Shipley

History

The opening of new Crown Lands in Wallace and Elma townships in 1854 was an instant success – to put it mildly. The lands office did a rip-roaring business and within three years, had sold virtually each of the 100-acre lots. Although officials waited until September 1854 before putting the Wallace lands up for sale, Concession 1 was fully occupied before the end of the year.

Wallace, the last of the Perth County’s townships to be occupied, benefitted from the mistakes and foibles of the earlier settlements. As a result, it took them longer to organize things organized. Municipal government officially began on January 18, 1858, with Freeborn Kee serving as the first reeve. Once established, the Wallace township council moved as fast as lightning. By the end of 1858, they had established schools throughout the entire township. All were open and functioning, with the exception of one, that served the farms located on the 12th and 13th concessions. Shipley’s school, S.S. #4, Wallace was located on Concession 5, with Christopher Massey (C.M.) Hemsworth as the first teacher.

Shipley was an early settlement that got its start after Edward Bristow opened a sawmill in the mid-1850s. By 1858, he opened the settlement’s first post office and officially put Shipley on the map. The belief is that the community’s name came from Bristow’s birthplace in England.

The Hemsworth family figured prominently in both the township and community’s history. William Hemsworth served as township councillor in 1860 and C.M. Hemsworth, also said to be a superb calligraphist, served as town clerk for many years, where officials held his penmanship skills in particularly high regard. Marmaduke Hemsworth was also briefly involved in township affairs. Other Shipley residents who served as councillors included Richard Strong, who served in 1861, and John Mills who served from 1870 to 79. Edward Bristow’s post office took over postal services for residents in nearby Mayne Corners, after their post office closed in 1866.

Shipley was exceptionally well served by religious institutions. In 1860, William Hemsworth donated a large plot on Concession 5, Lot 33, to establish St. Paul’s Anglican Church and an adjoining cemetery. They built a brick church around 1863 with Reverend Newman as the first minister. A Lutheran church, also named St. Paul’s, started up in 1864. St. Paul’s Lutheran Church lay on Concession 5, Lot 30, three lots over from St. Paul’s Anglican. The congregation replaced the original frame church with a more substantial brick structure in 1888. Concession 2, Lot 37 became home to a new Mennonite Church in 1970. The first minister was Reverend J.C. Staebler with Sunday school conducted by William Good. Methodists could worship at the Methodist Church in nearby Mayne Corners.

In the early days, Shipley was a full service community that included three carpenters, a carriage maker, two masons, a shingle maker, gunsmith and weaver. The Bristow brothers, Edward and Walter, in addition to operating the sawmill, also listed their occupations as carpenters and sash and door makers. The community even included a dentist, one James Armstrong. Thomas Mulvey operated the Enniskillen Hotel for a brief period.

By the early 1870s, Shipley boasted a population of around 100. Albert Hemsworth was operating a sash and door factory and working as a joiner. Other residents included yet another carpenter, Daniel Hotell, a mason, James McIlroy and James Pigott, who was a commissioner in Queens Bench. However by the mid-1880s, the sawmill had shut down and Shipley began a rapid descent downward. By the end of the 19th century the population had dropped to around 40 or 50.

Although Shipley outlived neighbouring Mayne Corners, it wasn’t by much. Shipley’s post office shut down in 1910 and there was very little activity in the community after that. The schoolhouse no longer exists. The Mennonite church closed sometime after 1967 and the Anglican Church, around 1970. Neither of these churches still stands. However the Lutheran Church, which boasted around 200 members during the late 1960s, still maintains a busy and active congregation. The remainder of the area has reverted to farmland and continues to support a rural population. Researchers John Hazlitt and Ted Turner have discovered large earthworks and remains of the dam in their well-documented exploration of mills and dams along the Maitland River.

Additional details The Power of the Maitland by John Hazlitt and Ted Turner.