There is a short street “over the creek” which is known as Sparks Drive.

I have always referred to it as Sparks Court, my title for it being incorrect.

It runs off Stanley Avenue near the easterly end of that street.

Stanley Avenue was once known as Gaol (Goal) Street and acquired that name due to its location which was enroute to the Kent County Jail.

Sparks Drive is not an old street and was, at one time, the estate property of Archdeacon Sandys.

Francis William Sandys was born at County Cork, Ireland in 1815.

His wife, Elizabeth Moeran Sandys was also born at County Cork, in 1821.

Sandys later entered the ministry and became a circuit rider in this region of Southern Ontario, I believe, in 1845.

He eventually settled at Chatham and was responsible for the mid 1860s construction of the present-day Christ Church on Wellington Street. This church is now more than 175 years old.

I am not sure when, but the Sandys couple eventually obtained ownership of the substantial property that now constitutes Sparks Drive.

The property contains nine or ten houses and looks to consist of about one acre.

The stone that marks their graves is one of the tallest in the cemetery.

Over time the estate home, and its several out buildings deteriorated and though it was the intent of his children to restore the property, such was not to be the case.

Near the end of the Second World War, the property was auctioned off and this led to the creation of Sparks Drive.

One of the early residents here (3 Sparks Dr.) was to be the Siskind family.

Sam Siskind was born on June 28, 1916 and his wife, Bell, was born on Aug. 8, 1918.

The first mention of the family is in the municipal directory for 1954 but I am reasonably sure they came to Chatham a few years before that time. There is a void of directories between 1950 and 1954.

Sam was an insurance man and had his office at 29 Third St. This site is now part of a parking lot and located to the immediate north of a Tim Horton franchise located at the northeast corner of Third and Wellington streets.

Sam later joined another insurance firm to complete his career.

Sam is unique in that he became the first Jewish man to win a seat on Chatham City Council.

The first Jewish man to attempt to win a seat was Sam Kovinsky in 1918.

Kovinsky did not win, but he certainly helped pave the way for people like Sam Siskind and Murray Berman to win council seats.

Sam Siskind died on June 9, 1982 and Bell passed on Feb. 25, 2012.

I came across the Siskind family stone at the Or Shalom Cemetery, Oxford Avenue West, London, while searching for the grave of Meyer Arthur Tyshler which, unfortunately, I did not find.

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QOSHE - RHODES: How an archdeacon's estate led to the development of Sparks Drive - John Rhodes
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RHODES: How an archdeacon's estate led to the development of Sparks Drive

7 0
15.03.2024

There is a short street “over the creek” which is known as Sparks Drive.

I have always referred to it as Sparks Court, my title for it being incorrect.

It runs off Stanley Avenue near the easterly end of that street.

Stanley Avenue was once known as Gaol (Goal) Street and acquired that name due to its location which was enroute to the Kent County Jail.

Sparks Drive is not an old street and was, at one time, the estate property of Archdeacon Sandys.

Francis William Sandys was born at County Cork, Ireland in 1815.

His wife, Elizabeth Moeran Sandys was also born at County Cork, in 1821.

Sandys later entered the ministry and became a circuit rider in this region of Southern Ontario, I believe, in 1845.

He eventually settled at Chatham and was responsible for the mid 1860s construction........

© Sarnia Observer


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