Cannington Manor

Cannington Manor

Cannington Manor, established 1882 when an Englishman, Capt Edward Michell Pierce, claimed 5 townships 65 km south of Whitewood, NWT (now in southeast Saskatchewan), the nearest point on the CPR. Cannington was the name of an English town; "Manor" was added later to avoid confusion with an Ontario town. Knowing little about farming, Pierce nevertheless established an agricultural college for the sons of wealthy Englishmen. The "pups," as his students were known, refused to mingle with Canadian settlers. Three pups built a 26-room house which boasted a ballroom, billiard room and servants' quarters. In the mahogany-lined stable each racehorse had a brass nameplate above its stall.

By 1890 Cannington Manor included an Anglican church, a flour mill, hotel, smithy, carpentry shop, carriage shop and general store. But the rich English were not serious agriculturalists, playing tennis, cricket and rugby, and spending a week during harvest hunting and playing polo. Failure to adjust to life in Canada quickly brought business and farm bankruptcies. In 1901-02, when a new CPR line bypassed the village, the remaining businesses moved and Cannington Manor gradually disappeared. The site is now a provincial historic park, and a number of the original buildings have been reconstructed.