Located at the end of a long driveway and surrounded by rhododendrons, lilacs and tulip trees, ‘Bayview House’ is one of the finest buildings in West Flamborough Township. Built atop the Niagara Escarpment, there are magnificent views of the surrounding countryside as far as Burlington Bay from both levels of this stately two storey, red brick house.
Like many other properties in Concessions 1 and 2, the Crown awarded this 200 acre property of Lot 7, Concession 1 to a United Empire Loyalist, Frederick Schram, soon after surveying of the township was completed. Many of the first settlers in the township, like Schram, who had served in Butler’s Rangers, received their free grant of land for military service under the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War.
In 1820 Lieutenant Alexander Wishart of the famous 42nd Highland Regiment, his young bride and family left Scotland and came to West Flamborough, where they stayed with Major Titus Geer Simons. After Napoleon’s defeat in 1815 and the end of hostilities between Canada and the United States, there were hundreds of thousands of disbanded and unemployed soldiers in Great Britain. With its economy in serious trouble, the British government encouraged young army officers with families, such as the Wisharts, to emigrate to the colonies on half-pay.
Alexander Wishart immediately resumed his military career in Upper Canada and was promoted to Colonel of the 4th Gore Regiment. It is recorded that he and Mrs. Wishart “attended the St. Andrew’s Ball, where the Colonel danced with Mrs. Crooks, and his wife Janet danced with Captain Bradt until seven in the morning.” In 1823, aged only 31 years, Alexander Wishart died and was buried in the Municipal cemetery at Bullock’s Corners. His widow, with a family of very young children, stayed in Flamborough and three years later purchased the northern half of Lot 7, Concession 1 from Titus Geer Simons.
The large and stately ‘Bayview House’, combining Georgian and Italianate styles, was built in 1862 by Kenneth Maclean Wishart, a son of Alexander and Janet Wishart, who had married Louisa Van Every on 16 November 1848 in St. James Church, Dundas. During the months of unrest following the Rebellion of 1837, Kenneth Wishart received an Ensign’s commission in the 7th Gore Regiment but, unlike his father, he chose not to make the military his career. After the rebellion, he was a member of the Flamboro’ and Beverly Branch of the British American League and signed the document drafted by Dr. James Hamilton and others in the township requesting the Parliament of Upper Canada to establish good constitutional government.
Following his marriage, Kenneth Wishart became involved with various business ventures in the township. He was listed as the operator of a licensed hotel in West Flamboro’ Village in 1860, “one of only fourteen such establishments in the township.” With his brother-in-law, William Van Every, he was a partner from 1866 until 1873 in a general merchandising business in the old Bullock Block on the east side of the Brock Road at Bullock’s Corners, and between 1864 and 1882, he served as the Treasurer of West Flamborough Township Council. During his time as Treasurer, and before the Township Hall was built in 1875, the Council met regularly in his merchandising store at Bullock’s Corners.
The magnificent front facade of the house is constructed of red brick, three stretchers thick, with buff crick quoinage on all corners and presents a symmetrical appearance with identical windows flanking the central bay. The projecting central bay is capped by a gable and returns which almost encircle the 1862 datestone. The entranceway at the top of a flight of steps is typical of mid-19th century designs, with rectangular, flat multi-pane transom and sidelights which are emphasized by a cut-stone shaped pediment roof surround, supported on carved stone brackets. Above the single leaf front door is a double, semi-circular window with its original divided sash.
In later years, after Kenneth Wishart had moved to the W. J. Morden property at Bullock’s Corners, the house was owned by several other prominent West Flamborough families, the Beggs from 1892 to 1907, the Hanes from 1907 to 1920 and the William E. Morden family from 1920 to 1945.
© The Waterdown-East Flamborough Heritage Society 2005, 2024.
