213 King Street - Stable of John Barclay, later home of Gordon Poole and Elaine Neefus Poole

Once the barn for the property at 214 William St, owned by the prominent John Barclay, the property was purchased in 1950 by Gordon and Elaine Poole who converted the barn into their family home.

This house was once the barn for the property at 214 William St. which was owned by John Barclay. John Barclay was a very important figure in the development of Oakville. He was born in Paisley, Scotland, in 1820, a son of Matthew Barclay. Matthew brought his family to North America in 1832 and settled briefly in the Markham area before moving to Trafalgar Township at about the same time as his neighbour, James Arnott.

John Barclay married Arnott’s daughter, Jean (sometimes Jane) Scotland Arnott. They
had six children. In 1847 Barclay became the Assistant Postmaster. In 1849 he
became the Superintendent of the Sabbath School at the Presbyterian Church which
was on William Street at the time. He held that position for 45 years and was an elder
and Session Clerk for over 30. In 1853 he established his own business as a general
merchant on the northeast corner of Thomas and Lakeshore. In 1856 he signed a petition “praying that Oakville may become a separate municipality”. This led to the Act of Provincial Parliament incorporating Oakville as a Town in 1857 with a population of about 2000.

Barclay represented Ward 3, north of Lakeshore, east of the creek on Council and was Mayor from 1867 to 1870. In 1859 he became a wool buyer in addition to his activities in the grain trade. In 1868, his business burned to the ground. He was partly insured and moved into new quarters in the Romain block on the southeast corner of Navy and Lakeshore. In 1883 that burned as well. He was living upstairs and rebuilt. In 1889 he
retired and his son, Robert, took over. He died in 1900. A window at Knox is dedicated to him and his wife.

John built the house at 214 William St. in 1855 and lived there until 1874 when it was
sold to Stafford Marlatt. He and his family moved across the street into what had been
his father-in-law’s house. Marlatt named the house Ferndale. It was later sold to James Ryrie.

The barn was most likely built around the same time as the house. The 1861 census
reflects Barclay holding livestock comprising of 1 cow, & 1 pig, valued at $40, which would have been housed in the barn.

In 1950, Gordon & Elaine Poole purchased the property on which the nearly 100 year
old barn sat and began the task of turning it into a house.

Gordon Poole was born in the Westmount area of Montreal in 1907. In 1940 he married Elaine Neefus who was originally from New Jersey. They eventually made their way to Oakville where they came upon the barn at 213 King St. They injected new life into the old barn and after the restoration, lived there until Elaine & Gordon’s passing in 2001 & 2003 respectively.