Major Builder - Wooldridge Sash and Door to the IXL Battery
If anyone could be deemed as an important builder in the community of Palmerston it would be Major Wooldridge. Wooldridge can literally be classified as a builder in every sense! Wooldridge has the distinct claim of having settled in Canada twice, first in 1869 near Norwood then in 1873 returning to London, England to work in the building and contracting business. After about two years he returned to Canada, this time to the bustling infant railway town of Palmerston. No doubt he was attracted by news such as this from the Listowel Banner: “New buildings are going up every day in part of the village. Messrs. McDowell and Thompson have sold over two dozen lots during the last two weeks, which are to be built upon immediately.”[i]
With the same drive that Wooldridge showed throughout his life, he started a building and contracting business to take advantage of the rapidly growing community. With no lack of business, Wooldridge quickly expanded his works four years later to include a sash and door factory and a saw mill. In 1884 Wooldridge purchased and re-located the extent of the operations to Norman Street, covering the entire block on which the OPP station (former town hall) and Legion sit today. Naturally he built his home (which still stands today) to the highest standards for his growing family and to overlook the small empire he had raised. The seemingly endless supply of wood from the surrounding country side made raw materials cheap and easy to come by. Wooldridge made smart business moves by becoming the main supplier for his contracting business. |
It was said about him that “A full stock of builders’ supplies of all kinds is always kept on hand; lath, lumber, lime, plaster, cement, dressed lumber, moldings of all kinds, doors, sash, etc. Every facility is at hand to execute the largest orders in the most prompt and satisfactory manner.”[ii] Estimates vary but Wooldridge and Company were said to be responsible for “nearly all of the buildings in town, both public and private, besides many in the surrounding country have been erected by Mr. Wooldridge.”[iii]
An interesting side note about Wooldridge is the fact that he didn’t actually own the majority of the land, buildings and business. In fact it was his wife, Marion, who held the deeds, because at the time, if a businessman were to go bankrupt, creditors could not claim or seize the assets of their spouse.
Wooldridge built up his business to be one of the largest employers in Palmerston after the railway. At its peak forty to fifty people called Major their boss. As he was always an opportunist, he quickly expanded into other lines such as Cheese Box manufacturing, no doubt to satisfy the need of the ever-growing dairy industry surrounding Palmerston.
Like any good businessmen when crisis strikes an opportunity arises. On May 13, 1906, a devastating fire destroyed much of the saw mill and sash factory. Without missing a step, Wooldridge moved to a temporary location and re-built a modern factory out of white brick. By June of 1907, this two storey building had all of the latest and greatest equipment to carry on the business.
The biggest surge in business came with the start of the Great War. While all the major factories in larger cities were pumping out munitions to help the war effort, Wooldridge took on the call to build the crates for those munitions. All his mills went to 24 hour a day shifts churning out hundreds of thousands of crates. The output was so great a conveyor was built over Norman St. to the closest railway siding. Here crews continually shunted awaiting box cars to be loaded with the munitions’ cases. Art Carr once described the crates in these poetic words:
Their journey ended, their purpose fulfilled, most of them found their way into small fires carefully tended by mud caked, drenched, shivering soldiers who endured those years of horrible trench war fare. Palmerston Soldiers in that conflict told of picking up a piece of shell box to add to the fire, and seeing on it, burned in with a hot branding iron, the trade mark: "M. Wooldridge, Palmerston. What it did for those young men to come so unexpectedly across such a souvenir of home.[iv]
One conflicting piece of information does come up about this time period. The large white brick factory built by Wooldridge in 1906 is identified as the Taylor Scott and Co. Woodenware Manufacturer on the 1914 Town Insurance map. So whether the Wooldridge name was being used by Taylor Scott and Co. or Wooldridge was operating from another location remains a mystery. The most likely answer is Wooldridge began scaling back operations and divided the factory to other businesses.
After the war not much is known about Major Wooldridge. He would have been entering his late 60s and he most likely sold a portion of the factory to two gentlemen named Perry and Thorne who started a woodenware factory which manufactured the famous Flexible Flyer Sleigh, while Taylor Scott Co. continued its operations in the same location.
Eventually the land that Wooldridge owned was partitioned and subdivided numerous small businesses attempted success in a piece of his once proud factory. The diversity of products being output included: farm implements, chalk and plasticene (known affectionately as the “Putty Plant”) from the American Art and Clay Co., wrought iron railings, a beer store, a restaurant and even a car battery factory. The building was lost to fire in the late 1960s. Wooldridge played a very important role in Palmerston, by sitting on town council, being an active member of the Presbyterian Church and as one of the greatest contributors to many homes and buildings still standing strong today; much of Palmerston’s built heritage is his legacy.
[i] Robert W. McEachern, Legacy of the Adam Brown: A History of Early Palmerston, 10
[ii] “M. Wooldridge Factory”, Palmerston Observer, July 19, 1975, pg. 79
[iii] “M. Wooldridge Factory”, Palmerston Observer, July 19, 1975, pg. 79
[iv] Arthur Carr, “Builders of Palmerston” Wellington County Historical Researchers Society, (March, 1979), pg. 18
An interesting side note about Wooldridge is the fact that he didn’t actually own the majority of the land, buildings and business. In fact it was his wife, Marion, who held the deeds, because at the time, if a businessman were to go bankrupt, creditors could not claim or seize the assets of their spouse.
Wooldridge built up his business to be one of the largest employers in Palmerston after the railway. At its peak forty to fifty people called Major their boss. As he was always an opportunist, he quickly expanded into other lines such as Cheese Box manufacturing, no doubt to satisfy the need of the ever-growing dairy industry surrounding Palmerston.
Like any good businessmen when crisis strikes an opportunity arises. On May 13, 1906, a devastating fire destroyed much of the saw mill and sash factory. Without missing a step, Wooldridge moved to a temporary location and re-built a modern factory out of white brick. By June of 1907, this two storey building had all of the latest and greatest equipment to carry on the business.
The biggest surge in business came with the start of the Great War. While all the major factories in larger cities were pumping out munitions to help the war effort, Wooldridge took on the call to build the crates for those munitions. All his mills went to 24 hour a day shifts churning out hundreds of thousands of crates. The output was so great a conveyor was built over Norman St. to the closest railway siding. Here crews continually shunted awaiting box cars to be loaded with the munitions’ cases. Art Carr once described the crates in these poetic words:
Their journey ended, their purpose fulfilled, most of them found their way into small fires carefully tended by mud caked, drenched, shivering soldiers who endured those years of horrible trench war fare. Palmerston Soldiers in that conflict told of picking up a piece of shell box to add to the fire, and seeing on it, burned in with a hot branding iron, the trade mark: "M. Wooldridge, Palmerston. What it did for those young men to come so unexpectedly across such a souvenir of home.[iv]
One conflicting piece of information does come up about this time period. The large white brick factory built by Wooldridge in 1906 is identified as the Taylor Scott and Co. Woodenware Manufacturer on the 1914 Town Insurance map. So whether the Wooldridge name was being used by Taylor Scott and Co. or Wooldridge was operating from another location remains a mystery. The most likely answer is Wooldridge began scaling back operations and divided the factory to other businesses.
After the war not much is known about Major Wooldridge. He would have been entering his late 60s and he most likely sold a portion of the factory to two gentlemen named Perry and Thorne who started a woodenware factory which manufactured the famous Flexible Flyer Sleigh, while Taylor Scott Co. continued its operations in the same location.
Eventually the land that Wooldridge owned was partitioned and subdivided numerous small businesses attempted success in a piece of his once proud factory. The diversity of products being output included: farm implements, chalk and plasticene (known affectionately as the “Putty Plant”) from the American Art and Clay Co., wrought iron railings, a beer store, a restaurant and even a car battery factory. The building was lost to fire in the late 1960s. Wooldridge played a very important role in Palmerston, by sitting on town council, being an active member of the Presbyterian Church and as one of the greatest contributors to many homes and buildings still standing strong today; much of Palmerston’s built heritage is his legacy.
[i] Robert W. McEachern, Legacy of the Adam Brown: A History of Early Palmerston, 10
[ii] “M. Wooldridge Factory”, Palmerston Observer, July 19, 1975, pg. 79
[iii] “M. Wooldridge Factory”, Palmerston Observer, July 19, 1975, pg. 79
[iv] Arthur Carr, “Builders of Palmerston” Wellington County Historical Researchers Society, (March, 1979), pg. 18