The McLennan Family
1900-1942

John Stewart (J.S.) McLennan was born in 1853 in Montreal, son of Hugh and Isabella Stewart McLennan. In 1856, Hugh McLennan moved his family to Chicago to improve his business interests. While in Chicago, J.S. McLennan met Louise Bradley who would later become his wife in April 1881. Upon the McLennan family's return to Canada in 1867, J.S. McLennan attended Montreal High School. He obtained a bachelor's degree in mental and moral philosophy at McGill University in 1875. He then continued his education at Cambridge University, receiving his second bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1879. J. S. McLennan then joined his father's grain business in 1879. Throughout his lifetime, J.S. McLennan was involved in a wide-ranging variety of activities. He began his professional life as an industrialist. In 1904, he became owner of the Sydney Post newspaper which later became the Sydney Post-Record. He was also very interested in the Fortress ruins at Louisbourg which led to his book Louisbourg: From its Foundation to its Fall, 1713-1758. He helped to establish the Cape Breton branch of the Canadian Patriotic Fund in 1914 and was named to the Military Hospitals and Convalescence Homes Commission in 1915. J. S. McLennan was named to the Canadian Senate in 1916, serving on various committees until his death in 1939.

Louise Bradley was the daughter of Francis Bradley and Sara Beaman of Connecticut. The Bradley family moved to Chicago in 1860. Louise was a talented artist and took classes at the Chicago Academy of Design which later became the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She was most likely responsible for the lovely gardens that took shape at Petersfield. She also found inspiration on the grounds of Petersfield. Her book of sketches and watercolours is on exhibit at the Beaton Institute, University College of Cape Breton in Sydney.

J.S. and Louise Bradley McLennan's first child, Frances was born in 1882 in Montreal. Their second daughter, Isabel, followed in 1883. The McLennan family's connection to Cape Breton was established in 1884 when J.S. was sent to oversee his father's interests in the International Coal Company. He and his family lived in several Cape Breton locations before acquiring Petersfield. The McLennan family expanded with the birth of three more children in Sydney - Hugh in 1887, Margaret in 1888 and Katharine in 1892. Unfortunately, the year 1888 also marked a sad event with the death of the eldest McLennan child, Frances.

In 1893, the Dominion Coal Company was formed. The McLennan family moved to Massachusetts to allow J.S. to take up an executive position for the New England market. Later, in 1898, H.M. Whitney formed the Dominion Iron and Steel Company (DISCO). J.S. was named treasurer of the new company and became a virtual general manager while still living in Boston. He then retired from DISCO and returned to Cape Breton to build Petersfield. The first entry for the Petersfield guest book was written by J.S. McLennan himself and dated 1 July 1901.

The main house at Petersfield was built in the Italianate style popular for Massachusetts country houses at the time.

A period painting of the McLennan home at Petersfield.
Courtesy of the Beaton Institute
A breezeway connected the main house to a studio where Louise engaged in her artistic endeavours and J.S. eventually wrote his book Louisbourg: From its Foundation to its Fall, 1713-1758.

The studio and rose garden
Courtesy of the Beaton Institute
The ground floor of the house included a combination living and dining room called the "Big Room," library, telephone room, the kitchen, two pantries, laundry, sitting room for servants, and two sunrooms. On the second floor, there were four bedrooms (three with en-suite baths) for the McLennan family and their guests, and four rooms for their staff. An elevator was installed during the final years of J.S. McLennan's life so he would not have to negotiate the stairs. The estate grew to encompass the main house and studio, gazebo, boathouse, caretaker's cottage, stables, tennis courts and several gardens including a rose garden and a wildflower garden.

An aerial view of the McLennan estate
Courtesy of the Beaton Institute
The McLennan family played host to many distinguished guests while residing at Petersfield. Between 1901 and 1911, visitors included: Wilfred Grenfell, Robert Harris, Governor General Grey, Prince Louis of Battenburg (who later became Lord Louis of Mountbatten), admirals and captains of British and French navy ships, and various American friends.

At the age of fifty-one, Louise died after a sudden appendicitis attack in 1912. Her death caused a profound change in life at Petersfield. The McLennan family had always travelled extensively and after Louise's death, J.S. left Petersfield and did not return until the following spring. This period also marks the time when J.S. was becoming more involved in wartime committees and Senate work. In 1915, J.S. McLennan married Grace Seely Henop Tytus and they had a son, John Stewart Junior, in November of that year. They divorced in 1927.

Well-known guests continued to visit Petersfield throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Some visitors included Prime Minister Arthur Meighen, Prime Minister R.B. Bennett, British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, Governor-General Byng, Governor-General Willingdon, Governor-General Tweedsmuir, Lord and Lady Baden-Powell, Sir Charles G.D. Roberts, D.C. Harvey, J.C. Webster, F.W. (Casey) Baldwin, and the Hart House Quartet.

Following J.S. McLennan's death in 1939, Katharine continued to live at Petersfield. In June 1941, the military began preparations to appropriate Petersfield for use as an officers' residence. During the summer of 1942, Katharine welcomed various foreign groups to her home. Katharine's last day at Petersfield was 30 September 1942. This marked the end of the McLennan occupation of Petersfield.
Only the foundations remain of the McLennan buildings at Petersfield

Katharine moved to a home in the Ashby area of Sydney. For a more detailed history of the McLennan family, please visit the McLennan Collection site at http://collections.ic.gc.ca/mclennan

Apple trees at Petersfield

There are many plants throughout the McLennan portion of Petersfield. However, the webpage focuses on several beautiful and intricately designed gardens including a wildflower garden, moist wildflower garden, and rose garden. The wildflower garden lies south of the "old field" site. Plant species include goutweed and periwinkle, fall crocus, siberian squill, and numerous trees. Three unique plantings in this area include the bloodroot, trout lily and Solomon's seal. Researchers know that these species were McLennan introductions because of their value in gardens of the McLennan time period. Bloodroot is not widespread in Cape Breton, occurring only near Middle River, Big Baddeck and Northeast Margaree. The trout lily is not native to Cape Breton at all. One species of Solomon's seal exists on mainland Nova Scotia but Petersfield exhibits another. Solomon's seal was highly prized by refined ladies of the nineteenth century and it makes sense that Louise Bradley McLennan would include some in her garden. The moist wildflower garden is located west of the wildflower garden. The small stream that runs through the garden gives it its name. Introductions to this section of the estate include periwinkle, bird's-eye speedwell, common speedwell, ale-hoof and columbine. Also included in this area are native trees such as sugar maple, oak, spruce, and larch.

The area around the McLennan house, studio and rose garden contains a large number of plants. Trees in this area include cherry, flowering crabapple, pear, horse chestnut, lilac, silver maple, and European beech. Two vines, Virginia creeper and bittersweet, have survived near the studio site. Plants include bloodroot, siberian squill, day lily, lemon lily, garden phlox, New England aster, European cinquefoil, bird's-eye speedwell, lupine, musk-mallow, columbine, periwinkle, wrinkled rose bushes, sweet brier, dog roses and moor grass. Many of these plants can also be found at other sites within the estate. It is believed that the McLennan family discovered them at other sites on the estate and transplanted them closer to their site. The family may have collected other introductions on their extensive travels. Visitors to the park must also remember that the surviving plants are only part of what may have once existed in the park's confines. It is likely that additional, more delicate plants could not survive to the present-day and unfortunately, have been lost.