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Word of the impending auction raised a storm of protest. There was a great deal of media coverage, both provincially and nationally. The debacle of 1973 was recalled, when Sir William's Montreal home fell to the bulldozer, to be replaced by a 20-story office tower. St. Andrews Mayor Jack Boone took a courageous and rather solitary position against the auction. Though Town Council originally planned to dig a culvert in the Bar Road preventing bidders from reaching the Island, it backed off under the threat of legal action and Mr. Boone with a loyal band of about 12 adherents, mostly children, formed a small protest group at the entrance to the Island on auction day. Mr. Boone wondered aloud why Government didn't foreclose on the Van Horne Island Club in 1965 and 1966 when it had the opportunity. He thought everything possible must be done to save the Island. He would travel the country himself, he said, and raise the money personally. Local MLA Leland McGaw urged the Provincial Government to purchase the Island, restore it, and turn it into a protected provincial park.Langdon increased the pressure on Government by affirming that since his main purpose in putting the Island up for sale was to sell the land wholesale, he might just have to demolish the buildings that stood on it. It was a "possibility," he said, if some other arrangements could not be made. Michael O'Rourke, Director of Research and Development with the Provincial Department of Historical Resources, later recalled some behind-the-scenes events leading up to the auction. Government, he said, had had a look at Minister's Island in the spring of 1977 after being approached by Langdon, but in Cabinet many wondered what in the world Government would do with this "fog-bound, blankety, blankety island." And then Langdon, O'Rourke said, started off with an asking price of 2.5 million.
Government was split, but finally Premier Hatfield, who had a personal interest in heritage conservation, reminded Cabinet who was boss and cast the deciding vote in favor of acquisition. Government wanted the entire island, a lower price was agreed upon which included the three outstanding lots, and it was to be Langdon's responsibility to buy these back.
Unfortunately, the decision to purchase came too late. "It was a last minute thing," said O'Rourke. "But Norman had gone ahead anyway, and said it was too late, he couldn't withdraw. I guess had we got that decision from cabinet, maybe two or three weeks earlier than we did, we might have pulled it off right then and there. But the decision came late. Whether he panicked or whatever, I don't know. Lord knows how long he'd been waiting to finally get that resolved with the government. It was certainly longer than the period I was dealing with him. And we don't really know what pressure the Hossler Brothers, who actually held the mortgage on the place, were putting on him."
The auction took place on March 12 and 13. About 300 bidders, mainly antique dealers from the Eastern part of Canada with some representation from the middle of the country and the eastern United States, were taken over in buses from the mainland. Timing was critical because of the tides. Aside from the land itself, there were 725 items for sale.
According to the newspaper advertisement:
You will find many items from Sir William's private collection as well as furnishings depicting a Dutch heritage. Sir William, a painter himself, made close friends with artists around the world. Two examples of seascapes by William Hope R.C.A. and John Hammond R.C.A. will be among the varied works of art to be auctioned. There are oils, water colours, engravings, etchings and prints by other Canadian artists as well as a modern mural "the Last Spike" oil on canvas; an original Early Burgundian style cupboard dated 1642 heads the list of furniture—it's truly artistry in wood, elaborately carved; a collection of oriental pottery as collected by Sir William; many Model Ships from his collection; a rare mahogany Pool Table with a scoreboard—it's a period piece of furniture, framed rules, custom designed, overhead lights and all other accessories made in London c. 1890; mounted Canadian elk and buffalo heads as well as a Bleacher Bench covered with oriental Saddle Bags, all these from the Pool Room; a Steinway baby grand piano with a unique player attachment; an antique Grandfather Tall Case clock; other Mantel Clocks; Captain's Chairs; Tiffany-type lamps; two chamber sets, one in Minton; Noted Books including "History of Nations" by Henry Cabot Lodge; all firedogs from the many fireplaces, brass and copper, including a large very old Syrup Kettle; Sleighs; two special carriages, a three-seater and a Boston made Landau Coach; a marine shipper's desk; sea chests and marine items; lanterns; bells; book cases; secretary stands; tables; a set of elaborately figural carved chairs; an early maple rope bed circa 1830; a pair of Victorian brass beds circa 1890; lots of wicker ware; topographical maps; oriental rugs, original Van Horne's, Primitives; a rare Queen Anne Windsor chair.
Not all the items were Van Horne originals, only about 60 percent at the most. The Van Horne Island Club and Langdon had brought in some things, a few of which, amused observers noted, were being presented for sale as artefacts of historical importance. Government was represented at the auction, but it knew very well that since 1974 or so, when Langdon began to suffer financial withdrawal, a number of items had been sold off south of the border, including at least 15 of Sir William's own paintings.
Protest continued throughout the auction, and there was a great deal of pressure on Government to buy the Island and as many of the artefacts as possible. Auctioneer Russell Bond of Saint John criticized the local residents both for blocking access and for not being well represented at the auction. When the smoke had cleared, the major items sold included a seascape by Sir William's friend and neighbour in St. Andrews, William Hope, for $4,200; a painting of boats in Saint John harbour by another of Sir William's friends, John Hammond, for $4,500; a Jacobean dining room ensemble for $2,160; the drawing room Persian carpet for $1,000; and a Windsor chair for $1,000, in addition to many other items. The Province picked up the billiard table for $2,700, as well as other smaller pieces. Rough estimates put the tally at about $50,000 to $60,000 per day for Mr. Langdon.
Government was criticized for not bidding on more items but claimed that it got what it wanted and knew or had a deal with other bidders that things they purchased would be later sold or donated to the Province. One such was Sir William's famous 17th century cabinet. This was purchased by Michael McPherson, of Toronto, for $10,500—the highest price paid at the auction for any single piece. McPherson said he wanted to keep it from leaving the country. He had seen Van Horne's Sherbrooke Street home demolished and was willing to resell to the Government at cost. Which he subsequently did. The events of the auction were dramatic enough, but there was even more in store when it was revealed shortly afterwards that at the auction Langdon had sold Minister's Island to the aforesaid Mr. McPherson, a mining contractor out of Toronto, and his partner Alexander George, an Antigonish radiologist. They weren't sure what they wanted to do with it—whether to run it as a working farm, or keep part for themselves and sell off the top half as luxury building lots. It would be a fabulous place for theatre, they claimed, Shakespeare or Shaw. It might be a conference center, a substitute for the posh city hotels usually used to host such events. Or then it might be "Prime Minister's Island," with each of the provinces chipping in for its own lot, and presumably one for the Prime Minister.
If to this point Government had seemed amazingly inept in handling the whole affair, it did have a trump card up its sleeve. It could and did—on March 23, 1977—declare Minister's Island a provincially protected site. As McPherson and George complained, feebly threatening legal action, this meant in effect that all development was now out of the question; a permit would be required even to dig a garden. This applied to government as well. When it attempted to remove its purchases—without a permit—McPherson and George notified the RCMP, and the moving vans were unceremoniously unloaded by angry movers. Then it was revealed by Langdon that in fact McPherson and George weren't owners of the Island; they had only taken out an option on it, which they now of course would allow to lapse, leaving Langdon to deal with Government once again. Late in March Langdon bought back the lots he had sold to Wanklyn and Sapers. Though Mr. and Mrs. Sapers were summer residents of long standing, Mrs. Sapers' family having owned land in St. Andrews since 1907, they now felt that as Americans they were standing in the way of Canadian national progress. They left for the States and didn't return for 20 years, when they purchased the old Maxwell house at the end of the Bar Road.
In 1977 the Province and Langdon signed an agreement to purchase and sell to each other, concluding the deal on August 26 with one lot still outstanding . McPherson and George had cannily picked up this lot from Johnson and Bodner on August 17, and now held a minor trump card of their own. They held out until February of 1982, when they finally sold it back to the Province for $105,000—$75,000 in cash, and a $30,000 tax credit. The total paid by the Province for a nearly empty Minister's Island—the property that could have been picked up completely intact in 1960 for $50,000, or in 1971 for $400,000—was $855,000.