Eldon House

Eldon House is a historic house museum. The Eldon House and its Interpretation Centre is located on 481 Ridout Street, London, Ontario, Canada. The Eldon House property was converted into a public park, now called Harris Park.[1] Celebrating its 175th anniversary in 2009/2010, Eldon House is London, Ontario's oldest continued residence. It was inhabited by the Harris family of London from 1834 until they gifted it to the City of London in 1959. The original owner, Captain John Harris, named Eldon House after the Earl of Eldon, whom he admired.

Eldon House
Established1960
Location481 Ridout Street North
London, Ontario, Canada
N6A 2P6
TypeHistoric House Museum
Websitewww.eldonhouse.ca/

History

This historic Georgian property was built in 1834, originally on 11 acres (45,000 m2) of land. The heritage property, its grounds and collections were given to the City of London by the Harris family as a museum in 1959. Eldon House is the former residence of the prominent Harris Family and oldest surviving such building in London.

Captain John Harris met his wife Amelia Ryerse in 1815. The Ryerse family were prominent Canadians and British Loyalist. The pair married in June 1815 and had twelve children, ten survived and grew up in Eldon House. On 10 September, 1834, Amelia Ryerse Harris, John Harris, and their then eight children moved into Eldon House, and occupied it thereafter for the next 125 years.[2] Their seven daughter's were distinguished members of the London social scene and some married members of the British military. Upon John's death, the house passed to each of their three sons, John Fitzjohn, Edward William and George Becher. Edward William was responsible for an edition to the house, added in 1877.

A view of the exterior facade of Eldon House.

George Becher Harris, a partner in the Harris brothers law firm, married Mary Elizabeth Lucy Ronalds (known as Lucy), who was the only great-grandchild of both nurseryman Hugh Ronalds and fur trader William Robertson. John Askin was another of her great-grandfathers.[3][4] Lucy and George raised their four children at Raleigh House, a few blocks north and in Eldon House, and in 1887 took over ownership of Eldon House from George's brother Edward. Lucy eventually inherited Robertson's fortune and the contents of the Ronalds family home in Brentford, England. Due to the influx of wealth, the family was able to take an extravagant world tour in 1897. Many of the family's heirlooms and souvenirs are still on display at Eldon House.

After George's death in 1923, his oldest son, George Henry Ronald Harris took over ownership of the home. Ronald was a graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada and worked as a mining engineer in Greenwood, British Columbia (1900–1); Quebec; Mossammides, Angola West, Africa (1901–03); East Africa Syndicates (1903–4); and Cassinga Concessions, Angola (1905–8). Many of his souvenirs, especially weaponry from Africa, are on display. Ronald Harris and his wife Lorna Gibbons, lived in Eldon House with their three children: George, born in 1910; Amelia Lucy, born in 1913; and Ronald Sutton (Robin) born in 1919 and with Ronald's older sister, Amelia (Milly) Harris. After the death of George Henry Ronald Harris' sister in 1959, his children donated the house and gardens to the City of London.

An Ontario Historical Plaque was erected by the province to commemorate The Eldon House's role in Ontario's heritage. The plaque reads: "Built in 1834 by Captain John Harris, Royal Navy, treasurer of the London District, Eldon House is London's oldest remaining house. With his wife Amelia, daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Ryerse (1752–1812), Harris came to London after the district offices were moved here from Vittoria (1815–1825). For many years Eldon House was a centre of London's cultural and social life, and four generations of the Harris family dwelt in it during more than 125 years. In 1960 the family gave the house with most of its furnishings and eleven acres of land to the City of London for a museum and park." [5]

Programs

Eldon House hosts a variety of tours and programs. School tours and adult tours can be booked through their website. Additionally, various events and tours are put on by the museum including yearly staples like the Canada Day event, Victorian Christmas, and the popular Behind the Ropes tour. Events are published to their web page. Eldon House is also committed to outreach and community initiatives, and participates in city-wide celebrations of heritage and culture.

Affiliations

The Museum is affiliated with: CMA, CHIN, and Virtual Museum of Canada.

Further reading

References
  1. "Eldon House". www.historicplaces.ca. 10 January 2007. Retrieved September 26, 2013.
  2. Harris, Robin S.; Harris, Terry G., eds. (1994). The Eldon House Diaries: Five Women's Views of the 19th Century (Ontario Series). The Publications of the Champlain Society. p. 3.
  3. Ronalds, BF (2019). "Before Eldon House: Lucy Ronalds Harris' Background & Upbringing". London and Middlesex Historian. 27: 44–55.
  4. "Lucy Harris née Ronalds". Sir Francis Ronalds and his Family. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2009-09-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link). Eldon House Historical Plaque. Retrieved 2009-09-24.

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