InfoPEIHOME / GOVERNMENT / FEDERAL / FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OFFICE LOCATIONS / Ardgowan National Historic Site The home of William Henry Pope. The Ardgowan house is an example of a "picturesque cottage" or cottage ornée, a style once popular as a rural residence. As the home of a prominent politician, Ardgowan was often the scene of dinners and lavish entertaining, a vital part of Victorian public life. During the Charlottetown Conference, Pope hosted his fellow delegates to what was remembered as a grand luncheon of "oysters, lobsters, champagne and other Island luxuries." Life at Ardgowan reflected the family's secure social position, there were servants, a governess, a horse and carriage as well as a fine library. The sandstone carriage step remains today - a reminder of days gone by. William Henry Pope was born in 1825, the son of another prominent Island politician, Joseph Pope. He was educated in Charlottetown and later studied law in London, England. As a lawyer, land agent, journalist and politician, Pope was a colourful and significant figure in Island life. After the victory of the Conservative party in 1859, he was named colonial secretary and also became editor of the Island newspaper. Imbued with the spirit of nation building, Pope was named as a delegate to the Charlottetown Conference at Province House in September 1864, thus becoming immortalized as a Father of Confederation. Although the general mood of Prince Edward Island was anti-confederation, Pope was an adamant proponent of a union of the British colonies in North America. Eventually, faced with overwhelming puplic opposition to Confederation, Pope resigned from office in 1886. He left Ardgowan in 1875, and died in Summerside in 1879 while serving as a judge of Prince County Court.
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