L to R: Trina Astor-Stewart, Alice Birch, Monica Lawlor, Linda Calder, Monica Effenberger, and Barb Haug.
A Victoria Tea at Lynde House Museum
Many friends are made in a gluten-free world. Often you meet at a social function and find out you have a dietary connection. You know there are lots of others out there, but often you can feel quite alone as if no one else had to turn down the rolls being passed around at the restaurant or party but you!
Pictured in this article are images taken in “Mrs. Lynde’s” Dining Room, as it is called. As the hostesses, we were there pouring tea, making sure people who required gluten-free foods were taken care of, and also, the most important task, keeping the conversation going.
Most often at Victorian Teas, you sit at a separate table with friends. The conversation is not an issue. However, due to the limited space, everyone sits around one table in Mrs. Lynde’s Dining Room. Lynde House is famous for its historical significance of having been a place where tired and worn out; General Sir Isaac Brock stopped on his way to Toronto just before the War of 1812 was declared. Jabez and Clarissa Lynde, being gracious hosts, would have no doubt entertained General Brock for a meal in this very room.
Lynde House Museum & Warren General Store
Lynde House Museum, located at 900 Brock Street South in Whitby, Ontario, hosts numerous events during the year, such as Living History, Re-enactments, and Festivals. Interpretive Tours and Special Displays,
Educational Programming, Warren General Store, a Gift Shop featuring Local Artists, Artisans, and Authors. It is a great place to visit, volunteer, and get involved.
Back to Putting on a “Tea” and serving gluten-free fare. If you have ever sat around a table with strangers, you know how hard it can be to break the ice and start everyone talking and enjoying social time. With Halima and Diane there, before you knew it, everyone was chatting away as if they had known each other for years. We would take turns telling stories, both from our own lives as well as historical tidbits relevant to the house.
enjoy a cup of tea at Lynde House Museum.
Why the Warren General Store is located in Lynde House Museum
The Warren Post Office was the first post office east of Toronto in Ontario, Canada.
“My name is Louisa, it is 1829, and my husband, John Borlase Warren, is the Whitby Postmaster. We work together to bring mail and dry goods to settlers here.
His brother William and my husband opened a General Store here at Hamars Corners in Whitby, only a few miles from my parents’ Jabez and Clarissa Lynde’s home.
My sister, named after my mother, is also named Clarissa and is married to William, my husband’s brother. I know it is complicated, but the four of us manage the store and post office providing goods and mail service.
John and I got married on New Year’s Day, 1826, and by October, I had my first child, a girl named Sarah. She is a darling girl. I also have a son John who is only a year old. We have a few people helping us in the store and Post Office, as the stagecoach comes by every day to pick up the mail.”
No doubt, the Lynde sisters often went to tea at their mother’s home. I’m sure they served delicious scones, just not gluten-free scones.
