Brennans’ gold mine at Oldham

Identity area

Type of entity

Corporate body

Authorized form of name

Brennans’ gold mine at Oldham

Parallel form(s) of name

    Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

      Other form(s) of name

      • Oldham Sterling Gold Company Ltd., 1903-ca1916
      • Acadia Gold Mines Ltd., 1926-ca1932
      • Avon Gold Mines Ltd., 1935-1955
      • Brennan, William A., 1851-1916
      • Brennan, Arthur R., 1882-1951

      Identifiers for corporate bodies

      Description area

      Dates of existence

      1903-1955

      History

      The gold mine in the Oldham district near Enfield, Nova Scotia was a business interest of the Brennan family of Prince Edward Island. It was started in 1903 by William A. Brennan under the name Oldham Sterling Gold Company Ltd (1903-ca1916). W.A. Brennan had purchased the land from J.E. Hardman of Oldham, NS and from Frederick Taylor of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States near the end of Nova Scotia’s second “gold rush” 1895 to 1903. He also established an ore crushing mill on the site for his use and the use of other miners in the area. Oldham Sterling Gold Co. enjoyed some early success mining gold 1907 to 1912. After W.A.’s death in 1916, the Oldham property was inherited by his 2 sons Arthur and Victor and wife Rosara. Lacking the financial means to actively mine the property themselves, the Brennans looked for investors. Their first investor was Charles Spearman, a mining engineer from Montreal, who mined the district under the name Acadia Gold Mines Ltd. (1926-ca1932). It may have also operated under the name Acadia Metals Ltd. for a short time. When Spearman was unable to meet expenses and payroll for the miners, the company went bankrupt and the property reverted back to the Brennans. After several attempts to attract new investors, Arthur Brennan sold it to George Reynolds of New York, United States, and another Montreal-based group of investors under the name Avon Gold Mines Ltd. in 1935 (1935-1955). This company was active until about 1943 when labour shortages and equipment restrictions brought on by the Second World War (1939-1945) made operating the mine unprofitable. It never recovered in the post-war era and ownership again reverted back to the Brennan family. By 1955, Arthur’s son William “Bill” Brennan sold off the remaining equipment and all mining operations ceased.

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      Internal structures/genealogy

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      Status

      Final

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      Dates of creation, revision and deletion

      Revised 2023-02-01 Karen White (re-described with new name)

      Language(s)

      • English

      Script(s)

        Sources

        Contents of the fonds.
        Hartlen, John. Nova Scotia Gold Mining (Waverley, NS: the author, 1982) found in Nova Scotia Archives Library, Reference number: V/F v.530 #19.
        Bates, Jennifer L.E. Gold in Nova Scotia (Halifax, NS: Department of Mines & Energy, 1987) found in Nova Scotia Archives Library, Reference number: V/F v.25 #19.

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