Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Rev. Robert Mayes Sr. (1832-1921), his wife Rhoda Sorrell (1827-1907), and their six children – Robert (1860-1876), Ernest (1861-1930), Orlando (1863-1922), Herbert (1865-1912), Ada (1866-1889), and William (1869-1959) – immigrated to Canada from Essex County, England in October 1873. The Mayes family first lived in Toronto, but a year later, in 1874, settled on the 11th Concession, Lots 11 and 12, of Draper Township in the District of Muskoka (near Bracebridge).
Although Robert Mayes Sr. had been a grocer by trade in England, he had also been a lay preacher at his local Weslayan church. After coming to Draper Township, Robert became involved in pioneer mission work in various parts of the district. In the 1880s and 1890s, he was a teacher and preacher at the Methodist Indian Mission on Georgina Island. The family were also pioneer members of the Bracebridge Methodist Church, where Robert Sr. also preached.