The house at 299 Cambria Street was built in 1910 for Harry Lawson and his family.
Henry (Harry) Adam Lawson was born in October 1877 in Simcoe, Norfolk County, Ontario. He was the elder son of John H. Lawson, a harness maker, and Alice Adams who had been married earlier that year. John's parents, Peter and Mary Lawson, were of Scottish origin.
By 1891 the family of five was living in Essex County and in 1894, when Harry was 17, they moved to Stratford. On Christmas Day 1900 Harry married Florence Bell Mills in Stratford.
Florence was a Stratford native, born in June 1878. She was the daughter of George A. Mills, a cabman, and Martha Calista Vasbinder, who had come to Stratford from Norfolk County in the year before Florence's birth. Both George's and Martha's parents were Americans and Martha's mother came from an old Puritan family (Collver or Culver) that arrived in America in 1635.
It appears Harry originally followed in his father's footsteps as a harness maker, but by the time of his marriage he was working as a commercial traveller. The 191 1 census reveals that his employer was Gorman, Eckert & Company of London, Ontario. The company had been founded in 1883 and its products, marketed under the trade name Club House, included coffee, spices and baking powder. By 1905 it had established itself as the largest olive packer in the British Empire and in 1907 moved to a building at 316 Rectory Street in London (which still exists today). In 1928 the company expanded further and began selling jelly powders and peanut butter. The company survived the Depression and by 1953 Maraschino cherries were added to the product line, while some original products like coffee were discontinued. In 1959 the company was purchased by McCormick of Baltimore and the name changed to Club House Foods Ltd. to reflect the major brand name. Club House continues today.
When Harry and Florence moved into their newly built home at 299 Cambria in 1910 they had one daughter Elma. A son, Harry Lorne, and a second daughter, Florence, followed. Two other children died as infants.
Under the heading "Popular Stratford T raveller Succumbs Suddenly in Sarnia" the October 28, 1930 edition of the Stratford Beacon Herald announced that Harry had died at the age of 53 of heart failure. He was on the job and staying at Sarnia's Vendome Hotel. Florence continued living at 299 Cambria until about 1943. She died in 1961 and is buried with Harry in Avondale cemetery.