Thomas Chambers
CANADIAN DECOY CARVER
1860 - 1948
Thomas Chambers was born in Toronto, Ontario and was one of Canada's most accomplished carvers. His decoys were in high demand even during the Depression where a rig of a dozen Chamber decoys would command a price of $75.
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He hunted ducks and geese as a boy and sold his excess quarry to the market. He was tapped by sportsmen including George Warin (1830-1905), to be the Keeper at the newly founded St. Anne’s Club on the Chenal Ecarte, which flows into Lake St. Clair. In 1900, when the nearby St. Clair Flats Shooting Company was looking for a new Keeper they asked Warin, a respected founder and a former president of their Club. Warin recommended Chambers, which ended being fortuitous for all parties.
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Incorporated in 1874, the St. Clair Flats Shooting Company, also known as the Canada Club, was one of the oldest hunting Clubs on Lake St. Clair. Chambers lived on the Club’s property in an adjacent house with his wife and three children. Chambers would remain the Club’s Keeper until his retirement in 1943.