In the year 1818, King George IV of England granted to Phillip James Elmhirst, a lieutenant of the Royal Navy, one thousand acres of Crown Land on the north shore of Rice Lake, as a reward for his efforts against Napoleon in the Battle of Trafalgar. Emigrating from his Lincolnshire, England farm Phillip landed at Port Hope in 1819 and established his new home to the north of our present location.

Frank Elmhirst, the grandfather of present owner Peter Elmhirst, acquired a new piece of property, originally known as "Walker Farm", on the edge of Rice Lake in 1906.