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ROCKLEY or ROCKLY

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Rockley or Rockly is a community situated between Pugwash and Oxford on the eastern side of the River Philip, along approximately six miles of Highway 321 between Roslin and Port Philip.

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In 1811, the first land was granted at Rockley to Mr. Thomas LeFurgey.  He was a UEL who came from PEI and built a log cabin by the river.  He was the first pioneer settler in Rockley.  The cabin was later replaced by a frame house.  John Peel also came from PEI and settled on the adjoining farm.

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Also in 1811, land was granted to Mr Bennie Seaman.  David McCormick bought that land and built a frame house in 1843, but moved on to Oxford.  Foly Cameron lived on an adjoining property.

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Another first settler was Archibald Campbell from Scotland.  When he was a boy, he ran away from a boat which was loading in Pugwash.  He followed the shore down the gulf.  He was hungry but afraid to let folks see him in case they sent in back.  He looked in a farmhouse window and saw a woman making porridge.  He decided she must be Scottish too, so he went in.  It was the farm owned by Angus McLean.  He stayed there until he grew up and settled in  Rockley.

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Donald Gordon and his wife Janet had come from Aberdeen, Scotland in 1803.  Their son Alex Gordon was born aboard the ship the night they arrived in Pictou Harbour.  His wife was Margaret Campbell from Glasgow, Scotland.  They lived for a time in Elgin, Pictou.  In 1869, son John Gordon came from Pictou and bought the farm which had belonged to David McCormick.  His brother, Simon Gordon, settled on the adjoining farm which had belonged to Foly Cameron.  The parents resettled there in Rockley as well.

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Other early settlers were Melroys, McLeods, Frasers, McKays and Burnsides.  

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The first school house was located between the farms of Cameron Gordon and George Mills.  The first teacher was Mr. Nixon.  He lived in a room that was built on the back of the schoolhouse.  The present school was built by James W. Chisholm of Oxford in 1866 on a different lot.  The IOGT lodge used to meet in the school in 1886.

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The Baptist Church had been the Harney home which was across the street from where the first school had been built.  It was moved across the road thanks to efforts by David Mills and other citizens.  Mr. Haverstock was the first minister.  In 1947, the building was turned over to L.O.L was was used as the Orange Lodge Hall at Port Howe. 

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Rockley was named from the stone quarries which were situated on the farms of George Mills and Austin Smith.  Called the Grey Rock Quarries, they were operated by Mr. Seaman of Minudie.  The men worked 11 hours a day for 80 cents a day.  An American company later took over and the stone was shipped to New York. 

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The first saw mill was a whipsawing mill operated by hand.  It was later replaced by a saw mill on the farm owned by McCormick and was situated on Gordon Creek.  John Fraser had a dam built in the brook beside his house with a paddle wheel attached to a saw.  John MacLeod later lived there and was a shoemaker.  

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Benson Goodwin operated a blacksmith shop.  Ben Chase sold carriages, harness and machinery of all kinds.  He also loaded tan bark onto schooners which would come into the wharf at the quarry.  This bark was taken to Logan’s Tanner in Pictou.

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Dr. Creed at Pugwash was the first doctor.

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The mail first came from Oxford.  A post office was later established at Woodbury Burnside’s where the Chase house is now.  Mail delivery started in 1910 with Alex MacLeod as the first carrier.

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A phone line was put through in 1908 and taken down again in 1912.  The present service was started in 1920.

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The first highway was built in 1862.  It was paved in 1938.

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As of 1948, the industries were identified as farming, fishing and lumbering.  The farms were small scale and raised fruit, vegetables, grain and hay.  It was noted that there used to be numerous flocks of sheep, turkeys and geese raised, but the number was dwindling.  There was however still a wood cutting unit, a thresher and a shingle mill in the community.  People were fishing smelts with bag nets in the fall.  There were some oyster beds and some salmon.      Lumbering and cutting stove wood was still being done.

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A Rockley Mystery

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Mary Harney was 16 when she started out for her father’s cows on a Saturday night in early September and never returned.  Hundreds of men searched the woods the next day - the ground was soft from an all night rain, but not a footprint was found.  Weeks later a girl’s body washed ashore on PEI.  A piece of her dress was sent to Rockley and was said to resemble the material in the dress Mary wore.  Many an oldtimer would talk of the lights flashing through the darkness on the Harney farm.

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Excerpted from an article by Mrs. Douglas MacLeod in the Oxford Journal of June 24, 1948

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Civil Marriages

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26-08-1875    Rockly Cum Co    Pb    Rev John McRae Sutherland
PALMER    Calvin    21    B    farmer    Wentworth Cum Co    Alexander & Phoebe Purdy
MACLEOD    Sarah    23    S        Rockly Cum Co    John & Grace Kerr


28-02-1876    Oxford Cum Co    Pb    Rev John McRae Sutherland
FRASER    John    36    W    joiner    Elmsville Cum Co    Duncan & Nancy
FRASER    Janet    30    S        Rockly Cum Co    Alexander & Margaret

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07-09-1876    Rockly Cum Co    Pb    Rev William S Darragh
PALMER    George Edward    22    B    farmer    Wentworth Cum Co Jonathan & Emily
MCLEOD    Catherine    23    S        Rockly Cum Co    


11-03-1879    Linden Cum Co    Pb    Rev William S Darragh
MCINTOSH    Angus    22    B    farmer    Carrington Cum Co    John & Jessie
FRASER    Matilda    23    S    Rockly Cum Co        Alexander & Catherine

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03-11-1881    Rockly Cum Co    Bp    Rev Henry Bool
STEVENS    Philander    42    W    storekeeper    Wallace River Cum Co    Oliver & Anna

CAMERON    Christie    18    S        Rockly Cum Co    Alexander & Sarah

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03-03-1883    Pugwash Cum Co    Bp    Rev Henry Bool
BURNSIDE    Woodberry E    34    W    farmer    Rockly Cum Co    William & Lucy
MCKAY    Elizabeth    26    S        Rockly Cum Co    Donald & Janet

 

05-07-1884    Rockly Cum Co    Pb    Rev William S Darragh
KING    Willard    28    B    farmer    Kolbec Cum Co        Cyrus & Henrietta
FRASER    Christy A    26    S    Rockly Cum Co        William & Mary

 

23-07-1885    Linden Cum Co    Pb    Rev Samuel R Stormont
FRASER    Hugh W    26    B    farmer    Carrington Cum Co    Simon & Isabella
MCLEOD    Christy A    20    S        Rockly Cum Co    John & Grace

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02-06-1886    West Pugwash Cum Co    Pb    Rev James A McKenzie
MCKAY    Hugh    33    B    farmer    Rockly Cum Co        Donald & Harriet
CUMMINGS    Bessie Bent    24    S    West Pugwash Cum Co        James & Helena

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05-01-1887    Rockly Cum Co    Pb    Rev James A McKenzie
MCINTOSH    William    48    W    mechanic Oxford Cum Co    John & Margaret
FRASER    Isabella    33    S        Rockly Cum Co    Alexander & Margaret

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29-03-1887    Rockly Cum Co    Pb    Rev James A McKenzie
MCKAY    George R    24    B    farmer    Port Philip Cum Co    Alexander & Mary
STARRATT    Lucy    26    S        Rockly Cum Co        John W & Catherine

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04-07-1888    Oxford Cum Co    Pb    Rev James A McKenzie
WEBB    George W    29    B    mechanic    Oxford Cum Co    David H & Esther
WILSON    Hattie E    20    S        Rockly Cum Co    Abram & Maggie J

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27-06-1889    Claremont Cum Co    Pb    Rev William S Darragh
DICKSON    Thomas    53    W    farmer    Rockly Cum Co    John & Jenny
KENT    Sarah A    34    S        Claremont Cum Co        Alexander & Jane

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06-09-1897    Rockly Cum Co    Bp    Rev C H Haverstock
DAVIDSON    John S    37    W    painter    Dorchester Mass USA        James & Jane
MILLER    Minnie H    27    S        Rockly Cum Co    David & Christie

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28-12-1898    Rockly Cum Co    RP    Rev Joseph H Brownell
PATTON    Frederick D    31    B    farmer    Roslin Cum Co        Rand & Permillia
GRAY    Elizabeth    28    S        Rockly Cum Co        Daniel & Sarah J Sydney

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28-12-1898    Pugwash River Cum Co    Pb    Rev A D McIntosh
FRASER    Russell    23    B    farmer    Rockly Cum Co        John & Lavinia
PATTERSON    Margaret Alice    20    S    Pugwash River Cum Co    Samuel & Sarah

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07-06-1899    Westchester Stn Cum Co    Bp    Rev John Clark
WILSON    John    24    B    upholsterer    Oxford Cum Co    Abraham & Margaret
WEBB    Clara Maude    25    S        Westchester Cum Co        Edward & Amelia

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29-04-1900    Mount Pleasant Cum Co    Pb    Rev Christopher Munro
MILLS    George    27    B    farming    Rockly Cum Co        David & Christy
SIMPSON    Emma    24    S        Mount Pleasant Cum Co    Robert & Catherine

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08-11-1900    Rockly Cum Co    RP    Rev Joseph H Brownell
CHASE    Frederick    33    B    farmer    Oxford Cum Co    John & Jane
GRAY    Cassie Leona    24    S        Rockly Cum Co        Daniel & Sarah

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28-05-1902    Pugwash Cum Co    Pb    Rev A D McIntosh
SMITH    Edward Botsford Chandler 23    B farmer Port Howe Cum Co    Morley B & Rebecca
FRASER    Margaret Mabel    20    S    Rockly Cum Co    John Allan & Lavinia

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13-04-1904    Roslin Cum Co    Pb    Rev Christopher Munro
LEFURGEY    Albert    30    B    farmer    Roslin Cum Co            Elijah & Mary Ann
SIMPSON    Mary J    25    S        Roslin Cum Co            Moore & Ann

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18-10-1905    Rockly Cum Co    Mt    Rev Donald Farquhar
MCKINNON    Charles A    25    B    farmer    Rockly Cum Co    John & Jane
TAYLOR    Mabel S    24    S        Rockly Cum Co    Anthony & Ellen

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03-12-1907    Wallace Bridge Cum Co    Bp    Rev L J Tingley
ANTHONY    William E    33    B    bookkeeper Pugwash Cum Co    Robert & Louise
MCKERRON    Agnes R    22    S    Huntley Aberdeen Scotland    Alexander & Agnes

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01-02-1909    Amherst Cum Co    CE    Rev A J Cresswell
WALSH    George William    22    B    cook Amherst Cum Co    John & Rebecca
LEFURGEY    Minnie Etta    21    S        Rockly Cum Co    Elijah & Ann
    
25-10-1909    Oxford Cum Co    Pb    Rev John W Britton
JOHNSON    Harvey E    24    B    blacksmith Port Philip Cum Co    George & Lena
CHASE    Sadie Jane    20    S        Rockly Cum Co    Benjamin & Mary

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28-10-1909    Amherst Cum Co    Bp    Rev T Richard Peede
CHASE    John B    21    B    farmer    Rockly Cum Co        Benjamin & Mary
ALLEN    Ethel May    17    S        Port Howe Cum Co    Thompson & Mary    

 

16-02-1910    Oxford Cum Co    CE    Rev C O’Dell Belyea    [of Pugwash]
WILSON    Mitchell    28    B ICR station man Rockly Cum Co    Abraham & Margaret
STONE    Ada E    23    S        Oxford Cum Co        Edward & Jemima

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14-07-1910    Amherst Cum Co    Bp    Rev David A Steele
GORDON    John Cameron    30    B    farmer    Rockly Cum Co    John & Mary
MCINNIS    Annie Belle    25    S        Oxford Cum Co    Alexander & Lavinia

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28-06-1911    Rockly Cum Co    Bp    Rev Edward E Locke
TROOP    Wesley    21    B    mechanic    Amherst Cum Co    Edward & Clara
CHASE    Irene    21    S        Rockly Cum Co        Benjamin & Mary

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27-12-1911    West Hansford Cum Co    Mt    Rev W Henry Watts
SCHURMAN    Curry Creelman 23    B carpenter Collingwood Cum Co    James & Jane
GOODWIN    Amelia May    18    S     West Hansford Cum Co    Benson & Clara

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08-10-1913    Amherst Cum Co    Bp    Rev J T Dimock
SARANTO    Paul P    30    B    merchant    Amherst Cum Co    Peter & Lula
LEFURGY    Juanita/Waneeta    23    S    Rockly Cum Co    Elijah & Fanny
 

PUGWASH

 

70 Water Street: The Clarke House

 

The Clarke House is on lot 103 of the original Black plan of Pugwash. A deed, signed by John and Sarah Black, shows that the land was purchased on Jan. 19, 1847 for 30 pounds by Dr. Joseph Clarke, a physician. The lot was on Water Street starting at Victoria Street and running east 85 feet and south 85 feet.

 

Joseph built a house which he named Napoleon’s Cottage. It also served as his office and his dispensary. In 1854, he also bought lot 106 for 80 pounds. That was on the corner of Water and Durham Street. He sold that land in 1873 to William Henry Brown for $364.00, and it eventually became the war memorial.

 

Dr. Joseph Clarke was born in Kilkenny, Ireland. He emigrated as a young physician and dentist to Nova Scotia. This was unusual as many Irish immigrants were coming to the area, but few were educated. He married Olivia King (Mar. 30, 1827 – Feb. 28, 1910), daughter of Lavina Pineo and Oliver King in about 1850. In 1853, their first child, Cyrilla Clarke (1853 – 1938) was born. She was followed three years later by brother William (1856 – 1882). Child 3, Joseph Holmes Clarke (1860 – 1938) followed soon after being born in 1860. Their newly built house was on Water Street, and Joseph was a successful physician with three children. He practiced out of his house, and it served also as his dispensary.

 

In the 1861 census, he was in a household of 8 in Pugwash, 5 males and 3 females. That same year, Dr. Joseph had a schooner built in Wallace, The Janet. Unfortunately, it sank in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1862. In the 1864 Hutchinson’s Directory, Joseph is listed as a physician and dentist. In the 1871 census, the family of 5 are in Pugwash and living with them are Hiram and Clara Huston. Hiram was an engineer at a steam mill. Servant Maggie Satoris is with them as was a sailor, Joseph Akerly.

 

Daughter Cyrilla married Edgar Augustus Elliott in 1874 in Amherst. Dr. Joseph Clarke was obviously a man of some influence and service to the village. On August 27, 1857, he was appointed coroner for Cumberland County. He held other offices for the village. In 1858, he was an assessor. In 1858 - 60, he served as commissioner of streets. In 1870 and 1875, he was one of three school trustees. In 1871, he was an overseer of the poor. In 1872, he and Dr. Creed participated in the examination of Mr. Macaulay’s 103 students. In 1877, he had a meeting with the premier to change the route of the Northern Light which went to PEI through Pictou. He successfully pressed for it to be changed to going from Pugwash to Victoria instead.

 

The Christian Messenger reported that on Jan. 25, 1880, Dr. Clarke, just before retiring, went into his surgery to get some medicine and made a mistake, taking carbolic acid instead of the preparation he intended to take. Before he had drank the whole dose he discovered his mistake and told his wife that he was poisoned and had only a few minutes to live. Dr. Dakin, who lived just across the street, was at once called and used all possible remedies, but Clarke died in half an hour. The Miramichi Advance added that he had not been well for some time. Dr. Creed and Dr. Mackintosh also arrived but Dr. Clarke was speechless and could only wave his hand to indicate that there was nothing to be done. Reports of his death showed that the deceased had been in practice for a great number of years and had been particularly successful in the treatment of diphtheria. He practiced out of his house, but he also was said to travel into the countryside regardless of weather. He was buried in Palmerston Cemetery.

 

The appraisal of Joseph’s estate showed 3 pieces of real estate – 17 acres of land on Irishtown Road, 1 lot in Pugwash of 80 feet x 80 feet with a house and a barn, and a farm of 150 acres where Thomas Sarson was residing. The lot in Pugwash and the furniture was deeded to Augusta and Cyrilla including the portion owned by son Joseph Holmes. JH relinquished all right to his portion of that land and deeded it to his mother and sister. By the 1881 census, Olivia was a widow. She was living with her daughter Cyrilla Elliott, also a widow, sons William and Joseph Clarke and Cyrilla’s children Daisy and Pearl. In 1891, she was still in her house in Pugwash with Cyrilla, Daisy and Edmund as well as lodgers John Seaman and William Morgan.

 

Olivia was burned out twice. On July 25, 1898, a raging fire struck the Durham Street area. Winds fanned the flames and without a fire department, eighteen families were rendered homeless. Olivia’s house was completely lost along with 17 other properties, including the house and barn of her son, Joseph Holmes Clarke. In 1899, Olivia was rebuilding on the site of her former residence at 70 Water Street. In 1899, Joseph’s daughter Cyrilla married again to Clarence Edward Reed a sea captain in Pictou. Cyrilla’s son Edmund Pearl married Hattie M. Hay that same year in Truro. Her daughter Daisy Elliott married Stephen Percival Wilson also in 1899. Joseph’s brother William had died without having children. In the 1901 census, Olivia is living alone. On Sept. 10, 1901, the Clark house was again damaged by fire resulting from thieves blowing up the safe in Brown’s store which was adjacent. The house caught on fire several times, but was saved by the people. The town had no fire department. Finally, on Nov. 11, 1901, was a large fire that almost wiped out the town of Pugwash. Olivia’s damage was recorded as $1500 for loss of house and furniture. As the winter coal and vegetables had been laid in, the damage was even greater.

 

Olivia had to build again. By January of 1902, they had decided to also build a meat market on the property. This structure was right next door to the house she was also building, the house that is there now. Olivia died on Feb. 28, 1910, of softening of the brain and exhaustion. She is buried in Willow Grove Cemetery. She was C of E. This is interesting because son, Joseph Holmes Clarke and family were RC.

 

In 1911, according to the census, Cyrilla and Edward Reed were living alone in the house.

 

Cyrilla’s brother, Joseph Holmes Clarke (April 8, 1860 – Jan. 13, 1938) was initially employed as a bookkeeper and auctioneer. In 1879, Joseph was a surveyor of lumber. He married Agustia (Gussie) Adilea Walsh (Mar. 17, 1866 -   ) on July 16, 1886 in Pugwash. In 1898, when he was a general merchant, they lived in Pugwash. Their house was burned in 1898, with the loss being assessed at $800 and insurance at $300. In 1901 they were in Pugwash with children Adilea, Joseph and Alexander. They were Roman Catholic. He was a general merchant and also a surveyor of lumber. In 1915, a poem of his was published in Moncton called “Home is home where ere it be”. In 1920 he was a fence viewer. This was a municipal post. He became very active in municipal government, receiving appointment as stripendiary magistrate at Pugwash, acting periodically as returning officer for municipal elections and even running as an unsuccessful Liberal candidate for a seat on County Council in 1922. In 1927, he was a Customs Collector. He also worked for a time as a conductor for the railway out west and as the station agent and telegrapher in Pugwash Junction.

 

In 1911, Joseph, Gussie and the children are all in Pugwash. In 1916, Joseph Holmes is living in a hotel in Cochrane, Ontario working for the railway according to his son’s attestation papers. In 1921 Joseph and Gussie are in Pugwash with son Joseph V. In 1931, they are in Pugwash with Daisy Wilson who is listed as their boarder. She was Joseph’s niece. Joseph was a judge by then. Joseph Holmes and Gussie’s eldest daughter, Adilea Mary Clarke (May 6, 1888 - ) became a teacher. When she retired, she moved into the Clarke house. After Adelia died, the house was empty for some time.

 

JH’s second child, Joseph Valentine Clarke (Feb. 14, 1890 [1901 Census] - ) joined up for WWI in March 1916 from Winnipeg where he was a switchman. He was hit by a bullet on Vimy Ridge, and his right arm was amputated. After his return to Canada, he married Jean Elizabeth Thompson on Sept. 14, 1921. She died, and he married Christina Williams in May of 1928. Chrissy renovated the family house and she and Joseph moved in.

 

He was an insurance agent for 40 years and sold his business in 1969. Jophie and Chrissie’s second child was Joseph. Another child was Marion Clarke who won a beauty contest and from that was offered a contract by the CBC in 1953 to work in television. She gave up her career as host of The Saturday Show in 1957 to marry Darroch MacGillivray. Their third child, Alexander Bernard Clarke (Jan. 31, 1892 – June 13, 1953) also enlisted in 1914. At Ypres, he was wounded and taken prisoner. His leg was amputated. He was returned to Canada in 1917. He married Marie Clarisse Cantin in Calgary and moved to BC. Joseph and Chrissy’s fourth child was James David Clarke. They had grandson Darren Clarke who wrote an article about spending his summers in Pugwash in the Clarke house. According to him, Joseph V. smoked and loved pipes and had a room in his house dedicated to pipes. When Joseph and Chrissie became older, they moved to a smaller house down Water Street. 

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Darren Clarke was a grandson of Joseph and Gussy and son of James David Clarke..  He wrote excerpts from reminiscences for “The Left Field Lark” June 18, 2018 Travel section.

 

Sitting on my grandparents’ sun porch in a rain storm – Pugwash is a tiny little town of 784 that sits on the Northumberland Strait at the mouth of the Pugwash River. My grandparents’ house sat on the corner of the town’s main streets, Water Street and Victoria Street. The sunporch overlooked Water Street and wrapped around half of the length of the house that ran parallel to Victoria. The windows were weathered, vaguely distorting the outside world. If you were sitting in the front of the house, you could look across Water Street and see Pugwash bay, its clay-coloured beach just steps away.

 

Memories of visiting my Grandfather - . . . lounging in lawn chairs beneath the tree in my grandparents’ back yard listening to my grandfather regale me, indeed educate me, with war stories and tales of his time as a magistrate – good decisions, bad decisions, funny decisions, in his endeavour to provide justice, the people he met, the ones that surprised him, the ones he respected, the ones that let him down and beyond that his stories of long lost World War I battlefields, former boxing champions (Tommy Burns) and so much more.

 

My grandfather’s pipes – My dad’s dad had tons of smoking pipes varying from simple corn cob pipes to straightforward wood pipes with plastic ends to crazy cool wood ones, some with improbably intricate metal ends. We loved them. He had an entire room dedicated to his pipes.

 

On the porch -The guns I remember really, rifles which appeared to be circa World War One. There was tons of random stuff there: almanacs, nicnacks, magazines, pins, old metal lighters that didn’t work.

 

The village – memories of collecting bottle caps out front of the same corner store in Pugwash where you bought the little packages of seaweed to eat.

 

70 Water Street was bought by John Caraberis and Bonnie Wood in 1996. They rented it to Dale O’Hara and Erin Horton who turned it into a restaurant known as Walden Pond, named after the book which Dale had been reading. It was a successful business. The current kitchen was the kitchen of the restaurant; there were two rooms which are now the dining room and living room and an outdoor deck on the Victoria Street side. Reception was from Water Street and Dale and Erin lived upstairs. It was next sold to Peter Sietel who used it as a storehouse for antiques.

 

In 2025, it was again bought by John Caraberis and Bonnie Wood. They renovated: municipal water was connected, the foundation was fixed, there was some new wiring and plastering, new heat pumps and a new roof were installed, the sun porch was repaired and a new entrance from Victoria Street was built. , and it is currently being occupied by a family who are new to the area.

 

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