Trafalgar School - Echoes Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

Page 34 text:

The official opening of the Caverhill Wing on May 8, 1974, was a landmark event in the history of Trafalgar School. This new addition, was made possible through the generosity of Miss Marjorie Caverhill, old girls, parents, and friends of the school, is the latest step in the modernization of the school begun in 1973. The highlight of this event was the unveiUng of a commemorative plaque by Dr. John B. Stirling. The girls of the school provided music under the direction of the musicmaster, Mr. William Vincent. Stephanie Leutticken, the girl who had been in the school for the longest time, and Clare Beresford, the youngest girl in the school, presented a gift and roses to Dr. Stirling and his wife. Afterwards, refreshments were served in the new dining room. The event was enjoyable for students, staff and guests. uiioTiy Boartl, and t t Stajj ° Uiafat ai cScfioof jcn G ' nd xcc eii tfte lionoui tjoax comjianLj at t t Opening of tfie Caaez itt IXI ' mq h oflt2 S Stilhn , S. M . C D . L L D. on edn iAay, j {atf Si , 1974 at 11 a.m. in. iRe i mnaiium, followed £ij li lil ttfrciliimtili in i c iMainy-J oom R.S.V.P. 3495 SIMPSON STREET MONTREAL H3G 2J7 TELEPHONE: 935-2644 (9 A M. TO 4 P.M.. MONDAY TO FRIDAY) Of Many Thin g s . . . by Edgar Andrew Coltard How Trafalgar School got its name How did the Trafalgar Schtiol for Girls gel its name? The roots of the answer go far back into the traditions of Montreal The latest event in the long his- tory of the sc-hool wi!! take plade next Wednesday when the new Ca- verhill Wing will be o f f i c ! a 1 I Y opened. Ttje new building wiii make available space and faciUHes of the most odern design- But the school, in all ' its changes, cherishes its traditions. The founder of llic school, Don- ald Ross, stipulated in his will that it must be named Ttrifalgar. l!c chose this name because he had bought, as the school ' s site, eight acres of the Trafalgar estate on Cote des Neiges Road. The school was never buUt on those acres: it was opened instead in 1867 on the land near the head of Simpson Street, beiow McGregor, where it is today. But the name originall intended for the school has been preserved, though the site is dif- ferent. To understand more about the origin of this name, it is neces- sary to go far back into old Mon- treal lore. Trafaljjair Farm The Trafalgar estate on Cofe- des Neiges Road had been a country property, known at first as Tra- falgar Farm, In the early years of the 19th ' century the Montreal fur traders were buying farms on the slopes of the mountain. They had two holies — one m the snug itttie streets of the town for the winter months, and a second out in the countryside for the summer. Otiij (jf these fur traders, John Ogilvy. chose a farm in the lovely valley between the two mountains between Mount Royal and what today is known as Westmount Mountain. The old Cote des Neiges Road ran past it. His large proper- ty covered the land where Trafal- gar Avenue runs today. John Ogilvy chose to name his farm in honor of Horatio Nelson ' s great naval victory of 1805. He was an enthusiast in his admiration of Nelson. He came forward hand- somely when a subscription 3ist was being drawn up to erect a monu- ment in some public place at Mon- treal to the memory of that im- mortai nava! hero. John Ogilvy ' s donation was £20. ]t was outstand- ing on the list. Only one other subscriber gave more. ' Nor was this all. A committee had to be elected by the subscribers to carry the project into reality. Five men bers were chosen. Ogilvy received the greatest number of baliols. It was only natural that a man so keen to honor Nelson ' s memory should name his farm after Nel- son ' s triumjA, After JohrJ Ogilvy died, the old name Trafalgar continued to be at- tached to hjs old farm. A later owner of the land, Albert Furniss, built a fine brick and stone house there. It still stands on the north- west corner of Cote des Neiges and Trafalgar Avenue, with the date 1848 carved in a stone over its entrance. That house was also named Trafalgar. Donald Ross ' gardener It becomes quite easy to under- stand, then, that when Donald Ross bought eight acres of the old Trafalgar property for a girls ' school he chose Trafalgar as itjj name. His own house, View Mount Place, was also on Cote des Neiges. Ross was a Scot from Ross- •scrH- = o(L- -FROM V fLCY WAL-TS.fl i PAf K Shire. He came to Montreal at the age of 15 to join the drygoods busi- ness of his uncle. He raarried his cmjsin, Jane Ross. Ross made View Mount one of the most beautiful estates in Mon- treal. He bad as his gardener an Irishman, Patrick McKenna. Mc- Kenna had come to Montreal in the great wave of Irish emigration at the lime of the potato famine of 1847. Typhus had broken out on the ship on its vay across the Atlantic. His wife took down with it. and died in the fever sheds built at Vointe St, Charles. She was one of the several thousand victims buried near the great boulder that today marks these Irish graves on Bridge Street- Vhen Patrick McKenna wished to marry again, Donald Ross set him up. He gave him all the pro- duce grown for one season on the View Mount property. McKenna sold it at the market. With the money he made, he set up a flower stall on Cote des Neiges, near the old Tollbooth. This was the begin- ning of the McKenna florist busi- ness in Montreal. After Donald Ross ' death, years were to pass before anything could be done to set up the school he had planned. The provisions of his will were complex. It began to appear that many more years might pass before enough money would be available to get the school started. A solution was suggested; Per- haps another donor might be found to supplement the amount avail- able from the Ross will. The most likely prospect was Sir Donald A. SmiUi (later to be Lord Strath- cona). He had a lively interest in education for women; in years ahead he was to be the founder of the Royal Victoria College at Mc- Giil University. Anyone wishing to get funds from Sir Donald preferred to ap- proach him through the minister of his church— Rev. Dr. James Bar- clay, the Scbttish minister of St. Paul ' s Presbyterian Church, Dr. Barclay had the reputation of being very successful in getting do- nations. In this case he succeeded again. Sir Donald A. Smith was ready to finance the school. But he made a stipulation: it would have to be established within the bound- aries of the City of Montreal, as they were defined at the time. The eight acres bought by Don- ald Ross, as the site of his school, did not meet this stipulation. The old Trafalgar pr rty on Cote des Neiges Road was then outside the Montreal city limits. Oi 3 name kept Though the will of Donald Ross was long and detailed, he had wisely left considerable latitude to the trustees of his proposed school. They found they could legally es- tablish the school within Mon- treal ' s boundaries. The eight acres of the old Trafalgar property on Cote des Neiges Road could be given up, provided that the name Trafalgar was still given to the school. It is for this reason that the school today is known as the Tra- falgar School for Girls. Hie site chosen for the school, thou inside the City of Mont- real, was actually not very far away from the land Donald Ross had set aside for it. The slope of Mount Royal, facing the city, still had many of the old country es- tates, with houses set in large grounds — ideal for a school. The trustees, with $30,000 from Sir Don- ald A. Smith, and other assistance, from other benefactors, bought the fine fsece of land below McGregor Street, at the head o£ Simpson Street, where the school has been ever since. This land itself is historic. H was once part of the farm owned by Herte! de Rouville and Boucher de B Hicherville- They sold a por- tion of it to Sir Ajfiyander Mack- enzie, the explorer of the Mack- enzie River, who had his fwuse where the Mackenzie House apart- ments stand today. Sir Alexander ' s heirs .sold it to Sir George Simp- son, Governor of the Hudson ' s Bay Company, after whom the street lat fu ' st known as George Hoad iB named. The portion now occupied by the school and its grounds was purchased from Sir George Simp- son by Sir George Augustus Wetb- cralL in 1843. C iiaidcrlon L.od c V icn the tr-uslces of Trafalgar School bought this land m the ISfifts, ihcy did not have to build a school. The house already built by Sir George Welherall served the purpose very well. !n fact this old house, known as Chalderton Lodge, remained as part of the school complex, after one e: tension after another had been added to it. It was part of the school for generations of girls. Every effort was made to preserve it. But necessary repairs had be- come so cosily and extensive that only recenily it had to he torn dowTi. The Sir Charles Wctherall who built this house that became the first Trafalgar School u-as an in- teresting character. He was a BriUsh army officer, the son of a general. Sir Frederick Wetherall I executor of tiie will of H.R.H. ihe Duke of Kent, Queen Victoria ' s father). Sir O ' - ' S ' je !tnd s-n-cd in the army in many parts of the g!obe — at the Cape of Good Hope, in Java, in India. In Canada in the ]830s he commanded the force in. the successful battle at St. Charles on the Richelieu, m the Rebellion of 1837. He remained with the gar- rison in Montreal for an extraor- dinary length of time, as deply adjutant-general Apparently Sir George was In Montreal so long that he felt the need of a permanent residence. He built Chalderton Lodge as a large house in the style known as Goliiic Revival Us quaint arch- itectural details and decorations gave it great distinction and charm. There were marvelious Gothic ceilings and fireplaces, leaded glass windows, splendid hand carving in doors and sLau - ways. Sir George had hardly settled down in his new liouse when or- ders came to return to England, to become deprtrty adjutant-general at the Horse Guards, the head- quarters of the army. In 1856 Chalderton Lodge was jHit up for rent or sale. Early school days Chalderton Lodge and its grounds passed through several owners before they were bought by the trustees of the new Tra- falgar School. F or a number of years the whole school was in Col. Wetherall ' s old Chalderton Lodge. The school iias been expanded in a series of additions. Next Wed- nesday, the latest of these will be opened. Misb Marjorie Caverhill left her hmise on Simpson Street to the school. Proceeds from the sale of this house have made pos- sible the wing, named in her menTory. The bricks are new but the traditions are old, says one of those closely connected with the Trafalgar School for Girls. How old these traditions are is seen in the fact that the very name of the school goes back to fur trader John Ogilvy ' s farm in the valley between the mountains.