Bibliography Navigation map Photo index Acknowledgements

The Wright Residence and Garden
28 Taché Boulevard

The Wright Residence and Garden

This beautiful home, about 150 years old, was located on the farm where Philemon Wright, founder of Hull, lived with his wife Abigail. In 1818, Wright built a large wooden house on the hillside, near what is now Millar Street. Trees of all kinds, mainly maples, surrounded the house and the adjacent buildings. Abigail died in 1829 and Philemon on June 3, 1839. The house burned down in 1849.

Tiberius Wright inherited his father's house and land. He died on April 29, 1841 and bequeathed his possessions to his children. Following the distribution of the inheritance, his son Philemon (born in 1835) became the owner of the land on which the current house stands. He was a bachelor and an active member of the Hull Township City Council. He was probably the person who built this neo-Gothic style house between 1855 and 1874, the year he died. He left his property and his possessions to his mother, Lois Ricker, who passed them on to his niece Janet Louisa Scott. Lois Ricker Wright died on January 19, 1879. Three children survived her, including Nancy Louisa, born in 1830. It was her daughter, Janet, who became the owner of the house.

The house was long associated with Nancy Louisa, wife of John Scott, the first mayor of Bytown and judge of the Huron and Bruce Districts in Canada West. They had three children: Janet Louisa (born in 1851), William Francis (born in 1853) and John (born in 1856). After the death of her husband in 1857, Nancy Louisa returned to Hull with her children, and Janet's inheritance probably was due to the fact that she lived at her Uncle Philemon's house.

When she married Theodore Ellery Lord, in October 1885, Janet allotted her inheritance to her mother. Lord died the following year. Janet moved back in with her mother and her brothers, including John, a bachelor, and William Francis, a well-known doctor. She was on the committee assisting the distressed after the fire of 1880, which put some 3,000 residents of Hull out on the street. On January 7, 1886, William married Jane Maria Alma Coutlee, of Hull. Their daughter, Lois, born on September 22, 1895, would spend her life in the house.

Shortly after the death of William Francis in 1899, Nancy Louisa Wright again bequeathed to Janet their home as well as the outbuildings and their contents: furniture, horses, livestock, vehicles, harnesses and tools. The rest was divided among Janet Louisa, John and Nancy Louisa's granddaughter, Lois Wright Scott. Nancy Louisa died on August 28, 1901.

In 1904, Janet and John sold to the City of Hull part of the land on the shore of Brewery Creek as well as their monopoly on its water. However, they retained the enjoyment of the part of the brook contiguous with Lots 277, 278 and 279, demanding that no building or any other permanent structure be erected there. It was certainly this clause that enabled the conservation of the garden. John Scott died in 1906. Janet continued to live here, with her niece Lois and Lois' mother, until her death in October 1922.

Lois Wright Scott married the captain and engineer William Fraser Hadley, from Chatham, Ontario, on September 27, 1916. Their only son, William Francis, was born in 1917. Lois died on November 8, 1924. Hadley managed his son's inheritance and was involved in several regional organizations. He remarried twice: his second wife was Lois MacLaren, and his third was Edna Knight, of English origin. Hadley lived in the house until his death on December 18, 1963, with the exception of a brief period (1943-1948) during the Second World War, when he rented it to the Department of National Defence. Everything was permitted: the house was enlarged and then subdivided into flats. After the war, Hadley sold the land where the founder's house had stood, west of Hanson Street.

William Francis Hadley, a lawyer who had his office in Hull, but who lived in Rockliffe, showed no interest in his heritage. One month after the death of his father, he transferred his buildings to a new company, Hadley Investment Hull Ltd., whose 97 shares he held, and on the same day, sold the family property to Pierre and Michel Moreault. On March 28, 1969, the company Entreprises Moreault Ltée sold it to H. Blackburn Ltée.

In 1978, the architects Cayer and Martineau wanted to use the land as an extension to the Promenade du Portage. On August 24 of that year, the Blackburn company obtained a permit to demolish the house. Citizens of Hull, aware of the property's heritage value, opposed the demolition. On October 19, 1979, the Quebec Ministry of Cultural Affairs declared the house and its garden a historic site, thus ensuring its conservation. On February 24, 1981, Pierre Moreault bought the property from H. Blackburn and lived there until his death in 2003.



back to INTRODUCTION