Many people in the Halifax area are familiar with Clayton Park but not many know the origin of the name.
Mary Clayton’s family was on hand Wednesday as the Willett Street Reserve was renamed in her honour.
“I’m very pleased that the residents of Clayton Park will now realize where the Clayton name came from,” says Belle Watkins, great-granddaughter of Mary Clayton.
Mary Clayton immigrated to Halifax from England in1863. Her husband passed away a year later, leaving Mary to raise seven young children and run a business.
“Mary's being recognized for her accomplishments and now also there's this wonderful park for residents to enjoy,” says Kevin Watkins, Mary’s great-great-grandson.
“My great-grandmother and her husband and the family, my mother, her family, were such industrious people.
Most of the people who walk through Clayton Park have never heard of Mary Clayton, but the people who studied her history say she was a trailblazer of sorts - a businesswoman at a time when women simply didn’t do business.
“She was a remarkable woman that started this business on her own, this clothing manufacturing business on her own. She put her sons on the name, but she was really the driving force behind it,” says historian Sharon Ingalls.
M. Clayton and Sons in downtown Halifax employed between 400 and 500 people. The family home still sits on the Bedford Highway. Some call Clayton a pioneer of the Halifax area.
“You can look up the definition of Victorian on the Internet or in the dictionary, and it's the spirit of entrepreneurialism and indeed adventurism that epitomized the Victorian era and I think, in many ways, Mary Clayton epitomized the Victorian Era,” says Bob Candy of the Park Advocacy Group.
Her family says they hope her spirit will be passed on to future generations.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Kayla Hounsell
