This story is from the archives and was quite popular when it was first published in April 2018. 

A Miramichi man and Father of Confederation was given a gold watch in appreciation of his work  (not the watch pictured). Peter Mitchell's missing watch remains a mystery after two police investigations.

Here’s a history lesson and a mystery all rolled into one.  Last year I received a message from a reader asking me to write a story about the Peter Mitchell watch. The letter came around the time of Canada’s 150th birthday, and having the watch on display at this milestone would have made sense, said the reader.   First I had to look up who Peter Mitchell was.

Mitchell was from Miramichi, a Scot whose family came here in 1818, a former Premier of the Province, and one of the men responsible for convincing the province to join confederation. Years later, a local group bestowed a gold watch on him in appreciation of service to our county and country.  The trail the watch has taken turns out to be an interesting one, as it was almost sold in auction by his niece, was bought as a wedding present for a woman from Whitneyville, was later given to Lord Beaverbrook to be displayed in Fredericton, and has been the subject of two recent police investigations into its theft.

I became more interested in the story after a friend showed me original  letters from Lord Beaverbrook and Louise Manny to Doreen Arbuckle (Menzies) about the watch.  Statements from the police about two recent investigations into the watch’s disappearance add even more intrigue.   (click all photos below to enlarge)

Here’s what we know:

(as per Edith McAllister article in paper, former Newcastle Librarian)  Peter Mitchell was born in Newcastle on January 4, 1824, the son of Peter Mitchell and Barbara Grant, who came to the Miramichi from Aberdeen Scotland in 1818. Peter Senior was a hotel and tavern keeper. Peter Junior attended the local grammar school, studied law and was called to the bar in 1848. He and John M Johnson formed a legal partnership and both became active in politics of the province.

Mitchell was the premier of the province of New Brunswick at the time of the union of his province, Nova Scotia, Upper Canada and Lower Canada in 1867, and was a leading force in bringing New Brunswick into confederation. In fact it was Mitchell's oratory and perseverance which brought the province into the union and set the example for other provinces to follow.

Mitchell was not a party man but his leanings were liberal, tending always towards reform. He classed himself as an independent liberal. He was never admitted to the inner circles of the John A MacDonald cabinet and thus escaped the odium of the Pacific Scandal. MacDonald treated Mitchell in a shoddy and hostile manner that showed the pettiness in MacDonald’s character. He saw that Mitchell never got the chance to become a serious rival to become Prime Minister. There was no man in the 1867 cabinet who MacDonald had to fear except Mitchell.

(from a book written by Doreen Menzies Arbuckle, “The North West Miramichi”.  Holding the book in the accompanying photo is Kathy Walsh (Somers), the great-niece of Arbuckle.  Kathy share the book and the letters below with us to help piece together the legacy of the watch.) - In 1873 a fund was started on the Miramichi to procure a testimonial for Mitchell, then a member of the House of Commons in Ottawa. He had previously been a member of the New Brunswick government, and a senator. At a meeting in Chatham on January 3, 1874, a committee composed of honourable W Muirhead, C. Sargeant., Alex Morrison, R. R. Call, and M. Adams, was appointed to order a silver dinner service and a gold watch and chain the total cost to be about $3000. A formal presentation to Peter Mitchell was made on September 4, the gifts including and eperent bearing the date July 1, 1874, and the gold watch, suitably engraved. The Union Advocates of September 9 stated:

the gold chronometer is by Dent, the celebrated watchmaker of London, and with the massive gold chain and seal cost about $600, and altogether is a testimonial which  any public men in Canada would be proud to receive.

Half a century after Peter Mitchell's death in Montréal on October 25, 1899, the gold watch, but not the chain and seal, came to public attention in Ottawa. Toward the end of May 1951, an effort was being made to raise money for the Ottawa Philharmonic Orchestra, and business firms and private individuals were asked to know the donate items to be auctioned off. All types of items were contributed, among them Peter Mitchell's watch.

This historical timepiece had been in the possession of the late Miss Agnes Hardie, a daughter of Mitchell's sister. Miss Hardie lived in a large house at 230 Harmer Avenue, and had several tenants. One of these, Miss Olive Fraser, was a special friend who cared for Miss Hardy when she became ill. It is said that Miss Fraser inherited the Hardy property. Then she donated the watch to the auction.

In articles published in the Ottawa Journal of May 12 and May 25, the watch was mentioned, and aroused the interest of Doreen Menzies and Dan Arbuckle. They wondered who would buy the Mitchell watch. A day or two after the auction was held Dan dropped in this to see the auctioneer WS Walker on Somerset Street on his way home. Arbuckle learned from Mr. Walker that the watch had not been disposed of and made arrangements to buy it as a gift for his wife.

Doreen Menzies and Arbuckle were  married on June 28, 1951 in Ottawa.  Doreen received the watch from Arbuckle as a gift on their wedding day.  (Pictured below Menzies, Arbuckle, and Menzies with her father on her wedding day.)

Walsh also had in her possession a well organized collection of letters and newspaper clippings chronicling the transfer of the watch from her possession to Lord Beaverbrook, facilitated by the Miramichi historian and Librarian, Louise Manny.  Here is a transcription of the letters between Menzies and Manny, as well as one from Beaverbrook himself written from the Waldorf Astoria in new York. (see images of letters below):

Letter to Mrs. Arbuckle from Lord Beaverbrook on October 10, 1956

Dear Mrs. Arbuckle.

I am setting up a Peter Mitchell room here. So far I have managed to get his cradle, his bed, washstand, bureau, and epergne (am ornate centerpiece usually made of silver).

The epergne is a very beautiful and splendid ornament which rests at the present time in the museum at St. John, where it attracts immense attention.

I'm told that the watch which was presented to him at the same time is in your possession.

Would you be disposed to part with it, so that we might make it part of our valuable collection?

Yours sincerely

Lord Beaverbrook

Letter from Lord Beaverbrook to Mrs. Arbuckle, November 6th, 1956.

Dear Mrs. Arbuckle,

You have made a generous gift.

I have for long sought Peter Mitchell's watch. When I located it I was excited: now is being given to me and I'm overjoyed.

It will form part of the Peter Mitchell collection I'm gathering together in Fredericton. But I should like, if you approve, to place the watch on exhibition at the old manse library, Newcastle, until such time as the Peter Mitchell room is ready.

If this plan is agreeable to you, then would you please address the watch to me at the Old Manse Library, Newcastle.

If you can trace the auction when the watch was put up for sale for the benefit of the Ottawa Philharmonic Orchestra, I will be glad to have that information.

I wish to have a plaque inserted to the effect that the watch was given to you by your husband on your wedding day.

As you are from Whitneyville in our county. Would you please tell me your maiden name.

My recollection of Whitneyville turns on Miss Bessie Whitney, who was my school companion. She was very clever. I think she became a teacher.

I shall have the watch repaired and put into good condition. So you will please give me all the details you have in order that I may pick my record complete. The watch will be described as a gift from your husband and yourself.

You may know that I have the epergne which was presented to Peter Mitchell along with watch.

Again my thanks for the wonderful gift,

yours sincerely,

Beaverbrook

Mrs. Arbuckle responded to Beaverbrook’s letter by supplying him with information from the newspaper about the watch at auction:

From the Ottawa Journal, May 25, 1051

300 items slated for hammer at final Philharmonic auction.

Of special historical interest is an inscribed gold watch which once belonging to the Hon. Peter Mitchell, one of the fathers of Confederation and a prime minister of New Brunswick. It was presented to him in 1874 by the people of Miramichi New Brunswick and gratitude for his 20 years of service to Canada

Letter dated November 24, 1956

Dear Mrs. Arbuckle:

Lord Beaverbrook has asked me to take care of Peter Mitchell's watch until his return to Fredericton next year. At the moment it is in a locked fireproof filing cabinet, and it will be displayed later in a locked showcase, which Lord Beaverbrook is sending us.

I thought I would not make the matter public until I was ready to have the watch on display, as I know it will cause great interest, and everyone will want to see it.

I can't tell you how pleased I am that you've given this handsome and historic watch to his Lordship. It will be kept in the Peter Mitchell room, which he is furnishing, and will be part of the memorial to one of Miramichi's greatest patriots. It is a blessing it was saved from a melting pot, it almost seems like a miracle. And I particularly admire your generosity in  making this gift, which is prized for its associations, as well as for its historic and intrinsic value. Lord Beaverbrook was much touched.

Sincerely,

Louise Manny

April 1967

"Dear Mrs. Arbuckle:

thank you very much for your letter of February 24. I'm glad to have my historical efforts appreciated. I feel it is very important to preserve their heritage, and very little has been done on Miramichi history.

I still have Peter Mitchell's watch in my custody at the library. It now belongs to Lady Beaverbrook, and I'm hoping she will lend it to the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John, to display along with some other souvenirs of Peter Mitchell.

I have it in a good safe steel box bolted in a drawer at the library. But I would like to find a safe place to display up, and the museum would be good since it's well protected and there is always a guard there.

Kindest regards.

Louise Manny

Where is the watch today?

At present, the location of the watch is unknown.  A former employee of the Town of Newcastle says they remember the watching being stored in a walk-in safe at the Town Hall, which is now the Kin Centre.  The employee said he was shown the watch at one time by then clerk, Willis Dickison.

When the City amalgamated in 1995, City Hall was them moved to its present location on Henry Street, into the former Lounsbury building.  The same city employee believes the watch was still in possession of the city at that time, as it had been seen at the new location.

It’s not clear when the watch was noticed to be missing, but Deputy Police Chief, Brian Cummings, confirmed to Miramichi Online last week that an investigation took place to try to find the watch, and it lead to a suspect.  The suspect was not cooperative, and the investigation came to a halt. Cummings said a few years later new information lead police to embark on a second investigation, which resulted in the same suspect, again refusing to cooperate.