In 1900 there was a small wooden building attached to the northern stone wall of the old Saint James Hotel. We know that Joseph Devolin Dale ran a butcher shop and Casha Boyd operated a pressing and repair shop in this small building in the early 1900's. Prior to 1915, Stanley McMechan operated a Meat Market here.

In December of1918, George Remfrey Aunger and John F. Penrose purchased Stanley McMechan's Meat Market. The new shop was called Aunger and Penrose.

On September 28, 1946, a fire broke in the Glossy Cafe, situated in the adjoining St. James Hotel and quickly spread to the meat shop now belonging to George Aunger. Mr. Aunger had built up a large stock and every shelf was piled with goods from the floor to the ceiling. Everything in the store was a total loss.  The fire also spread under the roof of the St. James Hotel causing damage to the apartments there.

The building was owned by John Silas Jones (1885-1955) and his sister, Miss Jennie  Maude Jones (1888-1980)

A fire on January 24, 1952, again destroyed much of the old St. James Hotel and caused some exterior damage to George Aunger's meat and grocery store. George Aunger, David and Rosa King, Cecil and Theresa Bell were tenants living in the apartments above the St. James at this time.  By 1953,  George saw fit to relocate his market,  and set up shop on Madoc Street.  He diedJuly 24, 1966.

In 1960,  Robert Drummond bought the building  from the Jones estate,  renovated it and leased it to the Simpson-Sears Co. But in 1965,  the Simpson-Sears Co. relocated in the Shannon Building on the east side of Forsyth Street.

In 1969, Howard Bleecker and Miss Miriam Savage, who operated a general insurance business on McGill Street, sold their business to Gordon Bennett. In 1970 Gordon and Stella Bennett purchased the small building from Bob Drummond and relocated the insurance business into this location. 

 Lionel and his wife Donna purchased the building from Gordon and Stella and continued to operate Marmora Insurance. Lionel Bennett now leases this building to and continues to work for Newman, Oliver and McCarten insurance brokers.

On July 13, 2020, Newman, Oliver & McCarten wrote:

After more than 45 years in the insurance industry, Lionel Bennett has announced his retirement. Lionel has been the office manager/Account Executive in our Marmora office since 1994, when he and his late wife Donna, merged their brokerage Marmora Insurance with Newman Insurance.

Lionel’s parents, Gordon and Stella, started Marmora Insurance in 1969. They re-located the business to its current location the following year. Lionel and Donna took over the family business after their retirement.
Lionel has also served his community in other capacities, including Counselor and then Reeve, after the amalgamation of Marmora and Lake Townships. He also supports the arts through Westben’s musical program in Campbellford.