from The Times  June 3, 1886
A SHOE-LACE factory is being erected at the foot of what is commonly known as Monkey Mountain, and will be in operation in the course of a few months.

from the Times Dec 2, 1886
OUR LATEST INDUSTRY.
The Dominion Leather Lace and Leather Factory.
RAPID AND HEALTHY GROWTH OF AN ENTERPRISE.
We doubt not we are well within the mark when we assert there are not two hundred inhabitants in Port Hope who are aware of the existence in town of a factory for the manufacture of leather laces and leather. That there are not fifty who are aware of the wonderful strides that have been made by the infant industry since its recent birth, we are positive. On Friday The Times had the pleasure of looking through the factory of Messrs. & Sons, and was no less surprised than delighted at the busy, healthy activity of the establishment. It is, as one prominent gentleman described it to us previous to our visit, "a regular hive." The inception of the manufactory was similar to that of many of the largest and most prosperous factories on the continent.



Mr. Buckle, with his three sons, began last spring the manufacture of leather laces on as small a scale as conceivable—in their rented barn. He was a practical man, who had graduated from the immense English lace factories at Lancaster and Leeds.

He found a ready sale for his work, and that there were no leather lace manufactories in Canada, and resolved to invest his capital in a wooden building and an extension of his business. The building he at present occupies, was put up, an unpretentious, substantial structure, two storeys high, and 40 by 24 feet. He moved into his new building in June last, and increased the number of employees from time to time, as the pressure of increasing trade demanded.

From the time that Messrs. Buckle & Sons' laces were put on the market, the sales have increased not slowly but by bounds. He makes a much better article at a lower figure than can be imported. In his factory the culls or wastings are sold as such, and the strength of every lace is tested before it is sent out. Such being the case, it is not strange that the young firm soon found their establishment far too small. Three months after occupying their first building, an additional, larger than the original, was projected, and its frame-work was erected yesterday and is soon expected to be ready for occupation. It is two storeys high, and 64 by 24 feet; in it will be placed a steam engine.

When the building is completed another branch will be added to the factory. Cordovan leather will be made from the necks and weak parts of the hides, which cannot be converted into laces. Tanning and colouring leather will also form a part of the industry.

The number of employees now reaches twenty five, but delay in increasing the number is only due to the lack of room. This will be obviated by the erection of the new building, after which double the present number of hands will, we feel sure, be employed.

The extent to which this industry has grown in England may be conceived when we are told that in one factory in Leeds 600 hands are employed. It may be a year or two before that number will be reached by the Dominion Leather Lace Factory, but there should be no near limit to its extension. Its managers are experienced, practical business men, who aim to give good goods at low prices. The factory has no competition in its line and is being met in a cordial spirit by the wholesale trade.

A specimen of the shipments made by the factory, is that made on Wednesday of two wagon loads. Two hundred and fifty gross or 36,000 laces, are shipped weekly and to manufacture these, three hundred sides of horse hides are cut up. These figures will give our readers some ideas of the dimensions of the factory, as it stands after a few months growth from the smallest beginning conceivable. What its future will be, is placed by circumstances almost beyond a peradventure, and we may confidently anticipate a prosperous future for Messrs. Buckle & Sons' Dominion Leather Lace and Leather Factory.

from the Times Dec 9, 1886
Communications were read from... Messrs. Buckle & Sons, as to the desirability of enlarging their Lace factory. Referred to committee for next year on manufactories.

from the Times Oct 22, 1891
Mr. Buckle addressed the Council requesting that the Buckle & Son Lace Factory, which had during the summer months been expending $100 in wages per week and were now expending $60, be exempted from taxation. Referred to Finance Committee.

from the Times Oct 29, 1891
To the Editor of The Daily Times.
Sir,—I notice an application is before the Council from Messrs. Buckle & Son for remission of their taxes on the ground that they pay from $60 to $100 a week in wages. Should they be remitted on this ground then, of course, other employers of labour would be entitled to a similar concession, and the burden of making up the large amount annually required by the town would be thrown on the shoulders of other classes of property owners. As a large tax­payer I find the rates already burdensome enough without having the taxes of others to pay, and must, therefore, strongly protest against remission of taxes in all cases except where destitution or affliction may appeal to our sympathies to relieve individual cases of their obligations to the community.
I am,
yours truly,
.

from the Times Oct 29, 1891
The application of Messrs. Buckle & Son for exemption from taxes of their Lace Factory should receive the favourable consideration of the Town Council. The industry is one which is capable of considerable extension, and the fact that the firm has been paying $100 a week in wages during the summer months, and is now paying $60 a week, is a satisfactory evidence that the business is a flourishing one. We have so few industrial establishments in the town that we believe it to be in the public interest to give generous encouragement to any concern employing labour.

The taxes cannot amount to a great deal, and as the firm ask only for exemption, the Council cannot make a mistake in granting the favour under proper and carefully considered terms. $100 expended weekly in wages means the employment of a number of people who spend their earnings in the town, and who, but for this industry might not be able to obtain other work.

From small beginnings large factories grow, and we cannot afford to treat such as we have other than generously. Messrs. Buckle & Son are hard-working people, and are doing their best to push and extend their trade, and we think them entitled to all the aid and encouragement the Council and our citizens generally, can give them.

from 'Our Dominion' directory
James Buckle & Sons, Manufacturers of Porpoise and Cordovan Round Laces and Leathers, Bedford Street. — An enterprise of great importance carried on with continuing success in Port Hope, is that in which Messrs. James Buckle & Sons are engaged. This firm has been established here for only a comparatively few years, but manufacturing a class of goods of a superior grade of quality, they have already acquired a reputation second to none in Canada, in their particular line, and their trade, which is a very large one, extends over the Dominion.

They occupy very large premises, the building being a two storey structure, 104x60 feet in dimensions. The premises are most conveniently laid out for the industry carried on, each process being assigned to a separate department, and included in the excellent equipment. The firm have at very considerable expense introduced machines made in England for rolling laces, etc.; the whole building is heated by hot water. Employment is given to twenty-five hands, and an engine of 30 horse power supplies the motive power.

The goods manufactured are plain and rolled leather laces for boots, etc., cordovan and polished pebble leather, plain glazed leathers, and leather for brace suspenders, a specialty being made of laces made from real porpoise skins. This firm also manufactures an excellent imitation of porpoise lace. This firm is the only manufacturer of lace leathers in Canada.

Mr. James Buckle, the senior member, is a native of Yorkshire, England, and came to Port Hope with his two sons in 1882. Mr. Buckle is a practical and thorough man of business, energetic, enterprising and upright in all his dealings. He is a member of the Durham Lodge, S.O.E.B.S