Chambly Castle

It was left to Gabriel's eldest surviving son, Napier, who had intended to live here but was brought back to England to administer to his late wife's estates. On his order, his agents sold the "Fief et Seigneurie de Chambly-Ouest" to The Hon. Samuel Hatt (1776-1842), on 14th June, 1819. At that time, the central block was recorded as measuring 49-by-29 feet. Samuel Hatt emigrated from London to the Niagara region where he made a fortune with his brother, Richard, in flour and land. He fought in the War of 1812 and at Chambly he became both a close friend and business associate of his neighbour, Michel d'Irumberry de Salaberry. Indeed, Hatt's son, Augustus, married Salaberry's daughter, Charlotte-Emelie.

The Seigneurial Hatts and Yules

On May 7th, 1845, two of Hatt's sons, Richard Brock Hatt and Thomas Clark Hatt, sold the mansion along with the Seigneury of Chambly-Ouest to Richard's mother-in-law, Mrs Philo Letitia (Ash) Yule, the widow of William Yule (1769-1842). In 1853, she also acquired the neighbouring Seigneury of Chambly-Est from the widowed Madame de Salaberry.

From 1845, the mansion became the home of The Hon. John Yule (1812-1886), M.L.C., who married Samuel Hatt's youngest daughter, Elizabeth Hatt. His father, the late William Yule (1769-1842), had emigrated to Chambly from Ayrshire with his brother for whom John was named, John Yule (1770-1851). William had been an overseer of the property for the Christie family before he and his brother made their fortune in flour and timber etc. John himself was the Member of the Legislative Council for Chambly who founded the village of Richelieu and then built the bridge between the two villages.

The Entrepreneurial Willetts

In 1868, John Yule sold the mansion and land to Samuel Thomas Willett (1829-1916), an entrepreneurial industrialist who built railroads and hydro-electricity plants. The Willett fortune was established by Samuel's father, Mahlon Willett, who came from Vemont in 1830 and established the Chambly Manufacturing Company in the Richelieu Mills that produced wool and cotton clothing. Samuel continued the factory but branched out into railroads, becoming President of the Montreal, Boston & Portland Railway Company.

In 1899, Samuel built a hydro-electric plant and dam at Chambly initially to power his clothing factory. By 1911, it also powered his railway that now became the Montreal & Southern Counties Railway, of which he was the founding President. His hydro-electric plant then became part of the Montreal Heat, Light & Power Company under Sir Herbert Holt which powered the City of Montreal. Willett was Mayor of Chambly for 33-years.

After Samuel's death, his home passed to his son, Brock, who continued his father's enterprises in manufacturing and hydro-electricity. He lived here until his death in 1935.

Summer Camp, School and Fire

In 1935, it was purchased by an Order of Nuns from France who transformed the manor (that they renamed "Valdombre") and land into a summer camp before becoming a mixed boarding school ("Val-Marie") in 1950. Three years later, May 16, 1953, it was lost to fire.