The Legend of William Black and The Hermitage - Ancaster, ON - Urban Legends and Superstitions on Waymarking.com

This urban legend is set in the Hermitage, a ruin of a former hotel and home built in 1830 and burned in a 1934 fire. The area is owned by the Hamilton Conservation Authority and there is a fee to park at the HCA parking lot but the area is free to visit on foot and is part of the Bruce Trail. There are ghost walks through the area most Saturdays. (visit link)

The legend via Wikipedia (visit link) :

"Otto Ives (1804-1835) was the third land owner. He was an English officer who had fought in the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire. He met Magdalene Diamanti, a daughter of the Governor of an Aegean island. They married in Corfu in 1824, and had arrived in Ancaster by 1833. They brought her sister or niece with them to act as a companion for Mrs Ives. It was here that Otto Ives purchased the Hermitage from the heirs of the Rev. George Sheed. Ives had hired a coachman by the name of William Black. Although it is said that Black was also a tutor in the English language, evidence exists that this post was filled by Mary Rosebeury (later Mrs Peter Filman of Hamilton).

The ladies of the household spoke only Greek, and it is said that Black fell in love with the sister or niece. Black went to Otto Ives and asked for his niece's hand in marriage. Ives was very upset by the thought, and rejected the proposal. The next morning, Ives and his wife were to go out for the day, but the coachman was not at the front door with the carriage as planned. Ives went out to the barn to see why the coachman had not appeared, and discovered Black's body dangling from the rafters in the barn near the first Hermitage.

Although this story has become legend in Ancaster, and although Otto Ives owned the Hermitage in the 1830s, there is little other information from the time to substantiate the legend of the coachman and the niece's love affair. There is also a note appended to deeds of sale, mentioning that a family friend had hanged himself from a tree in the bush, because of love for the niece."

What's the Real Story?: Nearby is a road called Lovers Lane, which is said to named after the incident and near where Black was buried. Website Source: [Web Link] Additional Requirement?: Not listed

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Date Logged Log   01/02/2020 Bon Echo visited it