Land Titles and Bowling Greens

How is the history of the county registry office and the Woodstock Lawn Bowling Club connected? Read on to find out.

By Liz Dommasch, Archivist

Did you know that since the County’s inception there have been four different registry offices in Woodstock, with three located in the Court House Square? With the passing of the Registry Act in 1795, it was considered necessary to establish a registry office in the counties of Oxford and Middlesex. In 1800, Thomas Horner was appointed the first Registrar for the counties (he would solely become Registrar of Oxford County in 1818 when Mahlon Burwell was appointed Registrar for Middlesex County). This office was kept in his house in Burford Township until his death in 1834. James Ingersoll would next be appointed County Registrar and he naturally moved the office to his home at 18 King Street, Ingersoll.

However, many residents in the county found having the registry office in Ingersoll (which at the time would have been at the western extremity of the county) to be too inconvenient and a large number of citizens began petitioning the House of Assembly asking that the registry office be established in the Town of Woodstock instead. With that being said, in 1846 the District of Brock Council recommended that a suitable site on the County Court House Square be determined for such a building. Contractors White and Dixon were appointed, and the following year, the first registry office was opened on the corner of Hunter and Light Street on the Court House grounds.

The construction of the new registry office at 75 Graham Street in Woodstock, Ontario, 1952.

By 1874, it was determined that a new building was required to accommodate the growing needs of the county and by 1876 County Council received the keys for a new registry office on the corner of Hunter and Graham Streets (now the Provincial Offences Administrative Building). To ensure that the building was fireproof, it consisted of walls two feet thick and sand in the ceiling and roof. This building was in use until 1952, when the registry office was built at 75 Graham Street. Today the registry office is now located in the former post office building on Peel Street.

At this point you may be wondering where bowling falls into this story. Well, in order to build the third registry office on the Court House Square the county had to displace the Woodstock Lawn Bowling Club whose playing fields were located on the square. The Woodstock Lawn Bowling and Tennis Club was established in 1894 with James Canfield acting as first President. Upon their inception, the club received approval from County Council to use of a portion of the grounds on Graham Street as their greens. Although the club ceased playing tennis in 1920, they continued to use the space, at no cost, along with a locker room in the basement of the Court House until the 1950s when the area was required to build the new registry office. With the prospect of finding a new location, the Woodstock Parks Board offered the club land on the southwest corner Southside Park where they moved in 1951.

Woodstock Lawn Bowling Club, 1906.