From the 1870s through to the 1890s, this foundry manufactured shingle-sawing machines. They also manufactured barrel-making machinery. The company was founded by Joseph Alexander Mumford, a skilled mechanic and machine designer who received several Canadian and American patents for his shingle machines.

Information Sources

• Canadian Mining Manual, 1895: "Hantsport Foundry and Machine Co., Hantsport, NS Helmer, JH, Port Hope, Ont — Invested capital, $10000. Eight persons employed. Product, water wheels and ..."
• A paper, Hantsport: From the Bustling Shipbuilding Town of the 1800’s to the Town of Industry that it is Today, by Morgan Dunbar, includes the following paragraph:

  By the 1890’s Hantsport had a population of about 900 and there were still many successful businesses in the town. During this time Joseph A. Mumford had invented a machine that would make shingles quickly. The machine gained popularity quickly throughout Canada and the United States. He had been working in Hantsport for many years on his inventions. He was successful enough with his shingle production that he could spend more time on other inventions like barrel makers and steam boilers. Mumford set up the Hantsport Foundry, but it was mostly forgotten after it went bankrupt. (Robertson, 83-89)

• A website belonging to tractor and engine enthusiast Kevin Davis provided a key photo of a shingle-machine nameplate.
• The 1871 census of Hants County, Nova Scotia, lists Joseph Mumford as a 24-year-old male living in Scotch Village. The 1901 census gives his birthdate as 1846-06-10; he was the 55-year-old engineer living in a household that included his wife Ella (born 1851-05-10) and daughter Hattie (born 1881-07-06). The family resided in Hantsport.