Representing William Harwood & Sons — his family's wholesale silver and hardware business in Sheffield that exported to Jamaica, Bermuda, Baltimore and Lower Canada — he came to Montreal in 1821.

Exchanging a life of society and business in Montreal, he and his wife arrived in Vaudreuil in 1829 to bring the estate back to order.

He described his interest in pursuing reforms in agriculture and transportation as 'a hobby', but he displayed a firm grasp of the problems facing his tenants, and it revealed his genuine concern to improve things.

His brother in England on the other hand berated him for his liberal attitude writing to him that 'the management of property to advantage is a talent not possessed by many, and certainly not by our family'.

After Harwood's death, when the Seigneurial system of New France had been abolished, his heirs sold the house and it subsequently became the College de St. Raphael before it was destroyed by fire.

After the fire, under the foundation stone a leaden plate stamped with three fleurs de lys was found bearing the French inscription: (requires a source!)