Susannah Woodhouse (Culverwell) Oland (abt. 1818 - 1885)

Born about 7 Feb 1818 in West Monkton, Somerset, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Wife of John James Dunn Oland — married 26 Sep 1842 in Bristol St Stephen, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died 24 Mar 1885 at about age 67 in Richmond, Henrico, Virginia, United States

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Biography

Susannah (Culverwell) Oland is Notable.

Susannah Woodhouse Culverwell Oland was the founder of Moosehead Brewery which remains the only privately owned brewery in Canada.

Susannah (Culverwell) Oland was born in West Monkton, Somerset, England.

Susannah Woodhouse Culverwell, born on the 7th February 1818, in West Monkton, Somerset, England, was a daughter of George Woodhouse Culverwell and Betty Grabham.

Susannah married John James Dunn Oland on the 26th September 1842, in St. Stephen's Church in Bristol, Gloucestershire. They were to have nine children: three daughters, and six sons.

Susannah (Culverwell) Oland migrated from Surrey, England to Nova Scotia, Canada.

After the family emigrated from Surrey, where they had been farming, to Canada in the 1860s, John was employed by the Nova Scotia Railways. They lived in Dartmouth, on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour, where Susannah set up a brewing operation in the garden shed behind their home. (She had previously brewed beer back in England.) It was after John's time with the railways ended, and following a friend's suggestion, that a small company was formed and Susannah's beer was marketed under the trade name Turtle Grove Brewery. Although it was Susannah's recipe, and her brewing skills that created the product, when the company was formed, her name did not appear on the agreement. John became the figurehead for a business his wife ran. Their sons were also part of the business, and the newly formed company soon employed nine men, and became the third largest in the Dartmouth area.
John died in 1870, but the business - by then renamed Army and Navy Brewery - continued.

In 1871, Susannah, widow, 53, Ethelred, brewer, 23, C. John, brewer, 21, G. Conrad, 20. Houldah, 17, S Mary, 16 and George W., 14 were residing in Dartmouth, Halifax Co., Nova Scotia.

In 1877 Susannah had sufficient funds (mainly from an inheritance), to buy the shares held by the remaining partner (George Fraser), and published a notice regarding the dissolution of the partnership. Operating as S. Oland, Sons and Company, Susannah trained her sons to be brewmasters. She was to spend the rest of her life at the brewery,

In 1881, Susan, widow, 61, Huldiah [sic], 27 and George, brewer, 25 were residing in Dartmouth, Halifax Co., Nova Scotia. Conrad and his family were residing next door.

Susannah Woodhouse Oland née Culverwell passed away in 1885 while spending the winter in Richmond, Virginia.^[1][2] and was buried in Christ Church Cemetery, Dartmouth, Halifax County, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Legacy

The business begun by Susannah, in her backyard, was to spawn two brewing dynasties in Canada -- one branch of the family moved to Saint John, New Brunswick (later selling the Oland Brewery to Labatt Brewing Company), and the other branch, with the original company, moved firstly to Halifax and later to Saint John. Eventually, the original company became the Moosehead Brewery, which (in 2021) remains the oldest independently operated, and the largest privately-owned, brewery in Canada.

Sources

1. ↑ Shadow of Doubt, p. 24
2. ↑ http://www.hhennigar.ca/getperson.php?personID=I55193&tree=1

• Susannah Woodhouse Culverwell Oland (1818-1885) on Find A Grave: Memorial #181458599 retrieved 02 May 2018
• 1871 census, Dartmouth, NS
• 1881 census, Dartmouth, NS
• Memorial: "Billion Graves"
  Christ Church Anglican Cemetery, Park Avenue (Main Entrance), Halifax Nova Scotia B2Y 3L6, Canada
  BillionGraves memorial (accessed 18 January 2024)
  Memorial page for Susannah Oland (d 24 March 1885); Transcribed by OurFamilyBefore, Feb 8, 2015; Photographed by rmconie, Jun 24, 2014.

See also:

• Wikipedia: Susannah Oland
• Wikidata: Item Q27866016, en:Wikipedia