An Overview
The history of rare goes back many thousands of years. On the uplands and lowlands about the confluence of the Grand and Speed Rivers, aboriginal peoples from the time of nomadic hunters and gatherers to floodplain agriculturalists established seasonal campsites and a trail along what is now Blair Road. To date, a great number of artifacts have been uncovered at a number of archeological campsites, burial sites, chipping stations and lithic sites including projectile points, scrapers, corers and drill tips. Some artefacts may date back 9500 years.
Early European contact in the area in the late 1700s was by transient fur traders.
Prior to 1800, one of the first settlers in the region, fur trader Nathaniel Dodge, purchased land and built a cabin on what is now The rare Charitable Research Reserve.
Circa 1816, William Dickson and Absalom Shade, the early founders of Galt, spent a night in the Dodge cabin. Close by, an old ford or river crossing near the confluence was in use until the 1820s. Nathaniel Dodge and his wife are reported to be buried on their homestead.
The 1817 survey notes of land surveyor, Adrian Marlet who surveyed Dumfries township (today North and South Dumfries), describe the forest in what is now rare Charitable Research Reserve as consisting of “maple and beech and elm.” Dutch elm disease has eliminated all of the large elms; however, the existing upland woods are still dominated by sizeable sugar maple and American beech, demonstrating the long-term ecological stability of the remaining upland forests.
In 1837, The Lamb’s Inn was built in Blair, the oldest village in Upper Canada. This is reported to be the first stage coach built in Upper Canada. At the time, Matthew Wilks had not yet purchased the nearby lands – much of which is now preserved intact and in perpetuity by rare – nor had his son built the eponymous Langdon Hall.
In 1853, William Ashton purchased about 230 acres of land along the Galt-Blair Road.
Because of the booming local economy, Ashton believed that he would be raising cattle, operating a brewery (the foundation of which is still visible today) and constructing a mansion. He is said to have named his property, Cruickston Park in honour of the Cruickston Castle, the ship that brought him from England. Within a few years, unfortunately, a downturn in the economy left Ashton financially overextended.
In 1858, he sold his property and dream to Matthew Wilks. Wilks saw an advertisement in the New York papers for a Galt-area property, Cruickston Park. Wanting to spend at least part of each year in a British territory, Wilks bought the estate, intending to use it as a summer residence. He eventually completed the building of the mansion (now in private hands) and accumulated lands for farming totaling about a thousand acres on which he raised pure bred cattle. Matthew Wilks and his wife, Eliza Astor Langdon had seven children. The youngest was Eugene Langdon Wilks was born 1855 in New York. On his mother’s side, Wilks was a great grandson of the immensely wealthy fur trader and real estate magnet John Jacob Astor.
At age thirty-seven Eugene Langdon Wilks returned to Cruickston Park after attending school in England and working in Western Canada. He married Pauline Kingsmill, a great granddaughter of Galt’s founder, the Honourable William Dickson. In 1898, Eugene purchased twenty-nine acres at the northwest corner of the Cruickston property, as well as an adjoining parcel of 76 acres.
Eugene and Pauline hired an architect to draw up plans for their new residence. Langdon Hall was designed along the lines of summer homes south of the border, employing the Federal Revival style that was de rigueur during the 1890’s. Intended mostly for summer use, the house was a spacious thirty-two rooms, totaling more than 25,000 square feet. Construction of Langdon Hall was finished by 1902. The house was unquestionably American in taste, reflecting the ongoing social and business links between the Wilks and American society.
Eugene and Pauline Langdon-Wilks spent their summers at their Ontario estate and winters abroad. Sadly, within a few years, Pauline developed cancer. The couple went to Europe in search of a cure. There Pauline was attended by a Swiss nurse, Marguerite Briquet, but in spite of the best medical attention available, Pauline died in 1914 leaving no children.
Meanwhile, here in Ontario, in 1899, Matthew Wilks died and his youngest daughter, Katherine Langdon Wilks, assumed ownership of Cruickston Park and bred prize-winning horses. Miss Wilks inherited an estate that included 1000 acres, a herd of purebred cattle and a well-run farm but her interest was horse breeding and racing, not cattle farming. Prior to World War I, Cruickston became well-known in the racing circuits and, in time, Katherine Wilks was acknowledged as one of "the outstanding horsewomen on the continent". Her horses won more than 1000 ribbons and 50 cups including the Kentucky Futurity.
After the war, she elected to breed and raise black Percherons, a draft horse breed, to work her farm operations. Her enthusiasm and love of horses continued throughout her life. The Percheron breed originated in France in the province of LePerche. Originally bred to serve as war horses for Crusade knights, the Percheron in time became a working horse, bred for size, weight and strength. They were first imported into North America in 1839. Thousands were imported during the last half of the 19th century and were favoured by farmers and teamsters. The invention of the modern farm tractor reduced both interest and need for Percherons. At Cruickston Park Farm, Percherons were in use until the 1940s.
Katherine's brother, Eugene Langdon Wilks, remarried in 1915. He married Marguerite Briquet in France. They had three daughters, Catherine Claude, Anne Marguerite and Marion Lucille Langdon. The family divided their time between New York City, their chateau near Tours, France, and Langdon Hall.
Eugene Langdon Wilks died in 1934 at his chateau near Tours. Just before the Second World War erupted, the French army commandeered the Tours chateau, so Marguerite and her three daughters returned to Canada and took up permanent residence at Langdon Hall. Only Catherine Claude Langdon, the eldest, remained at Langdon Hall, with her mother and her own daughter. Catherine later married Garth Thomson.
After Katherine Langdon Wilks’ death in 1948, her nephew Matthew Wilks Keefer updated the farm operation and bred prized Hereford cattle.
Marguerite (Briquet) Wilks died in 1961 and was buried in Galt. Her daughter Catherine inherited Langdon Hall.
In 1968, Matthew Wilks Keefer made a gift of the estate to the University of Guelph, which took possession of it on his death in 1973.
Right about then, what we know as Lamb’s Inn was becoming Nicholson’s Tavern, and it enjoyed many lively years, as the graffiti downstairs will testify, even if a few of us are not talking. Terraplane made their debut here and it was a favourite venue for The Onits and many other bands, some with local origins.
Catherine and Garth Thomson lived at Langdon Hall until 1980. They sold the mansion in 1982 with about thirty surrounding acres. With the sale of Langdon Hall, Wilks family ownership of these grand residences came to a close.
In 1987, William Bennett and Mary Beaton purchased the property. William, an architect, along with Mary, developed their dream of a Country House Hotel. Renovations took a year and a half to complete. The grounds once again would ring with the sounds of happiness and renewal. Langdon Hall Country House Hotel opened in 1989.
By 1993 Lamb’s Inn was the site of Garden Gate, one of the province’s top retail outlets for ornamental concrete products.
In 1996, the University of Guelph sold Cruickston Park manor house and 53 acres surrounding it to private owners for their personal use.
In 2000, with funding from concerned citizens, the remaining 913 acres of Cruickston Park was purchased as part of a conservation strategy. In Dec 2001, the Cruickston Charitable Research Reserve was incorporated as a charity, and by February 2002 the land transfer was completed, allowing the 913 acres to be preserved in perpetuity.
In October 2004, the Cruickston Charitable Research Reserve was renamed rare. Its bold new name and accompanying graphic logo has helped to end the confusion between the private 53-acre Cruickston Park and the newly formed Charitable Research Reserve. It also signaled an acknowledgement of the property’s history beyond that of the colonial time of the Cruickston Manor, highlighting both the past and the future.