The Chamberlain Farmstead (3047 Old Norwood Rd., Peterborough) was initially 100 acres on Lot 29, Concession 8 in Otonabee Township.
It was granted to Richard Johnston on May 18, 1832 by William the Fourth, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
William Chamberlain (who originally spelled his name Chamberlen) came to Canada in 1832 from Wiltshire, England, and bought the farm on Aug. 11, 1847 for £100. He and his wife Ellenor (nee Ingram), a Belfaster who also emigrated to Canada in 1832, raised seven girls and three boys on the farm. They grew hay, corn, spring grain, fall wheat and kept dual purpose shorthorn cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry and bees.
Their youngest son, Thomas Daniel (born in 1861), took over the farm in 1892. He married Elizabeth Hamilton in January 1900, and raised two boys, George Hamilton and Percy Edmund.
Thomas continued to farm with hired household and farm help, and doubled the farm’s size when he purchased the next-door farm from the Porter family in 1909.
1981 aerial shot of the homestead.
Percy, who remained unmarried, continued to operate the home farm until his death in 1985. George’s eldest son William George and his wife Frances (nee Cairns) and their family took over the farm’s upkeep.
In the late 1980s, 25 acres of the farm were reforested with spruce and pine. The cedar log home (built in 1861) was refurbished and a great room and kitchen were added to replace the original summer kitchen in 2005.
In 2017, the Chamberlain Farm was recognized as being part of the growth of Canada for more than 150 years.
Poppies that were once on the property started to bloom after many years.
Raising and repairing the drive shed was Bill’s last farm project in 2020.
In 2011, running water was added to the second storey of the original house. A laundry room replaced the pantry, and the overhang that surrounded the old house was torn off and rebuilt in 2014.
A drive shed that was built in the 1910s was sinking into the ground. It was raised in 2020, and a concrete pad was laid in August. It was restored, keeping original materials where possible.