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The Colbys of Stanstead
22 August 2005
Stanstead, Québec

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A casual stroller in Stanstead Quebec, a small village across the line from Derby Line, Vermont, USA, could not avoid encountering the name Colby, either for the street name Colbycroft, the name of the administration building of Stanstead College, Colby House rebuilt in 1939, or looking at the stately granite Carrollcroft home of the Stanstead Historical Society, or even the many tombstones of Crystal Lake cemetery.
There are no Colbys living in Stanstead today, the last one, Helen Lovat Colby died in 1998 but she had donated Carrollcroft and all its furnishings to the Stanstead Historical Society in 1992. Two of her sons, Charles and Robert, are still active supporters of the Historical Society and Stanstead College, and their uncle John is an active supporter of the College, the
Historical Society and its museum and Centenary United Church with which the Colbys have been closely related for a good part of its two hundred year history.
The story of the Colbys of Stanstead starts as we will soon see in 1831.

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Five generations of the Colby Family in Stanstead
1930
Stanstead, Québec

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The border region of Stanstead was first settled in late 18th century by immigrants who came through the New-England corridor into the Eastern Townships of Quebec. Today, more than 200 years after the first settlements, Stanstead still presents unique characteristics that reflect its specific history. This exhibition highlights the history of the Colby family, who left New England to settle in the Townships, and the contribution of five generations of Colbys to the social, political, economic, educational and cultural life of the Stanstead area.
Using a rich treasure trove of period photos, documents and art work and archival material, the virtual exhibition shows how development in this border region differed from that of other regions in Canada and how a strong and determined spirit animated the pioneering population and their descendants and to a certain extent how the generations of the Colby family can be viewed as a protagonist of this spirit.

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Carrollcroft
2003
Stanstead, Québec

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In 1859, newlyweds Hattie Child and Charles Carroll Colby moved into a stately granite house on Stanstead's main street. Apart from a brief absence, successive generations of the Colby family lived in "Carrollcroft" until Helen Colby donated the building and its furnishings to the Stanstead Historical Society in 1992. Today, Carrollcroft houses the Colby-Curtis Museum
and the SHS Archives. Permanent displays give visitors a glimpse of the gracious lifestyle the Colbys enjoyed as local English-speaking gentry. Temporary exhibitions feature other fascinating aspects of regional history.

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Outdoors entertainment
1900
Stanstead, Québec

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As photographs in their family albums attest, the Colbys loved to spend time outdoors on the grounds of Carrollcroft in fine weather. They tended their garden, played tennis and croquet, ate picnics, and watched visiting entertainers, including performing bears.

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A quiet afternoon tea
1900
Stanstead, Québec

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For the Colbys, afternoon tea was a pleasurable ritual. During the summer, they often had it in the garden.

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Charles Carroll Colby I and Mary Aikins
1892
Stanstead, Québec

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The Aikins family from Winnipeg often visited Stanstead.

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Carrollcroft, breakfast on the verandah
1897
Stanstead, Québec

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A Complete Education
"In Stanstead and Derby line, in stately, beautiful homes with spacious lawns and lovely gardens, lived a number of the most friendly and hospitable families imaginable: Colbys, Stevens, Butters, Pierces, ... To those wonderful homes the students were
frequently invited for teas, suppers and even breakfasts, thereby finding themselves at ease in such richly furnished drawing-rooms and gaining the so very important social graces."
Diary of a Student, Murray G. Brooks, 1902-04