CAISTER’S TAVERN

Mrs. Isabel Parrott and Miss Marguerite Caister stand with the historic plaque they officially unveiled Sunday afternoon on the lawn of the David Stock home just South of Tavistock.

Mr. Stock initiated the erecting of the plaque on the site of Caister's Tavern which is now his home.

The unveiling of the commemorative plaque for the Caister Tavern on the site of the David J. B. Stock, farm on Highway 59, a mile and a half south of Tavistock, took the form of a garden party on Sunday, following the dedication.

Mr. Stock, Public Relations officer for the Tavistock Men’s Club and Board of Trade did the research on the tavern after he accidentally heard of the Tavern from an old friend, Horatio Murray, a Tavistock tailor who spent many Sundays on the Stock farm.

The Club decided to take on the project proposed by Mr. Stock who looked into the history very thoroughly and presented a brief to the club.

Later, invitations to members and friends were sent out to join in for the unveiling. He also produced a brochure on the Caister Tavern and it is available to interested parties.

David is a lawyer with an office in Woodstock and lives at the farm with his wife Susan, two daughters and a son.

Due to the funeral of former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, M.P.P. Harry Parrott was unable to attend, but, his wife Isabel did a very commendable job of conveying his feelings to the group and for the work that went into the research of the tavern.

Past president of the Club, David Oliphant, welcomed the members, friends and guests on behalf of the Club and turned the proceedings over to Mr. Stock who gave a little background on Caleb Caister and how he obtained the land where the Tavern is situated.

Mayor Harold Vogt was introduced as the first mayor of the restructured Township of East Zorra-Tavistock and it was noted that his uncle, Henry Vogt was the first Reeve of the Village of Tavistock. He thanked the club for the invitation and was proud to see another landmark in the township. It is a tribute to the seniors who have helped to develop the area.

Lorne St. Croix of the Ministry of Culture and Recreation thanked the Club for the, opportunity to be at the unveiling and that it was a step forward in remembering our heritage.
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A History of Caister’s Tavern

Having arrived in Oxford County from County Kent, England in 1833, Caleb Caister Sr. took up residence at the site of Caister's Tavern in the Fall of 1836. His letters indicate that his first task was to clear the land and commence farming operations on his first 100 acre farm situated on the East side of the present No. 59 Highway, 1-1/2 miles South of the present village of Tavistock. He is recorded as having obtained an innkeeper's licence for the sale of ale and beer for the year ending January 31,1848 (i.e. the greater part of the year 1847 and for the year ending December 31, 1849. He may well have had licences for other years but these were the years for which records of licences have so far been found. He may also have been a purveyor of ale and beer in other years without a licence, particularly in the years before The Woodstock and Huron Road Company was formed when the location of his home and tavern would have been more isolated. When the Road Company was established in 1849 the inn was already in existence and ready to serve the increasing number of travellers. The 1849 survey of the road by A.L. Light shows the location of Caister's Tavern 1-1/2 miles South of Tavistock and it is to be noted that the next settlement 7 miles to the South of Caister's Tavern is shown on the road survey as Huntingford and a mile South of Huntingford on the survey appears Donaldson's Inn (also known as the Cumberland Inn). The Village of Hickson, which One now finds on a drive down No. 59 Highway from the site of Caister's Tavern to Huntingford, was not established until 1878 and celebrated its centenary in the Summer of 1978.

Caister's public house could well have been referred to as either an inn or a tavern but the designation on A. L. Light's road survey of 1849 was "Caister's Tavern" so that was clearly the name by which the establishment was known. The 1851 Census lists Caister as having a one storey log house and a household including two Irish Catholic servant girls. From the Census report it can be concluded that the log house filled the double purpose of home and tavern which was a frequent mode of operation for a tavern or inn in Oxford County in this era. As an active adherent of the Episcopal Church the presence of two Irish Catholic servant girls points to the operation of what might be described as a “backwoods tavern".

Caleb Caister was evidently an energetic and public spirited pioneer. As well as clearing and operating a 100 acre farm (increased to 200 acres) in 1853 he was active in the establishment of Trinity Anglican Church, East Zorra, founded in 1846 and situated just I-1/2 miles South of his farm. He was the first Minister's Warden of that Church. In 1849 he became a member of the first Board of Directors of the Woodstock and Huron Road Company and in 1852 he participated in the establishment of the East Zorra Agricultural Society, again as a member of the first Board of Directors. The minute books and cash books of the Society going back to 1852 are now held by the secretary of the Tavistock Agricultural Society which resulted from the amalgamation of the East Zorra Agricultural Society and the South Easthope Agricultural Society in neighbouring Perth County. As well as these community interests he apparently ran a successful farm operation winning first prize for the best firkin of butter and second prize for a yoke of oxen at the first annual show of the East Zorra Agricultural Society in 1852.

In 1852 Caister's wife, Mary, died and by 1854 he sold his farm properties including the site of the inn. He received handsome, remuneration for his farm considering his original bid of 15 shillings per acre thus suggesting considerable improvements during his tenure. He then moved to Woodstock where he assisted his son, Caleb Caister Jr. in financing and operating theNorth American Hotel and ultimately living in Woodstock in retirement until he died in 1868 after a protracted illness.

In summary, we can deduce that Caister's Tavern was in operation circa 1845 to 1854 when Caleb Caister sold his farm and retired to Woodstock.

The founding of Tavistock in 1848 and the establishment of the small hotels which sprang up there would have hastened the demise of Caister's Tavern as an attractive stopping point for settlers coming up the Huron Road in Perth County to the present site of Shakespeare and then proceeding Southerly into the Zorra settlement of Oxford County. It is to be noted that Caister's Tavern was already in existence and licensed for the sale of ale and beer for the year 1847 which was a year before the first settler arrived in Tavistock, 1-1/2 miles to the North. Furthermore, Caister's settlement on his farm in the Fall of 1836 predated Tavistock by 12 years.

The road survey by A.L. Light in 1849 shows Donaldson's Inn 8-1/2 miles or so to the South as the nearest public house in that direction. Thus, during its heyday as an inn circa 1845 to 1854 the historical significance of Caister's Tavern is that it was virtually the only stopping point in North:Central Oxford County for lodging and refreshment for the settlers in Zorra arriving by way of the Huron Road and, as such, it was an important factor in the early settlement of the area.