Virtual Tour

INTRODUCTION

Beaverbrook House, as it is called today, has been an attraction in the Newcastle are for many years. The house was built in 1877, well over a century ago. It was the home of a man by the name of William Watt. He was a shipbuilder and merchant of that day. The house was built by James Martin Troy, who had also built the area’s first curling rink and many churches and houses in the Miramichi.

In 1879 the Victorian style building was sold to the Presbyterian congregation of Newcastle to be used as a manse for their local minister. The manse replaced a smaller one built by the churh fifty years earlier.

In 1880 Rev. William Cuthbert Aitken came to the area from Maple, Ontario. He moved into the manse with his wife Jane and their five children.

When Rev. Aitken retired in 1902, he moved out of the manse. However, many other ministers and their families lived in the manse until it was bought in 1952 by Lord Beaverbrook.

Lord Beaverbrook was none other than the third son and fifth child of Rev. Aitken, who was named Max. He had many memories of living in that house and bought it from St. James United Church. Lord Beaverbrook had it renovated and gave it to the town of Newcastle. It became the area’s first Public Library and was named the Old Manse Library.