and about by using Google maps and Google Street View. As an illustration I chose Kingsmill's, a "Department" store, and indicated that the Google people had even gone inside it. Unfortunately, I could no longer find the interior image by using Google maps and the Kingsmill's link no longer exits. But, if you do google "Kingsmill's" on Google maps, links are offered to two articles about that store. The picture above is from one of them: "The End of a Department Store, and a Way of Life: Kingsmill's - as Art Deco Heritage Building and One of Canada's Few Remaining Family Owned Department Stores, Is Closing," Francine Kopun, Toronto Star, July 2, 2014.

   More recently I discussed the leaving of Nordstrom from Canada and the return of Zellers in, "Nostalgia Isn't What It Used to Be." I also mentioned Shnurr's which has been in Linwood, Ontario for 165 years. Fortunately I also provided the image of the interior of Kingsmill's which I captured earlier from Google Maps. 

What About the Windows?
   The larger department stores often featured elaborate Christmas displays and older Londoners will remember the ones at Simpson's. Recently, the Canadian correspondent for the New York Times offered some suggestions about where to see them - not new real ones, but old displays: "In Search of Vintage Window Displays: The Mechanically Powered Holiday Scenes That Once Filled Department-store Windows in Canada Are Still Humming. Here's Where to Find Them," Ian Austen, Dec. 16, 2023. Here are some examples.
 Some of these are done for Christmas and will disappear next month, but keep the sites in mind for your grandkids for next year. 
I hope you have a good one.

"Eaton's Once Upon a Christmas Exhibit" by the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon. 
Since 1987, the Eaton’s Once Upon A Christmas exhibit has delighted visitors, young and old. The exhibit continues to be a major attraction for those who visit the WDM during the holiday season. It offers an opportunity for parents to share with their children memories of their childhood and it allows children to enter a world of make-believe and magic.
We encourage you to visit the WDM Saskatoon from November 2, 2023 through January 7, 2024 with your family and enjoy this wonderful Saskatchewan tradition.

The Manitoba Children's Museum - Eaton's Fairy Tale Vignettes
The Children’s Museum is pleased to be the home of the last original Eaton’s Fairytale Vignettes Display from the ninth floor annex of the Eaton’s downtown store – fully restored and open to the public for a limited time only.

OGILVY'S CHRISTMAS MECHANICAL WINDOW DISPLAYS, McCord Stewart Museum - Montreal.
Montrealers have been spellbound by the mechanical displays in Ogilvy’s department store window for over 70 years — a Holiday tradition that began in 1947. The Bavarian scenes, custom made by the German toy manufacturer Steiff, feature dozens of handcrafted animals working and playing.In 1911, the firm began producing mechanical windows featuring moving animals, which stores could rent or purchase – an effective way of entertaining children while promoting their merchandise. James Aird Nesbitt, who owned Ogilvy’s department store from 1927 to 1985, bought two – The Enchanted Village and The Mill in the Forest.Similar to those of department stores in other parts of the world, such as Macy’s in New York or Galeries Lafayette in Paris, these window displays are among the last of their kind in North America. They were donated to the McCord Stewart Museum in March 2018 by Holt Renfrew with the goal of preserving and ensuring the continuation of the iconic Montreal displays.

Hudson's Holidays - Detroit Historical Society.
   Founded as a humble clothier for men and boys in 1881, J.L. Hudson Company reportedly racked up an average of 100,000 sales per day by the 1950s, and its 25-story building was the world’s tallest department store until 1961. Visitors will learn what made Hudson’s so popular, like its huge selection of merchandise and full-service approach, which went beyond with in-store restaurants, salons and alterations departments to offer amenities like a circulating library, a writing lounge and an in-house dry cleaner.
   The exhibition features a selection of must-see items from the Detroit Historical Society collection, including the toys and decor that made the holidays at Hudson’s so magical, the fashions and accessories that made the store a year-round shopping destination, and some artifacts from the downtown store that evoke the massive building’s distinctive features. Revisit traditions enjoyed by generations of Detroiters, like seeing the World’s Largest Flag, visiting Santa in Toy Town and shopping for deals in the Basement Store>
Also see this from the Encyclopedia of Detroit.

Post Script:
   We now have "dollar stores" among the tattoo parlours and payday loan shops and about them, I don't think we will ever feel nostalgic. Here is a paragraph about Dollar General from a book review I did of, The National Road: Dispatches From a Changing America by Tom Zoellner:
   The next essay is the titular one, but it is more about the "little-box" chain, Dollar General, than it is about the 'National Road'.  There are now more of them than there are McDonalds and that is not a good thing. For the reasons why, read this essay and these more recent ones: "The True Cost of Dollar Stores: Discount Chains Are Thriving. But, What Do They Do To Poor Communities," by Alec MacGillis, The New Yorker, June 29, 2020, or "How Dollar Stores Became Magnets for Crime and Killing," Alec MacGillis, ProPublica, June 29, 2020. 

Nostalgia Isn't What It Used To Be

 Nordstrom and Zellers

   This post is not about either of those commercial establishments since you will already have read a lot about them over the last few weeks. If you haven't, I will say simply that the purveyor of luxury goods (Nordstrom) left Canada, while the discount chain (Zellers) returned. Zellers, by the way, closed hundreds of stores about a decade ago, and was bought by Target which more recently closed shop and left to go back to the more robust southern market. Sears had already gone and Lowes and Bed Bath & Beyond are also exiting. What this all means I will leave for the more mercantile-minded to explain to you, but to put it in balance sheet terms, I think it likely constitutes a 'loss.'  I could be wrong. Apparently nostalgia-seeking Canadians are lining up for Zellers-branded red sweatshirts and Dollar General stores and pay-day lenders are multiplying quickly enough to more than fill the commercial real estate spaces left empty by Nordstrom. 

But What About Schnurr's?

   My real intention, which is not clear from that digressive first paragraph, is to bring to your attention a story you did not read. It is about a General Store that is located in Linwood, Ontario. It has been there for 165 years and if you are a fan of true nostalgia, you can go shop there or, in September, take a tour during "Door's Open Waterloo Region." 

  More importantly, if you read the article I will provide about Schnurr's, along with my earlier post about “Dorfläden,” you will learn a great deal about the history of 'General Stores', which is more interesting, I think, than knowing about the current retail environment. 

Sources:

   "This Family-Owned Grocery Store Has Been Serving the Linwood Community for 165 Years," Carmen Groleau, CBC News, Mar. 23, 2023.

   “Dorfläden, is the German term for "village stores", which appear to be coming back. The post about it is Here and if you are interested in old-timey things like "Service Stations", see Here. 

The Bonus:

   The picture of Schnurr's is from Google Street View. If you are longing for the good old department store days, here is a scene from inside of Kingsmill's which used to exist in London. It is also from Google and more about that is found in this post: "Detour."

Detour

Diversions

   The pandemic has kept us inside and the political issues are depressing so I am offering here an escape for those looking for something to do on this cold and snowy day. Travelling is ruled out, but travelling virtually is not. I am sure you are a user of Google Maps and perhaps even Google Earth or Google Street View. The latter allows people to see where your house is, just as googling lets them find out more about you. The suggestion here is that you use Google Street View to do some global exploration - virtually.

   If you are the timid type, you might want to stay close to home, or perhaps your spouse is just yearning to do some shopping, which like travelling is generally disallowed.  If so, you can go to Google Maps and type in "Kingsmill's Department Store." Not only will you see Dundas Street when it looked a lot better, you can actually go into Kingsmill's and have a look around when stores looked a lot better. The two grabbed images below are not good examples and you should have a virtual look, since Kingsmill's closed a while back.

Dundas Street

Kingsmill's

  

   The more adventurous of you probably want to venture farther and you can use Google Street View to do so -well not really Google Street View, but Random Street View, which uses Google Street View to take you on a global tour. It would be rather tedious to type in the names of a street in, say, Vienna or a path in Botswana, even if you knew them, and do so over and over for other locations. Random Street View does the work for you. It selects locations around the world and presents them randomly. If you prefer to stay in-country, you can select 'Canada' and travel the Alaska Highway, or just go down Melville Street in Wellington, Ontario on a fall day. Here are two examples from different areas of the globe.

Path in Slovenia

Open Road in Botswana

 

   If you are both adventurous and competitive, viewing random road shots from around the earth may not be enough, particularly if the nude sunbather accidentally caught in the shot was scrubbed from the picture by the folks at Google. For you, there is GEOGUESSR. It is a game invented by some Swedish IT guys back in the very bad winter of 2013, which was kind of like being in a pandemic in Ontario now.  The object is to guess the geographical location and there are various competitive options.  If you are adventurous and competitive, but also miserly, you will have to stick with Random Street View which is free. GeoGuessr started out that way, but eventually Google started charging them for the use of the data and images. 

Sources:
   While doing this, I discovered that there is still a Kingsmill's website, but it has now disappeared.  Apart from using Google Maps, you can also view some photos of Kingsmill's in Jennifer Grainger's, London Free Press: From the Vault. 
    Like me, you have probably used Google Street View to see where an old girl friend lives, or to see how well or poorly a class mate has done, but were unaware of Random Street View. I was as well, but apparently the pandemic has resulted in an increase in users  which is reported on here: "The Pandemic-Induced Popularity of Google Street View," by Sophie Haigney, The New Yorker, Feb. 6, 2021 (misers beware, it may be behind a firewall, where even Google can't go.)
   There are Wikipedia entries for all the things discussed. 

The Bonus:

I have run out of time, but if the above is of interest, you may want to check out MapCrunch. I didn't have time.

We are doing what we can doing these hard times to support local restaurants, The gestures are not heroic ones, they typically just involve ordering take-out food. We did so again recently and I thought the well-done lettering on the take-out bag should be recognized and it is from an establishment still on Dundas Street, where Kingsmill's used to be. The food was good as well and there was plenty of it.

For those of you still reeling over my recent piece about Druthers and the dubious nature of most news stories, visit this Associated Press website to find out what really didn't happen this week: Not Real News.