Brights Grove, Ontario
| Brights Grove | |
|---|---|
| Neighbourhood of Sarnia | |
| Coordinates: 43°1′36.16″N 82°15′51.36″W / 43.0267111°N 82.2642667°WCoordinates: 43°1′36.16″N 82°15′51.36″W / 43.0267111°N 82.2642667°W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Ontario |
| County | Lambton |
| Post Code | N0N 1C0 |
| Area code(s) | 519 |
Brights Grove is a bedroom community in Sarnia, Lambton County, Ontario, Canada, on the shore of Lake Huron. It is the childhood home of golf pro Mike Weir, winner of the 2003 Masters.
Brights Grove was the site of Canada's first commune. In 1829, Brights Grove was established along the model of Robert Owen's New Lanark, Scotland project by Henry Jones (1776–1852). The colony was named 'Maxwell' and was a short-lived project. However, it has been argued by Canadian socialist historian Ian McKay that "[t]he builders of the short-lived colony named Maxwell that Jones planted near Sarnia may well have been the first people in North America to call themselves 'socialists'."
In the 1970s, the Ontario Heritage Foundation erected an historical plaque recognizing the site with the following text:
In 1829, Henry Jones of Devon, England, a retired purser in the Royal Navy, brought a group of more than 50 emigrants from the United Kingdom to this area where he established a settlement on a 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) tract of land on Lake Huron. An early supporter and dedicated follower of Robert Owen, the well-known British social reformer. [sic] Jones named the settlement "Maxwell" and organized the community on the basis of common ownership and collective living. The settlers built a large log house with community kitchen and dining-room but separate rooms for each family. A school and storehouse were added. Within a few years, however, disappointing harvests and the burning of the log house led the colonists gradually to abandon the enterprise.
In 1875, Col. Robert F. Faethorne built what is now known as the Faethorne House. Faethorne built the house on the most easterly of the five farms (the "East Range") into which the land grant of Henry Jones, Faethorne's father-in-law, had been divided. Robert Faethorne had married Jones' daughter, Elizabeth, and farmed the East Range. Faethorne was interested in race horses, imported trees to beautify his property and took an active part in the militia. In 1862, he was promoted to full colonel to command the local military district until after the Fenian alarms of 1866 and 1868.
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