The Wakefield Trail - Quebec
Posted by: 
model12
N 45° 38.201 W 075° 56.336
18T E 426821 N 5054110
The Legacy of the MacLaren Family in Wakefield. The trail winds around the Maclaren Cemetery and across the old farmland.
Waymark Code: WMBGG1
Location: Québec, Canada
Date Posted: 05/19/2011
Views: 21
The Maclaren history in Wakefield
David Maclaren was born in Scotland on March 11th, 1789. He was an ironmonger and hardware merchant from Glasgow. He married Elizabeth Barnet in 1817, and they had three sons born in Scotland: James, John, and Henry. They emigrated to Canada around 1822, and first settled in Richmond, Ontario. Three more sons were born in Canada: David, William and Alexander. The family moved to Torbolton, Ontario, on the Ottawa River, and finally settled in Wakefield, Quebec around 1840. David Maclaren built his home at the junction of the La Pêche and Gatineau rivers. He died in Wakefield on April 10th, 1870.
James, David Maclaren's first son, was born on March 19th, 1818, in Glasgow, Scotland. He married Ann Sully in 1847 and together they had 13 children. In 1844, he entered into partnership with his brother John, and borrowed money from their father David Maclaren to buy William Fairbairn's grist mill for £300. Their father loaned them more money to build a sawmill opposite the gristmill. The Maclarens opened a general store in the 1840s, at the junction of the La Pêche and Gatineau rivers. After 1861, they expanded their industrial complex in Wakefield, building a woolen mill and a brick-making plant. James built his home on a hill near his mills, but later moved to Buckingham, Quebec, in 1864 while his brother, John Maclaren, stayed in Wakefield to run the mills. James entered the lumbering business and created the James Maclaren Company, eventually becoming one of the richest people in Canada. James died on February 10th, 1892, in Buckingham, Quebec. His son Alexander inherited the Wakefield businesses belonging to the James Maclaren Company.
In 1877, a fire destroyed the gristmill and the woolen mill and both structures were rebuilt. On May 17, 1910, another fire destroyed all of the buildings of the Maclaren industrial complex in Wakefield: the woolen and grist mills, sheds, warehouses, and employees' residences. As a result, thirty people became unemployed. Following this second fire, only the grist mill was rebuilt, larger than the previous grist mill had been.
In 1941, the Maclaren General Store burnt down, marking the end of the Maclaren business empire in Wakefield. Shortly thereafter, the remaining Maclaren buildings (the grist mill, the brick house and the miller's house) were sold.
Trail allowances or restrictions:
None
Trail type: Dirt.
Parking: Not Listed
Trailhead/trail website: Not listed
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