The Big Cheese, 1866

Text from the plaque

Lydia Chase Ranney and her assistant Robert Facey began making cheese locally in the mid-19th century. Ranney shared her knowledge of cheese making with her son-in-law James Harris, and in 1865 he established Ingersoll's first co-operative cheese factory on this property. To stimulate international interest, specifically in the lucrative British market, local cheese factory owners and entrepreneurs created the Ingersoll Cheese Manufacturing Company of Oxford to produce a mammoth wheel of cheddar cheese, here in 1866. Facey, the head cheesemaker, used 35 tonnes of milk to make the 3,311 kg round of cheese. It was made in eight days and cured for three months in a specially built shed. In August 1866, the 'Big Cheese', was transported on a modified wagon by six horses to the train station in Ingersoll. It was exhibited at the New York State Fair in Saratoga and then shipped to England where it was bought by a Liverpool merchant. The 'Big Cheese' helped establish Oxford County as the birthplace of Canada's commercial cheese industry.

Transcribed from the marker, not summarised.

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The County of Oxford
The Town of Ingersoll
At the Elm Hurst Inn off Road 119
first exit north of Highway 401

Also recorded for this place: The County of Oxford

N 43 01.792 W 80 51.393

Recorded November 2016. Check current access before visiting.

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