User:Museums of Mississauga

The Museums of Mississauga

Vision: The Museums of Mississauga will be a leading presence in the innovative sharing and collecting of Mississauga’s heritage.

Mission: The Museums of Mississauga will offer lifelong learning experiences, through engaging programs and the responsible stewardship of our heritage collections and sites.

Engage in the Past!

The Museums of Mississauga shed light on the past at the Bradley Museum, restored to reflect daily life in the 1830s, and at Benares Historic House which captures life in Mississauga in the early twentieth century. The Museums have a rich artifact collection which spans over 200 years of Mississauga's history.

The Museums of Mississauga in partnership with the Streetsville Historical Society are currently in the process of restoring the Leslie Log House. The project is expected to be completed by May 2011. This white cedar log house was built by Robert Leslie in 1826 on Mississauga Road, north of Derry. In 1994 it was moved to its current location; the building is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act.

The Museums of Mississauga are owned and operated by the City of Mississauga and are open year round for guided tours, changing exhibits, special events, educational programming and a number of other activities for your special interests.

Bradley Museum

Located at the centre of our Bradley Museum site is our Visitor Centre in The Anchorage, an Ontario Regency style cottage on the grounds of the museum. Once the retirement home of Royal Navy officer, John Skynner, the early 19th century home was moved from its original site on the shores of Lake Ontario to the Bradley Museum in 1978. The Anchorage now houses changing exhibits, gift shop, meeting room space, administrative offices and collections storage space.

Mississauga was home to the Bradley Family when our modern city was still the backwoods of Upper Canada. Bradley House is a small saltbox style farmhouse that was constructed in 1830 by Lewis and Elizabeth Bradley. After 20 years in a rugged cabin, this United Empire Loyalist couple and their seven children called this modest house home. Bradley House opened to the public in 1967. It was originally restored by the Mississauga Heritage Foundation to reveal the everyday life of early settlers in Ontario.

Situated across the Bradley House, sits the delightful, award-winning Log Cabin, added to the Bradley Museum site in 2007. Originally slated for demolition at its Port Credit Mississauga location, the cabin was rescued and reconstructed through a great community effort, and now offers year round use for educational programs, meetings, receptions, special events and sleepovers for children’s community groups.

Lewis Turner Bradley (1771 to 1843) was born in Savannah, Georgia. His family remained loyal to George III during the War of American Independence and when that war ended with a US victory, the eight year-old Lewis and his family were forced to evacuate to New Brunswick. In 1808, Lewis married Elizabeth Merigold, the daughter of another Loyalist evacuee. He was 37; she was 15.

In 1811 Lewis was granted 81 hectares of free land at Merigold’s Point, as was his due for being the son of United Empire Loyalists. It was certainly a generous gift, but the land Lewis and his fellow loyalists received was a dense forest. Lewis had to build his own log home and clear a farm on soil where only trees had thrived before. For 19 years Lewis, Elizabeth and six of their seven children lived in this single-room home. Finally in 1830, Lewis had saved up the financial resources necessary to expand their domicile into the home that now serves as our, and your, museum.

Further information on the Bradley family can be found here http://www5.mississauga.ca/rec&parks/websites/museums/pdfs/Bradley.pdf

Benares Historic House

The journey to Benares Historic House begins in our Visitor Centre where visitors can explore the interpretive gallery; become acquainted with previous generations of the family and discover how Benares came to be. The Visitor Centre also includes changing exhibits, gift shop, meeting room space, administrative offices and collections storage space.

Step back into the era of the early 1900’s and discover Benares Historic House! With more than 160 years of history, this exquisite estate was home to four generations of the Harris and Sayers families. Benares and most of its contents were donated by the three great grandchildren of Captain Harris - Geoffrey Harris Sayers, Dora Sayers Caro and Barbara Sayers Larson to the Ontario Heritage Foundation in 1968. It was restored and fully furnished with Harris Family items and opened to the public as Mississauga's newest museum in 1995. Part of what makes Benares so unique is that over 95% of the artifacts in the house are original to the Harris family and this home.

Further information on Benares Historic House can be found here http://www5.mississauga.ca/rec&parks/websites/museums/pdfs/benares.pdf

Arthur and Mary Harris

Arthur Beveridge Harris (1843-1932) along with his wife Mary Horatia Magrath Harris (1859-1954) lived at Benares after they were married in 1881. The two inherited Benares after Arthur’s father, Captain James Beveridge Harris (1797-1884) passed away. Arthur was a gentleman farmer who was a member of the First Battalion of Peel Militia in 1861 while Mary was the granddaughter of Revered James Magrath (1769-1851) who was the first rector of St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Erindale. The two families were much involved at the church and it was there that Mary and Arthur met and later married. Mary was a very generous woman and held in high esteem by all who knew her. She enjoyed polishing silver, crocheting, and gardening. Arthur was a member of the St. Ann’s Shooting and Fishing Club and actively shot and collected birds that he proudly displayed in his home. The couple had three daughters, Annie (1882-1986), Naomi (1883-1968) and Margaret (1887) who died shortly after birth.

Naomi Harris

Naomi Maude Harris (1883-1968) was the second daughter of Arthur and Mary Harris of Benares. She never married and lived at Benares her whole life. She helped to take care of her mother, and continued to live alone in the house for 14 years after Mary’s death in 1954. She was a life long member of St Peter’s Anglican Church in Erindale, where she was an integral part of the church’s many activities. It was Naomi who willed Benares to her two nieces and nephew and they donated the estate and most of its contents to The Ontario Heritage Foundation. Ownership was later transferred to the City of Mississauga which has operated Benares as a museum since 1995.

Annie Harris Sayers

Annie Louise Harris Sayers (1882-1986) was the eldest daughter of Arthur and Mary Harris of Benares. She married Beverly Sayers (1882-1976) in 1906, and together they built a house on the southern part of the Benares Estate, given to them by Annie’s parents. Beverley was a member of the 36th (Peel) Regiment for six years and also part of the 201st Battalion and 204th Battalion. While going overseas for WWI his wife and two children stayed at Benares. Annie lived in the ‘Log Bungalow’ raising her three children alone. She was known as a very creative, generous, and sweet woman and lived to be 104 years old.

Barbara Larson

Barbara Larson is the third and youngest child of Annie Harris (1882-1986) and Beverly Sayers (1883-1976). She grew up in the ‘Log Bungalow’ with her two siblings and mother Annie not far from Benares. Barbara spent much time at Benares visiting her aunt and grandparents and even celebrated her 16th birthday with a huge party at the estate.

Geoffrey Harris Sayers

Geoffrey Harris Sayers (1907-1997) was the first child of Annie and Beverley Sayers. During part of WWI he stayed at Benares with his mother and sister Dora while his father was overseas. He was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces and was appointed 2nd Lieutenant 14 June 1938. Two years later, he was appointed Lieutenant. As of 21 April 1941, he was appointed the rank of Temporary Captain, and was recommended for appointment to the Lorne Scots (P. D. and H. Regiment) based out of Brampton. Geoffrey later worked as a businessman and was married to Kathleen (née Colloton). The couple lived at Benares from 1969 until 1981 when the house was transferred to the Ontario Heritage Foundation.

Dora Sayers Caro

Dora Sayers Caro (1915 - 2004) was the second child to Beverley and Annie Sayers of Clarkson. She began acting at age 10, appearing in school plays, and later in local stage productions in Mississauga and Oakville. To further her experience, she found work at the University of Toronto’s 'Hart House Theatre', working with children’s theatre productions. In 1936, at the age of 21, Dora moved to New York and found work with the touring company of 'What Every Woman Knows'. Dora’s first big break came a year after arriving in New York, in 1937's 'Stage Door'. She later appeared in the long-running Broadway production of 'My Fair Lady'. As a result, was later chosen to be the understudy for Katherine Hepburn in the 'The Philadelphia Story' in 1941. That same year she helped form the United Services Organization providing health and recreational facilities for soldiers and administering church services. In 1946 she married actor Ralph Forbes (pronounced RAYF). The two met in 1942 during the stage production of Noël Coward’s 'Private Lives'. After Ralph passing she later married Jim Caro in 1954 and retired from the stage. Jim and Dora were avid equestrians. They also enjoyed breeding and showing thoroughbred dogs. Dora and Jim lived in France and the Bahamas before settling in the United States. She lived in McLean, Virginia - near Washington D.C. - until her death in 2004.

Mazo de la Roche

In 1927, Mazo de la Roche (1879-1961), who had been living on what was part of the original Benares estate, wrote a total of sixteen novels based on the trials and tribulations of the fictional Whiteoaks family of Jalna and won the Atlantic Monthly magazine $10,000 prize for fiction with her novel, "Jalna". Visit www.mazo.ca for more information.

Friends of the Museums of Mississauga

The vision of the Friends of the Museums of Mississauga is to promote, strengthen and support the Museums of Mississauga.

The mission of the Friends of the Museums of Mississauga is to engage volunteers and enhance community awareness through promotion, participation and fundraising to ensure the integrity of the Museums.

The Friends of the Museums of Mississauga launched in November 2005, and is an incorporated not-for-profit, charitable organization, with an established Board of Directors, bylaws, and an active schedule of events and activities in support of the Museums of Mississauga. The Friends of the Museums were responsible for the award-winning Log Cabin at Bradley Museum project raising $40,000 through their annual Starlight and Candlelight Galas, as well as an additional $120,000 in cash plus $200,000 in donated goods and services. The Log Cabin was incorporated into the Bradley Museum site in December 2007.

Museums of Mississauga Advisory Committee

The Museums of Mississauga Advisory Committee (MOMAC) reports to Council, through General Committee. MOMAC maintains a high-level focus, with a main purpose of providing leadership, vision, advocacy, and continuity of purpose for the Museums of Mississauga.

Discover the Museums of Mississauga by visiting http://www.museumsofmississauga.com