Site Record

Metadata

Site Name

Burns Brothers Bakery

Site#

124

Description

The Burns Brothers Bakery was located in Southampton, Ontario. It was a family business, started by Ann Tranter Burns with the help of her sons, James A. Burns and Josiah "Josh" William Burns. The exact date the bakery opened is undetermined, however James' 1934 obituary states that the bakery began in 1896. Ann was the initial guiding force behind the bakery until her death in 1901 (her husband died in 1894 and the family set about trying to get by financially without him).

The store which eventually became the Burns Brothers Bakery (161 High St.) was initially used as a livery stable for horses. In the basement there were stumps of trees to support the floor. The Burns brothers bought the store from Mr. Isaac Hunt.

After Ann's death in 1901, James and Josh worked full time developing the bakery, grocery, and ice cream store, with James taking the lead. The store prospered though James and Josh lost much of their financial resources during the late 1920s Canadian stock market crash and the depression. After James' death, Josh, with the help of his niece, Marie Gorham MacAulay, continued to maintain the store into the mid 1940s, continuing to bake bread until sometime between 1931 and 1942.

In 1942, another Southampton bakery, the Golden Crust Shoppe, closed temporarily when its owners/managers (Linc Doll and son-in-law Cec Soden) enlisted for military service. The town struck a "search committee" to find a baker, with Josh Burns as a member. Archie Perkins (Hepworth) was invited to bake in the brick oven at the back of the Burns store in August 1943. He sold his goods through the Burns store.

When Josh Burns sold his store to brothers Morice Doran and Ralph Doran around 1945, Archie continued producing baked goods using the oven at the back of the store, selling his goods through other retail outlets, until he opened his own store two doors west (157 High St.)

The Dorans operated the store as a grocery store for about a year, after which it was converted to a hardware store and electrical contracting business. Later the store became Doran Bros., Crest Hardware, and the Discount store.

Sources:

(a) Burns, Donald. "Summary history of the founders and owners of Burns store." BCM&CC, A2018.066.038.

(b) Burns family reference file (BCM&CC)

(c) Accession file correspondence (A2018.066).

(d) High St. business addresses - AX2012.208.