The Legacy of John Waldie and Sons

A History of the victoria Harbour Lumber Company

Kenneth A. Armson, Marjorie McLeod

• Publisher: Natural Heritage
• Year: 2007
• Print ISBN: 9781550027587
• eBook ISBN: 9781554883332
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Botany
• Index: Biological Sciences

At the time of his death in 1907, John Waldie, founder of the Victoria Harbour Lumber Company, was identified as "the second largest lumber operator in Canada." A young Scottish immigrant who came to Wellington Square (now Burlington, Ontario) in 1842, he rose to prominence as a wealthy merchant and ship owner. In 1885 he entered the lumber business. Active in local and federal politics, and a friend of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, he invested capital in mills, people and forests.

Local history and genealogical connections are part of the Waldie story, headquartered at Victoria Harbour in Simcoe County. Documentation of the forest that the company logged, their nature, amount and sizes of logs harvested with the descriptions of the forests as they are now, throws new light and shatters some of the current myths.

This little-known story provides insights into days of rampant entrepreneurialism, the world of the lumber barons and the overall impact on our Ontario forests.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• Chapter I Who was John Waldie?
• Chapter II The Lumber Industry John Waldie Entered
• Chapter III The Victoria Harbour Lumber Company 1886-1907
• Chapter IV The Victoria Harbour Lumber Company 1907-1927
• Chapter V Where did the Logs come From?
• Chapter VI The Village of Victoria Harbour
• Chapter VII The Victoria Harbour Lumber Company 1927-1942
• Chapter VIII The Western Waldie Lumbermen
• Epilogue
• Appendix 1 Records of Timber Cut by Victoria Harbour Lumber Company
• Appendix 2 Records of Timber Cut by Schroeder Mills and Timber in Blair and Mowat Townships, 1917-1926
• Appendix 3 List of Quit Claims and Other Property Agreements between Victoria Harbour Lumber Company and Other Parties, 1909-1939
• Appendix 4 Amount of Dividends or Special Payments by Victoria Harbour Lumber Company, 1907-1942
• Appendix 5 Alligator Tugs Purchased or Used by the Victoria Harbour Lumber Company
• Appendix 6 Botanical Names of Tree Species
• Appendix 7 Brief Biographies: Other Notable Pine Lumbermen of the Time
• Notes
• Index