History

The Homestead in 1892

 

Fairfield House stands as a valuable marker in the story of Ontario because so little of the work of the first generation of the Loyalists has survived in the townships where they arrived in 1784 to start settlement.

During the years of the American Revolution, people who wanted to retain loyalty to the British came north into Canada to serve with Loyalist military corps or simply to find safety within British territory. Before the war, William and Abigail Fairfield were farming in Pawlet, Vermont, a township bordering on New York, north of Albany. In July 1778, William went to Canada to avoid re-arrest for refusing to serve in the rebel army or sign allegiance to the rebellion. He served as a volunteer associated with Jessup's Corps. A year later, Abigail Fairfield with her seven children left their farm and joined three other Loyalist wives with fifteen more children to travel north to the British territory. For Abigail and her children, their journey ended at the large refugee establishment at Machiche, on the St. Lawrence west of Trois Rivieres.

When the war was over, the British government undertook the relocation of hundreds of Loyalist families and single men to the wilderness west of the long-settled area of Quebec. The townships surveyed along the St. Lawrence River were named the Royal Townships and those at the eastern end of Lake Ontario were the Cataraqui Townships. Batteaux loaded with Loyalists and supplies started moving up the St Lawrence in the late spring of 1784. At their new townships, men were given grants of land to convert to farms. William Fairfield, his wife Abigail, and nine Fairfield children came to Cataraqui Township No. 2 and, by October 1784, William Fairfield had 2 acres cleared. The Fairfield farm was to be the mainstay for four generations of Fairfields.

Within the first ten years of settlement, the Fairfields had added the farmhouse that would be the homestead used by family members for 180 years. Built by 1793, the house reflects the traditional building practices of artisans from inland New England, who had learned their skills before the interruption of the war in 1775. The house has a New England vernacular form, with a center hall plan, and steeply pitched roof. The white oak post-and-beam frame was clad with pine clapboards,
materials coming from the forests that were still dominating Fairfield's granted acres.

By the 1790s, the road joining Kingston with the farms and settlements to the west was passing in front of the Fairfield's farmhouse. Minor modifications to the east front room of the house allowed the Fairfields to take advantage of their location to operate a licensed tavern. William and Abigail's grandson, Harmon, was owner of the house and farm when the double verandahs were added to the house in the mid-1800s. The French windows were installed at this time and in the 1860s, a second floor for bedrooms was added over the kitchen wing. Otherwise, the interior of the Loyalist-era house was little changed, except for surface decoration. Several of Harmon's children lived on the farm for their lifetimes and his son Thomas, with his wife Torie, returned to the house for retirement.

Changes came in the twentieth century. The family began living at the house on a seasonal basis, while tenant farmers used the land and barns. In 1959,Thomas and Torie's son and grand-daughter, Dr. William Fairfield and Elizabeth Fairfield, both of Lethbridge, Alberta, generously donated Fairfield House and some of the original Loyalist land grant to the Province of Ontario for preservation. In 1960, Fairfield Park was formed by redirecting the road to the north of the house. The family retained use of the house until 1973.

Fairfield Volunteers

Projects for the stabilization of Fairfield House for its preservation and presentation as a heritage site began in the late 1970s. The aims were to preserve as much of the original fabric of the House as possible, both to reflect the work of the Loyalist builders and the changes the family made during the first 100 years of life in the house. Changes made in the twentieth century were to be removed. The pace of site preparation accelerated when a visit by Queen Elizabeth II became the highlight of the local celebration of the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the Loyalists. On September 27, 1984, after officially opening the newly designated "Loyalist Parkway", the Queen became the first visitor to Fairfield House.

For more recent history of Fairfield House, please see the "About Us" page.