LIGHTKEEPERS

the Keepers of the Flame

The lightkeeper's job at Ontario's Natural Retreat's lighthouses was not an easy one. In most cases, it was seasonal only, but, in rare cases, the lightkeeper and his family lived there year round, tending the lamp 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, often in an isolated location. And for an extremely low wage!

Lightkeeping was a family affair; even the children had to pitch in and learn how to maintain the lighthouse and especially how to operate the hand-held foghorns. The job of lightkeeper was often passed from generation to generation, making it a proud and honoured family tradition.

Keeping the lamp fuelled was one of the lightkeeper's duties. This could be an arduous task as containers of oil had to be manually carried up several sets of steep and narrow stairs. The lamp had to be kept burning during the night and on foggy days.

The vapour pressure had to be kept pumped up, the ventilation adjusted, the wicks trimmed, the height of the flames to be adjusted and the lamp and its fittings kept polished and clean.

In the case of revolving lights, the weights used for their rotation had to be manually adjusted. As the light had to be kept going all night long, this job was done in several shifts throughout the night.

When water vapour caused condensation to freeze on the windows during the winter months, the keeper would crawl out on the catwalk to scrape the ice from the panes. Not a pleasant job in the middle of a Bruce County snowstorm!