Editor's note: The following story has been modified from an earlier version to clarify the families who lived at the home. BarrieToday apologizes for any confusion.
This ongoing series from Barrie Historical Archive curator Deb Exel shows old photos from the collection and one from the present day, as well as the story behind them.
Claireaux
A "tasty abode." That’s how the handsome home of Daniel and Mary Spry had been described.
Samuel Spry from Devonshire, England and his wife Janet McLean of Perth, Scotland settled in the Merrickville area when they came to Canada, where Samuel secured work on the construction of the Rideau Canal.
Their son, Daniel Spry, was born on the family farm in Burritt’s Rapids in 1835. Sadly, Janet and her children left farm life in 1843, shortly after Samuel’s death, unable to manage it on their own.
Daniel attended the Model School (Normal and Model Schools of Upper Canada) in Toronto, which provided training for teachers. While attending the school, he also apprenticed as a grocer and later worked as a bookkeeper in Bradford and Richmond Hill.
Daniel married Mary Jane Burgess in 1859, but she died not long after, in 1866, and he married again in 1867, to Mary Elizabeth Fortier.
Daniel’s occupation continued toward administrative roles, becoming a clerk at the Toronto Post Office, then transferring to the Post Office Savings Bank in Ottawa. But Spry returned to Toronto and the grocery business due to poor health.
His performance at the Post Office had not gone unnoticed however, and the government invited him to return to civil service. In 1876, he became Post Office Inspector, responsible for supervising operations in Toronto, Barrie and London districts – a position he held for 21 years.
Daniel also had a long, extensive and extremely successful masonic career throughout his lifetime – lodges in Beeton and Fenelon Falls were named for him.
When the Sprys lived in the distinctive home at 52 High St., it would have been perfect for their large family. Daniel and Mary had eight children, including five girls and three boys. They also had another infant daughter who only lived a day.
The couple's third child, Daniel William Bigelow Spry, a journalist by profession, was active in the local Barrie lodges, like his father. He resigned his position as vice commander in 1896, as it was rumoured he was leaving town, but that was not before he covered one of Barrie’s most startling events while working as a reporter for the Barrie Examiner: the shocking murder of John A. Strathy.
D.W.B. Spry also belonged to the 35th Battalion, Simcoe Foresters and other regiments before serving overseas during the First World War. Spry remained in the military following the war, holding the rank of major general at the time of his death, after a most distinguished service career.
His son, Daniel Charles Spry, also went on to attain the rank of major general.
The portion of the Claireaux estate at the corner of High Street and what was then Elizabeth Street, was later severed. A sprawling, wooden home was built there for John Dyment – a familiar name on High Street – the other Dyment houses included Maplehurst, Rowanhurst and 74 High St.
John Dyment was sponsor and manager of the Barrie Junior Hockey Club, in the Northern District, at a time when it was not unusual to have a crowd of a thousand people attend a match at the rink in the agricultural park across from his home.
But Johnny, grandnephew of Nathaniel Dyment, was also a seasoned and respected horse trainer for the family’s Brookdale Stables. To make a long and very exciting story short, horses from Brookdale Stables went on to win the 1903 King’s Plate, 1904 King’s Plate, 1904 Toronto Cup and the King’s Plate again in 1912 and 1921, before the Dyment farm was sold to William Wright in 1925.
Also short was the life of Johnny Dyment. In 1912, the young horse trainer and sportsman fell and hit his head on the ice while skating on a pond at Brookdale Stables, gradually dying of a cerebral hemorrhage at only 35 years old.
Today, both the gracious Claireaux and inviting John Dyment homes still stand on High Street.
