1823 If, at first, you don't succeed, perhaps you should give up.
/Did you know....
The business venture of Charles Hayes, the Marmora Iron Works of 1823, was plagued with troubles making it impossible to finance. The road to Belleville was impassable; his workers were prone to rowdiness and disorderly conduct; the native locals were unhappy with their treatment by the British Government, and his dream of a connection to the Trent was denied. By 1824 he gave it all up to his creditors, Peter McGill, Anthony Manahan and Robert Hayes, and by 1830, they sold to Thomas Hetherington, who had some new ideas but suffered all the same difficulties.
In 1847, Joseph Van Norman, an experienced smelter from Norfolk County, bought the Works and built a new road to Healey Falls. From the River Trent a steamer carried the pig iron to Rice Lake from where it was carted 12 miles to the Dock in Cobourg. His new route looked good and business started to boom, only to be lost again with the opening of the St. Lawrence Canal, allowing cheaper British iron to be shipped inland. Van Norman lost everything. The "Marmora Foundry Company" lay dormant until 1856 when Mr. Vernon Smith, and later Mr. Bentley gave it one more try.
