House of Refuge: Grey County’s Home for ‘Poor, Old and Friendless Folk’

Built in 1904, just south of Markdale where Grey Gables is now located, the House of Refuge provided a residence for “the poor and destitute.” John Butler has collected resident Frederick Gee’s newspaper accounts of his life there from 1904 to 1907, providing an insider’s look at the comings and goings, staff and conditions in what was quite a modern building of its time.