Reflections: The Shakespeare Union Hotel
The village of Shakespeare was first called Bell’s Corners after Scottish settler David Bell, who arrived in the area in 1832. In 1852, the name was changed to avoid confusion with another settlement also called Bell’s Corners.
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The village of Shakespeare was first called Bell’s Corners after Scottish settler David Bell, who arrived in the area in 1832. In 1852, the name was changed to avoid confusion with another settlement also called Bell’s Corners.
One of the oldest buildings in Shakespeare sits at the southwest corner of the main intersection. At more than 170 years old, the two-storey yellow brick building still looks good for its age. It was originally constructed as the Union Hotel around 1850, and was one of three hotels on the main street since Shakespeare served as a stopover for travellers. This photograph from the collections at the Stratford-Perth Archives was taken around 1940.
By 1870, it was in the hands of Dr. John Irwin Flynn. Sebastian Flynn, Dr. Flynn’s son, ran the hotel until it was sold in 1889. Dr. Flynn was the first doctor in the area. He ran his practice out of his home on Concession 1, Lot 15, in South Easthope Township. He claimed to be both a medical doctor and a veterinarian, and it is said that he built the first brick house on Huron Road.
Thomas Weiss became owner of the property in 1889. Weiss was also a horse trader and had run another hotel in western Canada prior to purchasing the Union Hotel. The building was sold to Vinzens Weiss in 1891 and then James D. Weiss in 1903. Around this time, the business underwent renovations. The original building was a simple frame structure with a pitched roof. The ceiling beams in the basement were the shape of tree trunks, some with the bark still on them. The tops of the windows were rounded off and the building’s exterior was refaced with a soft yellow brick, an ornate cornice was added, and the roof was flattened off. The front façade had three large windows and two doors on the ground level, and the second level had five windows and two small balconies. An addition was added to the back of the building. At some point, a barn was also built and it was used as an ice house. The ice was cut at Little Lakes near Stratford and carted to Shakespeare, where it was stored in sawdust to last the summer. The property was then sold to Jacob V. Weiss in 1906. Prior to the purchase, Jacob had farmed for a few years and also worked on the Grand Trunk Railway. He operated the Union Hotel until he sold it to John Sippel in 1921.
John Sippel and his wife Anne Maria “Mary” Krantz moved to Shakespeare from East Zorra Township in Oxford County to run the hotel. During prohibition, the Union Hotel had a notorious reputation and was allegedly the centre of a flourishing bootleg operation that supplied alcohol to local citizens. Sippel also owned the Shakespeare Feed Mill from 1920 to 1929. He rented out space on the first floor of the hotel to Preston Holmes so he could open up a barber shop. He sold the Union Hotel in 1935.
It was purchased by William Burgess and was then sold to Arthur R. McKone and Isabel McKone in 1945. They were both working at the Kroehler Furniture Factory in Montreal when they got word from Isabel’s mother the Union Hotel was for sale. They moved back to the area and purchased the hotel. Art always had a bench sitting outside at the front of the hotel, and retired men would sit and chew tobacco while watching the traffic, gossiping the day away. Roxanne Jervis, who later bought the property, put a bench out front in the summer of 1998 and when Art’s daughter, Judy, walked by and saw it, it bought back many memories for her. In the early 1960s, the hotel was closed for business due to Art’s poor health, but Art, Isabel and Judy continued to live there until 1971.
Mae Constable purchased the hotel and started an antiques business there in 1972. She renovated and rented out rooms upstairs. On the main floor, there was a cheese and bake shop and a doughnut shop. Mae decided to move to Muskoka with her son and sold the business in 1976.
The new owners were Michael and Roxanne Jervis, and they named the building the “Townsend,” in the British tradition of naming a building instead of giving it a number. They made their home on the second floor and opened the Harry Ten Shilling Tea Room and Gift Shop on the main floor in 1977. The name Harry Ten Shilling comes from William Shakespeare’s play, Henry IV, Part II. In 1997, the family celebrated 20 years in business, and they were busier than ever. Although they were only open March though to December and closed one day a week during the summer months, they served around 33,684 people in 1990.
The business was sold in 1998, and it was purchased by Lynn Barber, who is the present owner. The tea room is still in business under the Harry Ten Shilling name.
The Stratford-Perth Archives is open for in-person research by appointment. Service by phone and email remains an option. Please contact us to set up appointments to use the collections or to meet with the archivist to discuss possible donations of archival material. We can be reached at 519-271-0531 ext. 259 or archives@perthcounty.ca.
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