Any information welcome

Uncle Alex

New Member
I inherited canoe serial # 1452 built by "Strickland & Co., Lakefield, Ont., Canada". I have a photo of the canoe moored at my uncle's house at Goring-on-Thames in England. Presume he shipped it there in the mid-1930s.
Would appreciate any information on previous history. Thank you.
 
Hello,

Unfortunately, no serial number records are known to have survived. However I suspect that a canoe with a serial number that low likely was built in the first couple of years of the company's existence.

Strickland & Co, aka Lakefield Canoe Works was established in 1892 by Robert Strickland and his son George. George had previously worked for the pioneer canoe builder Thomas Gordon as well as independently on a small scale. With his father living in England, handling the sales for Europe, the company became very successful. In the first five years more than 600 canoes was sold to England alone.
The Peterborough Examiner reported in 1898 that the company that year had shipped 200 canoes to England, 100 canoes to the Yukon and 25 freighters to be used as patrol boats in Africa.
In July of 1904 the Strickland & Co merged with the Thomas Gordon Canoe building firm to form the Lakefield Canoe and Manufacturing Company.

Dick Persson
Buckhorn Canoe Company
 
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Peterborough Serial numbers,

Dick,

Do you know when Peterborough began to put serial numbers on the stems and where they might have been before that if they were not on the stems?

Thanks,

Paul
 
Hi Paul,

The model/serial number can be found stamped into metal tags installed on the coaming, kingplank or deck as well as stamped into stem or keelson. Most canoes shipped nested have the numbers stamped on the underside of thwarts, seat frames and decks as well. Prior to 1910-1912 the numbers were stamped into the bow coaming.

Dick Persson
Buckhorn Canoe Company
Buckhorn, Ontario
http://www.buckhorncanoes.com
 
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Thanks Dick,

This is valuable information that needs to be compiled by canoe builder for ID purposes. I did try searching the forums but you get bits and pieces.

Did you see my post about Wm English and numbers on the end of the thwart? My canoe had a very thick layer of vanish that took great attempts to remove and it appears no one had ever sanded the inside or outside of this canoe.

Have you every seen numbers on the top of an English thwart and what might they mean. I do think the first two digits "20" are the model, but not sure about the next 2 sets.

Happy New Year All,

Paul
 
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