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Wemyss Mackenzie Simpson was born in London, England, in 1825, the youngest son of Geddes Mackenzie Simpson and Frances Simpson. He emigrated to Canada at a young age and by 1841 he had entered into the Montreal Department of the Hudson's Bay Company. Simpson first came to work at the Hudson's Bay Post in Sault Ste. Marie in 1849. On this particular occasion, his stay was brief, lasting a mere two years. He was transferred to LaCloche from Sault Ste. Marie. It was at LaCloche that he met and married Annie lronside, the daughter of Captain George lronside of the Indian Department. Simpson returned to Sault Ste. Marie in 1855 and remained in this community for the balance of his life. According to the 1861 census, Simpson and his family resided at the Hudson's Bay Post. He was 36 years of age at the time and his wife was 29. They had six children: four boys and two girls. He engaged a company staff of one female and three males including an East Indian clerk by the name of James Cotten. and a servant girl named Mary Hood. Simpson was named Chief Factor of the Post at Sault Ste. Marie in 1862, He retained this position until 1865 when, concurrently, the post was closed and Simpson retired. Prior to his retirement, Simpson acquired a plot of land from the Crown. The house was built and the Simpson family had moved in by 1866. There is no indication of the architect responsible for the design of the house and it has been suggested that Simpson, himself, may have designed it. Simpson was very active in Sault Ste. Marie affairs. He served as Post Master from 1857 until 1858, he was President of the Algoma District Agricultural Society and, as a member of the Anglican Church, he served as a rector's warden in 1865 and again in 1879. He was one of the leading promoters of and contributors to the construction of St. Luke's Cathedral in 1870, and, in 1874, he donated the land on which Bishophurst now stands. In 1867, Simpson was elected the first Member of Parliament for the District of Algoma following Confederation. As a member of the government, Simpson negotiated with the Indians to allow for the passage of soldiers en route to the Riel Rebellion, He was re-elected in 1871 but resigned his seat soon after to become the Indian Commissioner. Simpson retired from public life in 1877 and spent his remaining days in the house he had built. Architectural Description
Side walls are of random sandstone rubble and a later brick chimney has been added. The majority of the original room chimneys have been removed. The house comprises two parts. The main house is rectangular in shape and measures 45 feet by 38 feet. A wing which projects to the north or the rear measures 37 feet by 20.5 feet. The wing has a small attached entrance porch on the west side, The entire structure is two storied throughout. Depending upon the interpretation placed upon the design, the house may be styled after the Georgian style based on the symmetrical fenestration and low truncated hipped roof. On the other hand, it may be after a Regency period villa given the shape of the building, the window proportions, the hipped roof and the free-standing chimneys with end walls. The front or south facade is constructed of coursed grey ashlar with smooth margins, chisel dressed field and neatly articulated joints, projecting quoins and a continuous string course at the second floor window sill level. The central wide doorway and narrower flanking French window openings have flat arches with chamfered rusticated skewed voussoirs and carved keystones. The three upper windows have shallow segmental arched lintels which are hooded, shouldered and supported on carved corbelled brackets. The keystones of these arches were carved with a floral design on the flanking arches and a head (said to be in the likeness of Annie lronside Simpson) on the centre arch. The balance of the exterior walls are of undressed red sandstone with string course continuing around the building and similar, although less elaborate, lintel treatment. The sandstone was skilfully laid and vertically coursed at regular intervals. The south facade comprises three bays with French doors or windows to the lower floor on the outer bays with a single six panel door, transom and sidelights occupying the central bay. On the second floor above, there are three vertical sliding sash windows of 6/6 configuration. The east and west walls each consist of two bays of upper and lower windows located symmetrically but closer to the corners. They are similar in size and shape to the upper south facade windows but with simpler lintel treatment. On the north side, the original window arrangement is obscured by the projecting wing. There is, however, one large vertical sliding sash window at the stairwell landing on the central axis of the building. The north wing leaves many unanswered questions as it its construction. The work is cruder, The stone work is more random with less care taken in the coursing. There are no quoins, no string course and the windows have flat arches with five partially dressed voussoirs and projecting keystones. Although the ground floor of the wing is at the same level as the main house, the upper floor is slightly lower and the second floor ceilings are considerably lower following the line of the roof slope at the exterior walls. There are three bays of windows on each side. The lower windows, while still 6/6 are much smaller than those of the main house and the upper windows, because of the lower eaves. are smaller still and narrower with 6/3 sash. The north end is a blank wall. The wing was constructed with a full basement which connects with a small area of basement under the northwest comer of the main house. This appears to be original and is the only portion of basement under the main house. From this small basement area, there appears to be an opening into the crawl space under the balance of the house. This building is the second oldest major structure standing in Sault Ste. Marie and it is, without a doubt, the best example of contemporary stone masonry in the City.
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