Scotsdale Farms
Scotsdale Farm was established in 1938, when Violet and Stewart Bennett purchased the 200-acre property and settled in the area. They gradually acquired more land and over the years, the farm spread over 540 acres. The Bennett’s came from Scotland, hence the name, and their ties to the old country would be instrumental to the farm’s future success.
In 1943, Mr. Bennett hired Maurice Baker as a herdsman and later as the farm manager. Maurice Bakers was instrumental in developing a purebred Shorthorn herd which won top prizes at the Royal Winter Fair and the Chicago International Livestock Show. He was replaced by Emerson Clarke (1961) who continued to develop the famous herd.
After the war Mr. Bennett purchased several dozen purebred Shorthorn calves from Scotland. The purchase was arranged by the Ontario Shorthorn breeder John Miller, who together with John Blum of Malabar Farms in Libertyville, Illinois brought a herd of more than 60 cattle from Scotland to North American.
Among several of the calves Mrs. Bennett selected one that would become Bennett’s first shorthorn grand champion bull at the 1947 Royal Winter Fair – Princess Deirdre, the dam to a calf named Aspiration.
By the early 1950s, the farm’s two lead breeding bulls – Aspiration and Mayflower Ransom had become impotent. This was a serious problem at times when artificial insemination wasn’t common. In 1952 Mr. Bennett and Maurice Baker went to Scotland and bought Calrossie Perfect Bull for the astronomical sum of 6100 guineas. The farm’s heard expanded and the Bennett’s went on winning prizes at the Royal Winter Fair throughout the 1950s.
In 1970 Bennett’s made history by sending the first Canadian-born Shorthorn bulls by Air Canada to Scotland to help revive the new DNA of the legendary breed.
They also owned two Clydesdale breeding horses that were so beautiful, one of their guests allegedly uttered: “Who wouldn’t be a horse’s ass if you could look like that.”
They later bought purebred Arabian horses Mihrima and Sahara, descendants of Lady Wentworth’s Crabbet Stud, from Sussex, England. Mihrima’s foal, Senob, was the first horse born on the farm. Senob was known as Bones (Senob spelled backward).
The animals were housed in large gable-roofed barns built in the Early Central Ontario style. The front porch, much loved by visitors, was added much later for film production.
Mr. Bennett commissioned sculptor Jacobin Jones to create a bronze likeness of his favourite award-winning bull, Aspiration, to commemorate this breeding.
In addition to the farm, Violet and Stewart Bennett owned a condo on Prince Arthur Ave. in Toronto, but rarely stayed there. Mr. Bennett held several prominent positions. In 1944, he became president of Acton’s Beardmore Company. In 1946 he was the Vice President of Canada Packers Inc. – a position he held until his retirement in 1965. He was named president of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair Company in 1953.
Violet and Stewart Bennett died in 1982, childless. They bequeathed the farm and the land to the Ontario Heritage Reserve Foundation, now called the Ontario Heritage Trust.
They bequeathed $1,335,000 (now about CAD 3.5 million) to the Georgetown Hospital for the care of the elderly.
The Bennett Heritage Trail officially opened on Canada Day in 1992. A volunteer-based organization Friends of Scotsdale Farm works with the Ontario Heritage Trust to help maintain and preserve the property for the future.
Over the years, the farm has been a popular spot for film shoots, which have included: The Recruit, Fahrenheit 451, Taken, Reign and more recently, Mrs. America, A Handmaid's Tale, Forgive Us Our Trespasses, Beacon Street, The Accused, Rabbit Hole, and many other smaller productions.
In 1943, Mr. Bennett hired Maurice Baker as a herdsman and later as the farm manager. Maurice Bakers was instrumental in developing a purebred Shorthorn herd which won top prizes at the Royal Winter Fair and the Chicago International Livestock Show. He was replaced by Emerson Clarke (1961) who continued to develop the famous herd.
After the war Mr. Bennett purchased several dozen purebred Shorthorn calves from Scotland. The purchase was arranged by the Ontario Shorthorn breeder John Miller, who together with John Blum of Malabar Farms in Libertyville, Illinois brought a herd of more than 60 cattle from Scotland to North American.
Among several of the calves Mrs. Bennett selected one that would become Bennett’s first shorthorn grand champion bull at the 1947 Royal Winter Fair – Princess Deirdre, the dam to a calf named Aspiration.
By the early 1950s, the farm’s two lead breeding bulls – Aspiration and Mayflower Ransom had become impotent. This was a serious problem at times when artificial insemination wasn’t common. In 1952 Mr. Bennett and Maurice Baker went to Scotland and bought Calrossie Perfect Bull for the astronomical sum of 6100 guineas. The farm’s heard expanded and the Bennett’s went on winning prizes at the Royal Winter Fair throughout the 1950s.
In 1970 Bennett’s made history by sending the first Canadian-born Shorthorn bulls by Air Canada to Scotland to help revive the new DNA of the legendary breed.
They also owned two Clydesdale breeding horses that were so beautiful, one of their guests allegedly uttered: “Who wouldn’t be a horse’s ass if you could look like that.”
They later bought purebred Arabian horses Mihrima and Sahara, descendants of Lady Wentworth’s Crabbet Stud, from Sussex, England. Mihrima’s foal, Senob, was the first horse born on the farm. Senob was known as Bones (Senob spelled backward).
The animals were housed in large gable-roofed barns built in the Early Central Ontario style. The front porch, much loved by visitors, was added much later for film production.
Mr. Bennett commissioned sculptor Jacobin Jones to create a bronze likeness of his favourite award-winning bull, Aspiration, to commemorate this breeding.
In addition to the farm, Violet and Stewart Bennett owned a condo on Prince Arthur Ave. in Toronto, but rarely stayed there. Mr. Bennett held several prominent positions. In 1944, he became president of Acton’s Beardmore Company. In 1946 he was the Vice President of Canada Packers Inc. – a position he held until his retirement in 1965. He was named president of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair Company in 1953.
Violet and Stewart Bennett died in 1982, childless. They bequeathed the farm and the land to the Ontario Heritage Reserve Foundation, now called the Ontario Heritage Trust.
They bequeathed $1,335,000 (now about CAD 3.5 million) to the Georgetown Hospital for the care of the elderly.
The Bennett Heritage Trail officially opened on Canada Day in 1992. A volunteer-based organization Friends of Scotsdale Farm works with the Ontario Heritage Trust to help maintain and preserve the property for the future.
Over the years, the farm has been a popular spot for film shoots, which have included: The Recruit, Fahrenheit 451, Taken, Reign and more recently, Mrs. America, A Handmaid's Tale, Forgive Us Our Trespasses, Beacon Street, The Accused, Rabbit Hole, and many other smaller productions.