Harriet T. Weaver Trust

At the Annual Meeting in 2013, Brink Weaver provided the members with an introduction to the late Harriet T. Weaver, whom we are delighted to honour as a stalwart figure in the building of the community of the Lake of Bays. What follows is drawn from Brink’s remarks about his mother.

“In the summer of 1922 the Thorne family arrived at “Cairncroft” on the Glenmount Road. They arrived by boat at the Old Glenmount dock. The gang plank was lowered and off stepped Stewart, Jonathan, Victoria and Harriet followed by Clare McCullough Thorne and Dr. Victor Thorne plus 2 or 3 staff. (They had travelled by train and boat from Stamford, Connecticut.)

There were 7 summers of joy and laughter. Cairncroft was deceptively large. When pushed, it could sleep 20. Twelve full beds were normal. Up and down the shore were lots of cousins and friends for the young ones to play with. In about 1927 Harriet met Bill Weaver. Of course everyone was escorted in those days. In 1928 Mother Clare McCullough Thorne died of cancer. Dr. Victor Thorne never returned to the lake. The cottage was given to the 4 children.

Harriet became Mother to Stewart, Jonathan and Victoria; often, when necessary, stepping between her brothers, sister and a newly-hired German governess. Harriet often told the story of some young person sitting at the dining table showing their bad manners with their elbows on the table. The Governess, on seeing this, would shout loudly with a thick German accent “Elbogins from Ninetesh” as she whacked the offending elbows with the back edge of a knife. Ice for the ice box was cut from the lake and placed in the ice house, the wood shed was filled with firewood, the cottage water system had to be closed and opened, there was the ongoing cottage maintenance, etc. All this fell to the local trades people.

There was a lady in Baysville who did laundry including lots from all the Weaver cottages. She had a bright son. Harriet and Bill paid his tuition for an engineering degree. That fellow after graduation did well in business and has now retired. He never forgot his gratitude to his university sponsors.

In the middle of December in the mid 1960’s Harriet and Bill received an evening telephone call from Lloyd Green – the builder and maintenance person of the Weaver cottages – to tell them that a home had burned to the ground and that family had lost everything. Harriet and Bill, without hesitation, told Lloyd they would pay for the materials if the community would supply the labour.  That small house was built in just a month. The owners of that house were proud of their home and annually gave 2 gallons of maple syrup to Harriet and Bill.

Harriet’s generosity and kindness in Toronto was even more remarkable. Annually, there were many Christmas hampers to the unknown needy, another one or two students were helped through university and many, many people in need of help were given a hand-up.

Harriet Weaver never wanted to be in the limelight. She always preferred to be behind the scenes. That is the way she was.

As one of her children, it gives me great pleasure to initiate the establishment of this Trust Fund through the Lake of Bays Heritage Foundation and thus acknowledge the many deeds of Harriet Weaver in a way that provides a lasting memory of her."