Place: Chatham Hotel
Location: Fifth Street, Chatham Ontario
Opened: January 13, 1934
The Chatham Hotel was built shortly after the Famous William Pitt Hotel.
The Turf Room opens January 7th 1964. The room was host to bands from home and afar for many, many years.
Photo: 1935 (From Union Gas Archives)
Photo can also be found in the Public Library in the following book:
Images of Canada Chatham, by Jim and Lisa Gilbert.
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Band: Wilf Lancaster Orchestra
Formed: 1938
Genre: Big Band
Pic 1: Circa 1939-40 Pic 2: Unknown date Pic 3: Chatham Vocational School (Date Unknown)
The band began as an 8-piece but had to disband as the war was breaking out. The group later reunited in 1945. They would perform 3-4 nights a week to 700-800 people at the Pyranon Ballroom a night. The war was over and dancing was popular as the soldiers came back and the girls once again had dates.
The band gained much respect and drew fans of the music from far and wide. They would also share the stage with acts from out of town such as “the world’s fastest drummer”…Buddy Rich.
After the initial start, the band was commonly playing as a 12 piece orchestra.
Wilf Lancaster retired in 1970 as leader of Chatham’s best known orchestral group.
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Chatham Music Archive 