Prominent businessman, builder and landowner,
Henry Smith of Fredericton acquired the Lot, which was later known as
Elmcroft, in 1797, residing there until circa 1806. It is
believed that Henry Smith built the Elmcroft house at some point during
this time. In 1836 John Robinson of Douglas purchased the
property from Henry Smith’s son-in-law, Daniel Ludlow Robinson.
In 1839, Master of the Rolls, the Hon. Neville Parker, bought the
property where he remained until his retirement in 1865.Henry George Clopper Ketchum bought Elmcroft from Neville Parker in 1865, adding several upgrades during his residence there, including the addition of a conservatory, upgrading of the roof, and the planting of several oak trees at the front of the property.
The following article relating to Ketchum and his Elmcroft home appeared in the Capital, 16 September, 1880:
“The first settlement
of the Loyalists in Fredericton was made at the lower end of the town,
near where Morrison’s mill now is. If any of our readers will
take a walk in the direction of Elmcroft, the residence of H.G.
Ketchum, he will go down the river roads over the flats and turning up
the first little footpath come to a spot, just at the foot of the
garden, between the river bank and ravine, which is sacred to the
memory of the departed UE Loyalists. Here a number of mounds in
confused heaps and about six granite slabs, once crudely carved by the
pioneers, but long since obliterated by the hand of time, are all that
remain... Mr. Ketchum has refrained from any change or
cultivation of the sacred spot and has carefully replaced the fallen
stones....”
The house remained in the possession of the Ketchum family until Professor John Stephens and his wife (a niece of Sarah Ketchum) sold the property, then known as No. 7 Elmcroft Place, to University of New Brunswick Professor C.W. Argue in 1947.
Today Elmcroft, now known as “No. 9 Elmcroft Place”, is owned and operated by Kevin Douglass as a Bed and Breakfast accommodation.
Sources:
Douglass, Kevin. Telephone interview March 2004.
Hill, Isabel Louise. Fredericton New Brunswick British North America. Fredericton:
York-Sunbury Historical Society, c.1986.
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Last Update: 2004/03/31