Benjamin C. "Ben" Hearle

1820 - Yes, date unknown

• Name	Benjamin C. "Ben" Hearle
  Born	CA 1820	of, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Gender	Male
  Interesting	newspaper
  Interesting	pioneer, story, news
  Name	B. C. Hearle
  Occupation	1844	Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  	newspaper owner and editor
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-3601
  Died	Yes, date unknown
  Person ID	I3601	Generations
  Last Modified	28 Jan 2025

  
  

• Notes

  B. C. "Ben" Hearle was the first editor of Galt's first newspaper, the Dumfries Courier established in 1844. He has been described as a man who was fond of the idea of being the editor of a newspaper but not of the work involved. The paper was published weekly on Saturdays, but much of the credit for the regular appearance goes to Peter Jaffray who went on in 1846 to establish the Galt Reporter. Cambridge Mosaic , Jim Quantrell, 1998, City of Cambridge [abbreviated snippet from original text in book] ______________ He possibly moved to Beamsville. ______________________ "For instance, I remember Galt as it was in 1837. South Water Street was a row of log houses. One bridge (Main Street), no dam; no hydraulic canal; no water power from the river. On the south-west corner of Main and Water Streets stood a little red-painted one-storey 'store,' where J. K. Andrews sold goods and kept the post-office. There was nothing on the west side of the river that I remember, but the Kirk, the Queen's Arms Hotel, and the Hon. William Dickson's house. An unsavoury green pond was in the middle of Main Street, crossed by a new stone viaduct. The population was probably under 500. A year or two afterwards, a 'Fair was instituted in the autumn. Two or three yoke of oxen might be sold; and I know a good deal of whiskey and beer were drunk, and a good many mutton pies eaten. That, at first, was nearly all the business done. In 1844 or 1845, Mr. B. C. Hearle, a little man, who wore a short coat, started a newspaper in Galt. Peter Jaffray, who bought him out, described his 'plant to me, as consisting chiefly of a lot of old worn type, which he thought 'must have been in use since the war of 1812!' However, Hearle went on with the paper for a year or two. It was called the Dumfries Courier; and in that journal I made my literary debrit. A poem, painfully elaborated, and dreadfully sentimental, was secretly copied out, and mailed (postage 4 ½ d.), and in due time appeared. I don't know whether my parents ever saw it;" Rose-Belford's Canadian Monthly and National Review, Volume 8; Volume 21 pg 1965; The By-gone Age by William Wye Smith ______________________________ PETER JAFFRAY 1800-1864 Married: Mary Ann Gittins Mr. Jaffray was born in Stirling, Scotland in 1800, was a graduate of the University of Glasgow and learned the printing business while in the employ of Oliver and Boyd in Edinburgh. He also worked for the Shrewsbury Chronicle for twenty-two years and started the Shrewsbury News. In 1844 Mr. Jaffray immigrated to the Goderich area with the intention of becoming a gentleman farmer. On his way west he passed through Galt and noted that the Dumfries Courier was looking for a printer. He continued on his journey but it soon became apparent that pioneer farming in Canada was neither to his expectations nor his liking and he soon began to contemplate alternatives. He considered an offer to join George Brown's fledgling Toronto Globe but decided instead to throw in his lot with Ben Hearle and the Dumfries Courier. After working for two years for the "shiftless" Mr. Hearle, Mr. Jaffray and his sons finally had enough of the publisher's shortcomings and announced their intentions to leave within a month. Faced with the loss of the cream of his staff, Mr. Hearle persuaded the Jaffray's to stay on for an additional three weeks while he sought qualified replacements. When it became apparent that none were forthcoming and that the demise of the Courier was inevitable, Mr. Hearle offered to sell his antiquated equipment to Mr. Jaffray. Although contemplating the formation of his own newspaper, Mr. Jaffray declined the offer, opting instead for newer, though more expensive, equipment. Having now severed his ties with the Courier, Mr. Jaffray, in partnership with James Ainslie, launched the Galt Reporter with the first issue appearing on Friday, November 13, 1846. Mr. Ainslie and Mr. Jaffray had a falling out over the conservative political content that was finding its way into the paper and Mr. Ainslie left the partnership in 1849 to start a rival weekly, the Dumfries Reformer. With the departure of Mr. Ainslie the Reporter came under the sole control of Mr. Jaffray and his sons William, Richard, Henry and George, and became more politically conservative in tone. Mr. Jaffray died on November 15, 1864 and is buried in Trinity Anglican Cemetery. Jaffray St. is named for him and perpetuates the memory of various family members. Cambridge Mosaic, Jim Quantrell, 1998, City of Cambridge

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - CA 1820 - of, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Occupation - newspaper owner and editor - 1844 - Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth