William Lukes came from a proud milling lineage.
His father was John Lukes, a man considered to be "the finest master miller in Newmarket." His grandfather, John Sr., had also been a miller. Grinding grain into flour was in his blood. It was inevitable that William Lukes would follow the family business, becoming a prominent businessman in 19th century Newmarket.
William was born in Luxulyan, Cornwall, England on Feb 29, 1828, one of 12 children born to John and Ann Lukes. As with several of his brothers, William gained firsthand experience operating gristmills by serving at his father’s side.
Operating a gristmill in the 19th century was a lucrative business. Farmers needed grain ground into flour and, with bread being far more a dietary staple than it is today, farmers grew a lot of grain.
In 1852, 24-year-old William married Emmeline Beswetherick, a childhood friend. Shortly after the nuptials, the newlyweds accompanied his parents and siblings to Canada, where they settled in Newmarket and established gristmill on Huron Street (now Davis Drive). The decision to emigrate was likely made in pursuit of the opportunity Canada provided those with the Lukes’ skillset.
Wheat was the primary crop in Ontario at the time, a booming industry that saw Canadian grain shipped by the boat- and trainload to Britain and the United States. A miller could do very well here, and the Lukes certainly did. William and his brother, Samuel, performed most of the day-to-day operation of the mill, watching over their crew of workers, while the aging slowly faded into the background of the business.
The Lukes Mill thrived. It made its owners comfortably wealthy, it employed a dozen local men, and it provided a valuable service for local farmers.
John died in 1875 and three years later, Samuel headed out on his own, establishing the Bradford Flour Mill, leaving the Lukes mill solely in William’s hands. But he wasn’t alone. By this time, he and Emmeline had eight children. Eldest son Lewis was already heavily involved in the business and young Frederick would, in time, follow in the family footsteps as well.
And yet, William does something unexpected in the late 1880s: he leases out the mill and he and Emmeline pack up their belongings to return to Cornwall. The Lukes Mill may have been feeling the pinch. The opening of the Prairies had seen Ontario wheat production take a downturn in favour of mixed agriculture, and by this date milling was being consolidated in larger industrial operations. Small-town gristmills in Ontario were slowly disappearing.
Whatever the reason, William and Emmeline never returned to Newmarket. William died in 1895. Emmeline outlived him by more than a decade, dying in 1907.
The Lukes name may be forgotten today, but it loomed large in Newmarket for four decades.
