Cultural Landmarks of Hamilton-Wentworth

Whitehern

Location:  41 Jackson Street West, Hamilton, Ontario

Whitehern is the former estate of the McQuestens, who were one of the most historically prominent families in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.  Richard O. Duggan, a local lawyer purchased the property for Whitehern in 1843 for ten thousand dollars.  However, the name of the property under Duggan was Willow Bank.  The house was built during the following year in 1848.  He used local quarried sandstone and dolomite from the Hamilton mountain for the exterior construction of the house and stable.  The main house was essentially square in design with a classical portico at the facade on the north side and a covered wooden verandah which extended over the entire southern side of the house.  The gardens were spacious and open and included walkways.  The south half of the property possessed a large garden bed and orchard.  Moreover, there were two out buildings on the south-east side of the property (corner of MacNab and Hunter streets) and a third out building on the west boundary of the property.

 In 1882, the estate was purchased by Dr. Calvin McQuesten.  Calvin McQuesten was a New England doctor, who had retired from his medical practice and pharmaceutical business in New York State, to become a Hamilton industrialist with his cousin, John Fisher .  Mr. Fisher owned Hamilton's first foundry, which later became Massey-Ferguson.  The  foundry produced threshing machines and cooking ranges and was a highly profitable business.

Dr. McQuesten, his wife Elizabeth Fuller McQuesten and his son Isaac Baldwin McQuesten moved into the house shortly after it was purchased.  The house was decorated with oil paintings and fine furnishings that had be purchased from Boston, where Mrs. McQuesten was originally from. She also changed the landscaping by emphasizing the ornamental aspects of the gardens which included the addition of the heart shaped flower bed.

Upon Mr. McQuesten arrival in Hamilton, he became active in the community, serving as a director and vice-president of the Gore Bank in 1862 and 1867.  He also aided in the establishment of St. Andrew's and MacNab Street Presbyterian Churches and the Wesleyan Female College, which is now the site of the Royal Connaught Hotel.

In 1928 a portion of the rear garden was expropriated by the city to facilitate the elevation of the Toronto, Hamilton, and Buffalo Railway tracks and the Hunter Street relocation which was eventually built in 1931.  The family received a cash settlement for the expropriation which was used to redesign the landscape of the estate.  Dunnington-Grubb and Stensson landscape architects were hired to plan and implement the changes.  Dunnington-Grubb was a well known landscape architect whose designs included the Rainbow Bridge gardens and the former Sunken Gardens at McMaster University.  The changes to the property included the introduction of a sunken garden, a thatched roof summer house which replaced the old orchards and garden beds, a stone wall was constructed along the new southern property boundary, an underground irrigation system was installed, and the carriage house was removed to make allowances for the new automobile that had been purchased in 1928.  The house was also updated by the installation of one of the earliest residential furnaces in Hamilton.

Calvin McQuesten's son, Isaac graduated from law school in 1873 and married Mary Jane Baker later that year.  The couple moved into a home on Bold Street in Hamilton, Ontario.  The couple had six children Mary Baldwin McQuesten (1874-1964), Calvin McQuesten (1876-1968), Hilda Belle McQuesten (1877-1967), Ruby Baker McQuesten (1879-1911), Thomas Baker McQuesten (1882-1948) and Marguerette Edna McQuesten (1885-1935).  After Dr. Calvin McQuesten's death in 1885, the family moved into the Whitehern estate.

Isaac McQuesten was not a savvy business investor or industrialist, and due in part to a partnership in a knitting mill in Hespeler, Ontario in 1881, he was on the verge of bankruptcy.  Isaac McQuesten died on March 7, 1888 reportedly by ingesting an overdose of sleep inducing drugs and left a substantial debt  for the family to endure with liabilities totaling ninety two thousand dollars and assets of only ten thousand dollars.  Whitehern, the family estate had been signed over in trust for Mary to a junior law partner, John Jones.  This action saved the home from being sold in order to pay off the enormous debts that had accumulated.

Isaac's son Thomas Baker McQuesten (1882-1948) was a prominent Canadian and a dedicated public servant with a passion for infrastructure and recreational parks.  He made significant contributions to the City of Hamilton, the Niagara Peninsula, and to the Province of Ontario during a  political and civic career marked by integrity, diligence and vision.  However, he also made significant changes to the Whitehern estate.  Thomas McQuesten remodeled the cellar into a study and in 1934 removed the verandah on the south side of the house.  In 1937, an addition was added to the house on the south side.  Moreover, he hired Dunnington-Grubb and Stensson to remodel the landscape in 1939.  The landscape architects added a flagstone walkway, rectangular flower beds lined with box tree hedges, and a flagstone driveway.

In 1959, the surviving members of the McQuesten family (Calvin, Hilda, and Mary) deeded their home to the Parks Board.  The terms of the donation stated that the residence was to be kept as a “period place” and maintained as a memorial to Dr. Calvin and the Honorable Thomas Baker McQuesten.  Upon giving his family's property to the city, Dr. Calvin McQuesten expressed his delight that all members of the public would now be able to “...enjoy, whenever they please, the beautiful rooms of Whitehern and eat their lunches in its pleasant garden.”

Once the estate had been donated to the city, discussion began about the need for renovations.  Estimates for the repairs ranged from thirteen thousand dollars in 1968 to seventy one thousand dollars in 1971. During the period between 1968 and 1971, Whitehern was restored by the City and the total cost for the project was approximately sixty thousand dollars.  Nevertheless, the house and the approximately 0.8 acres of land were preserved as a museum and on August 14, 1971, it was opened to the public.  Since then, the estate has been operated by the City's Department of Culture and Recreation.

Over the years, the gardens of Whitehern have evolved from primarily utilitarian uses such as fruit and vegetable gardens to ornamental and recreational purposes.  The Whitehern grounds feature authentic structures, decorative artifacts, and original plant material, which are preserved, researched, maintained, and interpreted according to the terms of the McQuesten agreement.

In 1991, Whitehern house including the gardens was recognized for its historical and architectural significance by the Natural Historical Sites and Monuments Board.  On October 2, 1993,  a plaque was unveiled in the presence of  many high ranking officials including Hamilton Mayor Robert Morrow, Reg Whynott, Regional Chairman of Hamilton-Wentworth, Monique Landry, Secretary of State of Canada and John White, member of the Historical Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.  The plaque was to recognize Whitehern as a significant historical building and was sponsored by the Head-of-the-Lake Historical Society.  Since the preservation of the estate was immaculate, it has also caught the attention of  movie production companies.  Many films for the Disney Channel and CBC have been filmed inside the home including Anne of Green Gables.

The estate has also undergone more recent renovations in the late 1980's and early 1990's which included a new underground irrigation system and the reconstruction of the stone wall around the property.  Whitehern is an excellent example of Victorian life in Canada and has been described as a jewel of Hamilton.  Therefore, Whitehern's preservation is essential since it is a part of the heritage of  Hamilton  which can be enjoyed by the citizens of Canada and beyond.

References:
Whitehern: Home of the McQuesten Family Scrapbook. Hamilton Public Library: Special Collections.
Best, John C. Thomas Baker McQuesten: Public Works, Politics and Imagination. Corinth Press: Hamilton, Ontario, 1991.