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The Maclaren history in WakefieldDavid 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.
Bibliography:
"Maclaren James", Dictionary of Canadian Biography: http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=40375&query=maclaren
Elman, Eve-Lynne: Wakefield Mill: mill owners, the mill and the community, 1832 to 1980. 1984.
Fletcher, Katharine: Historical Walks: the Gatineau Park Story. Markham (ON), Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Third Edition, 2004, 192 p.
Geggie, Norma: Wakefield and Its People. Quyon (QC), Chesley House Publications, 1990, 95 p.
Geggie, Norma and Geggie, Stuart: LaPêche. Chelsea (QC), The Historical Society of the Gatineau, Expanded Edition 1980, 74 p.
Newton, Michael: The Wakefield Grist Mill. NCC, 1979, 71 p.
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David Maclaren, 1789 - 187019th Century, Circa 1865
Wakefield, Quebec, Canada
Credits:GVHS Archives, 01609.a012
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James Maclaren, 1818 - 189219th Century, Circa 1860
Location unknown
Credits:GVHS Archives, 01633.001
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The Maclaren mills, circa 186519th Century, Circa 1865
Wakefield, Quebec, Canada
Credits:GVHS Archives, 00282.RestoredCD-1
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1850 advertisement for Maclaren Mills from The Packet and Weekly Commercial Gazette9 December 1850
Wakefield, Quebec, Canada
Credits:GVHS, 01633.001.a013
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Fire Insurance Plan of Wakefield, 189719th Century, November 1897
Wakefield, Quebec, Canada
Credits:Charles Goad Co. Fire Insurance Plans, Library and Archives Canada, NMC 9261
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Detail of 1897 Wakefield Fire Insurance Plan19th Century, November 1897
Wakefield, Quebec, Canada
Credits:Charles Goad Co. Fire Insurance Plans, Library and Archives Canada, NMC 9261
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Maclaren's Woollen Mill, circa 190020th Century, Circa 1900
Wakefield, Quebec, Canada
Credits:Geggie Collection / GVHS Archives, 00268.003
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Detail of 1908 Wakefield Fire Insurance Plan20th Century, 1908
Wakefield, Quebec, Canada
Credits:Charles Goad Co. Fire Insurance Plans, Library and Archives Canada, NMC 9262
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Maclaren Mills, circa 191020th Century, Circa 1910
Wakefield, Quebec, Canada
Credits:GVHS Archives, 00772.003
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Ottawa Journal clipping, May 1910, describing a fire at the Maclaren's Mills17 May 1910
Wakefield, Quebec, Canada
Credits:LAC, Microform Reading Room, Ottawa Journal May 17, 1910
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Ruins of the Maclaren Mills, circa 191020th Century, Circa 1910
Wakefield, Quebec, Canada
Credits:GVHS Archives, 00232.006.003
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The reconstructed Maclaren Mill, circa 191120th Century, Circa 1911
Wakefield, Quebec, Canada
Credits:GVHS Archives, 01636.004.007
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Roller set up for production at the Maclaren Mill, circa 197020th Century
Wakefield, Quebec, Canada
Credits:GVHS, 01636.007.007
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