509 Lakeshore Road East - Owned by William H. Speers and Christina Bray

William Speers had a fine fruit farm on his property and was once president of the Trafalgar Agricultural Society.

The lot on which this house stands is on the west side of the town plot that was laid out by
Deputy Surveyor H.J. Castle, dated 20 July 1833, and owned by William Chisholm. In 1836,

The land was acquired by George Brown.
George Brown was born in Waterdown and moved to Milton in the 1830s where he established a general store. He was appointed County Treasurer, was the first Postmaster and was responsible
for naming the town of Milton. When the town incorporated in 1857, Brown was appointed its
first Mayor.

In 1836 he purchased Lot 6 in Block 72 which is where 55 Chisholm is located. Although
residing in Milton, George Brown owned a frame store on the south side of what is now
Lakeshore Rd. E. between Thomas & George Sts. as well as the Chisholm St. property. Tax Assessment Rolls suggest that the house was likely built c1854, and rented out.

George Brown died in 1860 and is buried at Bronte Pioneer Cemetery in Milton. Although his will stated that all of his lands should be sold, 55 Chisholm St. was retained by his executors until 1884. This is likely because it was generating rental income for the family, as the tax rolls reflect tenants living on the property.

There were several short term owners until 1911 when the property was sold to The Marlatt & Armstrong Leather Co. Ltd. The tannery, which sat on the west side of 16 mile creek, was established by Thompson Smith. In 1854. He purchased the "Oakville Brewing & Distilling Company", which had been running since 1836, and converted it into a tannery. In the late1870s it was taken over by Christopher Armstrong. The leather produced was used mainly for carriage tops & patent leather shoes. In the 1880s, Stafford Marlatt & Capt. Maurice Felan were principal stockholders.

The tannery was one of the largest plants of its kind in Canada, and moved along with the
times, eventually producing leather for upholstering the seats and covering the tops of automobiles in addition to its patent leather for shoes. Stafford's son Wilbur opened another tannery on the east side of the creek at the corner of Navy and Colborne (Lakeshore Rd. E.).

With it being a large industry in town, housing was required by many of its residents, and as a result, the tannery bought several properties to lease to its workers. Unfortunately, in 1924, the tannery closed its doors, throwing bread winners out of work. Many were forced to move out of town, and other businesses in town suffered as a result. The tannery at Navy & Colborne continued to run, however, the building burnt to the ground in 1948 when it was owned by J.R. Kendall.

The ownership of 55 Chisholm by the Tannery came to an end in 1942 when it was purchased by the Markiewicz family. In 2011, an article in the Oakville Beaver stated that there was an addition being made to the house using straw bale insulation, a type of green construction method which reduces chemical cast off and is very insulative. This covers more than half of the house.

The original part of the house is designated by the Town of Oakville under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act.