Subsérie 5 - Correspondence Regarding Battlefield House Furnishings

Subseries consists of correspondence pertaining to the refurbishing of the antiques, and refurnishing of the rooms of the house, including donations and repairs of antique items. After the transfer of Battlefield House to the Niagara Parks Commission, the Women’s Wentworth Historical Society noticed that although the Commission was doing a satisfactory job of maintaining the park grounds, the house was being neglected. To protect the house from falling into disrepair, and to ensure it was restored to its former glory, the Society persuaded the Commission to restore the house to its original state and refurnish the rooms to the time period when the Gage family occupied the house. The Commission consented and arranged and paid for Jeanne Minhinnick, a consultant with expert knowledge of refurnishing historic sites, to assist Society members with the project. Jeanne had previously worked on the restoration of Dundurn Castle and so was hired to provide her expertise on the Battlefield House restoration. She estimated the cost of the project to be about $25,000.00 and her advice and instructions feature prominently in this correspondence. To raise the money needed, the Society fundraised by asking individuals and companies for donations, but also held an auction to sell furniture in the collection that was not relevant to the time period. Furniture and items from 1830-1900 were sold by Sotheby & Company Canada Limited and the money was used to buy antiques from the 1790-1830 period. There is correspondence from the auctioneer regarding the sale of irrelevant items as well as a company pamphlet and a photocopied list of items available for auction. The donations raised by the Society came in the form of cash as well as actual antique items, and were donated by companies, organizations and individuals. Items included a piano, framed pictures, furniture such as beds, tables, desks, chairs, etc., as well as weapons, candles, a silver tea set, and cutlery. Some of the materials were also loaned to Battlefield House by the Royal Ontario Museum. The series contains some photocopies of sketches, pictures and information on various types of furnishings copied from publications on antique furniture used to guide the members in their project. The correspondence also pertains to repairs to current or donated furniture, the movement of furniture and other articles to other areas of the house, and the placement of furniture in various rooms. There is correspondence with government and tax officials to get a specific tax exemption status for items purchased for the refurbishment of Battlefield House, over and above the charitable tax exemption status the Society currently held. The application was successful, and the Society was granted an Ontario Retail Sales Tax Purchase Exemption Certificate, which could be used when any item was purchased for the house. The subseries correspondence also includes letters from various companies and foundations regarding donating to the refurnishing project, as well as thank you letters from the Society in response to the donations. Donors include, but are not limited to, banks, the Hamilton Spectator, The Hamilton Foundation, Bell Canada, Stoney Creek Dairies Limited, Simpson-Sears, Slater Steel, Molson Brewery, as well as a large donation from Dominion Foundries and Steel Limited of $12,000.00 for the furnishing of the dining room. During the processing of this fonds, the records for this series were found in a separate file from the financial and tax records. Given that they are specific to the refurnishing of Battlefield House and in many cases deal with non-financial donations and transactions, the records have been kept separate to maintain original order.