Ashbourne Office Registered Heritage Structure

Ashbourne Office has been designated a Registered Heritage Structure because it holds historic, aesthetic and cultural values.

Ashbourne Office has historic values due to its rarity, age and associations with the Ashbourne family. The office was built in the late part of the nineteenth-century in conjunction with neighbouring buildings Ashbourne Office, Ashbourne Longhouse and Ashbourne House. They are rare, surviving extant examples of early mercantile / fishing premises in Newfoundland. The large commercial premises, when grouped, offer a clue of a time when Twillingate was economically prosperous and the hub of Notre Dame Bay. Twillingate’s importance as a busy seaport peaked in the late 1880s, and the office was used for the the Ashbourne’s Ltd. business of fishery and sealing trades. The business sold coal, caskets, dynamite, building supplies, fish of the Mediterranean and much more. This international trade, in the centre of Notre Dame Bay, was run from the Ashbourne Office and its waterside location.

The Ashbourne Office is associated with the Ashbourne family, and in particular, William Ashbourne and his son Thomas Ashbourne. William Ashbourne exported fish and seal products and in 1922 upon his death, his son Thomas Ashbourne took over the business. True to the lifestyle of the prominent outport merchant, Thomas became one of the most important members of the community in matters economic, social and political. He became a Member of the House of Assembly (MHA) in the 1920s, was a delegate to the National Convention 1946-48 and helped determine the Terms of Union for Newfoundland’s confederation with Canada, and post-confederation Ashbourne became an MHA in the House of Commons.

The Ashbourne Office is aesthetically valued because of its late-nineteenth-century mercantile construction. Built with a steeply pitched gable roof and made of wood, the two-storey office has a loft on the second floor, which holds all the ledgers of William Ashbourne and Ashbourne’s Ltd. It strongly resembles its neighbour and associated building, Ashbourne Shop, with large window openings, large massing and prominent location at the harbour front. The simple, narrow wooden clapboard and slightly returned eaves show the utilitarian nature of the structure, along with the plain, flat window and door trims. This building has a top-storey gable window, like the Shop, but it is not rounded; however, the side façade does have a centrally located arched window. When viewed together the buildings can be seen as a harmonious grouping of early mercantile construction.

The Ashbourne Office is culturally valued because it represents a time in Twillingate’s history when it was a flourishing economic and social centre for the surrounding region. International business was conducted from the shores of this harbour and the town benefited from many cultural influences. The bustling seaport began to decline throughout the twentieth century when the railway and Trans Canada Highway were put into place, lessening the need for marine business. Ashbourne Office will continue to remind the community of its earlier prosperity and importance on the international map.