THE BREAD OF LIFE: 1st St. & Marlborough Area
Some areas of Cornwall have changed considerably over the past one hundred or so years, but, often there are reminders of what once was. The area of First Street East near Marlborough Street is heavily influenced by the Anglican Church. The former Good Shepherd Church (more formally known as Mountain Memorial) and now home to the Boys and Girls Club of Cornwall/SDG at 506 First Street East, is iconic. A church rectory once stood at 411 First St. E. in the former McLean residence. Immediately east of the church, a series of brick houses along the 500 block of First Street East (510-518) harken back to the days of the Clergy Reserve or Glebe; those rental houses were a source of income for the church. One of the Anglican clergymen of the Mountain family lineage, conditionally left property for the use of the church if Cornwall were to become a bishopric (diocese). That did not take place. As such, a parcel of land south of Marlborough was transferred to the “Public School Board of the Town of Cornwall” and later divided into smaller parcels.
A former brick building at what was variously known as 426A, 424 and 422 ½ First Street East stood its ground from 1883 until its demolition in 1971, the fruit of an urban renewal effort. The structure was on a parcel of land which occupies the east half of Lot 2 on the South Side of First. Today two houses, 420 and 428 First St. E., occupy that parcel, which from 1919 until 1971 was home to three structures. Because the addresses kept changing, let’s simply refer to the structures as west, middle and east.
The historic middle structure is our key focus in this article. The 1883 brick building functioned as a school, a temperance hall, a series of bakeries and later as a warehouse. William Parkinson migrated to Canada in 1907 and in 1913 purchased the parcel of land, which then was home to a two-storey barn-style structure as well as the 1883 brick building. He made the former his home and the latter the Parkinson Bakery. In 1919, Parkinson expanded his footprint through purchase of a small property immediately east, upon which he built his new home at 420 1st E.
Between 1920 and 1923, Parkinson was in a Cornwall-Montreal baker-confectioner partnership with William Thomas Fairweather. Fairweather defaulted on the terms of the contract, resulting in his removal from the property, which reverted to Parkinson.
Moving ahead to 1927, Parkinson entered into a partnership with another baker, Daniel Dumoulin under the name of “Dumoulin and Parkinson”.
In this photo of the bakery interior, provided by Dumoulin’s great-grandson Peter Richter, a prominently placed plaque on the oven bears the inscription: “Manufactured by Hamilton Oven Works, Hamilton, Ontario”. The Hamilton Oven Works was in operation during the 1920s and 1930s.
The following year, Parkinson’s estate transferred its half-interest to the surviving partner and the business was renamed Dumoulin’s Bakery.
In 1948, that property was sold again. A 1951 City Directory lists the Seguin Bakery in operation there.
