Ballantyne Avenue

Born in Stratford, to Mary and Thomas Ballantyne,  Robert Ballantyne was president of the company, which had capital stock of $200,000. The plant was described as an immense modern cement structure, fitted with the most improved knitting machinery for manufacturing all kinds of knitted goods, caps, toques, gloves, mittens, sweaters, sweater coats, jerseys, mufflers and hosiery, and employment was given to 152 expert operators, and six experienced salesmen.

Earlier, Thomas had been a teacher in Downie Township from 1853 to 1961. He founded the first public library in Downie and served in different years as auditor, reeve and clerk on the county council. He championed the subsidizing of the construction of a railway from Wiarton through Stratford to Port Dover. By then he was in the cheese-making business and knew the advantages of the railway. To farmers in the south, he had chosen the interests of Stratford over those of the countryside, and people in Blanshard and Fullarton townships were to remain suspicious of his motives throughout his political career.  The railway, however, was of value not only to Stratford but to him personally. His support in 1872 for the railway link had coincided with his opening of a warehouse in Stratford and his first cheese selling trip to England.  

However, he had also earned a prominent position as a founder of the dairy industry in Perth. He became president of the dairymen's association in 1867 and made his fortune in cheese manufacturing. He built the Black Creek cheese factory in Downie Township, and both his cheese and his factory brought him fame.  He bought the factory outright in 1868 after selling his farm and procuring a government grant.  

Ballantyne would remain involved in the dairy industry all his life even during his political career.  He served continuously as an executive member of The Dairyman's Association: director, 1867–91; president, 1872–73, 1879, 1882, 1886–87, and 1891; and honorary president, 1892–1908. A strong advocate of agricultural education, he was responsible for the establishment of the western Ontario association’s travelling instructor service and was instrumental in the creation of the Dairy School at Tavistock in 1891. Similarly worried about maintaining skills, he pressed for the unionization of cheese-factory employees and for the creation of an apprenticeship system. His factory was the first to use the Babcock test, by which milk was graded and purchased according to its butterfat content. 

Cheese manufacturers were attracted to Black Creek from far and near to study his processes and emulate his methods. Ballantyne won the gold medal at the Centennial World Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876, and Black Creek cheese was proclaimed the best cheese on the North American continent. It was said that Mr. Ballantyne's achievements were mainly responsible for the preference for Canadian cheddar cheese in England. In his native Scotland he promoted co-operative dairying. His name was put forward for a seat in the Canadian Senate, and he was approached about serving as Ontario's lieutenant-governor. He declined. 

Robert Sr. was chairman of the Stratford hospital board and he built the Mary Ballantyne nurses' residence as a memorial to his wife, Mary, who was mother of  seven sons, including Robert and Thomas Jr., and a daughter.  At the time of his death in 1908, Thomas Sr. was president of the British Mortgage Loan Company (later Victoria and Grey Trust) (see Albert and One Ontario Street) and vice-president of the Perth Mutual Fire Insurance Co.  Source: Biography – BALLANTYNE, THOMAS – Volume XIII (1901-1910) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography (biographi.ca); Thomas Ballantyne (1829-1908) - Find a Grave Memorial 

His sons, Robert Mitchell and Thomas Jr. joined their father as business partners in in the cheese-making business about 1890, and Robert, as mentioned, later founded the knitting company. He  then moved to Montreal in 1901 to become managing director of a large British produce exporting firm, of which he was later president. He became a prominent Montreal businessman and served on the Canada Food  Board during the First World War.  Thomas Jr. remained in the family cheese business in Stratford and became deeply involved in the life of the city. (see Cambria Street)

A Festival house

A Festival house, 67 Ballantyne St., was provided by the Stratford Festival for actors in the 1950s. There were several of them around the city. Two actors are known to have stayed in this one: William Shatner and Barry Morse.