1
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
2
Introduction
2
The First Nations Over the Don
3
Ashbridge’s Bay and Marsh
11
The Plains Before Settlement
27
The Ashbridges
36
Ashport: The First European Village
45
Market Gardens
54
George Leslie and the Toronto Nurseries
62
Brickmaking
89
Cattle, Pigs and Abattoirs
109
Taverns
117
Churches
125
The Orange Order
142
The Maple Leaf Forever (More or Less)
151
Law and Disorder
162
Amalgamation with Toronto
169
The Industrialization of Leslieville 1900 - 1914
178
The War to End All Wars
188
Conclusion: Leslieville Surfaces
196
Some Local Street Names
200
Bibliography
207
Index
220
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the following: Leslie Sparks, Caroline Floroff, Carolyn Whtye, Christine Stokes, Barbara
Myrvold, David Foster, Harold and Valda Leslie, Jim Graves, Jim Harris, John Rait and Pentimento, Rev.
Tom Murray, archivist, St. Mel’s College, Ireland, Shawn Selway and Pragmata Historic Machinery
Conservation Services, and William Leslie of Clan Leslie and editor of Grip Fast. Thanks to Karen Kilian,
Joanne Patterson and Julia Patterson for proof reading this manuscript.
Introduction
A place exists not just in geography, but in the heart. This is the story of a place that disappeared from the
public mind, but not the hearts of its residents. People have called the area from the railway tracks east to
Coxwell Avenue and south to Ashbridge's Bay “Leslieville” since the 1860s. However, when the City of
Toronto absorbed the postal village of Leslieville, it gradually lost its identity. Although many local residents
continued to remember Leslieville, the name slipped away around World War One only to resurface in the
1980s. While I begin with the first inhabitants, I, therefore, end around 1920 as the name “Leslieville” slipped
into obscurity.
In the first history of Leslieville, written by school children in 1957, an old timer said that, “Pigs, flowers and
1
bricks” were the making of Leslieville. Here I explore Leslieville through its industries: abattoirs, cattle sheds
and piggeries; market gardens, florists and tree nursery; and brickyards, as well as ice cutting on
Ashbridge’s Bay. However, while Leslieville’s history is about pigs, flowers and bricks, it is also so much
more.
1
Adams, Robert, “Pupils Record Leslieville Story” Toronto Daily Star, June 25, 1957.
3
4
To write a history without exploring addressing prehistory is like writing about the penthouse of an 11-storey
apartment building as if the first ten stories and foundation did not exist. 11,000 to 10,500 years ago the last
glaciers melted, exposing rock and earth in Leslieville, hunter gatherers moved onto the tundra, following big
game including mammoths. When the glaciers melted, Leslieville’s lakeshore was about ten kilometres
south of where it is today. When the lake’s water rose to current levels, its waves inundated the early
evidence for the area’s very First Nations. Oral history includes such stories as the creation of the Toronto
Islands told by Mohawk historian William Smith to the Toronto Star:
On a day long before the coming of the white man [the Great Spirit] was in a mood of anger and, as he often
expressed himself forcefully, the winds that day came with a terrific roar, laid the forests flat as matchsticks,
whipped the waves as tall as treetops on Lake Ontario and made the earth tremble with their
violence...There was no island then off the northern shore of Lake Ontario but when the sinking and
upheaval finished and the storm had ended an island had been formed and that island is now Toronto
2
Island.
Oral history, archaeological investigation and the historical record, including treaties, land claims and other
documents, are three major sources for the First Nations history. In 1997 archaeologists Marti Latta with
Dena Doroszenko of the Ontario Heritage Foundation, excavated the site of the Ashbridge log cabin. They
found about 120,000 artifacts. In addition to finds from the Ashbridges, the team found First Nations
artifacts. These included ceramics (from 1300-1400 Common Era or CE), ground stone tools, and projectile
points ranging in age from 500 CE to what may be a stone point from 8,000 years ago. In 1998, 1999 and
2000, the Ontario Heritage Foundation partnered with the University of Toronto’s archaeological field school
3
to dig the Ashbridge site. Another registered archaeological site is the Leslieville Public School site. For ten
millennia or more many different languages and cultures lived on the plains east of the Don. First Nations
thoroughly occupied Leslieville. This was far from being the uninhabited wilderness white settlers claimed
they found.
The Mississaugas are a nation within the Anishnaabe, known as Ojibway or Chippewa. When French
missionaries and fur traders arrived in Ontario in the 1600s, the Mississauga lived along northern Lake
Huron around the Mississagi River. The name "Mississauga" comes from the Misi-zaagiing, meaning
"[Those at the] Great River-mouth". The French knew these peoples as the “Mississauga” and traded with
them for furs. The Mississauga, Odawa (or Ottawa) and Pottawatomi, formed the Council of Three Fires to
resist the Iroquois Confederacy. The Iroquois or Haudenosaunee were pushing north from their homeland in
New York’s Finger Lakes. In the 1700s the Mississauga moved south into the Kawartha Lakes region. From
there, a smaller body migrated southwest to the Credit River area and another southeast to the Bay of
Quinte. From there the Mississauga spread along the north shore of Lake Ontario. The Mississaugas were
not the only First Nation that had lived in Toronto. Iroquoian-speaking peoples lived here before them. In
1886 workers digging a road found a village site dated back to 4,000 years ago on the grounds of Withrow
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Avenue Public School, in Riverdale just west of Leslieville. A plaque (now vanished) was placed on the
site. It said:
The Withrow Archaeological Site Centennial of Discovery 1886-1896 As long as 4,000 years ago, this
sandy knoll was the location of campsites for native people. It provided an excellent lookout over the Don
River Valley for observing game. Here small family groups probably lived in skin tents during hunting
seasons. Lost for many years, this site was uncovered by workers digging a roadbed in 1886. The discovery
aroused great public interest and Ontario’s first professional archaeologist, David Boyle, conducted
excavations. Only a small number of artifacts exist from the now-destroyed encampments. Of the many
2
Chandler, Al, “Island Made in Hurricane,” Globe and Mail, December 19, 1954.
Archaeological Services Inc., Stage 1 Archaeological Assessment In Support of Toronto Hydro Energy Services Inc.
Renewable Energy Approval Application for a Biogas Cogeneration Plant. Prepared for SENES Consultants Limited.
(Archaeological Services Inc.: Toronto, 2010), p. 3;
City of Toronto, The Official Plan for the City of Toronto. (Toronto: September 5, 2010).
www.toronto.ca/torontoplan/lost_examples2.htm
4
Toronto Evening Telegram, June 28, 1886.
3
5
native sites in the city, Withrow is one of the few for which we have archaeological evidence. Toronto
5
Historical Board 1988.
The Wendats (Hurons) were agriculturalists who lived along the north shore of Lake Ontario, but moved
northwest of Lake Simcoe, to Huronia. They played a key role as middle men in a trading network that
included the Mississauga and other Anishnaabe. In 1600 the Ontario Iroquois, Wendat, Tionontati (Petuns)
and Attawandaron (Neutral), probably numbered over 60,000. In 1639, the Jesuits established St. Marie
near Midland. Their missionary activity among the Wendat coincided with a series of epidemics, including
smallpox, and war. In the late 1640s the Five Nations League or Haudenosonee attacked Huronia. The
Haudenosenee were trying to control the fur trade and needed access to beaver pelts, but they also used
captives to replace loved ones killed by epidemics. (Captives were adopted to replace the dead.) In 1649
Huronia was destroyed. The Five Nations killed, drove out or absorbed the Wendats, the Petuns and the
Attawandaron.
The fur trade had almost wiped out beaver south of the Great Lakes and the Haudenosaunee began to
move north. They set up villages at the base of trails and portages at the river mouths on Lake Ontario. The
Senecas set up two villages in the Toronto area. One was Ganetsekqyagon, near the mouth of the Rouge
River. The other, Teiaiagon, was at Baby Point east of the Humber. Recent research has discovered more
sites along the Humber and Rouge Rivers and other sites in the Toronto area. As the Haudenosonee
expanded into southern Ontario they increasingly came into conflict with the Anishnaabe. By 1710, the
Anishnaabe pushed the Haudenosaunee out of southern Ontario, defeating them in a series of
engagements. The Mississauga had secured all southern Ontario from Long Point on Lake Erie to the
Thames, Grand, Humber and Rouge Rivers.
Some Mississauga traded at the mouth of the river where traders offered credit. Thus the British called that
Mississauga band the “Credit River Indians”. The Mississauga lived in a number of villages in Toronto,
including one just north of the Old Mill, across the river from Baby Point. Here they fished and grew corn on
the flats. They valued Ashbridge's Bay and the adjoining lands for their wild rice beds, rich hunting and
fishing and proximity to the Peninsula (the Toronto Islands). Kahkewaquonaby, the Reverend Peter Jones, a
Mississauga chief and Methodist missionary, described the bounty before European settlement:
The wild fruit trees are several kinds of plums, crab apple, thorn, cherry, elder, and bush cranberry. Many of
the small lakes yield plentiful supplies of wild rice, which the Indians gather in great abundance, in the
autumn, and make into soup. The woods and prairies abound with blackberries, huckleberries, strawberries,
6
raspberries, gooseberries, black currants, wild grapes, and marsh cranberries.
After the French forces surrendered, the British took over Ontario. The British, represented by Sir William
Johnson, and the First Nations signed a peace treaty at Oswego in 1766. Peace with the Anishnaabe
made settling Ontario possible. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 (The Quebec Act) stated that native
people had a right to their lands. Most Native groups supported the British during the American
Revolution. After their defeat, the British needed to find places to live for their de-mobilized soldiers and
those refugee Americans who had stayed loyal. These were called United Empire Loyalists (U.E.L.s). The
British government granted land along Ashbridge’s Bay to Loyalists like the Robinsons, Matthews and
Mosleys. The flood of Loyalists spelled the end for the Mississauga’s traditional way of life. They had been
an important military ally, with a warrior tradition still remembered today. The British had needed them, but
feared their military potential. Thus, the British went through the formalities of treaties and purchases. In the
1780s, the British Crown bought almost all of southern Ontario from the Mississauga in a series of
purchases. They thus secured the Toronto Carrying Place, the canoe portage from Lake Ontario to
Georgian Bay. In 1787 the British conducted the Toronto Purchase at another Carrying Place. They met on
the Bay of Quinte. The Mississauga sold the British over 100,000 hectares (250,880 acres) -- stretching
from the mouth of the Etobicoke Creek to Scarborough. Northwards the property extended 18 miles. Yet the
terms of this 1787 treaty were so flawed and duplicitous that the British had to renegotiate them.
5
Brown, Alan L., “Toronto’s Historical Plaques”, September 5, 2010,
http://www.torontohistory.org/Pages_VWZ/Withrow_Archaeological_Site.html
6
Jones, Peter (Kahkewaquonaby), History of the Ojebway Indians. (London: A.W. Bennett, 1861), p. 55.
6
On August 1, 1805, the British and Mississauga met again, this time at the mouth of the Credit River. Since
the 1878 treaty 1787 one chief, Neace, had died and a drunken British soldier had murdered another,
Wabukanyne, in York in 1796 (the first murder recorded in Toronto). This time the British paid 1,700£ in
cash and goods for 250,808 acres. Once more they were not dealing honestly with the Mississauga. They
kept important information to themselves, not telling the Mississauga that the 1787 treaty was invalid. They
did not tell the Mississaugas that the proposed 1805 treaty included a lot more land than the 1787 purchase.
Finally, the Mississaugas did not know that the Peninsula (now the Toronto Islands) was part of the
purchase. That would have been a deal breaker. The Mississaugas have firmly and consistently held to their
conviction that they never gave up their rights to the Toronto Islands, to their fishing and hunting grounds,
and their camping places at the mouths of the creeks and rivers. Toronto Island was special because the
Mississaugas held councils there and went there to recuperate from illness. Recently, the Canadian
government settled with the Mississauga paying nearly $145 million -- because of the bad faith bargaining in
the Toronto Purchase.
Nineteenth century historians wrote of the Mississauga in ways that are racist and ethnocentric. Sources,
such as letters, journals and other documents, reflect the biases of men and women invested in the
prejudices of their time. For example, Joseph Bouchette came with Lieutenant Governor Simcoe to Toronto.
Although Simcoe and his Rangers relied on native transportation routes, Bouchette wrote of the area as
“trackless”, psychologically erasing the Mississauga:
I distinctly recollect the untamed aspect which the country exhibited when first I entered the beautiful basin,
which thus became the scene of my early hydrographical operations. Dense and trackless forests lined the
margin of the lake and reflected their inverted images in its glassy surface. The wandering savage had
constructed his ephemeral habitation beneath their luxuriant foliage--the group then consisting of two
families of Mississaugas--and the bay and neighbouring marshes [Ashbridge’s Bay] were the hitherto
7
uninvaded haunts of immense coveys of wild-fowl.
The Mississauga were key in maintaining that unique ecosystem known as “oak savannah” through burning
the long grass. The Europeans often called oak savannah “Indian hunting park”. Oak savannah is an open
oak forest with large areas of grassland and is fire-dependent. It must be burned or the forest will take over
the grassland. The Mississauga regularly set fire to the grass to clear it to make hunting large game,
especially deer. Fire also encouraged certain medicinal herbs to grow. The Anishnaabe had renowned
healers in their Midewin Society. The very land itself is part of their spirituality, passed on through their
elders, and lived daily. For example, the glaciers carried boulders, often from hundreds of kilometers, and
left them behind. These glacial erratics, mostly granite, are easily distinguished from the local limestone and
shale. They held important spiritual value and tobacco was often left as an offering on them. The settlers,
hungry for good stone to build their foundations, broke up these boulders.
The Mississauga were hunter-gatherers, moving their camps to follow the fish or game in a seasonal
rotation. In the spring they moved to the mouths of rivers like the Don or streams like Ashbridge’s Creek or
Hasting’s Creek where they could take advantage of the spawning of fish. In March they tapped sugar
maples for syrup. Women were in charge of the sugar bushes and these were passed down through
families. They planted crops, including corn, bean, and squash (“The Three Sisters”), on the sandy, easilytilled soils, harvesting the crops in the fall. Then, before the first snows, they headed up the trails away from
the lake to winter camps near to cedar swamps where the deer congregated in deer yards.
First Nations had an excellent transportation network of trails, portages and canoe routes. This network
connected the north with the Gulf of Mexico. The Toronto Carrying Place trail went up the course of the
Humber River, over the Oak Ridges Moraine, into the Holland River, from there one could travel across Lake
Simcoe and over portages into other rivers and on to Lake Huron. They also used the Rouge, Credit and
Don Rivers with their portages and trails. Trails crisscrossed all of Ontario. Runners sped between villages,
spreading news. A tradition of long distance running, exemplified by Onondaga Cogwagee (Tom Longboat),
continued for many years. Jimmy Smoke and Fred Simpson of the Alderville First Nation were two of the
7
Bouchette, Joseph, The British Dominions in North America. 1831. (London: H. Colburn and R. Bentley) Vol. I, p.
89.
7
8
best known Mississauga runners. According to historian E.A. Cruikshank documented this trail system as
9
did J.H. Coyne.
A Mississauga trail ran from Burlington to Toronto. The Toronto Carrying Place became Yonge Street,
named after the British Secretary of War. What the settlers in Etobicoke called the “Old Mississauga Road”
became Lakeshore Road. Davenport Road, Indian Road, Pottery Road, parts of Dundas Street, Queen
Street and Broadview Avenue were First Nations’ trails. The Davenport trail ran along the base of the
Iroquois shore cliff. At its eastern end, in the Don Valley, the trail crossed the Don below Todmorden and
climbed out of the valley, turning south east across where Leslieville is today. Asa Danforth built the
Danforth Road on this trail, but the original route of his road is no longer known. The Mississauga had
seasonal camps in Leslieville. One is rumoured to have been near Greenwood Avenue north of Gerrard
Street East. Another was about one half mile east of the Don River which the Mississauga called
Nechequakekon. The Mississauga camped in the Distillery District as well. Another campsite was near
Todmorden Mills. Later residents like the Ashbridges and Martin McKee collected arrowheads, pottery and
other artifacts they found on their land.
Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe, Lt. Governor Simcoe’s wife, kept a diary and described ice fishing: The Indians
have cut holes in the ice, over which they spread a blanket on poles, and they sit under the shed, moving a
wooden fish hung to a line by way of attracting the living fish, which they spear with great dexterity when
10
they approach. A 1792 map shows that Ashbridge’s Bay’s north shore was wooded with scattered ponds
and wetlands. There was a portage and or wigwams at the foot of the Parliament Street trail. A sandy beach
covered the whole south side of the Peninsula that formed the outer edge of Ashbridge’s Bay and the
11
Toronto Islands. Henry Scadding grew up where the Kingston Road crossed the Don River. He wrote:
Across the bay from this landing-place, a little to the eastward, was the narrowest part of the peninsula, a
neck of sand, destitute of trees, known as the portage or carrying-place, where, from time immemorial,
canoes and small boats were wont to be transferred to and from the Lake. Along the bank, above the
landing-place, Indian encampments were occasionally set up. Here in comfortless wigwams we have seen
Dr Lee, a medical man attached to the Indian department, administering from an ordinary tin cup nauseous
12
but salutary draughts to sick and convalescent squaws.
Scadding remembered the Mississauga:
It was natural that the youthful student and observer should acquire an interest in the aborigines of the
country. The Red man then was no unfamiliar object. His wigwams were to be seen here and there at the
proper season on the banks of our rivers and around the shores of our bays, notably those around the Bay
of Toronto, before the inroads of the lake had destroyed its sandy barrier in that portion of it known as
Ashbridge’s Bay. I remember a native family of the name of Kishigo [Kechego] always to be met with at the
proper season in this quarter. Bows and arrows made by the Indians were easily procurable from the
Kishigo’s. The native battle-axe or tomahawk, the war club, flint knives, stone arrow heads, fragments of
Indian earthenware and pipes, sometimes the latter in curious combination with the tomahawk, the tube from
the bow passing through the handle. Also from the Kishigo’s, the meaning of many native words and
phrases was gathered by direct questioning, or by listening to their talk one with another: in this way all,
13
even youngsters among us, came to understand well such words as wigwam, papoose, wampum, moose.
The Boultons were other earlier settlers on Ashbridge's Bay. D’Arcy Boulton wrote:
8
Cruikshank, E.A., “Early Traders and Trade Routes in Ontario and the West, 1760-83” in Transactions of the
Canadian Institute, Series 4, Vol. III, part 2, pp. 256-7.
9
Coyne, James Henry, “The Country of the Neutrals” in Historical Sketches of the County of Elgin. (St. Thomas:
Times Print., 1895), pp. 20-21.
10
D.R. Poulton & Associates Inc., The 2003 Stage 1 Archaeological Assessment of the Proposed Portlands Energy
Centre, Portlands Industrial District, City of Toronto, Ontario. (London, ON, 2003), pp. 3-4.
11
Aiken, Alexander and Joseph Bouchette, Plan of Toronto Harbour with the Rocks, Shoals & Soundings, etc., 1793.
12
Scadding, Henry, Toronto of Old. Ed., Frederick H. Armstrong. (Toronto & Oxford: Dundurn Press, 1987), pp. 6-7.
13
Scadding, Henry,The Log shanty book-shelf for 1898, the pioneer’s predecessor, the red man of North and South
America works on his origin, history, habits and language. (Toronto: s.n., 1898), p. 3.
8
The river Don empties into the harbour a little above the town, running through a marsh, which, when
drained, will afford most beautiful and valuable meadows. This has already been affected in a small degree,
and will no doubt be extended; the difficulty is not very great, and from the contiguity of the marsh to the
town the expense, though heavy, may be supplied. The long beach or peninsula affords a most delightful
walk or ride, and is considered as so healthy by the Indians, that they frequently resort to it when
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indisposed.
As the settlers cleared the land, large game disappeared. The Mississauga had to change from hunting
deer, elk and bear to hunting rabbits, raccoons, squirrels and other small game, harder and harder work for
less dietary return. Mississaugas bought fish and game for sale to the market at York, along with baskets
and other handicrafts. After the War of 1812 the Mississaugas were no longer important militarily to the
British and were now expendable. A series of Indian agents, including Samuel Jarvis, diverted treaty money
to their own pockets. Squatters pushed the Mississauga off their land, violating their hunting and fishing
rights, and depriving them of a place to live. When William Claus met with the Credit River Mississauga in
15
1818, he found them in desperate straits. They were “outcasts in their own land.” By the 1830s settlers
outnumbered Mississaugas by more than 100 to one. Their traditional economy was no longer viable but
neither was there enough land on the 200-acre Port Credit reserve to allow them to farm. Demoralized,
starving, infected by diseases like tuberculosis, their numbers plummeted. Yet, they found hope in a new
religion. A Great Revival swept North America, drawing in the poor and dispossessed. In 1830 many
Mississauga converted to Methodism, repudiating alcohol completely. They adopted European clothes,
customs and religion, but still maintained a distinct identity and continued to fight for their treaty rights. In
1840 Chiefs Joseph Sawyer and John Jones called a council meeting to discuss leaving the Credit River. By
this time, there were only 250 Mississaugas left there. In 1847 they left the the Credit and moved to the
Brantford area where the Six Nations Confederacy gave them 4,800 acres. Later on the Six Nations gave
more land in Oneida Township. The Mississauga purchased an additional 6,000 acres to make today’s New
Credit Reserve, near Hagersville. There are about 1,500 Mississauga living on the New Credit Reserve.
As they decimated native people, the settlers and their descendants began to create a romanticized fictional
Indian. This tamed Indian was conveniently absent in the land of long-ago, and safe. An example is Henry
Longfellow’s Hiawatha after which Hiawatha Road was named. Indian relics and curios became popular
tourist items. Native healing remedies were popular throughout the nineteenth century as they were often
more efficacious than the nostrums of the Euro-Canadian doctors. But this is not where native culture
resides or where memory has a home. Before John Graves Simcoe hoisted the flag at Fort York or George
Leslie stepped off the boat from Scotland, there were many rich cultures that named this place their home.
Ten thousand years of human history has not been lost. Today Leslieville is home to many native people
from across Canada.
Globe, January 21, 1851
14
Boulton, D’Arcy. Sketch of His Majesty’s Province of Upper Canada. (London: C. Rickaby, printer, 1805), p. 46.
Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation: Past and Present. (Hagersville: Mississaugas of the New Credit First
Nation, 1997), p. 4.
15
9
10
11
12
Waves and offshore currents carried sand westward from the Scarborough Bluffs. Waves, driven by onshore
winds, deposited the sand in a baymouth bar that ran from Woodbine Avenue to Gibraltar Point. The settlers
called this sandbar “the Peninsula”. It was a route to the Toronto Islands. John Collins, in 1788, wrote of this
sandbank: ...near two miles in length from the entrance to the isthmus between it and a large morass to the
16
eastward. A backshore lagoon, called “Ashbridge’s Bay”, lay between the sand bank and the higher
ground north of Ashbridge’s Bay. A marsh, in the Bay’s west end, was a maze of channels connecting ponds
with larger areas of open water. Millions of migratory wildfowl fed here. Water lilies, arrowhead, grasses and
duck weed grew in the sloughs between the dunes. The marsh and bay, ridges and troughs, constantly
changed with wind and water. Nutrients from the Don created habitat for frogs, turtles, salamanders, fish,
birds and mammals, such as muskrat. Bouchette described it as he first saw it in 1792:
The formation of the peninsula itself is extraordinary, being a narrow slip of land, in several places not more
than sixty yards in width, but widening towards its extremity to nearly a mile. It is principally a bank of sand,
slightly overgrown with grass. The widest part is very curiously intersected by many large ponds that are the
continual resorts of large quantities of wild fowl. A few trees scattered upon it greatly increases the
singularity of its appearance: it lies so low that the wide expanse of Lake Ontario is seen over it. … The
eastern part of the harbor is bounded by an extensive marsh, through which the River Don runs before it
17
discharges itself into the basin.
In 1833 Richard Henry Bonnycastle on his map stated:…this shore is a marshy meadow with deep runs of
water…this sandy ridge extends for three miles and the space between it and the bank is a deep swamp, full
of intricate channels and extensive ponds through which the Don finds an outlet by a breach in the sands at
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the N.E. corner. Scadding wrote: Southward in all the distance was a great stretch of marsh with the blue
lake along the horizon. In the summer this marsh was one vast jungle of tall flags and reeds, where would
be found the conical huts of the muskrat, and where would be heard at certain seasons the peculiar gulp of
19
20
the Bittern. The settlers used the marsh for hay. However, the wetland also grew mosquitoes. Soldiers
had served in India and other tropical outposts of Britain. When mosquitoes bit them, the insects picked up
the parasite and passed tertiary malaria on. People blamed Ashbridge’s Bay though they did not understand
the role mosquitoes played. The settlers believed that “bad air” (“mal aria”) rising off rotting vegetation
caused ague, lake fever, canal fever or, simply, malaria. In 1801, John Bennett wrote:
I am just recovering from a severe fit of fever and ague which confined me to bed for ten days past -nobody can escape it who pretends to live here. Mr. McLean, Clerk of the Assembly who will deliver you
this, has also been extremely ill with [it] and in some families one person is not able to assist another; there
is a marsh about 1/2 mile from where I live from which a thick fog arises every morning -- people attribute it
in great measure to that and to the low and uncultivated state of the country. I have been delirious almost
every day, but by taking of bark every two hours according to Dr. McCaulay’s prescription I have missed the
21
ague these two days past -- I hope in God I shall have no more of it, it sets me quite crazy.
1819 was a particularly bad year for malaria: …in the summer of 1819, when a degree and a continuance of
warmth was experienced, greater than had been known for the preceding twenty years; and when, amidst
the universal sickliness which prevailed in both provinces, that of the western district of the Upper Province,
seemed somewhat to preponderate.
The fact that increased sickliness arises in very hot and dry seasons, may seem here to demand
22
explanation; for it is the action of heat upon moisture which depraves the air.
16
Quoted in W.J. Fuller, “Toronto Harbour” in The Canadian Engineer, January 19, 1909.
Bouchette, British Dominions, 89.
18
Bonnycastle, Richard Henry, No. 1 Plan of the Town and Harbour of York Upper Canada and also of the Military
Reserve. 1833.
19
Scadding, Toronto of Old, 220.
20
Globe, January 8, 1918.
21
Connor, James Thomas Hamilton, Doing Good: The Life of Toronto’s General Hospital. (Toronto: University of
Toronto Press, 2000), p. 70;
Bonis, Robert R., A History of Scarborough (Scarborough: Scarborough Public Library, 1968), p. 115.
22
Stuart, Charles, The emigrant’s guide to Upper Canada. (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green,
1820), p. 330.
17
13
14
Around 1819, Edward Allen Talbot visited York and noted: The situation of the town is very unhealthy; for it
stands on a piece of low marshy land, which is better calculated for a frog-pond or beaver-meadow than for
23
the residence of a human being. Yet Ashbridge's Bay was full of fish. They fed on the insect larvae.
Scadding recalled:
…skiffs and canoes, log and birchbark, were to be seen putting in, weighed heavily down with fish, speared
or otherwise taken during the preceding night in the Lake, bay, or neighbouring river. Occasionally a huge
sturgeon would be landed, one struggle of which might suffice to upset a small boat. Here were to be
purchased in quantities salmon, pickerel, masquelonge, whitefish and herrings, with the smaller fry of perch,
24
bass, and sunfish. Here too would be displayed unsightly catfish, suckers, lampreys, and other eels….
Bouchette, wrote in 1831:
[The] Credit, Etobicoke, Humber, and Don rivers, flowing into Lake Ontario, are the most worthy of particular
mention. They in general abound with excellent fish, and especially salmon, great quantities of which are
annually speared in the river Credit for the supply of the western country. Besides these rivers, a great
25
number of “creeks” of considerable importance discharge their streams into the lake…
At first the Mississauga dominated the fishery, selling their catch at the lakeshore near the St. Lawrence
Market. Soon others, mostly Irish, began a commercial fishery. Offshore, the lake bed steeply drops off at
the shore cliff of ancient Lake Admiralty. This is known as “the Toronto Scarp”. This drowned lakeshore
runs parallel to the Beach and the Toronto Islands. Steep drop-offs with upwelling currents carrying food
attract shoals of fish. In 1833 Bonnycastle’s map showed the Peninsula: “White and herring fishery
26
established along this shore.” Fishermen’s families lived on the sandbar. Part of it became known as
“Fisherman’s Island”. In Leslieville the fishermen or “water rats” clustered south of Kingston Road on Laing
Street and Lake Street (now Knox). According to J. McPherson Ross:
Quite a colony of fishermen lived nearby, among whom we remember the names of Doherty, Laings, Marsh,
Goodwin, Crothers and others who, if not fishermen, were duck-hunters or trappers. Or they also enjoyed
the boating, fishing, and bathing privileges which were here in all their primeval abundance and purity of
27
nature becoming soiled and destroyed by the sewage and filth of the encroaching city.
Ernest Thompson Seton recalled Catfish Joe Lang who acutally lived on an island in Catfish Pond:
Catfish Joe’s island…was some 3 or 4 feet above high-water level, and was the home of the wild recluse
called Catfish Joe. He did some shooting but was more of a fisherman; and always in case of shortage he
could drop a line in the right place to land a mess of catfish. He had a few hens on this island. A friend of his
from the old country was visiting him once, and intended to stay a couple of days; but was soon nauseated
by the bill of fare. Everything smelled and tasted of fish. Finally Old Joe, noticing his unrelish, said, “How
would you like a couple of aigs?’ “sure thing,” said his friend, delighted at the chance to get a change from
the fish taste. But, alas, when the eggs were served, they were the eggs of hens that were fed chiefly on fish
28
scraps, and those eggs were just as strong as rank old catfish could make them.
The Canadian Naturalist in 1881 described the marsh:
In 1842, many of the large Canadian marshes were teeming with geese, duck, snipe and plover indigenous
to the country. Toronto marsh was then a good shooting ground, and many birds which regularly visited it at
that time are considered of rare occurrence to-day. A large Black Bass … then had its habitat in Ashbridge’s
29
Bay, and many a fine 20 lb. fish of this species did Joe Lang spear in its surrounding marshes.
Settlers fished from boats at night on Ashbridge's Bay:
23
Talbot, E. A., Five Years’ Residence in the Canadas. (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green,
1824). Vol. I, pp. 100-2.
24
Scadding, Toronto of Old, 6-7.
25
Bouchette, 84.
26
Bonnycastle, Plan of the Town, 1833.
27
Globe, January 8, 1918.
28
Seton, Julia M., By A Thousand Fires. (New York: Doubleday & Company , Inc., 1967), pp. 62-63.
29
“Why Are Game Animals Becoming Scarce?” in The Canadian Sportsman and Naturalist, August 15, 1881, p. 121.
15
Peculiarly weird and picturesque would be scenes in the marsh before the spring growth had started, when
parties would go spearing pike. Generally always two, one had to paddle, while the spearer would stand in
the bow. An iron contrivance called a “jack,” filled with several pine knots in full blaze, was fastened in front
of the boat, and threw a lurid flame on the dark waters below, revealing a gliding pike, attracted by the light
and coming to his speedy death, for the skillful spearer impaled in on his barbed spear. On dark nights in
early spring it was a common sight to see a dozen or more parties, with the jacklights flitting slowly over the
30
marsh, like so many will-o-wisps luring the fish to their doom.
The Don River and the creeks had abundant salmon, but the last wild Atlantic salmon in Ontario was
recorded in 1896. Although the salmon were gone, there were other fish. Pike were the principal catch, but
other warm water fish like catfish, sunfish, perch and bass were also caught.. In the 1880s, there was a
large ice house near Leslie Street and Eastern Avenue. The pilings provided excellent spots to fish. In the
winter they fished through the ice Right up until the 1890s, sports fishermen preferred the sheltered waters
of Ashbridge's Bay to the open lake. Commercial fishing was an important industry in the Bay almost up to
the time the Toronto Harbor Commission buried this body of water under landfill. As the Bay became more
polluted apparently the fish stories grew more outrageous. In 1893, a newspaper warned: Apart from the
moral influence of fish stories from Ashbridge's Bay they will be detrimental to those who promote
31
reclamation schemes on sanitary grounds. Great fish do not shoal in polluted waters.
Residents turned to Ashbridge's Bay for sports and recreation. On Saturday commercial fishermen washed
down their boats and gear. On Sunday afternoon they took their families out in their little fishing schooners
for a cruise on the Lake. People sang as they sailed over Ashbridge’s Bay; the tunes could be heard on
shore. In winter people skated and sailed iceboats. Boys played shinny with sticks they made themselves
out of a curved piece of wood. Instead of a puck, they used a ball of frozen horse manure (a “horse
puckey”). Men laid out racetracks on the ice and crowds attended these horse races. Vendors sold hot food
from little wooden shacks. Whiskey and beer, cheap and strong, flowed freely – at a price.
Rowing was popular. Some Leslieville men became star athletes much as hockey or baseball players are
today. Toronto Island’s Ned Hanlan is better known, but Leslieville’s Hugh Wise, Isaac Price and John
Russell, and brothers, Robert and Harry Dibble, were rowing celebrities as well. On Sunday afternoons
dozens of rowing sculls dotted Toronto Harbour and Ashbridge's Bay. Leslieville had the Leslieville Rowing
Club. Leslieville’s brickmakers and icemen competed against each other in an annual race. In 1894 icemen
Samuel Greenwood and Leonard Marsh defeated the brickmakers, championed by J. Grady and Sam
Heale. In 1912 the Don Rowing Club moved to Leslieville, building a club house at the south end of Morley
Road. Rowing clubs used rowing skiffs (a one-person boat) and clinchers (a clinker-built boat) built by
William Laing and other local boat builders. (Laing’s boathouse was at the foot of Laing Street south of
Eastern Avenue.) Other boats were designed specifically for hunting.
30
31
Globe, January 8, 1918.
Globe, August 1, 1893.
16
17
Hunting was both a sport and a business. Ducks and geese used the marsh as a staging area during spring
and fall migration. Professional gunners shot geese, ducks and shorebirds for sale at the market. Both
market gunners and sportsmen shot prodigious numbers of birds. In 1882 one man shot 33 ducks on
Ashbridge's Bay in about three hours. Hunters used dogs, wooden decoys (now collectors’ items) and blinds
as well as punts specially rigged for extra-large shotguns. Even songbirds were not safe. Gunners shot
swallows off the telegraph wires for sale at the St. Lawrence Market. Even naturalists shot birds.
Birdwatchers built up collections of skins and, if they could afford it, stuffed specimens. In 1881 Ernest
Thompson Seton, famous naturalist, reported:
Dec. 3. I went collecting with J. McPherson Ross, superintendent of Leslie’s Nurseries, an old art school
friend of mine, who is still living in Toronto. We collected some Tree Sparrows. Later, I went to Lang’s
cottage on the shore, borrowed his telescope and studied the sandy bar on Ward’s Island. There were
several hundred Gulls, a few of them Saddlebacks [Greater Black-backed Gulls], and, sitting on the ice, a
32
very large bird which turned out to be a fine Golden Eagle.
Seton shot the eagle. Local people also trapped muskrat in Ashbridge’s Marsh. Muskrat-lined coats with
beaver collars were prized.
The settlers cut and sold ice for sale in Toronto. Ice was used in ice boxes to refrigerate food in summer.
Later men who had escaped slavery cut ice the the Cary (or Carey) Brothers. George, Isaac, John and
Thomas Cary came from Virginia to Toronto in the 1830s where they opened several barber shops. (In 1856
Thomas Cary married Mary Ann Shadd, the publisher of the Provincial Freeman.) Their workers were
probably the nucleus for Leslieville’s early black community. In 1854, Thomas Cary and Richard B. Richards
opened four ice houses. Some came from springs; some from Ashbridge’s Bay:
Ice! Ice!! Ice!!! The Undersigned begs to return hisbest thanks to his customers, for the liberal patronage he
has received for the last nine years, and to announce that he has enlarged and added to the number of his
Ice Houses, having now four which are filled with pure and wholesome Spring Water Ice, from Yorkville. He
is prepared to supply the same to consumers, by contract or otherwise, during the season, commencing
st
from the 1 of June next. The Ice will be conveyed by waggon daily, to places within six miles of Toronto. All
orders sent to Thomas F. Cary, hairdresser, Front Street, two doors from Church Street, will be punctually
33
attended to. R.B. Richards, Toronto April 19, 1854.
Cutting ice was important seasonal employment. The ice harvest began in January when the ice was thick
enough. The ice companies shipped it by rail car even to the U.S. Ice houses had to be near railways: Work
went on night and day when the markets were most favourable and signs of an approaching thaw made
their appearance. … As much as $1,200 to $1,500 profit were made off ponds an acre or two in extent.
Every available railway car was brought into service for the conveyance of ice, and yet a sufficient number
34
were not to be had to meet the demand. Men sawed the ice into blocks and packed it in sawdust in ice
houses that lined Ashbridge's Bay.
When the ice got to be six to eight inches, then the icemen appeared and several parties would commence
the winter harvest. Great ice-houses in those days lined the bay at convenient spots for floating in the crystal
blocks. This continued for several weeks, and was a busy time while it lasted. They generally saved all that
the modest city required in those days, and it was not till the mild winter of 1880-81 that efforts were made to
secure ice, outside, from Lake Simcoe, for the usual supply. Ice was cut, though, for many years afterwards
till it was finally stopped by the city officials as being unfit for use. Up till then crowds of men and teams were
35
kept busy in the operations of the ice harvest by the different companies engaged in that business.
Ice cutting was profitable, but low paying dangerous work. Men and horses drowned when they fell through
the ice. Icemen lost their way in white-outs, to die of hypothermia. Woodbine Ice Company’s owner William
Booth nearly drowned while out on the ice on a a Sunday. Some likely thought he was being taught a lesson
for working on the Sabbath.
32
Seton, 62-63.
Globe, August 27, 1855.
34
Globe, February 4, 1882.
35
Globe, January 8, 1918.
33
18
Ashbridge's Bay steadily became more polluted with sewage and run-off from Gooderhams cow byres.
Ashbridge's Bay was very polluted by the 1880s. The worst ice was used for refrigeration while cleaner ice
was used for drinks and to make ice cream. Dirty ice helped cause the typhoid epidemics that ravaged
Toronto. In 1882 an observer commented that: It would seem as though many of the persons who have
contracted for the principal ice-houses in the city have determined to take their material from the very foulest
36
places…the concentrated essence of nastiness…” The icemen denied that their ice was impure even
though it was often brown or yellow and smelled as foul as it looked. Around 1900 new ice houses were still
being built while concern mounted.
There was danger both in the water on the waters. The sandbars constantly shifted. What were safe
shallows one day could be deep holes the next. Unpredictable currents, undertows and winds riffled the
surface one moment, and blew up whitecaps the next. Children, youths and adults drowned in Ashbridge’s
Bay. Poor judgment added to the danger. In the autumn of 1894 three men started out in a boat for the foot
of Booth Avenue to go hunting. Their boat ran aground on a shoal and overturned, tossing the men into the
frigid water. One swam to shore, but the other two, dragged down by their heavy woolen clothing sank to the
bottom. Rescuers from Leslieville arrived too late and could only recover the bodies. In 1924 four children
drowned in McNamee’s Cut at the west end of Ashbridge's Bay. Some teenagers were ferrying a crowd of
about 20 children on a make-shift raft through the cut near the foot of Cherry Street into Ashbridge's Bay.
The children were going to Fisherman’s Island for swimming. They overloaded the 10 foot by six foot raft.
When it began to rock, the children all rushed to one side. The raft tipped over, throwing them into the Bay.
Even if you did not drown in the Bay, you could die from being in it. Everyone agreed that dirty, dangerous
Ashbridge's Bay needed improving. John McPherson Ross described it:
Ashbridge Bay…was a beautiful sheet of water when I first saw it in the summer of 1863, and was clean and
good enough to drink, abounding in fish, and was the haunt of numerous wild fowl all summer. In the
stormy, rainy fall, it was alive with wild ducks of all kinds that came to rest on their southern flight and to feed
on plentiful masses of wild rice that grew in numerous patches. The marsh covered the shallow waters of the
eastern part of the bay at the commencement of the sand bar by the foot of Woodbine avenue, as this
roadway is now called. When the racetrack of that name was first built the marsh growth ended where the
deep water started, and began again intermittently a little west of Leslie street. It was quite a fine sheet of
37
water, and at the time of speaking the lake had made a cut at about the size of the present entrance.
The problems started before Ross first saw the Bay. Sandford Fleming, speaking of Toronto Harbour in
1854, said: All the drains and sewers empty into the [Toronto] Bay, making it, in truth, the grand cesspool for
38
a population of 30,000 inhabitants with their horses and cattle.
Fleming proposed diverting the Don
39
directly into Ashbridge’s Bay, making it “an effective conduit for the sewage of the city.” Engineers tried to
solve the twin problems of sewage disposal and obtaining clean drinking water without treating the sewage.
In 1857, Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) formulated the “germ theory”. The fact that bacteria cause infectious
40
diseases is one of the foundations of modern medicine. Toronto did not accept if for almost 50 years. Even
doctors clung to the “miasma theory” that damp air caused disease. However, by the 1880s there was
growing concern over pollution from Gooderham’s barns at the mouth of the Don. Gooderham and Worts
distillery pumped mash, left over from whiskey making, in a pipe across the Don and fed it to thousands of
cattle penned in barns. Neighbours complained of the stench. Raw manure as well as offal also poured into
the Don from a slaughterhouse and from William Davies’ pork packing plant. A soap factory and a tannery
added to the foul soup that was the lower Don River. However, the main source was Gooderham and Worts.
Liquid manure ran off into Brown’s Pond, Ashbridge’s Bay, forming pools of stinking semi-solid waste that
crusted over so that men could and did walk upon. Falling through and drowning in the foulness was a
constant risk. The distillery planted rows of trees, Gooderham’s Grove, to hide the sight, from passerbys on
Kingston Road.
36
Toronto Daily Mail, December 12, 1882.
Globe, January 8, 1918.
38
Fuller, “Toronto Harbour”, The Canadian Engineer, Jan. 29, 1909.
39
Globe, August 16, 1882.
40
The History of Gardening: A Timeline, The Nineteenth Century 1800-1899
http://www.gardendigest.com/timel19.htm
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19
20
In 1882 Henry Sproatt, City Engineer, Emerson Coatsworth, City Commissioner, and William Caniff,
Toronto’s first Medical Officer of Health, signed a statement: The present putrid state of the banks of the
Don and the bordering marsh, due to years of accumulated organic filth, is doubtless the cause of much of
41
the foul odours which prevail in summer, and is certainly dangerous to the health of the community.
Leslieville held public meetings to discuss the “Cattle Byre nuisance”. John McLatchie, blacksmith and a
Orangeman, chaired. William Laing, fisherman and boat builder, protested that then pollution was driving
him out of business (and perhaps out of his mind as he eventually was jailed for insanity). Martin McKee and
other ice house owners agreed that something had to be done. Leslieville family physician, Dr. Kennedy,
42
stated that he had recently witnessed over 400 dead pike in Ashbridge’s Bay. John Jones (later Street
Commissioner) and the others strenuously lobbied City Council to save Ashbridge's Bay. A Committee of
Dr. Kennedy, George Leslie, Sr., J.P., J. Phillips, John McLatchie, Martin McKee, John Jones, Alfred
Medcalf, David Hunter, William Laing, Henry Calendar and John Knox Leslie formed. Dr. Kennedy argued
that there were not two laws – one for the rich and one for the poor. The Gooderhams should not be above
43
the law. Toronto City Council dithered, not wanting to offend the Gooderhams.
Gooderham and Worts resisted, pulling every string, bullying, threatening and prevaricating. They claimed
that “very little refuse matter flows into the marsh”. George Gooderham was rich, influential and virtually
44
untouchable. In a 1883 the City Committee on Markets and Health agreed that the byres should not be
allowed to dump manure any more. George Gooderham addressed the meeting, arguing that the problem
was not just his byres – others contributed to it too, probably more than his byres. He was not as bad as
some others, he suggested. He also baldly threatened. If his byres were forced out, then the distillery would
go too, Gooderham warned. Many jobs would be lost and along with the tax money the Gooderham complex
45
paid to the City of Toronto. The Committee of Markets and Health visited the cow byres and east end
factories, including the Morse soap factory and Davies pork packing plant. Given that the polluters were
warned in advance, it is not surprising that everything was clean. However, the drainage of blood, offal and
46
manure into the Don was a problem so obvious that it could not be totally ignored. The distiller tried to
deflect criticism by shipping some of the waste from the cattle away: Gooderham & Worts are shipping one
47
hundred car loads of manure from the byres to their Oakville farm.
By the 1890s many wanted the Bay filled in. The City wanted to fill it with garbage. The medical experts
were divided. Some doctors still believed that miasmas caused disease, not invisible microbes. Those
doctors supported dumping waste into Ashbridge's Bay to fill it in. Others, more up-to-date, feared dumping
garbage into a wetland. Typhoid was epidemic around the Great Lakes and Leslieville people were dying.
Although not scientists, the “water rats” of Ashbridge's Bay made the connection between bad drinking
48
water, typhoid and the health of the Bay. They fought for years against those who polluted the Bay.
Politicians refused to accept the germ theory. Prominent businessmen had a vested interest in dumping
waste. By the 1890s, many concluded that the Bay could not be saved and that the best thing to do would
be to fill it in. John Knox Leslie said that the north shore of Ashbridge’s Bay was “a mass of filth”. It stank. A
local resident told City Council: “That’s where the microbes breed” and Alderman John Hallam replied,
49
“Microbes? fiddlesticks.” City Commissioner Coatsworth developed a plan in 1889 to “improve” Ashbridge's
Bay by filling it in: The scheme comprises sanitary and commercial improvement. It proposes to reclaim from
three hundred to five hundred acres of land which are now covered with shallow water that ripples idly in the
50
sunshine, with perhaps an occasional iridescent tint of sewage upon its playful surface.
41
Toronto Daily Mail, December 5, 1882.
Globe, May 8, 1883.
43
Toronto Daily Mail, October 30, 1883.
44
Globe, May 17, 1883.
45
Toronto Daily Mail, November 14, 1883.
46
Toronto Daily Mail, November 19, 1883.
47
Toronto Star, January 18, 1894.
48
Toronto Star, August 3, 1894.
49
Toronto Star, August 3, 1894.
50
Toronto Daily Mail, July 17, 1889.
42
21
22
23
The experts were divided on whether the City’s garbage should be dumped or burned in a “crematorium”
(incinerator). Dr. McDonald stated: I cannot understand those who say that such a large mass of decaying
51
organic matter would not be a menace to health. It must create the germs of disease. Virtually everything
went into Ashbridge’s Bay. In 1903 garbage men even dumped disease-ridden mattresses from the Isolation
Hospital (at Broadview and Gerrard) into the water. The City threatened to fire the garbage men for “whistle52
blowing”. The Bay was polluted, but so were the ground water and the streams running into the Bay.
Water-borne diseases started killing even the young and strong:
Funeral for William Greenwood who died November 12, 1882 of typhoid fever. The funeral procession went
from the home of his mother Katherine (Kate) on Kingston Road to St. John’s Anglican Church (Norway).
He was a new A.F. and A.M. member and the Masons turned out in full regalia. “The deceased was a
young man of great promise and his funeral was attended by a large concourse of sorrowing relatives and
53
friends.”
Mrs. Anderson, wife of Robert Anderson, of Pape avenue, died this morning. Deceased had been sick about
ten days, but her friends had no idea that her illness was so serious. …A large number of people in the East
End have been taken ill during the last two or three days. The cause is attributed to the bad condition of the
54
water.
Toronto responded to the typhoid epidemic by building water filtration plants, using alum (aluminum) and
chlorine to treat the water, after much grumbling about the cost. Everyone agreed that the Bay was a
problem to be solved, preferably without drawing too much on the local taxpayer. Some wanted the City,
Province or Federal Government to take charge of filling in the Bay, a massive and expensive job.
From the late 1880s engineers formulated plans to create a new Toronto waterfront, but the Province of
55
Ontario had claim on any land created there through land fill. Despite this, Commissioner John Jones
reclaimed from five to ten acres a year on the north shore of Ashbridge's Bay. Streetcars hauled ashes and
other refuse along Queen Street East, turned south at Logan Avenue and from there went into Ashbridge's
56
Bay on a light rail line. This gained some sites for industry, but grander plans stalled due to the expense of
57
a sand pump and the lack of clear title to the land.
These smaller land fill operations extended the shore at the foot of Leslie and west towards Carlaw Avenue.
This was occupied by a number of factories, including paint factories. They dumped waste into the storm
sewer system and Bay. Canada Paint, Leslie Street, sat on landfill just south of Eastern Avenue. It was a
major employer as well as polluter from the early 1890s on. Toxic chemicals, including lead, cobalt,
cadmium, arsenic and cyanide, contaminated the water. Before long the lower reaches of Hastings Creek
and Leslie Creek were buried underground in combined sewers that also carried human waste. The coves
were now pools of stagnant muck, covering the boats moored there with slime. The Gut, once so good for
58
fishing, was now “an open cesspool”. The heavy industry around Morse and Carlaw also dumped coal tar,
oil and other contaminants into the sewer. Major employers had power; the Bay was expendable: The
Canada Paint Company will commence the manufacture of paris green [arsenic based paint] for the coming
59
season next week. A large number of men are at the company’s office almost daily looking for work.
Filling in Ashbridge’s Bay offered a solution to a number of challenges facing Toronto: what do we do with
Toronto’s garbage? How can we find more unoccupied level land near to the waterfront for industry? How
can we get rid of the pollution in Ashbridge’s Bay? By 1911 Ashbridge’s’ Bay was thought to be beyond
redemption, conveniently for those wishing for industrial sites. At that time, Toronto’s port was busier than
ever and looking for a place to expand. The question of control of and title to any new lands was settled by
the Government of Canada, which, by an Act of Parliament, incorporated the Toronto Harbor Commission
51
Toronto Star, October 18, 1898.
Toronto Star, March 2, 1903.
53
Toronto Daily Mail, November 15, 1882.
54
Toronto Star, December 7, 1894.
55
Toronto Star, October 18, 1894.
56
Toronto Star, November 5, 1894.
57
Toronto Star, February 7, 1895.
58
Toronto Daily Mail, March 23, 1903.
59
Toronto Star, March 12, 1894.
52
24
(THC) in 1911. The Toronto Harbor Commission had the powers to expropriate, administer the waterfront
and raise money through the sale of bonds. Now the re-making of Toronto’s waterfront was possible. The
Harbor Commission improved the harbour and created a new industrial district as well as new parks. The
60
THC began work in February, 1912, and approved final plans in September, 1913.
They filled in
Ashbridge’s Bay to create an industrial area known as the Eastern Harbor Terminals (known now as “The
Portlands”). The Eastern Harbor Terminals was devoted to heavy and light manufacturing, containing 644
acres of factory sites, 233 acres of streets and railroad reservations and 130 acres of waterways. The
Harbor Commission built a ship channel, turning basin and circulating channel, as well as retaining walls,
many engineered and built by John E. Russell, of Leslieville’s Russell brickmaking family. They also
constructed a new harbour head line across the entire front of the inner harbour, 1,200 feet south of the
shore line, using landfill. They deepened the harbour to 24 feet. They reclaimed 900 acres of park lands east
61
and west along the lake front and on Toronto Island. In the process they killed Ashbridge's Bay.
During World War One the Toronto Harbor Commissioners put themselves at the disposal of the Munitions
Board. In 1917 the Munitions Board built a $3 million plant on the Eastern Harbor Temrinals. It occupied 60
acres of the reclaimed marsh. The Harbour Commission was in charge of the work, building electrical and
62
forging facilities. Dockings and rail lines were built near Cherry Street to accommodate the plant.
An
electrically-operated bascule bridge built at that time still spans the Keating Channel at Cherry Street and is
the main route by car or truck to the Portlands. In 1923 the THC completed landfill operations. In 1925
Lakeshore Boulevard East was built.
What little was left of Ashbridge's Bay was hardly fit for man or beast. It certainly was not fit for rowing. In
1913 the Don Rowing clubhouse burned down. They rebuilt, but when the City built the Morley
AvenueSewage Treatment Plant near their clubhouse, the situation became untenable. Raw sewage from
the ineffective plant spilled, turning what was left of Ashbridge's Bay into an reeking sewage lagoon. In 1921,
the Don Rowing Club asked the THC to provide a new place for their clubhouse. It did not happen. By 1924,
to the consternation of local residents and the rowers, the Dons, the THC’s landfill operations began
gobbling up Woodbine Beach. In 1927 Beach residents were concerned that the Harbor Commission would
develop the beach even east of Woodbine Avenue. They wanted the beaches placed in the hands of the
Parks Committee for more parkland. The residents would clearly fight any attempt to industrialize the Beach.
(Plans to run a major rail corridor through the Beach came to an end.) By that point, Ashbridge’s Bay was
thick with sewage. The Dons were so nauseated that they threw up while rowing, their oars digging deep
into human excrement. The water was now so shallow that deep holes were only now inches deep. In 1932
their rebuilt clubhouse again went up in flames. Bob Dibble, local businessman and war hero, applied for
land on behalf of the Dons near Coatsworth Cut, but this fell through. The Don Rowing Club disgusted, left
for cleaner pastures, never to return.
In the 1950s there was again public concern about the waterfront. People worried about the disappearing
public beaches, the loss of natural beauty and the fouling of picnic areas with waste. Raw sewage was
spilling out of the overtaxed sewer system, and going into the lake and harbour. There were calls for a new
Ashbridge’s Bay sewage treatment plant. In 1952 the City filled in more of Ashbridge’a Bay to build the Main
Sewage Treatment Plant.
In 1955 the Leslie Street Spit or “East Headland” was begun as a place to dump. From 1958 to 1974,
2,842,000 dump trucks loaded with clean fill dumped at the Spit. In 1964 a boater’s lobby pushed the City to
build a new harbour for marinas between Coxwell Avenue and Leslie Street using landfill. In 1969 the East
Headland or Spit was considered finished. It was not. Meant to be 1.6 miles long, it kept growing and
growing – and then grew some more. Everyone had a different idea of what this dump site could become.
Developers wanted to make the Leslie Street Spit a major port. Tommy Thompson, Park Commissioner,
and others fought to make the Spit a good place for nature and recreation. In 1970 Mayor Crombie set up a
task force to recover industrial jobs that had fled the city for the suburbs. The Crombie Plan called for bike
paths, waterfront vistas, parks and services to revitalize the waterfront. The Plan called for the creation of a
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Metropolitan Board of Trade, To the delegates of the Ninth Congress Chambers of Commerce of the British Empire,
Toronto, September 18-22, 1920. (Toronto: Metropolitan Board of Trade), p. 260.
61
Poulton, 3-4.
62
Globe, January 17, 1917.
25
472 acre industrial park on the former Ashbridge’s Marsh. Most of the land was owned by oil companies
and some of it was very contaminated, land called “brownfields”.
In 1972 the Metro Waterfront Advisory Board adopted a plan to add 22 acres of parkland and 600 feet of
beach to Ashbridge’s Bay and Woodbine Beach. Public mooring and launching facilities were added along
with a new site for the Ashbridge’s Bay Yacht Club. The Beach board walk was extended from Woodbine
Beach to the new park at Ashbridge’s Bay. 1,200 feet of protected sand beach were added in the new
landfill area (now the site of beach volleyball tournaments). In 1999 the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization
Corporation was established. The Toronto Port Authority replaced the Toronto Harbor Commission. In 2000
the (Robert Fung) Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Task Force Report was released to the public.
26
27
28
Beneath the city, a “ghost landscape” left by the glaciers still lies. During the last million years, Ontario went
through four long Ice Ages, with intervening warmer periods. The last glacier, the Wisconsin, finally melted
about 11,000 years ago. The melting ice dumped layers of sand, clay and gravel (“glacial drift”) on southern
Ontario. This is about 26 metres thick over most of Toronto. As the glacier melted, a lobe of ice blocked
water from draining to the sea. This ice was like bathtub plug a deep, cold lake, Lake Iroquois, formed. This
lake was 55 metres deeper than Lake Ontario. All of Leslieville was under water. The shore of Lake Iroquois
can be seen as a steep rise or is shore-cliff north of Leslieville. It forms the hill at Warden Avenue and
Danforth. South of the old Lake Iroquois shoreline a plain of clay and sand deposited on Lake Iroquois’
bottom. Leslieville sits on the Iroquois Plain. The Plain, though basically flat, is tilted from north to down to
south. It is far from featureless. Rivers of meltwater poured out of glacier, carrying sand and gravel into the
Lake. Waves and east-west offshore currents carried these sediments westward, piling it up in baymouth
bars. Sandbars formed at the mouthes of the ancestor to the Humber and the Don. Behind these shallow,
large bays formed. In the east end, these Lake Iroquois sand bars form a ridge that stretches from
Scarborough, west from the foot of Kennedy Road for about five kilometers. This steep hill diverted the flow
of Taylor Creek westward into the Don. To the south of it more sandbars formed offshore, creating a steep
hill south of Danforth Avenue from Broadview Avenue through Leslieville to the Beach. Below it are the sand
plains of Leslieville. The settlers mined these glacial beaches for sand and gravel. The sandy loam was the
basis of Leslieville’s market garden industry. With compost and manure, it was fertile and easy to till, ideal
for carrots, potatoes, turnips and other root vegetables.
Glacial tills from an earlier Ice Age are are the oldest in Ontario and were deposited more than 120,000
years ago. They became the basis of Leslieville’s brick industry. Beneath them is bedrock, limestone and
shale. This is known as the Georgian Bay Formation and is about 250 metres thick. It is about 450 million
years old and sits on much older igneous Precambrian rocks (950 million years old). When they had used up
the York Till clay, brickmakers blasted the shale out of the ground with dynamite. They ground it up and
made it into bricks too. By 1900 “shale pits” lined both sides of Greenwood Avenue north of the railway track
and south of Danforth Avenue.
Plants and animals colonized the sandy plain left by the glaciers. When the first settlers arrived here, they
found forest, but it was not what most expected. In most of southern Ontario, British settlers found a thick
wood, difficult to clear: …the almost universal nature of the lands in these provinces is, to be covered with a
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thick and stately growth of forest trees, beneath which flourishes a perplexing covert of underwood. The
Lake Iroquois plain was covered not with dense forest, but with open oak/pine woodland with prairie plants
and grasses. This open woodland is called “oak savannah”. Ontario had thousands of hectares of tall grass
prairie, savannah and open woodland. Oak savannah stretched from the Humber River east through the
High Park and across central Toronto, the Don River, and the east end through to the Rouge River.
Remnants still survive in Lambton Park, High Park, and few isolated areas like the Gerrard prairie and some
places in the Rouge valley. Black oak, Red oak and White oak thrived on warm, sandy sites on the uplands
and on the southern slopes. There were also large stands of old-growth White pine and Red pine. Oaks and
pines thrive on sandy loam where there are fires (set by lightning or human beings). Leslieville, including
much of the Ashbridge estate, was covered with White pines. Few descriptions of Toronto’s oak savannah
and open pine woodland in the east end remain, but W.H. Smith wrote of a similar landscape further in the
High Park area:
...we were soon in the midst of a magnificent pine forest which remained long undisturbed. The whole width
of the allowance for road was here for a number of miles completely cleared. The highway thus well
defined…[it] was seen to border on the right and left with a series of towering columns, the outermost ranges
of an innumerable multitude of similar tall shafts set at various distances from each other and circumscribing
the view in an irregular manner on both sides, all helping to bear up aloft a matted awning of deep green
through which here and there glimpses of azure could be caught, looking bright and cheery…No fence on
either hand intervened between the road and the forest; the rider at his pleasure could rein his horse aside
at any point and take a canter in amongst the columns, the underwood being very slight. Everywhere at the
proper season the ground was sprinkled with wild flowers--with the wild lupin and the wild columbine--and
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everywhere at all times the air was more or less fragrant with resinous exhalations.
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64
Stuart, 59.
Scadding, Toronto of Old, pp. 272-273.
29
30
The soil under the oaks and pines hosted plants such as blueberry, huckleberry, blackberry, sweet fern, Big
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Bluestem, Indian grass, Canada wild rye, Bush Clover and Blazing Stars.
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Settlers judged the quality of the land by the forest cover. The Ashbridges and Hastings found Sugar
Maple-Beech forest on good clay loams nearer the Lake, in the ravines and near Ashbridge's Bay. In the
dark, colder ravines with their damp soils, hemlock, paper and yellow birch, and other more northerly
species grew. In the wet swamps of Ashbridge’s Bay grew tamarack, cedar, willows, silver maple, black ash
and other water lovers. Most of York Township, including Leslieville, was cleared for farming by the 1850s.
However, some remnants, including in these ravines and woodlots, remained heavily wooded up until the
early twentieth century. The Ashbridges kept a large woodlot that was highly valued by local naturalists. In
1913 local naturalists commented that what forest remained consisted mostly of “beech and hemlock,
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notably in Ashbridge’s woods in the eastern part of the city.” Ashbridge's Woods was cut down that year to
make way for the Monarch Park subdivision.
Henry Scadding wrote of the wildlife:
About the dry, sandy table-land…the burrows of the fox, often with little families within, were plentifully to be
met with. The marmot, too, popularly known as the woodchuck, was to be seen on sunny days sitting up
upon its haunches at holes in the hillside…Here were to be found racoons also; but these, like the numerous
squirrels--black, red, flying, and striped--were visible only towards the decline of summer when the maize
and the [nuts] began to ripen. At that period also bears, he-bears and she-bears accompanied by their
cubs, were not unfamiliar objects wherever the blackberry and raspberry grew. In the forest, moreover,
hereabout a rustle in the underbrush and something white seen dancing up and down in the distance like the
plume of a mounted knight might at any moment indicate that a group of deer had caught sight of one of the
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dreaded human race and, with tails uplifted, had bounded incontinently away.
Brooks crossed the plain and flowed into Ashbridge's Bay. These lost creeks are invisible now, buried to
form part of the sewer system. A 1791 map shows a small stream between Lots 11 and 12, and two streams
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in Lot 11, all in Leslieville. A 1793 map also also shows a number of small streams here. Heward Creek
flowed from springs near Broadview Avenue north of Gerrard in what is now Riverdale to enter Ashbridge’s
Bay near Heward Avenue. It cut a deep ravine at Gerrard and Carlaw Avenue. Between Jones Avenue and
Coxwell Avenue, Leslie Creek, Hastings Creek and Ashbridge’s Creek emptied into the Bay. Creeks were
bigger and deeper before settlement; deforestration lowered the water table. Streams did not have to be
large to be habitat for fish, but they had to be cold and clean. In 1850 a settler describes a brook:
Mr. Stephens showed me a small stream runing through his farm, which I could easily jump over. He told me
that one afternoon he was watering his horses, when he perceived a shoal of salmon swimming up the
creek. He had no spear at home, having lent it to a neighbour. He, however, succeeded with a pitchfork in
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capturing fifty-six fine fish.
Leslieville’s streams were similar:
In those times several creeks added their quota of waters to the bay. The overflow of Small’s Pond and a
small creek at about Kenilworth avenue ended in the marsh, another one [Ashbridge’s Creek] came through
Ashbridge’s farm. One [Hastings Creek] coming through Hastings’ and crossed the Kingston road and
emptied into the gut, as it was then known. This gut was quite a sheet of water and formed a little harbor
made use of by the fishermen who lived near it, and who ran their boats up the channel to the back of their
lots which ended on the water.
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Ontario Department of Planning and Development. Don Valley Conservation Report. (Toronto: Ontario Department
of Planning and Development 1950), pp. 39-40.
66
Stuart, 59-60.
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Faull, J. H. ed., The Natural History of the Toronto Region. (The Canadian Inititute: Toronto, 1913), pp. 98-99.
68
Scadding, Toronto of Old, 163-164.
69
Jones, Augustus, Plan of the Front Line of Dublin now York, 1791.
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Strickland, Samuel and Agnes Strickland. Twenty-seven Years in Canada West: Or, The Experience of an Early
Settler. London: R. Bentley, 1853). p. 75-77.
31
32
33
34
… Another creek [Heward’s Creek] started near the Danforth road and near the sandpit down through
several market gardens, crossing the Kingston road at the foot of Pape’s lane, by a big willow tree that grew
there on the south side, and ended its journey in the marsh that came almost to the road. This marsh was
filled with willows, alders and other growths that made quite a thicket, and was the roosting places of many
wood-ducks and other denizens of this safe, marshy, woodland retreat, such as the bittern, woodcock,
snipe, plover, sandpipers, and crow blackbirds or grackle. In fact, here and elsewhere wild life was teeming,
and the naturalists of those days might revel in the enjoyment of their favorite study. The marsh continued
south and was unbroken till it ended at the Island, then went westward, with the exception of a patch of clear
water of several acres’ extent, known as Brown’s Pond which skirted the shore edge of such properties as
Heward’s, Gorrie’s, Blong’s, Clark’s and ended with Smith’s, which also ended on the Don River.
I omitted mentioning a creek [Leslie Creek] that also started near the sandpit and ran through the gardens of
Cooper’s, Bests and Hunters, crossed the road by the Leslie Postoffice. Here it joined a small creek that
drained the nursery, and both crossed Leslie street under a bridge that has since been filled up by
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intersecting sewers.
The eastern branch of Ashbridge’s Creek began in springs near Toronto East General Hospital. It flowed
across the railway tracks and ran diagonally across Rhodes Avenue, Hiawatha Road and Woodfield Road,
cutting a ravine near Ashdale Avenue north of Fairford. The western branch of Ashbridge’ Creek flowed from
springs near Sammon Avenue to join the eastern branch of the creek south of Gerrard. The creek flowed
crossed Queen Street just east of the Ashbridge’s 1854 house and emptied into Ashbridge’s Bay between
Connaught and Minto.
Hastings Creek crossed the Danforth just east of Jones and cut a ravine at Ravina Crescent and another
gully, known as the “Devil’s Hollow” or “the Devil’s Dip, between Jones and Greenwood. It continued south
through the Hastings’ farm to enter the Bay between Leslie and Laing.
Leslie Creek, a smaller brook, flowed from springs south of Danforth Avenue, across the railway where
Gerrard Square is. An entrepreneur dammed one branch of Leslie Creek in the late nineteenth century to
form Maple Leaf Skating Rink at Pape and Gerrard. It then crossed Jones Avenue just north of Queen, ran
through the Toronto Nurseries and entered Ashbridge’s Bay near Leslie and Eastern Avenue. The flow of
Hastings Creek and Leslie Creek carved “the Gut”, into the shoreline. Fishermen moored their vessels in this
cove.
The settlers and urban builders and city planners changed the landscape radically. The long slope up away
from the lake is still there, but the great bay is gone, the creeks are underground, the savannah is no more –
all displaced.
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Globe, January 8, 1918.
35
36
37
In 1775, John Graves Simcoe arrived in Boston to play a role as guerilla fighter in the American Revolution
(1776-1783). Simcoe became commanding officer of the 1st American Regiment (Queen's Rangers). These
Ranger regiments were composed mostly of pro-British Americans, later to be known as “Loyalists”, forged
guerilla-style warfare hit-and-run operations against the rebellious colonists. This experience, as well as his
connections to his uncle Admiral Simcoe, made him an ideal candidate for Upper Canada’s first Lieutenant
Governor. After 1783, loyal Americans or “Tories” faced persecution. In 1783 the British government
disbanded the Loyalist regiments and Loyalists headed north to Canada. In 1783 Augustus Jones surveyed
Toronto to prepare it for them. In 1784 6,000 white Americans and 1,000 Haudenosaunee immigrated to
Upper Canada. In 1790 10,000 came. The officers were put on half pay while the Crown promised the
enlisted men free land.
In 1791 Augustus Jones surveyed Toronto again. The surveyors laid out the basic grid pattern of concession
and sideroad with farms stretching north-south. Surveyors laid out a First Concession with a Baseline (now
Queen Street East), from which they plotted the rest of the survey. The Don and Danforth Road became the
Second Concession Road. St. Clair Avenue was the Third Concession Road. Leslieville’s sideroads had five
lots of 200 acres between.
In 1792 Simcoe arrived to construct a garrison and to establish a naval base. Simcoe planned to tie Toronto
together with other fortifications across southern Ontario using a system of roads and the Toronto Carrying
Place. Simcoe knew Upper Canada needed to be settled to prevent it from falling into American hands.
Another war was just a matter of time. Simcoe preferred Loyalists, but the supply of loyal Americans was
limited. The Government handed out land in the Leslieville mostly to government office-holders or their
wives, friends of the Government or military men, as rewards for loyalty. Land was wealth and members of
Upper Canada’s elite amassed huge holdings for speculative purposes.
Benjamin Mosley was a Loyalist as was Thomas Matthew. Daniel Cozens was was a Captain in the New
Jersey Volunteers and settled in York along with his sons, Daniel Cozens Jr. and Shivers Cozens. (Daniel
Cozens Sr. is reputed to have built the first house in York.) Christopher Robinson fought in the Revolution as
an Ensign in the Queen's Rangers. Stephen Heward commanded the Queen’s Rangers in the War of 1812.
These all held lands in Leslieville. Some land owners never lived in this area or developed the land in even
the most minimal way, holding the land simply to sell later for subdivision. Some sold their land fairly quickly
while others held on, leasing the land out to farmers, market gardeners and brickmakers. Subdivision often
occurred after the death of a landowner in order to divide land among the heirs or to settle debts. The
following were some of the earliest landowners in York Township (1796):
Elias Anderson
Jonathan Ashbridge
Patrick Barns [Burns]
John Cox
Benjamin Davis
Abraham Devens
Levi Devens
John Matthews
Benjamin Mosley
Eli Playter
James Playter
Elizabeth Russell
John Scadding
D. W. Smith
Paul Wilcott
John Ashbridge
Joseph Barker
John Coon
Samuel Cozens
William Demont
Isaac Devens
John McBride
Parker Mills
Jacob Philips
George Playter
John Playter
Peter Russell
John Graves Simcoe
William Smith
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William Youman.
It was not only Loyalists who settled here, but those whose loyalty was questionable: the “Late Loyalists”.
These were Americans, who, long after 1783, came to Canada and claimed that they too were Loyalist.
Sometimes they waited a decade or more to make the claim. This unlimited supply of not-so-loyal
72
Adam, G. Mercer and Charles Pelham Mulvany, History of Toronto and County of York, Ontario, (Toronto: C.
Blackett Robinson, 1885), Vol. I, p. 78.
38
Americans was cautiously welcomed by Simcoe. These experienced pioneers often held political beliefs in
support of democracy and religious beliefs (mostly Methodist) that were considered subversive by the British
authorities. Despite this, Late Loyalists, such as the Ashbridges and Hastings, hoped for large grants of land
– and often got them. The Government granted at least 200 acres of land, subject only to modest
registration fees, settlement duties and an oath of loyalty to the King, an oath that many swore with a wink
and nod. Others distrusted these Americans with their democratic notions, town hall meetings and
Methodism. This is is evident in Samuel Strickland’s comment: I have no intention of reflecting here on the
national honour of the American nation; but it is a well-known fact, that many of the early frontier settlers
were persons who had evaded the payment of their just debts or, perhaps, legal penalties for worse
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offences, by crossing the lines, and forming settlements in Canada.
Jonathan Ashbridge never made it to Leslieville, yet shaped its history. Jonathan married Sarah James on
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April 8, 1756 in a Pennsyvannia Meeting of Friends. Jonathan, like William Penn, the Quaker founder of
Pennsylvania, was a slave owner. However, by the mid-1750s the Society of Friends (Quakers) was
beginning to believe that one human should not own another. Quaker Yearly Meetings began to decide that
buying or selling slaves was no longer acceptable. By the 1770s, Quaker meetings were beginning to
“disavow” or disown slave owners. In 1768 Jonathan Ashbridge became a whiskey distiller. In 1770 the
Friends disavowed Ashbridge when he sold a black woman named Pegg. In 1772, Ashbridge sold his
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property in Goshen and left the county, moving upstate to the Susquehanna River. The Friends sent a
follow-up committee to Susquehanna to meet with Jonathan Ashbridge who, however, was still bent on
going his own way. In 1778 the Pay Roll of Captain Thomas Ferguson, an officer of the Continental Army,
listed Sgt. Jonathan Ashbridge. Jonathon Ashbridge died in the winter of 1781-1782, possibly in battle or
from wounds. A Dr. Davidson: …bought some choice land on the Susquehanna River, just above Jersey
Shore, having acquired the preemption fights of the widow Sarah Ashbridge, who with an adult son, John,
are not to be found in the area after the 1790 census. The husband and father, Jonathan Ashbridge, had
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been killed in one of the skirmishes with the Indians about 1782.
Clearly Jonathan Ashbridge was no Loyalist; neither was he a good Friend. In 1785 the Quakers also
disavowed Sarah, his widow, for not attending meetings. By that time she had serious financial problems. In
1793 Sarah Ashbridge and her three daughters, Mary, Elizabeth and Sarah left their homes and headed
north up the Mohawk Trail. Mary’s husband, Parker Mills, Elizabeth’s husband, Paul Willcott, and daughter
Sarah Ashbridge’s husband, Samuel Heron, left with them. Two sons, John and Jonathan Ashbridge, went
too. The large party crossed Lake Ontario by boat and arrived at Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake). The
men carefully scouted good locations and soon the party traveled on to York. The family spent its first winter
in York within the ruins of the old French Fort Rouillé (on the Canadian National Exhibition grounds). From
there they sailed across Toronto Harbour and Ashbridge’s Bay to the land they had chosen. When their boat
sailed into Ashbridge’s Bay, an Ashbridge blew on a big conch shell (later used for a dinner horn). Countless
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ducks flew up, making a noise like thunder.
The Ashbridges chose land on the north shore of the bay and settled there. Three years later the Crown
granted them 600 acres between Ashbridge’s Bay and Danforth Avenue. Sarah Ashbridge, her sons and
son-in-laws received free land grants of 200 acres each. They had chosen land with good soil fronting on the
Bay and on the Kingston trail. Ashbridge’s Bay gave access by water to the Don River and to Toronto
Harbour, so they could easily get their produce to market in York. After constructing shanties, temporary log
shacks with dirt floors, the Ashbridges and the other settlers cleared the land in order to plant crops. They
needed to get an early start on preparing the land for the first planting. Hardship could result if seeds were
not planted by the last week of May for harvest in the fall. The Ashbridge men probably cleared the
underbrush in the fall while the family stayed at Fort Rouillé. Winter was the usual time for logging. While
73
Strickland, 113.
Meldum, Charlotte and Martha Reamy, Early Church Records of Chester County, Pennsylvania. (Westminster, MD:
Family Line Publishing, 1995), p. 78.
75
Meldum and Reamy, 92.
Launey, John Pitt First Families of Chester County, PA. (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, Inc., 2005), Vol. 2, p. 3.
76
Egle, William Henry, “Egle’s Notes & Queries”, in Historical Sketches: Bench & Bar of Lycoming County. Ed.
Marshal R. Anspach, Marshal R. (Lycoming, PA: The Lycoming Law Association, 1961), 1895, Vol., pp. 234-9.
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Ashbridge, W. T., The Ashbridge Book. (Toronto: The Copp Clark Company Limited, 1912), p. 79.
74
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they were clearing the land, the family lived on fish and wildfowl from the Bay, and pork from their pigs.
Clearing probably continued for years. Even if the trees were gone, the stumps remained, hard to remove.
The north field of the Ashbridge farm was known as “the stump field” even a century later.
When food was assured, the settlers built proper log cabins with sawn boards for a floor and a small cellar
for storage. Jonathan and John each built log cabins each on their neighbouring land grants. Between 1809
and 1811, the Ashbridge brothers built a large frame house for the family. Building a frame home was
strongly recommended even for later settlers: If I were commencing life again in the woods, I would not build
anything of logs except a shanty or a pig-sty; for experience has plainly told me that log buildings are the
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dirtiest, most inconvenient, and the dearest when everything is taken into consideration. Both the log cabin
and the frame house were on Park Lot Nine, close to the Kingston trail. Archeologists have found evidence
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of the Ashbridge’s cabin cellar and many artifacts.
The first crops were for their own use, not for selling. They included potatoes, turnips, oats, maize and
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kitchen garden produce like carrots and onions. As soon as they could, settlers grew wheat for the market
in York. It soon became the major crop in Leslieville. Before the opening up of the West, Ontario was
Canada’s”Bread Basket”. In winter, the Ashbridges cut ice from the bay, packed it in straw and sold it in
York.
The forest had good timber: oak and pine on sand, and maple and beech closer to the lake and in the
Ashbridge’s Creek ravine. Eventually, the Ashbridges cleared all the tillable soil, except for the farm woodlot,
40 acres of hardwood forest (Ashbridge’s Woods) at the north end of their property. The Ashbridges had
cattle and hogs. In the earliest years, the Ashbridges used their animals for their own subsistence. Later,
they sold them to market. Raising hogs did not require great expense of energy or money. The hogs and
cows could feed themselves on acorns and beechnuts in the woods. The Ashbridges would have
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supplemented this in bad weather. The Ashbridges also grazed their cattle on the grasses of the marsh .
Though they initially attended the Anglican Church, most of the Ashbridges became Methodists,like most of
their neighbours. The Ashbridges lived lives very different from the Quaker distiller who owned slaves and
fought for the Thirteen Colonies. The Ashbridges were Wesleyan Methodists, a strongly anti-slavery church.
The Government appointed Jonathan jr. and John Pathmasters of the Kingston Road trail from 1797 until
1817. John was tax collector. Jonathan Ashbridge fought for the British in the War of 1812. Ashbridges
fought for the Crown in the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837. They were, in short, respectable. They had
remade themselves in a new place. The Ashbridges settled as an extended family close to each other, in a
community people called “Ashport”. Ashport’s settlers built along the shore in a long, loose linear settlement.
Houses and farmsteads were like scattered beads on a string. “Ashport” was a little cove at the mouth of
Ashbridge’s creek where their boats moored.
Material needs were simple. Settlers brought essential equipment, such as axes and tools, with them or
purchased them in nearby York. Most of the rest they grew and made themselves. Cash was scarce; most
trade was by barter. York needed farm produce. The settlers took their surplus produce by boat to York
and by wagon on the Kingston trail.
Farming in York Township in the early days was mixed. They grew grain, particularly wheat, rye (for
whiskey) and barley (for beer), and raised livestock, especially pigs. The average farm was 200 acres
though many settlers had smaller farms. Animals were not purebred and generally smaller than those in
Great Britain. However, the livestock were hardier. At first, settlers kept cattle for milk, cheese and butter for
their own use. When they had prospered a little, they took their surplus dairy products, beef and pork to the
Town of York. In 1803 Governor Peter Hunter established the St. Lawrence Market, providing an outlet for
farmers and butchers to sell their produce. Eventually cattle barns and pastures lined the south side of the
Kingston Road trail east of York. Women and children sold poultry in the St. Lawrence Market as well as
eggs and feathers.
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Strickland, 170.
The Ontario Heritage Trust, Ashbridge Estate (Toronto), September 5, 2010
http://www.heritagefdn.on.ca/userfiles/HTML/nts_1_2602_1.html
80
Dunlop, William, Statistical Sketches of Upper Canada. (London: John Murray, 1833), p.15.
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Stuart, 310.
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The settlers had “horned horses” or oxen for heavy ploughing and horses for lighter farm work and
transportation. As the settlers improved the Kingston trail more people had buggies and light wagons.
Jesse Ashbridge was the son of Jonathan, and came from a family of five, three sons and two daughters. He
was born on the Ashbridge homestead and stayed on the farm which he inherited. In the 1850s he added 56
acres to the west of the home farm. In 1854 Jesse Ashbridge built a fine red brick house, but the family did
not occupy it until 1856. It still stands at 1444 Queen Street East. Joseph Sheard, a former Mayor of
Toronto and an architect, designed it. A contemporary, William “Tiger” Dunlop, remarked on the progress
from shanty to log to frame to brick:
Most of the houses, more particularly those of recent settlers, are built of logs. When a man gets on a little in
the world, he builds a frame-house, weather-boarded outside, and lathed and plastered within; and in
travelling along the road, you can form a pretty accurate estimate of the time a man has been settled, by the
house he inhabits;--indeed, in some instances, you may read the whole history of his settlement in the
buildings about his farm-yard.
The original shanty, or log-hovel, which sheltered the family when they first arrived on their wild lot, still
remains, but has been degraded into a piggery; the more substantial loghouse, which held out the weather
during the first years of their sojourn, has with the increase of their wealth, become a chapel of ease to the
stable or cowhouse; and the glaring and staring bright-red brick house is brought forward close upon the
road, that the same dwelling, which at one time the proprietor looked upon as the very acme of his ambition,
may at once serve as a kitchen to, and be concealed by, its more aspiring and aristocratic successor; just
like a man who having acquired wealth from small beginnings, is anxious to conceal from the world the
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gradations by which he rose, and to exhibit only the result of his successful industry.
As the inhabitants on the Plain improved their fields, they improved their houses, making a statement about
their rising status to the world. In 1860 Jesse Ashbridge married Harriet Trainer, but, in 1863 she died in
childbirth along with the baby. The next year Jesse Ashbridge married Elizabeth Rooney. They had three
children: Jesse Jr., Alfred and Wellington. Jesse Ashbridge died in 1874 of tuberculosis. After his death his
widow Elizabeth managed the farm and raised the boys. In 1885 Alfred also died of tuberculosis. He was
only 18. Jesse Jr. went on to become a brickmaker and Wellington Ashbridge became an engineer. He was
the Ashbridge’s family historian. In 1894 Elizabeth Ashbridge modernized the brick house. She moved the
kitchen to the main floor and added a second storey and a new roof. Renovations were completed in 1899.
They also included central heating and gas lighting. The house was surrounded by tall American elms,
young Horse chestnuts, and manicured gardens.
In 1907 the Ashbridges began to subdivide their farm for residential building. In 1909 the Toronto Board of
Education built the Duke of Connaught School on six acres of the Ashbridge’s orchard. The Duke of
Connaught, Prince Arthur, laid the cornerstone. In 1912 the Ashbridges sold Ashbridge’s Woods to
developers for the Monarch Park subdivision. That year Wellington T. Ashbridge published The Ashbridge
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Book. By that time the Ashbridge property was no longer a working farm. The next year the Ashbridges
tore down the log cabin and the 1809 clapboard house. Jesse Ashbridge Jr. built a new house at 54
Woodfield Road. He planted a rose garden where the 1809 frame house had stood. Elizabeth Rooney
Ashbridge died in 1919. The house and remaining land passed to Wellington and his wife Mable Davis).
Their daughters were Dorothy and Betty. An article of 1922 describes the Ashbridge property: Some two
acres of smooth, rolling lawn, graced with great stately elms …The house is a sturdy veteran of some 70
years and sound as a bell; but the grounds are the survival of the original Crown grant of farmland,
stretching from the waterfront to Danforth avenue, which Jonathan Ashbridge settled when he came here
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from Philadelphia in 1793. In 1943 Wellington Ashbridge died and two years later brother, Jesse
Ashbridge, died, leaving his widow, Emma Rooney. Jesse Ashbridge and Emma had lovingly cared for the
estate: He was an ardent gardener and took pride in a sunken garden, which was the foundation of the
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second house built on the Ashbridge property, and which succeeded the original log cabin. In 1952 Mable
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Dunlop, 108-109.
Ashbridge, 110-111.
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Globe, November 1, 1922.
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Globe and Mail, March 9, 1945.
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Ashbridge died and Dorothy and Betty inherited the house. In 1955 Mayor Nathan Phillips dedicated a Don
Valley Conservation Authority plaque at the Ashbridge estate.
In the early 1960s the Ashbridges began running an unregulated retirement home in the Emma Ashbridge
House, 54 Woodfield Road. Five senior ladies lived there. In 1962 a fire raged through the home killing
three. In 1965 a brick bungalow was built on site of the fire.
In 1972, the Ashbridges sisters gave the 1854 house to the Ontario Heritage Foundation [since 2005 the
Ontario Heritage Trust] with the proviso that they could live there as long as they wanted. They also gave the
2.3-acre grounds. In 1973 the house was placed on the City of Toronto’s Inventory of Heritage Properties. In
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1996 Dorothy (Ashbridge) Bullen died at the age of 92. Betty (Ashbridge) Burton died in 2002.
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Semande, Erin, “The Biography of a House” in Heritage Matters. (Toronto: Ontario Heritage Trust). Vol 4, Issue 3,
September 2006.
42
43
44
45
46
A 1797 list of inhabitants in the lower Don and marsh shows only 59 heads of household (leaving out most
women and children). Most were Americans, Loyalists or Late Loyalists. Those listed included: George
Playter, Isaiah Skinner, Parshall Terry, George Porter, Jacob Phillips, Jacob Winters, John Playter,
Frederick Brown, William Cornell, John Ashbridge, Benjamin Mosley and Patrick Burns. Single men were:
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Hugh Monteith, Samuel St. Clair and Samuel Whipple. Thomas Hastings was born in Whitchurch
Township, near Uxbridge, a late Loyalist. His grandfather had fought against Britain in the Revolution.
Thomas’ father, Nathaniel Hastings, came from Massachusetts in 1796. Nathaniel settled Lot Ten,
Concession One, on Ashbridge's Bay, where he died in 1834, leaving 12 children. Unlike his Revolutionary
War father, Nathaniel Hastings fought for the British in the War of 1812. Thomas Hastings illustrates how
fluid the boundaries could be. Thomas served three years as an apprentice to a York axe-maker. Then he
moved to Rochester, NY, for a year. Then he came back to Canada where he opened his own business in
Cobourg. In 1832, when his father was dying, he came home to Ashbridge's Bay and began farming. In
1833 his father died, and Thomas moved to Orleans County, New York, where he farmed for four years.
Then he went to Cleveland and worked another six years as an axe-maker. In 1847 he came back to
Ashport where he had an axe factory, but was also a blacksmith, brewer and mill pick dresser. (Mill picks
were used to dress mill stones.)
From 1799 to 1801 American contractor, Asa Danforth, built the Danforth Road, 16½ feet wide on a right-ofway 33 feet wide, from York to Kingston. The Government, dissatisfied with his work, refused to pay him,
leaving Danforth embittered and the road impassable. His road took an irregular route since it followed a
Mississauga trail. Danforth Road came up King Street, crossed the Don River where the Queen Street
bridge is and followed a fairly straight line east to the long hill up Kingston Road, where it dog-legged north
east.
In 1812, the United States declared war on England. Upper Canada’s population was about 90,000. York’s
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population was only about 700.
In this war, the Americans of Ashbridge's Bay generally supported the
Crown. They had put years into clearing their farms and bringing some comforts into their lives. They did not
want to lose it all. They were willing, if need be, to fight to defend their homes, a more concrete reality than
the distant and mad King George III. When one considers how fluid the border was, this must have tested
them greatly. While the men were away, the women looked after the farms. As one historian said: …they
were equal to it. In those days the women were trained to help in the work of the fields. They did men’s work
willingly and well. In many cases they had to continue …after the close of the war, until their surviving boys
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were grown to years of manhood, for many husbands and sons went to the front never to return. Life was
hard for many in those early years. Childhood was a luxury for the well-to-do. Most children worked ten to
12 hour days, six days a week, often in dirty and dangerous conditions. Child mortality was high. In 1820, a
writer spoke of children as livestock: …if he be prudent and sober, he may in a short time save money
enough to purchase for himself a farm,--and if he has a family so much the better, as children are the best
stock a farmer can possess, the labour of a child seven years old being considered worth his maintenance
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and education…”
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From 1815 to 1817 settlers re-built the Kingston Road, making it passable. In 1817, the first useable road
between York and Montreal was completed. Then weekly winter stage coach service began between York
and Kingston.
After the War of 1812 there was a large immigration from Britain. Some veterans and their descendents
came, hoping for free land. Robert Wagstafff was badly wounded at the Battle of New Orleans. His hopes
for free land were disappointed. Still settlers came. They came up the St. Lawrence River by boat and
continued by ox-cart or on foot. In 1816, Ontario’s population was 100,000. In 1826, the population was
166,000. In the 1820s the great Scottish migration into Canada began, as the Highland Clearances drove
87
Darke, Eleanor, A Mill Should be Build Thereon. (Hamilton: Dundurn Press, 1996), pp. 34-35
Benn, Carl. Historic Fort York. (Toronto: Natural Heritage/Natural History Inc., 1993), p. 84.
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James, C.C. History of Farming In Ontario. (Toronto: Glasgow, Brook & Company, 1914), p. 555.
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Dunlop, 6.
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Bonis, 45.
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many out. By 1830 the Town of York’s population had grown to 2,860. By 1836 only 30 years later the
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population had more than tripled to 374,000. By 1841, it was 456,000.
In 1817 Irish navies began the Erie Canal. In 1819 they completed the first section (Ithaca-Rome). The Erie
Canal boosted settlement in the lower Great Lakes and spurred the building of canals in Upper Canada. In a
competitive economy no one wants to get left behind. Many settlers came to Upper Canada via New York
and the Erie Canal. Travellers preferred canals to roads. Captain Basil Hall described travel on the Kingston
Road in 1827:
The horrible corduroy roads again made their appearance in a more formidable shape by the addition of
deep, inky holes, which almost swallowed up the fore-wheels of the waggon, and bathed its hinder axle-tree.
The jogging and plunging to which we were now exposed, and the occasional bang when the vehicle
reached the bottom of one of these abysses, were so new and remarkable in the history of our travels that
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we tried to make a good joke of them.
In 1830 William Weller began running the first regular stage coach between York and the Bay of Quinte. In
1832 Jonathan Ashbridge and 40 others petitioned the Township of York, asking for 200£ to to make a toll
road of the road leading east from the Don Bridge to the Town-line. They were refused. In 1836 and 1837
workmen straightened the Kingston Road to the alignment that modern-day Queen Street now follows. They
“planked” the road surface with three-inch thick pine boards, forming a roadway 16 feet wide. This plank
road or “puncheon” ran for 18 miles to the Rouge River. However, the planks were prone to breaking, rot
and heaving by frost. It soon decayed into a bone-jarring, kidney-bruising “corduroy” road. Maintaining the
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road was difficult and expensive. Kingston Road became a toll road to pay for its upkeeps. Tollgate #1
was at Broadview Avenue; Tollgate #Two was at the south west corner of Leslie Street and the Kingston
Road.
The tollgates were natural stopping points, places to get out and stretch your legs, have a bite to eat, fix a
loose horsehoe or argue with the tollkeeper. Villages sprang up at the toll gates along the road -- Norway at
the Woodbine toll gate; and Don Mount at Mill Road (now Broadview Avenue). Ashport began to shift west
away from the Ashbridge Farm to the tollgate. In 1834 the area south of Kingston Road to Ashbridge's Bay
became the “Liberties” of the City of Toronto.. Ashport had a steam sawmill, a cooperage (barrel-making
shop), a blacksmith and a tavern. It was was still rural, with farmhouses scattered along the Kingston Road.
A few landowners, mostly absentee, were military officers like John Baskerville Glegg and Joseph
Bouchette. The Family Compact held a great deal of land and large tracts were set aside for Clergy
Reserves (Glebe land), including land north of Danforth Avenue between Coxwell and Greenwood. Nonresident owners held large chunks of land for speculation. Through neglect of their settlement duties
(especially to build and maintain roads across their lands), they directly contributed to the 1837 Upper
Canada Rebellion.
Agriculture was absorbing new ideas, labour-saving equipment and improved breeds. In 1830 the
Government of Upper Canada began granting money to agricultural societies to encourage improved
methods of farming. Toronto’s gardeners, including John Logan and George Leslie, formed the Toronto
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Horticultural Society. As “seed men” opened stores in York, farmers could buy better plants and seeds.
They began to use fertilizers. In the 1830s British immigrants poured in, bringing livestock with them:
purebred horses like Clydesdales, Shires, Thoroughbreds and Hackneys. They also brought in purebred
cattle: Shorthorns, Herefords, Ayrshires, Devon and the dairy breeds, Jersey and Guernsey. By the 1830s
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James, 556-558.
Bonis, 266.
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Residents hated tolls. Revenues sank and the government took over the major roads leading into York (Dundas
Street, Yonge Street and Kingston Road). In 1845, the government sold Kingston Road to a private company
controlled by James Beaty. Beaty was a merchant from northern Ireland who claimed to be the flag bearer in Toronto’s
first Orange parade. Privatization failed when the railway was opened in 1856. The plank road could not compete. The
government resumed responsibility for the three York Roads until York County purchased them. From 1856 to 1896,
the County of York was responsible for the Kingston Road and contracted the collecting of tolls to private toll-keepers.
The toll system was only abolished completely in 1896.
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”An Act to Incorporate The Toronto Horticultural Society,” in Statues of the Province of Canada. (Toronto: Stewart
Derbishire & George Desbarats, 1857). [Assented to 10th June, 1857], pp. 831-832.
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farms had one or more milk cows to supply the family with milk, butter, and cheese, and often a surplus to
sell.The British immigrants also introduced purebred sheep such as Southdowns, Shropshires and
Leicesters. When the British settlers introduced sheep, wool became an important product in Ashport. New
pigs such as Berkshires and Yorkshires became popular. They brought in new breeds of poultry and dogs,
including hunting dogs such as spaniels, setters and retrievers.
By the 1830s farmers were no longer reliant on wild plums, cherries, crabapples, strawberries and
raspberries. However, despite the new ideas and new magazines, traditional ideas sometimes held back
farmers. Few varieties of fruit, for example, were grown because people believed that the climate was too
harsh: But even as late as 1848 the best that could be said was that growers were satisfied with a few
cultivated specimens of the larger fruits. After the formation of the Fruit-Growers’ Association in 1860,
information was disseminated, and farmers began to believe that the climate was suitable and not too
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severe, as they had imagined. Others had great success in growing different varieties of apples. In 1853,
one Ontario farmer reported: The apple-tree flourishes extremely well in this country, and grows to a large
size. I gathered last year, out of my orchard, several Ribstone pippins, each of which weighed more than
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twelve ounces, and were of a very fine flavour.”
In the 1830s improved farm equipment appeared and made work easier. The first combine was invented in
1836. Cyrus McCormick's reaper went on sale in 1840. Mechanical reapers become common. The grain
drill became popular in the 1840s. Rotary harrows and threshing machines appeared in the 1840s as well.
Factory-made land rollers and harrows could be purchased, as could crude threshing machines, clover-seed
cleaners, root-cutters, and a simple hay rake. Manufactured, patented ploughs replaced the early ploughs.
These ploughs were lighter, more effective. Toronto foundries manufactured farm implements, using
American models like John Deere’s steel plough of 1837. Farmers now could buy locally-made, massproduced implements. Agricultural magazines became more available, complete with plans for improved
rural houses, fueling the Gothic revival style. In 1842 The British American Cultivator was available at
George Leslie’s seed store as well as other locations. In 1845 Andrew J. Downing began publishing a
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magazine called The Horticulturist.
In the 1840s Ashport was mostly American, Scots and Protestant Irish. Irish Roman Catholics began
arriving in large numbers in the 1840s and 1850s. They were mostly unskilled, providing cheap labour. The
Irish took on jobs the jobs no one else wanted, providing the labour for market gardens, brickyards and ice
cutting. In the 1850s Leslieville’s large landowners began to subdivide their land into smaller parcels for sale
or lease as brickfields, market gardens, and piggeries. Ashport became a rural industrial area, mostly
working-class, with only few villas like that of Charles Coxwell Small. Ashport produced the kind of goods
that were the the main exports from the Port of Toronto in 1845: flour, wheat, ashes (potashes), peas, pork,
beef, hams, Timothy seed (a type of forage grass), butter, lard, wool, sheep skins, leather for shoes, salted
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hides, furs, shingles, starch and lumber.
The establishment of mills was important, including that of Gooderham’s Windmill. Mills could grind wheat
into flour for bread, producing a finer, more edible product than the hand mills of the settlers. Ontario was
the bread basket of Canada, but in Ashport people were already switching from growing grain to market
gardening and orchards. A few of the farmers, like the Hastings, Samuel Mills, and the Ashbridges,
continued to grow grain, raise cattle and sell fruit from their orchards. But a great crop failure was to change
the world they knew.
In 1846 there was crop failure, “The Great Hunger” (An Gorta Mor) throughout Ireland. Blight destroyed the
potato crop. In 1845 Toronto had only 21,000 residents. By the end of the winter of 1847-48, 38,560
immigrants had passed through Toronto. 1,124 died. These were not the first Irish immigrants to Toronto
and area. Almost half a million Irish came to British North America before 1847, most of them Protestant
Irish and many of them Orangemen. Toronto became “the Belfast of the North”. These were not poor, but
middle class; not illiterate, but educated; not reliant on charity, but had come with some savings; not
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Canadian History, No. 10 (June 1900) p. 263.
Strickland, 171.
98
The History of Gardening: A Timeline, The Nineteenth Century 1800-1899
http://www.gardendigest.com/timel19.htm
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Smith, William Henry, Smith’s Canadian Gazetteer (Toronto: Rowsell, 1846), p. 197.
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unskilled, but tradesmen such as tanners, carpenters, wheelwrights, blacksmiths, etc. The “coffin ships” of
the Famine Fleet, rotten hulks from the lumber trade, carried starving Irish Catholics. These ships had little
water or food, were overcrowded and harboured typhus and cholera. In contrast, the Irish Protestants, like
the Beatties, who came before them arrived in sound, comfortable ships where their needs where attended
to. Most of them came from Ulster, the north of Ireland. These Ulsterman and Scots gave Ashport a very
Celtic character. Thomas Beatty and John McLatchie were examples of these Ulster Irish. Some of the
Protestant Irish took pity on the flood of hungry, typhus-ridden Irish; others had little. They identified as
British and Protestant, and, therefore, both loyal and more deserving. Most of the Ulstermen and many of
the Scots belonged to the Orange Lodge, an anti-Catholic, pro-British fraternal order.
In 1847 about 105,000 Irish emigrants left for British North America, many landing at the Simcoe Street
docks. The Times of London: [the] …quay at Toronto was crowded with a throng of dying and diseased
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abjects; the living and the dead lay huddled together in horrible embrace. Larrat Smith lamented:
They arrive here to the extent of about 300 to 600 by any steamer. The sick are immediately sent to the
hospital which has been given up to them entirely and the healthy are fed and allowed to occupy the
Immigrant Sheds for 24 hours; at the expiration of this time, they are obliged to keep moving, their rations
are stopped and if they are found begging are imprisoned at once. Means of conveyance are provided by
the Corporation to take them off at once to the country, and they are accordingly carried off “willy nilly” some
16 or 20 miles, North, South, East and West and quickly put down, leaving the country to support them by
giving them employment....It is a great pity we have not some railroads going on, if only to give employment
to these thousands of destitute Irish swarming among us. The hospitals contain over 600 and besides the
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sick and convalescent, we have hundreds of widows and orphans to provide for.
Only those had family or friends in the City could stay; the others had to get out or be arrested, put on a
wagon and dumped in the countryside. Many walked away along the main roads: Yonge Street to the north,
Dundas Street to the west, and Kingston Road to the east, seeking food, shelter and employment. Some
found this in Ashport. These immigrant Irish provided a pool of cheap labour for Ashport’s market gardens,
brickyards, piggeries and ice companies.
Many rallied to do what they could for the “unfortunate Irish”, but others were not above exploiting the
situation to make money. In 1847 William H. Boulton, M.P.P. and Toronto’s Mayor, had a farm in Ashport, on
Kingston Road, …very sandy in soil, 270 acres in extent, and very hard to be disposed of…” Boulton was
trying to sell it but was asking an exorbitant amount in an obvious conflict of interest. He tried to sell it to the
City of Toronto for 5,000£ pounds as a site for a new House of Industry, insisting that there really was no
other suitable site. City Council declined. Boulton used scare tactics, warning of hordes of Irish to come. Still
Council would not budge: But the council were not to be humbugged—they would have nothing to do with
it—they thought that the emigrants might be very well provided for in the sheds now used as an Hospital and
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in the Convalescent Hospital.
By then, most of the land was owned by a few individuals or families. They were, by lot number, from east to
west, starting at the boundary with Scarborough: Lot One, John Baskerville Glegg, an aide de camp to
General Brock; Lot Two, David Ramsey; Lot Three, Captain Joseph Bouchette; Lot Four, Patrick Browne;
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Lot Five, William Cooper; Lot Six. Mrs. Samuel Cozens ; Lot Seven, Paul Wilcott (married to Elizabeth
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Ashbridge); Lot Eight, John Ashbridge; Lot Nine, Split lot: Parker Mills (married to Mary Ashbridge) ; Lot
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Ten, John and Thomas Matthews; Lot 11, Benjamin Mosley; Lot 12, Christopher Robinson ; Lot 13, Patrick
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Coyle, Jim, “A fitting tribute, a horrific time”, in Toronto Star. June 19, 2007.
Careless, J.M.S., Toronto: An Illustrated History (Toronto: J. Lorimer and the National Museum of Man, 1984), p.
71.
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Globe, October 6, 1847.
103
Samuel Cozens was one of the first white inhabitants of York. He died in 1808. Scadding, Toronto of Old, 458.
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Ashbridge, 87.
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Christopher Robinson was the father of Chief Justice Sir John Beverly Robinson. Born and brought up in Virginia,
he was a Loyalist, who joined, Simcoe’s regiment, in 1781. In 1798 the Robinsons moved to York and had a log cabin
built for himself and his family on Kingston Road at the foot of Pape Avenue near the Bay. Three weeks later, on
November 2nd 1798, he suddenly died at the age of 35.
Rudman, Michael J. The History of These Graves http://www.fortyork.ca/History%20Files/grave_history.htm
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Brown; Lot 14, John Cox; Lot 15, John Scadding. Ashport had a small, but growing middle class. Like the
non-resident landowners of the Family Compact, they were able to make money as the district grew through
subdividing their property, albeit on a much smaller scale than John Beverley Robinson or Joseph
Bouchette. Speculation was still a major source of wealth for Toronto’s elite. George Monro was a rich
Toronto businessman, and former mayor as well as a Member of Parliament. Monro’s daughter, Frances
th
Jane, married Brent Neville, an officer in the 77 Regiment, whose name is born by Neville Park Boulevard.
In 1847 Neville bought 25 hectares, the western half of Lot 9, probably as a speculative venture. The land
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had belonged to Parker Mills who had married into the Ashbridge family.
In 1849 the Canadian Legislature passed the Railway Guarantee Act, to secure the bonds of new main rail
lines and encourage growth. In 1850 world trade boomed and so did Ashport as speculators bought land up,
hoping to make money by subdividing it. In 1852 the Globe reported: "...in all directions the city is
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expanding". In 1817, York had about 1,200 inhabitants, in 1826, the number had increased to 1,677, in
1830, to 2,860; in 1832 it contained about 4,000; and in 1842 the number had risen to 15,336. In 1845 the
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population was 19,706, and in 1850 to 25,166. In 1851 Toronto’s population was 30,000. The Irish were
Toronto’s largest ethnic group. Many Irish Catholics lived here, but there were more Irish Protestants.
In 1852 the Government announced plans to build a railway from Montreal to Toronto. The Grand Trunk
Railway (GTR) won the charter. Irish navvies built the line as quickly as possible. In 1856 the Grand Trunk
Railway advertised that it was opened “Throughout to Toronto on Monday October 27”. The chief freight was
grain, tan-bark, timber and cordwood -- most of it still the produce of the forest. The GTR ran through and
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local trains.
According to the 1851 Census those living in Ashport included the Ashbridges, Andersons, Felsteads, Bests,
Hollands, Hastings, Morleys, and Beattys, as well as Woods, the Papes, Fogartys, Nicholsons, Wagstaffs,
Sparkhalls, Laskeys, and others. Leslieville had three hotels, a blacksmith shop, an edge tool factory, a
large distillery, brewery and vinegar factory (H. Fittinger, McCord and Co. vinegar manufacturers and
distillers, one mile east [at Woodbine]); and several brickyards, fishermen, ice merchants and butchers.
There was a piggery on the site of the Leslie Street school and a slaughterhouse on Curzon Street.
By 1850 settlers had cleared the arable land. At first, the main crop was wheat, but farmers also grew barley
and rye to feed the distilleries like Gooderham Worts. Farmers also grew oats, corn, grasses, and clovers for
forage for their animals. Some corn was raised for grain. By the 1860s market gardens and orchards
replaced the farms in Ashport as farmers and absentee landowners sold or sublet their land: TO BE
LEASED, TEN ACRES OF CLEARED LAND, well fenced, situate on the Kingston Road, a mile from the
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Don Bridge. Apply to Dr. Widmer, Toronto, Feb. 1, 1850.
Widmer was not the only Family Compact
member to subdivide. To Market Gardeners and Dairymen. TO LET, that very desirable farm, consisting of
about 40 acres, within a mile and a half of the City Hall, near the Kingston Road East, known as “THE
HEWARD FARM.” Terms reasonable. With immediate possession. Francis H. Heward, No. 22, Toronto
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Exchange. Toronto April 2, 1852
Market gardens were five to ten acres. The workers were mostly the
families of the market gardeners, including women and children, and Irish immigrants. Market gardeners
supplied fresh fruit and vegetables to St. Lawrence Market and to grocers. They also peddled fruit and
vegetables door-to-door, using pushcarts. Leslieville was attractive not only because it ws near to Toronto
had good soil, but also because of the low taxes in York Township. Here is an 1859 advertisement:
Riddell, William Renwick. The Legal Profession in Upper Canada in its Early Periods. Toronto: Law Society of Upper
Canada, 1916, p. 161.
106
York Home District. 1857. In the collection of the Toronto Reference Library.
107
Campbell, Mary and Barbara Myrvold, The Beach in Pictures, 1793-1932. (Toronto: Toronto Public Library,
1988), p. 34.
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Globe, Feb. 10., 1852.
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Smith, Canada Past and Present, 4.
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Benn, 84.
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Globe, November 1, 1856.
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Globe, February 14, 1850.
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Globe, April 5, 1858.
51
A Good Chance for Gardners and Butchers.
To Let, with immediate possession, a good House (now a Tavern,) containing eleven rooms and cellar.
Good stabling and outhouses, with garden and land attached, in all ten acres, about two miles from the St.
Lawrence Market, at a small rent for a term of years.
Apply at the Masonic Arms Hotel, Market Square, Toronto. Toronto, March 4, 1859.
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In the mid-1850s land speculators planned housing subdivisions. There was no standard size or
arrangements of lots, and no municipal planning. Developers only had to register their plans with the City of
Toronto or County of York. This allowed rendering plants, like William Harris’s on Pape’s Lane, to co-exist
closely with churches and homes. One subdivision was near Eastern and McGee; another south of
Kingston Road, between Leslie and Lake Street (mostly Protestant and Orange); and a third was north of
Kingston Road between Leslie and Curzon Streets (mostly Irish and Catholic). Subdivision plans combined
large park lots for country estates, market gardens, and smaller town lots on Kingston Road. Sometimes
subdivisions were too far from town and sometimes the location was poorly thought out. George Leslie’s
subdivision at McGee and Eastern Avenue failed. The lots on McGee were uncomfortably close to George
Gooderham’s stinky cow barns, noisy train tracks and the marsh with its mosquitoes.The McGee subdivision
did not have many houses until 30 years later when it filled with labourers. While the McGee subdivision did
not sell, the other two subdivisions filled with houses.
The subdivision lots north of Queen were larger, allowing for market gardens, piggeries and brickyards.
Catholics, mostly butchers, including the Hollands and a few market gardeners, like the Wilds, lived here
close to the Catholic school and later the Catholic Church. Fishermen and brickyard labourers, mostly
Protestant, lived in the subdivision south of Kingston Road. Both subdivisions were homes to poor
labourers.
By 1855 Ashport had its own public school and advertised for a teacher for their school house on the
Kingston Road at Curzon Street: TEACHER WANTED, a Teacher holding a second-class certificate, for
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Section No. 6, Township of York. Apply to Geo. Leslie, Toronto Nursery, Toronto January 16, 1855.
Despite this Ashport was too far away for most labourers working in Toronto. Though the brickyards, market
gardens, abattoirs and cattle sheds spread across the plains at Ashport, the population of this rural village
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grew only slowly. Toronto grew by almost 700 per cent from 1851 to 1901. As traffic increased along the
Kingston Road, the inns on Kingston Road became busier. In the 1850s, mail coaches ran between Toronto
and Kingston in 33 hours, either way, stopping at the inns along the way to change horses.
In 1859 the City abolished the Liberties. The south side of Kingston Road became part of a Toronto ward.
The north side remained in the Township of York. On August 1st, 1860, the Crown established the Ashport
Post Office, with William Lambert, Post Master. William Lambert was a market gardener like his next-door
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neighbours, the Leslies (Lambert later became County of York detective).
Some of the people who would
have got mail in Lambert’s store in 1860 included: James Bright, blacksmith; James Clark, fruiterer; James
Clark, oyster dealer; William Clark, snuff manufacturer; John Clarke, butcher; George Duffy; William Elliott,
tollkeeper; John Elwood, grocery and tavern; William Higgins, high constable of Toronto; John Inglison,
dairyman; George Leslie, nurseryman; Donald Macfarlane, farmer; James Manning, insurance agent; C. B.
McKay, clerk in Custom House; Thomas Mitchell, grocer; William Price, tavern keeper; Joseph Richardson,
tavern keeper; Thomas Rudman, ship builder; Joseph Russell, brickmaker; John Smith, farmer; Thomas
Trebilcock, butcher; Thomas West, bricklayer; and John Young, ship builder.
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Globe, March 19, 1859.
Globe, January 15, 1855.
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Goheen, Peter G. Victorian Toronto, 1850 to 1900: Pattern and Process of Growth. (Chicago: University of
Chicago, 1970). Dept of Geography, Research Paper No. 127, p. 58.
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Sessional Papers of the Parliament of the Province of Canada, published 1861. Vol. 1. Fourth Session of the Sixth
Parliament, Report No. 8 List of Post Offices established City of Toronto Directory for 1867-68.
Mitchell's general directory for the City of Toronto and gazetteer of the counties of York and Peel for 1866, (Toronto:
Mitchell & Co., 1866), p. 404
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In 1862 George Leslie Jr. became postmaster and the post office became known as the “Leslie Post Office”
and the area around it, “Leslieville”. In 1866 there is the first reference to “Leslieville” in the Globe, The
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name was becoming widespread.
The Leslie Post Office was in George Leslie’s General Store at the
northwest corner of Kingston Road and Curzon. The village had a public school, a separate school, a
Wesleyan Methodist church, three hotels, a blacksmith’s shop, an edge tool factory, a large distillery,
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brewery and vinegar factory, several brickyards, and daily mail.
In 1863 the County of York built a new
common or public school at Leslie Street and Sproatt. Leslieville’s first principal was Alexander Muir;
Thomas Hogarth was the second principal at Leslie Street School. Market gardens now stretched right
across the Plains. Brickmaking was booming and butchers were growing wealthy supplying salt pork and
beef to the Union armies fightin in the Civil War. In the winter refugees from slavery cut ice on the cold
frozen reaches of Ashbridge’s Bay.
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119
Globe, September 10, 1866.
City of Toronto Directory for 1867-8, (Toronto: James Sutherland, 1868), p. 334
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55
With Toronto’s population growing, demand for farm products blossomed. Leslieville’s 200-acre farms were
cut up into a patchwork of market gardens: LOT ON KINGSTON ROAD FOR SALE—For sale a Five Acre
Lot on the Kingston Road, with HOUSE AND ORCHARD THEREON, Suitable for a MARKET GARDEN.
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Apply to Mr. FREDERICK WRIGHT. Solicitor...Church street, Toronto.
Gardeners produced vegetables,
flowers and fruit. Orchards were important. In the 1850s Leslieville farms began exporting apples to Britain.
George Leslie helped found the Ontario Fruit-Growers Association in 1859. The Association encouraged
farmers to try new cultivars of apples, pears and other fruit. They developed varieties suited to our growing
conditions. Later the Prairies opened up for settlement and grain growing shifted west. Instead of grain,
Leslieville farmers shipped other agricultural products, including beef, bacon, ham, cheese, butter, and even
eggs and poultry, to Britain. Fast steamers carried the cargo, but, by the 1890s, refrigerated rail cars and
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ships revolutionized the shipping of produce.
Gardeners grew cabbages, carrots, radishes, onions, tomatoes and lettuce, as well as a variety of other
vegetables. The land’s southern slope with its exposure to the sun and the moderating influence of Lake
Ontario lengthened the growing season and decreased the frequency of frost. 11 brooks and creeks across
Ashbridge Bay provided water for the crops. The well-drained sandy loam was great for root crops: turnips,
potatoes, rutabagas, parsnips, and carrots.
Leslieville’s market gardeners were small-scale producers. They developed their own customer base and
worked as peddlers. Peddlers used pushcarts or horse and wagon to go from door-to-dor, selling all of their
produce directly to consumers. During the summer they sold produce at the farm gate as well. The gardener
had a few streets as his or her own territory. Some market gardeners sold to stores and at the St. Lawrence
Market which had its own vegetable market. Joseph Pape had Stall Four at the St. Lawrence Market.
Market gardens did not just grow vegetables.Some also grew bedding plants, exotic plants, shrubs, trees,
and flowers. Eventually some, like Joseph Pape (c. 1815-1889) and his sons, James (1844-1909) and
Joseph (1851-1931), specialized as florists. The Leslies specialized with trees while the Scottish John Logan
(c. 1801-1870) and his sons George (1852–1887) and John (1850-1930) became fruit-growers with
orchards. After John Logan Sr. died, his wife Elizabeth Coghlan (1828-1905) continued the market
gardening business. Gardening was often the work of women and children. John Nicholson (1813-1886), for
example, began working as a child and later owned his own ten-acre market garden on Pape Avenue. His
own sons worked in the garden from childhood. The oldest, also called John, went in to business for himself
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in 1854. He had an 11-acre market garden.
The Kingston Road allowed produce to move relatively easily to market: picked in the field in the morning,
sold to the customer by noon, on the dinner plate in the evening. The Grand Trunk Railway opened in 1854
allowing better access to markets. The growth of railroad systems around the world from 1850 to 1890
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greatly expanded the markets for farm produce.
From 1850 to 1870, demand grew for all kinds of
agricultural productions, encouraging the adoption of new technology which increased yields.
Patrick Fogarty was another Leslieville market gardener and also florist. He was the son of Patrick and Mary
(Dunn) Fogarty and a Catholic like his parents. The Fogartys came to Canada from Ireland before the 1837
Rebellion and settled at Brockville. When the Upper Canadian Rebellion broke out Fogarty fought for the
rebels. When the dust settled, he moved to Toronto where he worked as a tailor. Patrick Fogarty Jr. (18401911) went to school for a few years in Toronto, but when he was only ten, like John Nicholson, he “was put
to work” in a garden at the corner of Pape and Gerrard. He earned six dollars a month. He became a florist
and went into business for himself in 1866 on Pape Avenue. Patrick Fogarty married Mary Ann Pape (18381916), daughter of Joseph Pape. The Fogartys had at least ten children.
British immigrants came to Leslieville and opened market gardens. William Sammon (1841-1898) came from
Gellingham, Kent, England, but moved north out of Leslieville to East York where a street was named after
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Globe, November 19, 1868,
James, 575-576.
122
Adam, G. Mercer and Charles Pelham Mulvany, History of Toronto and County of York, Ontario, (Toronto: C.
Blackett Robinson, 1885), Vol. II, p. 202.
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The History of Gardening: A Timeline, The Nineteenth Century 1800-1899
http://www.gardendigest.com/timel19.htm
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him. Another was James Best of Surrey, England who purchased five acres on the Kingston Road. He was
a carpenter back in England. George Cooper (1841-1878), another English market gardener, died in 1878.
His wife, Catherine McManus, carried on the market garden, supporting her seven children. This was not
unusual among Leslieville’s market gardeners. Ambrose Rudd (1828-1925) from Devonshire came to
Toronto in 1853. He went into market gardening and nine acres of land. He stayed in the market gardening
business for over 28 years. Nathaniel Rudd came to Canada in 1862 and, like his brother, became a market
gardener. James Squires (1822-1891) was also born in Devonshire. In 1854 Squires came to Leslieville and
started a market garden with his wife Anne (1829 -1892). In 1857 they bought land on Logan’s Lane, now
Logan Avenue, next to Nathaniel and Ambrose Rudd’s market gardens.
The Papes were probably Leslieville’s most successful florists. The Papes came from Yorkshire in 1853.
Joseph Pape (1822-1889) started a market garden at the corner of Gerrard and Pape. “Centre Street” was
renamed “Pape Avenue” after the family. In 1875 Joseph Pape built his first greenhouse and began selling
flowers year around as a florist. He added to his greenhouses every year until he died in 1889. James Pape
(1844-1809) was the second son of Joseph Pape. He was a florist at 12 Carlaw Avenue. His property had a
frontage of 850 feet by 150 feet, considered very large at the time. He had extensive greenhouses. Despite
Pape’s Catholicism, the electors of Leslieville, mostly Orangemen, elected James Pape as Alderman for St.
Lawrence Ward for two years. In 1856 he married Agnes Patterson. They had seven children.
In 1857 Richard Charles Cosburn (1834-1911) married Welsh woman, Louisa Palmer (1836-1919), in
London. They emigrated to Canada that year and settled first on Kingston Road, in Leslieville. Like James
Best he was a carpenter who became a gardener. In 1872 the Cosburns bought 12 acres on lot 8,
concession 2, in East York, where “Cosburn Avenue” was named for them. They grew “small fruits”, that is
raspberries, gooseberries, currants and other berries. In 1871 Elizabeth Sedgwick was a market gardener in
Leslieville with her sons William, Joseph and Albert. Albert Sedgwick went on to have 16 acres of land of his
own and employ about four hands. He marketed his produce through Toronto dealers, not directly to the
consumer. Older brother, George, was also a market gardener, with nine acres of his own. John Strader
(1848-1914) grew small fruits, flowers, etc. From 1869 he had two acres on Pape’s Avenue. Like many in
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Leslieville, he married another local resident, Charlotte Sedgwick.
Scots came too. In 1862 J. McRae
Ross settled on 13 acres of land on Lot 10, Concession 1, of the Township of York, and had a market
garden. In 1876 George Philips came from Fifeshire, to Canada. In 1884 he moved to Leslieville where he
had a 20-acre fruit orchard.
Market gardening was hard work, at the mercy of the weather. Our hot, humid summers brought
thunderstorms that sometimes caused flooding. In 1878’s “great flood” the Don Bridges were swept away.
In 1882, a “hurricane” struck Leslieville: Upwards of thirty thousand bushels of apples, pears, and other fall
fruits have been stripped from the trees by the hurricane of yesterday. Shelters have blown away from
some of the brickyards and boats have been sent adrift from moorings at several points on the Don river and
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Ashbridge’s bay.
On November 11, 1883, a storm blew down George Sedgwick’s barn on Pape Avenue.
Hail destroyed crops and once there was a tornado. In 1883 market gardeners at St. Lawrence Market
asked the City Council to provide covered stalls. Bad weather was destroying a lot of their produce. In 1894
floods again took out the Winchester Street bridge along with others. Heavy rain washed away the seeds
and the young plants, severely damaging the market gardens. The gardeners had to reseed or replant. High
winds blew down fences and uprooted fruit and shade trees.
Frost could destroy too. By the 1850s the northern hemisphere was moving out of a cold period called “The
Little Ice Age”. Winters were longer and colder than now. Early crops were subject to frost, but June was
usually considered safe. Yet in 1859, gardeners faced a disaster:
The stray flakes of snow which heralded in Saturday in this city were the precursors of a sharp frost, which
has left evidence of its ravages in every garden, orchard, and field in the vicinity. The day and night of
Saturday were, indeed, the coldest known to have occurred in June during twenty years.
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Charlotte Sedgwick had married John Greenwood, a gardener employed by George Leslie at the Toronto Nurseries.
The marriage failed since Greenwood was a womanizer. He was convicted of murdering a child and was suspected of
several other murders. The night before he was due to be hanged, he “cheated the hangman”, by committing suicide.
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Toronto Daily Mail, September 16, 1882.
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…the frost of Saturday night did its work thoroughly. There was no dallying, no make-believe, in its
performance. Grape vines which before exhibited a luxuriant growth, and had passed through two winters
unharmed, are cut down to the roots. Apples, hardy as they are, have somewhat suffered in exposed
situations; and we have heard of one garden in which a large, well cultivated strawberry bed, has been
nipped at least into partial barrenness. Green corn will be scarce, so completely has the early garden maize
been killed. Tomatoes, melons and a tribe of table dainties of similar kinds have been killed; and beans and
potatoes present only blackened leaves. The sweep has been complete; and will compel us to rely in a
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great degree upon an imported supply of market garden stuff until late in the season.
If it was not rain or frost, it might be drought. In 1881, the Globe reported on: The Drought. The market
gardeners keep crying out for rain. There has just been enough to make them wish for more. Unless there
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is a steady downfall much of the spring sowing will have been in vain.”
Traffic accidents caused injury and death then as now. In 1882, a horse drawing James Pape’s wagon
bolted, upset the wagon and smashed one of George Logan’s carts, injuring Samuel Foster, the driver.
Another market gardener, William Nicholson, picked up the injured man and took him home where the
doctor would treat him (the nearest hospital was the Toronto General Hospital, then on Gerrard near
Sackville). Market gardener Jonathan Pollard, drove his wagon along Queen Street on a Saturday evening
and collided with a lumber wagon. His little boy was thrown from the wagon and landed between the hind
wheels, luckily escaping injury. Pollard’s wagon was smashed. There were other road hazards. Many cows,
geese and other domestic creatures roamed at large through Leslieville “to the great annoyance of
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gardeners and the general public.”
Epidemic disease was deadlier than accident. In 1882 gardener Frank Nicholson (1850-1882), “a young
man universally respected”, died of what was probably typhoid fever. He left a wife and five small
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children.
His market garden was sold at public auction. It was part of Lot number 10 north of Queen
Street East “on the east side of Greenwoods side line” and contained 100 acres. The sale advertised: “This
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property is planted with a fine young orchard and is well adapted for market garden purposes.”
Leslieville’s market gardens were gradually pushed out by industry. One of the first industrialists was
Joseph Simpson (c. 1825-1898). He was a Jewish American immigrant. He began a woolen mill in
Leslieville, buying land along what is now Gerrard Street East to graze sheep. He was from South Carolina
and had joined the California 1849 gold rush. He made his fortune not digging gold, but selling underwear to
the miners. Unwilling to fight in the Civil War, he came north to Toronto. In 1872 he built a new knitting mill,
now Berkeley Castle, at Berkeley and Front Streets, to produce high quality woolen underwear. He and sons
Rupert and Ernest lived in Leslieville up until the late 1880s.
The presence of the tollgate was a constant irritant to Leslieville’s market gardeners. In 1870 George Leslie
and others went to City Council to complain and ask for the toll gate to be removed. The City stalled.
Leslieville’s people felt that their needs were chronically ignored.
In 1871 The City of Toronto extended South Park Street (now Eastern Avenue) east from Mill street
(Broadview Avenue) to D’Arcy Street (McGee Street). Within 30 years, Eastern Avenue would become one
of the two great industrial streets of Leslieville; the other would be Carlaw Avenue. The same year the
Toronto Gravel and Concrete Company employed Frank Boston as manager to run their gravel pits. He
supervised the construction of the horse-drawn tramway, a streetcar line to take gravel down to Toronto
from Ben Lamond down the long hill on Kingston Road . In 1875 the Kingston Road Tramway began
passenger service through Leslieville. Streetcar service was timely. The Woodbine racetrack opened in
1874, drawing crowds to the tracks and to the bars. The racetrack also drew new residents: jockeys,
trainers, saddle-makers and blacksmiths, as well as veterinarians like Rembler Paul. The name of the
original track was changed to Old Woodbine in 1956 and it became Greenwood Racetrack in 1963. Live
racing at Greenwood ended in 1993. A betting parlour and cinema complex, along with a new public park
and housing, were built on the site.
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Globe, June 7, 1859.
Globe, May 12, 1881.
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Toronto Daily Mail, July 20, 1882.
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Globe, March 30, 1882.
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The Toronto World, July 29, 1885.
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An 1880 advertisement makes the importance of streetcars clear: On Kingston Road – One fine brick
residence, with 12 rooms, conservatory, croquet lawn and orchard; four stores, with dwellings; seven
cottages; above beautifully situated, and will be sold on easy terms; street cars pass the property. J.B.
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Thompson & Co, 10 King-st. East. Leslieville was on the route to the vacation hot spots: the racetrack, the
beaches and Ben Lamond. In 1877 Frank Boston built a store and boarding establishment, the Boston Inn,
which became very popular as a holiday resort for Torontonians, drawing people out through Leslieville by
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streetcar. Yet, by 1878, Leslieville still only had about 400 people.
In 1873, R.C. Steele set up a seed company that became known as Steele Briggs. It had a large warehouse
at the corner of Front and Jarvis, .the largest seed warehouse in Canada. The members of the firm were
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J.S. Steele, R.C. Steele and S.E. Briggs. From 1895 to 1912, the Steele Briggs Seed Co. nurseries were
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at 1514 Queen Street East, on the farm that had belonged to Levi Heath Ashbridge (1824-1895).
By 1890s the market gardeners were becoming organized. In 1894 the East End peddlers met in Richmond
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Hall to discuss business. In 1897 Toronto devoured at least 50 tons of vegetables and fruit a day. Most
came from market gardens less than ten miles from Toronto. At that time there were over 226 market
gardeners in or around Toronto. The gardens averaged between two and six acres each. Most of the
gardeners were peddlers, licensed to sell fruit and vegetables door-to-door rather than wholesale to a
grocery store or green grocer. They rose early in the morning and packed a small wagon or handcart with
produce picked the day before. The market gardeners streamed down Kingston Road into Toronto, selling
their goods from house to house, each gardener with a regular route and established customers.The St.
Lawrence Market, Front Street, Wellington Street, Church Street and Colborne Street wholesale dealers
dealt with farmers from further away. These out-of-town gardeners usually sold their whole wagon load to
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one dealer.
By the 1890s Leslieville was becoming urban, putting pressure on the market gardeners. Men and boys from
Cabbagetown or Corktown, snuck into the market gardens, stealing fruit and vegetables. In 1894, a local
market gardener fought back with a gun. Timothy Lynch, 76 years old, had a garden at Jones and Gerrard
Streets. Men and boys constantly raided his orchard and broke his greenhouse windows. He suffered
serious loss of income as result and began watching for the thieves, with a loaded shotgun at hand. He fired
at a group of boys in his garden, hitting John Potter, aged 14, of Cornwall Street, in the head, neck and
hands with shotgun pellets. The constable who came to arrest Lynch found him still keeping watch over his
garden with his shotgun. Lynch had no qualms about shooting at the boys: “They were stealing me apples.”
Lynch’s neighbours though he did the right thing. For years men and boys had been raiding his market
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garden. Neighbours raised a fund to pay for Lynch’s defense.
However, his death that fall ended the
matter.
Leslieville’s market gardens disappeared as Toronto expanded. Some, however, expanded. Middle class
city dwellers wanted flowers. In 1900 Joseph Fogarty purchased property at 167 Carlaw Avenue. He put up
three greenhouses totalling 7,000 square feet. In 1904 Fogarty sold out the market gardening business. He
continued at Pape Avenue and Gerrard Street East as a florist. As Leslieville lost its market gardens, other
market gardens opened up further away. Some market gardeners moved north to East York. From about
1910 onwards areas further east along the Kingston Road in Scarborough were broken up into market
gardens, from 2 to 12 acres in size. Leslieville’s market garden days were over.
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Globe , March 31, 1880
Cherrier, Kirwin & McGown's Toronto city directory for 1873, 274.
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Careless, 329-330.
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Ashbridge, 105.
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Toronto Star, September 26, 1894.
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Toronto Star, June 3, 1897.
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Toronto Star, August 3, 1894.
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George Leslie (1804-1893) is often considered Leslieville’s founder. The village that grew up around his
Toronto Nurseries roots is still known as “Leslieville” today. George Leslie’s own roots ran deep in the
Highlands of Scotland, in a different culture and a different time, but his story bears resemblances to
immigrants who come now, seeking their fortune through hard work and persistence.
His father, William Leslie (1756-1817), was born in Rogart, in Sutherlandshire, Scotland. William Leslie was
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posted to Ireland in 1802 or 1803, as part of Britain’s efforts to crush the ongoing uprising there. The Irish
rose up against the British in 1798. The Uprising of 1798 drove many Catholics into the poor farming
province of Connacht and others into joining underground movements. The “Rising of 1798” is now
celebrated in Irish song and legend, but when William Leslie sailed there with other Rogart men, Ireland was
anything but romantic. It was bloody, violent and heart-breaking, poor Celt against poor Celt.
William Leslie had belonged to a Fencible regiment, a militia unit that served only in Scotland. The military
authorities disbanded the Fencibles from time to time. However, when the Irish rose up, Rogart men of the
rd
rd
3 Sutherland Fencibles were called up to fight as a regular regiment of the British army (the 93 Regiment
or Sutherland Highlanders). Highlanders made excellent soldiers. Far better, from England’s point-of-view,
that they die in the King’s service than that they rise up in another bloody rebellion of their own as they had
at Culloden a generation before. Ironically, one of the few places Highland Scots could play the bagpipes,
wear their kilts and speak Gaelic was in a Highland Regiment serving King George. For many years these
mainstays of Scots culture were outlawed.
It was claimed that the Sutherland Highlanders had a good reputation in their dealings with the Irish:
…though required to assist in the suppression of insurrectionary movements, they did so effectually, but with
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kindness and forbearance. It is not recorded whether or not the Irish Catholic peasantry agreed with this
benign assessment of their mostly Protestant occupiers. The Sutherlands served in different places around
Ireland including Tyrone. Esther Beatty (1783-1867), eldest daughter of James Beattie (also spelled
“Beatty”), of Omagh, County Tyrone, met and married William Leslie. Esther and William’s first son, William
(1803-1881) was born not long after the Leslies arrived back in Scotland. Others followed: George (18041892); John (1806-1893); and Robert (1812-1886).
The Beattys were Methodists. They suffered too since they fell under the Penal Laws as Non-Conformists or
Protestants who were not members of the established Church of Ireland (Anglican). Many Methodists left
for America. John Beatty (1782–1864), Esther’s brother, sailed to New York in 1807. A number of Irish
Methodists from Tyrone went with him, settling mostly in Virginia. Soon they knew that they did not belong
as their American neighbours looked upon them with distrust during the War of 1812.
According to Leslie family lore, William Leslie fought against Napoleon at Waterloo on June 19, 1815.
William died, probably of wounds, not long after he returned to Rogart. Around 1817 Esther married John
Leslie Sr. (1786-1872), William’s cousin, who had fought beside him at Waterloo. Among soldiers it was
expected that a widow marry someone else in the regiment. The Leslies lived amongst other families of
pensioned soldiers and raised a few sheep and cattle. More children arrived. George Leslie’s step-brothers
were: William “Willie” (1817-1884); James (1819-1874); and George “Geordie” (1824-1909). His half-sister
was Elizabeth “Eliza” (1824-1918), also known as “Esther Eliza”.
George’s uncle John Beatty was busy in the U.S. In the fall of 1818 around 50 men, one for each of the 50
families, met with the British consul in New York, James Buchanan. Buchanan was also from Tyrone and
also a Non-Conformist, being a Baptist. He encouraged them to move to Upper Canada where they would
be safer and more at home. The 50 families sent a delegation of four: John Beatty, James Beattie, Joseph
Graham and Thomas Reed to York to find land in Upper Canada. The news was excellent. The Governor
promised fertile land where they could live together as a community. The first party of Tyrone Methodists
traveled from New York and arrived at York in April, 1819. They settled in what is now Peel Region:
John Beatty came with his two brothers from Ireland to New York city to escape the ill will existing in the old
country against the society formed by John Wesley. Beatty wished to settle under the British flag and joined
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Murray Stokes. Christine F. Families of Sutherland, (C. F. Stokes, 1997). Personal communication.
Munro, William. Records of Service and Campaigning in Many Lands. (Hurst and Blackett, Ltd., 1887), p. 4.
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with other Irish immigrants in negotiating for land in Upper Canada. On May 18, 1819, he led a caravan of
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27 wagons from New York City to Upper Canada and they settled in Toronto Township.
The Methodist Church later ordained John Beatty. He was a well-known “saddle-bag” preacher or “circuit
rider”, travelling a circuit or route from village to village, preaching at a different congregation each Sunday.
He later founded Upper Canada Academy in Cobourg. This Methodist College eventually moved to Toronto
where it became Victoria College, owned by the United Church of Canada, and part of the University of
Toronto. John Beatty died June 30, 1864 and is buried in the Cobourg Union Cemetery.
Life in Ireland had been hard for the Beattys; it was no easier for the Leslies in Scotland. For many centuries
the tenant farmers had worked small holdings in the glens and on the hillsides. Most Highlanders were
Gaelic-speaking and fiercely loyal to their clan chiefs. A feudal system based on clan and fealty to a laird or
lord determined every aspect of life. The crofters or “lotters” (tenant farmers) as they were called in
Sutherland, relied on the small Highland cattle for their living. However, by 1800 sheep were more profitable
for landlords than cattle and drovers. In the Sutherland Clearances, the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland
began to evict their tenants through intimidation and force, often burning the thatched roofs over their
tenants’ heads. Life in the Highlands was in pieces, as displaced people starved, forced to gather kelp on
the seaside for a precarious living. Sheep grazed where, for centuries, Highlanders had farmed. Homeless,
thousands were on the move. In the 1820s the great Scottish migration to Ontario began.
John Beatty encouraged his sister Esther and her husband, John Leslie, to join him in Upper Canada where
land was cheap and there were no lairds. Here they would have better farmland than the beautiful, stony
fields of the Highlands where Scots were no longer wanted. An historian described the Sutherland
Clearances:
They pursued their policy of extermination with a recklessness and remorselessness unparalleled anywhere
else…. -- except, perhaps, unhappy Ireland. …What was true generally of the Highlands, was in the county
of Sutherland carried to the greatest extreme…The inhabitants were literally burnt out... parts of the parishes
of Golspie, Rogart, Farr, and the whole of Kildonan were in a blaze.... Many lives were sacrificed by famine
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and other hardships and privations.
Those left behind endured an economy in upheaval and a depopulated Highlands. The Leslies themselves
were not cleared though they probably expected it to happen sooner or later. Young George Leslie had a
skill and an interest that helped him and his family survive. Since he was a child he had loved nature. As he
grew up, it was clear that gardening was his calling. When he left school at 16, he apprenticed as a gardener
on Lord Anchorfield’s estate at Tarlogie, near Tain in Rosshire. He was an apprentice until 1822. He became
known for his landscaping. Lord Anchorfield put him in charge of the Arabella gardens where he worked until
1824. George Leslie could have worked on the estates of Scotland until he died, but he disliked the
conservatism and the regimented hierarchical nature of Scottish society. No doubt the Sutherland
Clearances were a bitter lesson; George Leslie became a lifelong Reformer. In 1824 his mother and stepst
father decided to join John Beatty in Upper Canada. George was glad to leave. In 1825, on April 1 , his
21st birthday, he sailed with his family to Canada. Late in his life George Leslie described the journey:
From Rogart to Inverness by waggons, by boat through Loch Ness to Fort Augustus, by waggons again to
Fort William, thence by boat to Oban, then through the Crenan [Crinan] canal, and on to Greenock, whence
they sailed after an interval of ten days. The Larch of London, one of the “clipper” ships of the time, was
owned by the captain (Reid), plying between Greenock and Quebec, the latter place being reached in this
instance after a pleasant voyage of six weeks’ duration, there being but two other passengers in addition to
the family mentioned. Proceeding westward to Montreal and Cornwall by boat, by the aid of oxen they
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passed through the Long Sault canal to Prescott, then on by steamer to Little York.
When the family landed at Quebec, George Leslie immediately found a job and stayed there for a year. The
rest of the Leslies travelled on to Meadow Vale, Peel County. In October 1826, George joined them. George
spent the winter of 1826 to 1827 chopping clearing trees on the Meadow Vale farm. In 1826, the Leslies built
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Manning, Mary E., Street: the man, the family, the village (Streetsville: Streetsville Historical Society). pp. 36- 38.
MacKenzie, Alexander. Mackenzie's Pamphlet, 1881. Edited by Janet MacKay.
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Heritage/FSCNS/Scots_NS/Hty_Sct/High_Clr/Mem/Sutherland_MKZ.html
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Globe, May 6, 1893.
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a log house. They no doubt had the help of neighbours and Irish Methodists relatives. A housing raising
without liquor was “a dry bee”. George’s uncle, John Beatty, was active in the temperance movement. This
storey-and-a-half house was 26 feet by 36 feet, of squared logs. They soon covered the logs over with
clapboard as was the custom. This protected the logs from deteriorating. A clapboard house testified to a
little higher status. John Leslie later bought the leased land. Thanks to Streetsville Historical Society and
others, the Leslie Log House was designated a historic property by the City of Mississauga in 1978. On May
24th, 1994 the Leslie Log House was moved to the present site from its original location northwest of Derry
Road West and Mississauga Road. In May, 2011, the Leslie Log Cabin Museum opened in the pouring rain,
in the presence of many Leslie descendants. Most of the seven Leslie children remained in the area. Robert
Leslie (c. 1811-1885) was a master builder, credited with building the William Barber House, Streetsville,
Oliver Hammond House, Erindale and Benares, Clarkson. He later joined his George Leslie in Leslieville
where he lived on McGee Street.
In 1827 after a winter clearing brush in Peel County, George Leslie came to York. He began as a gardener
for Toronto’s elite, while planning for his own business. He was not alone. William W. Custead owned the
first Toronto Nurseries, just west of York on Dundas Street. Custead published a Catalogue of Fruit &
Ornamental Trees, Flowering Shrubs, Garden Seeds and Green-house Plants. However, George Leslie
impressed York’s upper crust, with testimonials and letters of introduction from Scottish gentry. Chief Justice
William Campbell, whose Campbell House was later moved to Queen and University Avenue, said “that they
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were exceptionally good for one so young.” The Commissary General, George Cruikshank, another Scot,
hired him as gardener until 1828. Then George worked as gardener and florist for William Allan and John
Henry Dunne, probably to 1830. He worked on the grounds of the old Parliament Buildings on Front Street
where the CBC Buildings are today; on Upper Canada College then at the corner of Simcoe and King; on
Osgoode Hall; and on John Howard’s insane asylum far out on Queen Street West. He also worked for
William Campbell, Bishop John Strachan and other Family Compact men – those with the money and the
desire to keep their gardens up to the highest British standards. In 1830 George bought the farm in Meadow
Vale from his uncle, John Beatty (Esther and John Leslie were no longer living there), and cleared and
improved it. He lived on the farm for several years, going to York to sell his produce and buy supplies.
He was not to stay on the farm long though. He was to make a name for himself early by promoting fruit
trees, particularly apples. Apples were to become one of Ontario’s biggest exports to Britain. George Leslie,
one of the earliest nurserymen in Toronto, organized a fruit exhibition in 1832, but a few specimens of
apples, some wild plums, and some small fruit were all he could procure. He brought trees from New York,
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organized a nursery, and succeeded in interesting others in the subject. Many of the British settlers were
homesick, missing the familiar flowers and shrubs.
In taking a morning or an afternoon walk, there was the absence of many pleasing objects so familiar in
former everyday life. The ‘wee crimson-tippit’ flowers that covered the pasture fields like a carpet; the banks
of primroses, buttercups and violets, abounding by every roadside; the double line of hawthorns whose
blossoms perfumed the air with their delicious fragrance, and the honeysuckle and wall flowers in every
lane; the meadows, thick with May flowers, -- all were missed during this first summer in Toronto. For the
hedgerows we found the unsightly snake fence, and for the evergreens of holly, laurel, and ivy, the
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everlasting, monotonous pines, good for use but not very ornamental.
George Leslie could provide seeds and seedlings to grow those ‘wee crimson-tippit’ flowers. Survival in a
new land was not just about bread, potatoes and pork.
In 1834 George Leslie helped found the Toronto Horticultural Society, Ontario’s first horticultural society. It
was set up to foster the introduction and cultivation of improved varieties of fruits, plants, and vegetables.
When it incorporated in 1857 he was one of the Directors and later George Leslie was a life member and
director of the Horticultural Society and Botanical Gardens of Toronto. It is believed that the oldest trees in
Allan Gardens come from George Leslie’s nurseries. Another Leslieville gardener, John Logan, (Logan
Avenue is named after his family) was also active in the City of Toronto Horticultural Society.
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Globe, May 6, 1893.
Canadian History, No. 10 (June 1900), p. 263
145
Taylor, Coyningham Crawford, The Queen's jubilee and Toronto "called back" from 1887 to 1847 (Toronto:
William Briggs, Revised Ed. 1887), pp. 50-51.
144
66
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On March 1, 1836, George Leslie married Caroline Davis, the daughter of Calvin Davis, blacksmith and one
of Toronto’s first constables, and Elizabeth McDonald. Their children were: George (1841-1915), John Knox
(1846-1920), Caroline Jane (1849-1929), and Esther Ann (1850-1910). With marriage, commuting from
Meadow Vale to Toronto was finished. In 1837 George Leslie moved to Toronto. He leased Russell Abbey
Square as a nursery ground and opened a grocery/seed store, selling victuals, feed and grain, as well as
seeds and nursery stock. Leslie’s first nursery was bounded by King, Sherbourne, Front and Princes
Streets. Russell Abbey, the old frame house fronting on King Street, was once the home of Peter Russell,
the administrator of Upper Canada after Simcoe. By the 1830s it was dilapidated.
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Some have claimed that George Leslie’s nursery was “the first of its kind west of Kingston”. He even may
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have made that claim himself , but others had similar businesses before him. A Toronto Nurseries had
already been operating. When it went out of business George Leslie took the already familiar name for his
new company. On King Street there was Thomas Platt, Seedsman and Provision store, and on Lot street
west (Queen Street West), “opposite the Commons, down an avenue” was Richard Parries, Market Garden
& Nursery. On Yonge Street there was W. Adam, Nursery, Seedsman and Market Gardener. There was also
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Franks, Nursery Seedsman and Market Gardener.
These were small family-owned businesses. Everyone
worked, including women and children. They packaged the tiny and delicate seeds. Neither was Leslie was
not the first to put out a seed catalogue. Custead did, but so did others. For example, in 1837, Charles
Barnhart, Custead’s successor at the Toronto Nurseries, published his own catalogue. Most nurseries,
including Leslie’s, imported their nursery stock and seeds from Britain. There was a problem. Often the
seeds were not viable or the plants successful in the very different growing environment of Ontario. What
made George Leslie different wase his relentless efforts to find and test seeds that would succeed here.
As the young Victoria took the throne, reformers and liberals like George Leslie embraced the idea of
progress. Many were dissatisfied with autocratic Governor Sir Francis Bond Head and the dominance of the
Family Compact. In 1837, led by Toronto’s first mayor, William Lyon Mackenzie, many rose up in rebellion.
The Leslies took part in the Upper Canada Rebellion, but not in support of the rebels. Though Reformers,
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the Leslies were the sons of veterans and loyal to the Crown. George was no soldier, but he had a part as
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a volunteer in the fire brigade.
The main force of the rebels marched down Yonge Street, while Peter
Matthews, from Pickering Township, led a group westward along Kingston Road. This armed party was a
diversion meant to draw off troops from the main attacking force.
Matthews and his 60 men marched over the Don Bridge and into Toronto, burning as they came. As the
smoke billowed over the Don, St. Paul’s Catholic Church bells rang the alarm. The fire brigade, with its
heavy horses, galloped to the Don Bridge, as did a detachment of militia commanded by George Ridout.
The rebels heard the crash of the fire engine and the thunder of the horses’ hooves. Mistaking the noise for
the sound of approaching artillery, they fled eastward back across the bridge. As they fired the buildings
around the bridge, George Leslie fought the flames. When the rebels burned a tavern on the east bank of
the Don, the stableman fought back, firing at the rebels. They shot him dead. The rebels burned Number
One Tollgate. They tried to burn the bridge itself. According to some witnesses, a black man (probably
Thornton Blackburn) with a double-barreled shotgun and a woman, Mrs. Ross, stopped the rebels from
burning the only bridge into Toronto from the east. The rebels shot Mrs. Ross in the knee.
Hundreds of militia poured in to Toronto. Citizens were expected to put them up in their homes or pay for
them to stay in hotels. George Leslie paid for a dozen militia men at the York Hotel. After a week, the militia
moved to temporary barracks in Osgoode Hall and other public buildings.
146
Globe, May 6, 1893. Globe, June 26, 1893. Commemorative biographical record of the county of York, Ontario:
containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and many of the early settler families.
(Toronto: J.H. Beers & Co, 1907), p. 69.
Adam & Mulvany, History of Toronto and The Township of York, Vol. II, 196 – 197.
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Globe, June 26, 1893.
148
Walton, George. York Commercial Directory, Street Guide, and Register, 1833-4. (York, U.C. Printed by Thomas
Dalton), p. 67.
149
Adam, History of Toronto and County of York, vol. II, p. 196
150
Globe, May 6, 1893
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George Leslie was probably happy to return to business. He used every possible opportunity to market trees
and was eager to try new technology and methods. In 1838 the Gas Company opened operations in a new
gasworks just south of his store. There are two reports that George Leslie was the first to use gas in
Toronto:
…his store was the first building in the city lighted with gas; crowds coming to view the new illuminant.
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When the gasworks were completed … Mr. Leslie was the first to put in fixtures and use the new illuminant,
and so much of a curiosity was this regarded at that time that people came in numbers specially to see the
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place at night.
In 1840 Governor General, John Colborne, proposed that Toronto have its own botanical garden. Around
the same time George Leslie came to the attention of the one of the most famous horticulturalist of the day,
John Claudius Loudon. Loudon mentioned him (and Logan’s greenhouse) in his journal, The Gardener's
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Magazine and Register of Rural and Domestic Improvement.
This was excellent advertising for the
ambitious Leslie. George Leslie was a skilled user of the media, promoting his business through advertising,
interviews, and stories in newspapers and journals. George Leslie was good friends with Globe owner and
editor, George Brown. People in southwestern Ontario could pick up the Toronto Nurseries catalogue at the
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Western Globe office in London, Ontario.
In 1841 the Horticultural Society began holding annual exhibitions. Leslie and other market gardeners
participated. Exhibitions allowed them to advertise their seeds and plants, exchange information and
encourage the public to garden. In an era without television, radio or Internet, there was no better way to
promote products. Apples that won a prize at an exhibition sold throughout the Province. In 1845 George
Leslie won first place for best coxcombs, a flower. Leslieville gardener Joseph Pape won second place for
his winter cabbage, beets, parsnips, celery and carrots, but first place for his savoy cabbages and onions.
In the 1840s, Yonge Street was becoming an important thoroughfare, though not surpassing King Street.
The key for success was “Location! Location! Location!” In 1844, George Leslie opened a seed store just
south of King on the east side of Yonge Street. The Russell Abbey nursery supplied the plants. Leslie
advertised:
GEORGE LESLIE, NURSERY AND SEEDSMAN
BETWEEN KING STREET AND THE WHARF,
OFFERS for Sale a COMPLETE ASSORTMENT of GARDEN, FIELD, and FLOWER SEEDS
at Reduced Prices.
As the greater part of these Seeds have been grown by himself, at his Nursery, he feels confident that he
can supply Merchants, and others, at WHOLESALE, or in Boxes to RETAIL, cheaper, and with a fresher
article, than any house in Canada West. His Importations from J. WRESCH & Son, LondonError!
Bookmark not defined., of such Seeds as can be grown to greater perfection in Europe have been large,
and comprise many new and rare sorts of Flower Seeds.
G.L. would also invite public attention to his Nursery Establishment, for the cultivation of FRUIT and
ORNAMENTAL TREES, on a more extended scale that has been hitherto attempted in Canada.
Trees and Flowering Plants will be carefully packed, so as to bear transportation to any part of the Province,
should their passage take two weeks.
th
Toronto, 13 February, 1845.
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155
Woolverton, L., editor. “Some Prominent Canadian Horticulturalists – II”, The Canadian Horticulturalist. (Toronto
and Grimsby: The Fruit Growers Association of Ontario, 1888) Vol. XI., pp. 26-30; Globe, June 26, 1893.
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Globe, May 6, 1893.
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Loudon, John Claudius. The Gardener's Magazine. and Register of Rural and Domestic Improvement. (London,
UK: Longman, Rees, Orome, Brown and Green, 1840), p. 67.
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Globe, July 14, 1847. See also Globe, December 18, 1847, for a similar advertisement.
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Globe, February 18, 1845 and Globe, March 25, 1845.
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In 1845, the City bought part of George Leslie’s Yonge Street property and opened up Colborne Street
through it. George needed more room and opportunity beckoned with a plank. From 1836 to 1837 workers
planked the Kingston Road, providing a good route to transport products into Toronto. In 1842, he leased 20
acres of land from Charles Coxwell Small for a 21-year term. Small was a member of Toronto’s elite (Family
Compact) and Clerk of the Crown. He owned extensive just east of Leslieville. (Coxwell Avenue is named
after him.) Small may have thought he got the better of the deal when he found someone foolish enough to
lease his 20 acres of mucky swamp on Ashbridge's Bay. Leslie built his Toronto Nurseries on tamarack or
larch-covered swamp. (Larchmount Avenue recalls this swamp). His nursery would expand to 200 acres, the
largest in Canada. George Leslie did not buy those 20 acres until the lease ran out in 1863. Then Small
demanded an exorbitant price; Leslie paid it.
George Leslie had a great eye for location. His nurseries were just west of the Number Two tollbooth at
Leslie and Kingston Road so that he only had to pay the toll at Tollgate One near the Don. Also, since his
property was on Ashbridge’s Bay, he could ship by boat toll-freel. A little cove called the “Gut” lay at the foot
of Leslie Stree. Some of his later operations were on the north side of Kingston Road so that he benefited
from cheaper taxes in the Township of York.
The mid-nineteenth century was a golden age of greenhouses. For the first time, technology was available
to make large sheets of plate glass and iron frames. Steam engines heated these miniature “crystal
palaces”. The greenhouses and their crops amazed people. For the first time, fruit and vegetables were
available and affordable for the middle classes year round. People flocked to greenhouses simply to look at
the flowers and fruit. George Leslie sold not just plants and seeds, but books and tools. Having built the
Yonge store, George Leslie did not intend to have it destroyed. Sometime after 1845 he moved the store,
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“one of the best built frame structures of the time” to the Kingston Road site.
Leslie opened a new store
on Kingston Road (1164 Queen Street East). He offered his goods by mail order and delivered across
Ontario.
George Leslie was not the only Leslie in Leslieville. He was linked to network of kin including other Leslies
and the Beattys. In 1840 George Leslie’s brother, Robert, moved to Toronto and had a contracting and
building business. Robert later moved to Leslieville where he later became a cabinet and furniture maker
with a store on Queen Street. He had a large family even for the time – at least 14 children. They lived on
Darcy Street (now McGee).
Despite his skills and his family, George needed backers. George Ellwanger and Patrick Barry began their
Mount Hope nursery in Rochester, N.Y. in 1840. It became the largest in the world. George Leslie made a
deal to represent them here. His advertisement in the Globe of April 1, 1845 invites the public to visit his new
nursery: “The Tract of Land…is admirably adapted to the purposes” and offers: “Fruit and ornamental trees,
flowering shrubs and plants, greenhouse plants, bulbous flower roots, dahlias, etc.” His fruit trees were, he
claimed, “adapted to our latitude”. This was important because many trees imported from Britain could not
survive the Canadian winter. George Ellwanger and Patrick Barry’s names are prominent under Leslie’s in
the advertisement. That fall he advertised himself as proprietor, but changed his business name to “Toronto
Nursery and Seed Garden”. He had already planted more than ten of the 20 acres with trees and shrubs.
Competition was tough. Unscrupulous dealers misrepresented their wares, claiming that a less valuable tree
was another more valuable species. In the Globe, July 14, 1847, George Leslie addressed the problem. He
again invited the public to his nursery where they could see the growing conditions for themselves. This was
an outing for families and he developed his nursery grounds into an arboretum where the public could stroll
and have picnics. Leslie was not content to play second fiddle to Mount Hope now. In 1848 George Leslie
took out large ads in the Globe. He was now competing with his old partners, Ellwanger and Barry. After six
years, he was on his own, and boasting that he had a “variety of large well grown healthy Trees, of the most
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approved varieties, [that] now equals any between this and New York.”
George Leslie, though amiable,
was his own man, skilled at promoting himself. The Farmer and Mechanic pointed out that Leslie was a
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Globe, May 6, 1893.
Globe, September 16, 1848.
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valuable resource for Canadians:
This respectable firm [Ellwanger & Barry] have been connected with Mr. George Leslie’s nursery business
for the past four years which connexion, however, is amicably dissolved; and Mr. Leslie having procured all
the best varieties cultivated, and perfected arrangements for procuring new ones as they from time to time
are ushered into notice, a full and complete assortment of the choicest fruit trees may be had at the Toronto
Nursery, each warranted to be true to their sorts, at as low a price as can be had in any part of the United
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States.
How amicable the dissolution was remains open to question as the competitors sparred with each other over
the next decade.
George Leslie replaced Ellwanger and Barry in Ontario, selling wholesale to other gardeners and
nurserymen, and retail to the public. He offered to help people select the best fruit trees for their property
and purposes. George Leslie did not start most of his trees in his nursery, but instead imported trees from
Britain, including some of Toronto’s most common street trees such as Norway maple, European ash,
London plane tree, Scotch elm, etc. The Leslies left many specimen trees to grown in their nursery. 40 years
later Leslie’s Grove, the tree nursery, had, said the Leslies, “European and American forest trees of large
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size…in our grounds, some of them measuring over two feet through.”
th
In 1849, Leslie began writing for The Farmer and Mechanic. On March 14 , 1849 he took an opportunity to
advance himself at the expense of his Mount Hope rivals:
I have been engaged in the business of tree culture for twenty years in this neighbourhood. In
recommending varieties of fruit, I shall mention only such kinds as personal observation has convinced me
are quite suitable for this neighbourhood. …Canada has a right to share, with other parts of North America,
the profit and honour of having her fruit shipped to all parts of the world.
He warned against a lower-class competitor, the peddlers who sold trees at bargain prices from door to
door. Of course, the solution was Toronto Nurseries, if customers would:
… bring their waggons to the ground, and have their trees taken up, and carried home with them. They may
then often be planted within forty-eight hours after being dug; and if the following directions are carefully
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followed, success may reasonably be anticipated.
George Leslie began moving away from vegetables and flowers, specializing in selling trees, including fruit
trees, street trees and shelter-belt trees, and shrubs. Leslie wrote an article in The Canadian Agriculturalist,
in April 1849, encouraging fruit tree planting. He referred to himself as “an experienced Nursery-man in the
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vicinity of this city.”
He recommended his catalogue, as well as his favourite fruits. Apples could be
lucrative. George Leslie was making a name for himself and building his nursery stock. Trees take time to
grow. However, over the next five years a series of disasters struck. Greenhouses were heated by boilers
and furnaces fuelled by wood. Dry stacked cordwood invited fire. According to John Ross Robertson’s
Landmarks:
There were various small fires in the early part of the year 1849, the most important being one which, in the
middle of March, destroyed the greenhouses of Mr. George Leslie, of the Toronto Nursery, on the Kingston
Road, now known as Queen street east. It is unknown how the fire originated, as by the time the flames
were seen the largest greenhouse was almost consumed. Mr. Leslie lost by this calamity over 4,000
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valuable plants, amongst them being some very rare exotics. The loss was estimated at about $2,500.
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The farmer and mechanic. Vol. 1, no. 2 (Nov. 1848), p. 42.
Appendix to Report of Fruit Growers’ Association. Report of Delegation Appointed to Attend The AmericanForestry
Congress Held At Cinncinnati, Ohio, April 25 th to 29th 1882, in Annual Report of the Bureau of Forestr for the
Province of Ontario (Toronto: Ontario Bureau of Forestry, 1882.)
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The farmer and mechanic (Toronto: Eastwood, April. 1849.) Vol. 1, no 7, pp. 188 –193.
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The Canadian agriculturist [Toronto: G. Buckland, W. McDougall , 1849), Vol. 1, no. 4, Apr. 2, 1849, pp. 100-102.
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Robertson, John Ross. Landmarks of Toronto. (Toronto: J. Ross Robertson, 1896). Vol. 2, pp. 620-621.
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He recovered, but the next year another kind of accident cast a pall over the nursery. In 1850 Nelson Reid
drove his waggon, loaded with stone, along Kingston Road. A two-year old son of George Beamish, one of
Leslie’s employees, was playing on the road. Reid’s waggon ran over the toddler killing him instantly.
George Leslie’s wife, Caroline, died in 1851. He named Caroline Street on the west side of the Nursery for
her. He had four children under 12: George Jr., John Knox, Caroline and Esther, the youngest -- only four. In
1854 he married Mahala Greenall (1824-1905), an English woman, 21 years younger him. Mahala had a
reputation as a difficult woman and perhaps George lived the old Scottish proverb: The death o’ your first
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wife made sic a hole in your heart, that a’ the rest slipp’ed through. Nonetheless, his children thought of
her as their mother and the name, Mahala, echoes down through Leslie descendants since that marriage.
The fire did not set back the Toronto Nurseries for long. William Henry Smith commented on the new
interest in fruit growing in Ontario:
Latterly, however, the inhabitants have become more keenly alive to the value of good fruit, in preference to
indifferent, particularly in the market. No doubt, the great exertions that have been made in the United
States, in propagating and multiplying good descriptions of fruit, has exerted a beneficial influence upon the
inhabitants of Canada. Nurseries for fruit trees were first started in connexion [sic] with nurseries in the
United States: from there, stocks were transferred to other localities, new nurseries were established, stocks
were multiplied, prices lowered, till at length Canada has become as well supplied with plantations, and
good qualities of fruit, particularly apples, as any part of the world; and young grafted trees of the finest kinds
may now be purchased from the nurseries at about one shilling sterling each…we heard, two or three years
since, of a Toronto merchant, having a residence a short distance from the city, who sent some apples from
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his orchard to Scotland, and made a profit of £40 on the small quantity sent.
In 1856 the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) opened from Montreal through to Toronto. The GTR ran through
and local trains that could deliver nursery stock faster and more efficiently. The GTR stopped at the level
crossing on Kingston Road less than half a mile west of Leslie’s Nurseries.
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In 1853 Robert Baldwin made George Leslie a Justice of the Peace. The locals began to refer to him as
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“Squire Leslie”. According the Leslie family, he issued his own coinage or merchant tokens. Currency was
scarce and the rural economy ran on barter. Leslie’s tokens would be redeemed for a discount in his general
store or at the nurseries. After 1841 when Upper Canada became Canada West under the Act of Union,
merchants’ tokens were officially banned. However, they were used up to 1870 when Canadian coinage
replaced them.
By 1854 George Leslie was publishing extensive catalogues: “A Periodical descriptive catalogue of fruit
trees, ornamental trees and shrubs, roses, dahlias, grape vines, minor fruits, &c. : cultivated and for sale at
the Toronto Nursery, King Street East, Toronto : H. Stephens, 1853.” An 1854 Toronto Nurseries
advertisement offered apple trees in bulk: For sale, 1,000 Large Bearing Apple Trees, of various kinds,
th
suitable for city Gardens, &c. What remains unsold will be disposed of by auction on the 10 day of
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November. There began to be more interest in planting trees on public property, including streets. As well
it was becoming popular to make graveyards into garden cemeteries with trees and shrubs. George Leslie
was eager to supply the need: ...Gentlemen planting largely, Corporations planting Public Grounds and
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Cemeteries, will be supplied with large or small Trees at reasonable prices. Leslie continued to win at the
Toronto Horticultural Society Annual Exhibition. In 1856, he won a special prize for his snapdragons.
Leslieville gardener, James Best, won second prize for his red celery.
With greater public interest in trees, landscape architecture was becoming a formal profession, separate
from gardening. George Leslie was quick to see the benefits of working with landscape architects. The
designer could use Leslie’s plants. He worked with early landscape architect, William Mundie, a fellow Scot.
Mundie was based in Hamilton. Leslie took orders for Mundie at the Toronto Nurseries. With the
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Henderson, Andrew. Scottish Proverbs. (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1832), p. 64.
Smith, Canada: Past, Present and Future, 419.
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Woolverton, 26-30.
166
W. C. Chewett & Co's Toronto city directory. 1868-9, 439.
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Globe, October 18, 1854.
168
Globe., April 4, 1855.
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development of civic pride in Toronto, members of the public began calling for trees, even petitioning for
street trees. In 1857 a letter to the Editor pleads:
Wretched looking wooden awnings disfigure our finest thoroughfares, and not a solitary tree is to be seen to
lend its grateful shade to the passerby! This state of things should not continue. Unsightly awnings should
at once be removed, and a commencement made to plants some of our principal streets with trees. The
expense would be a mere trifle; and the beauty as well as the healthfulness of shade trees would amply
repay the inconsiderable outlay incurred…All who desire to join in its prayer can call during the day at Mr.
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Armour’s, and sign this document.
By the 1860s Leslie was specializing in trees for boulevard planting. In 1859 George William Allan offered
the Horticultural Society the land for use as a public garden. Edwin Taylor designed the grounds. George
Leslie was a Director and no doubt a subscriber. George Leslie was always generous with his trees:
TREES.—Mr. George Leslie, of the Toronto Nurseries, has lately sent a handsome donation in the shape of
150 trees of different sorts to the Agricultural Society of Kingston, for the purpose of adorning and
beautifying the grounds around the crystal Palace, belonging to the Association there. Such a present is
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alike honorable to the giver and must be very gratifying to the recipients.
Since he owned the biggest tree nursery, was a Director of the Horticultural Society, and, liked to donate
trees, we can be sure that many of the first trees in Allan Gardens came from Toronto Nurseries. George
Leslie also helped found the Provincial Exhibition, forerunner of the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE). He
exhibited over the years, winning many prizes. The Leslies stayed active in the Exhibition throughout their
lives. They were also involved in the Toronto Electoral Division Society’s Agricultural Society and the Fruit
Growers’ Association. The Association promoted fruit growing and wanted to develop varieties for Ontario’s
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climate, a concern that drove George Leslie.
Orchards became a major industry as apples became a
huge export crop.
George Leslie had both friends and competitors in the business; often his friends were his competitors and
fellow Scots. James Fleming, who opened his store in 1836, became a good friend. Leslie was a gregarious
man who loved a good story. Family lore has it that “he had a habit of entertaining three or four of his old
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cronies at 4 o’clock on weekday afternoons, serving scotch and water and crackers and cheddar cheese.”
This ritual was around the stove in George Leslie’s General Store and Post Office, though sometimes
George went with his friends to the Bright blacksmith shop in Riverside to enjoy the hospitality and manly
gossip. Chats about carrots over Scotch with Oliver Mowat, premier of Ontario, defy the modern imagination:
A very agreeable little part of some score of persons partook of dinner in Mr. McBride’s tavern on Yonge
Street, about four miles from Toronto, on the evening of October 22. ..The object of the meeting was to
receive the report of the Judges, Messrs. George Leslie, Mowat, and G.P. Dickson, who had carefully
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weighed and measured a portion of the carrots in the fields of the different competitors.
In1859, George Leslie moved his residence from his frame house to a much bigger new brick house at
Jones Avenue and Queen Street. He offered his old home:
For Sale or To Let, A Beautiful Country Residence. A very comfortable cottage, newly papered and painted,
with a large Greenhouse attached, containing some of the finest Grape Vines known on this continent, six
acres of land in excellent condition, partly cropped, fine young orchard, &c. is for sale or to let. The distance
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is 4 ½ miles from Toronto, eastwards. Good Road.
Leslie bought over many young Scots, probably as indentured servants or apprentices, to work in the
nurseries. John McPherson Ross (1850-1923) came to Toronto from Scotland in 1854. He went to work for
George Leslie, in 1863, when he was 13. Presbyterian Ross defied anti-Catholic sentiment when, on
September 7, 1874, he married Annie Mullaby, an Irish Catholic. Despite this, he became the Toronto
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Globe., September 7, 1857
Canadian Agriculturist, Vol. 12, no. 11 (June 1, 1860), 260.
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Globe, January 31, 1861.
172
Masson, Allan Morrison, Unpublished document. (Oakville, n.d.), p. 29.
173
Canadian Agriculturist, Vol. XII, 1860, 585.
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Globe, May 13, 1859.
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Nursery superintendent and later Mayor of East Toronto. Ross was an accomplished artist and like Leslie, a
lover of nature. George Leslie trained his men so thoroughly that they succeeded in their own businesses.
Many who afterwards became prominent in horticultural matters received their early training under Mr.
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Leslie. Landscape gardening was becoming more and more fashionable:
Landscape-landscape gardening, though comparatively of recent growth, has made very rapid progress in
the neighbourhood of Montreal, and in Upper Canada near the city of Toronto, in the neighbourhood of
which town there are eight or ten very interesting villas. The hemlock spruce and American arbor vitae grow
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there in great abundance. Loudon, John Claudius.
Leslie’s Grove became an unofficial park. At that time there were no public gardens “over th Don”. Leslie’s
Grove stretched all the way from just north of Queen Street to Ashbridge's Bay’s shore south of Eastern
Avenue. In a Letter to the Editor of the Agriculturist, in 1860, someone praised Leslie’s Grove:
Leaving home at half-past 3 a.m., by the early train, I arrived at the nursery of Mr. Leslie a little after five. As
gardeners never sleep after sunrise, I felt sure of finding Mr. L. about his premises even then. It happened,
however, that he was in the farther part of his grounds and thus I was left to take a quiet stroll through them.
Be sure that is was an hour of exquisite enjoyment. The sun had risen – not in fiery splendor, betokening a
burning day, very common at this season.
The air was soft and balmy, and so reviving; the trees laden with blossoms, filled the air with their delightful
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fragrance, and the numerous birds…
Ernest Thompson Seton, famous naturalist, recalled Leslie’s Grove:
Going farther east, we come to Leslieville on Ashbridge’s Bay. This place I knew very well. Old man Leslie
was one of the original settlers. His nursery and market garden along the shore of this bay made him
famous in his day, and comfortably well off; but, of course, when his children cut it up into town lots about
1886 or 1887, they were made rich. It was a glorious place for birds. The variety of trees furnished by the
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nursery, and the food opportunities, as well as the protection, made it a sort of sanctuary the year round.
As the nursery grew larger, his advertisements grew longer. This reflected his success, but also Leslie’s
concern about American competition. George Leslie’s 1861 advertisement read, as follows, in part:
BEWARE of American Tree Agents, who sell inferior stuff, at higher prices than Canadian Nurserymen. All
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Agents for these Nurseries have my signature to a certificate to that effect.
A Post Office was an essential component of a rural village. People came to the post office, usually in a
general store, to pick up their mail, buy goods like flour, a new saw, or gingham for a dress, and exchange
gossip. The first Post Office here was established in 1858 at Curzon and Queen was called “Ashport”.
Market gardener, William Lambert, whose property was just to the east of George Leslie’s, was the first
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postmaster for four years. In 1862 George Leslie junior was appointed postmaster. Then the post office
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name changed to “Leslie”. The Leslie Post Office was in Leslie’s General Store at the northwest corner of
Kingston Road and Curzon Street, close to George Leslie’s house, across from the Leslie & Son Nurseries.
Such appointments were often rewards for the right politics. George Leslie was interested in politics and had
been a City of Toronto Alderman for two years, Reeve of York Township for five years, and a school trustee.
However, he put other things first. “Although a strong Reformer, he has never neglected his business to
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Globe, May 6, 1893.
Loudon, Jane, editor. An Encyclopaedia of Gardening. (London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1860), p.
340.
177
Canadian Agriculturist, Vol. XII, 1860, 281.
178
Seton, By A Thousand Fires, 62-63.
179
Canadian Agriculturist ,Vol. 13, no. 5 (Mar. 1, 1861)], 159.
180
City of Toronto Directory for 1867-68.
Mitchell's general directory for the City of Toronto 1866, 404.
Canadian postal guide containing the chief regulations of the Post Office, the rates of postage (Montreal : E. Pickup,
1863).of York and Peel for 1866, p. 404
181
The Canadian agriculturist, Vol. 15, no. 4 (Apr. 1863), 160.
176
75
182
engage in political strife,” stated Graeme Mercer Adam.
His son was Postmaster for the Leslie Post
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Office . George was Justice of the Peace, nurseryman, general store owner and unofficial Squire of
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Leslieville, a long way from the young man who left the Highlands.
George Leslie still faced competition from Ellwanger and Barry in Rochester. Their advertisements for 1864
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are remarkably similar. George Leslie’s ad boasted of his prizes won at the Exhibition. The success at the
fair was an excellent marketing tool. George Leslie also advertised a tomato that he had tested in the
Toronto Nurseries, as he tested everything that he sold:
Orangefield Early Dwarf Tomato, The Earliest and Best-flavored Tomatoe we have yet tested, and very
productive. Seed 25 cents per packet – 6 packets for $1.00, free by mail. GEO. LESLIE & SON, Toronto
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Nurseries, Leslie P.O.
In 1866 Mitchell’s Directory lists “George Leslie” as Justice of the Peace in Leslie. By then the use
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“Leslieville” was becoming common, including in the city and county directories. City Directories were not
neutral voices of review, but a powerful advertising tool with advertisements and well-placed flattery paid for
by merchants. In an 1867 Directory, praise for George Leslie was probably well paid for:
Mr. Leslie keeps up a regular correspondence with some of the principal nurseries in Great Britain and the
United States, and spares no expense in adding to his stock all acquisitions of merit. Importations are
annually made from England of ornamental, deciduous and evergreen trees, exclusive of what is raised by
himself, so as to afford an extensive and varied assortment. In all its departments every care and attention
that a thorough knowledge of and experience in the nursery line may suggest, is readily taken advantage.
From this fact, and the already high reputation of the Toronto Nurseries, continued prosperity must be the
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reward.
The same directory describes the village:
Leslie P.O., (commonly called Leslieville,) is situated in the Township and County of York, two miles east of
Toronto, on the Kingston road. The village is named after Mr. George Leslie, who started the nursery
business here 20 years ago. The Post Office was first established about the year 1858, William Lambert
being appointed postmaster; in the year 1862, George Leslie, jun., the present postmaster, was appointed.
The village contains a common school, a separate school, one church, viz., Wesleyan Methodist, of brick,
erected in the year 1859, and capable of seating about five hundred people; three hotels, one blacksmith
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shop, one edge tool factory, a large distillery, brewery and vinegar factory, several brickyards, &c.
In 1866 George Leslie Jr. was the secretary of the Toronto Horticultural Society. That year Toronto hosted
the Provincial Exhibition for the fifth time since it began in 1846. There were many more buildings as well as
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a Midway.
1867 was the year of Confederation when Canada became a nation. In that year, Leslieville’s
most famous resident, Alexander Muir, wrote “The Maple Leaf Forever” as an entry for a poetry contest. It
went on to become English Canada’s unofficial anthem. That year, George’s mother, Esther Beatty, died at
the age of 84. Young John Knox Leslie joined his brother, George, working in the family business. Though
Postmaster, George Jr. was more hands on, doing physical labour with his father in the nursery. John Knox
182
Adam, History of Toronto and the Township of York, Vol. II, 196-197. 1866, p. 04
Canadian postal guide, 1863.
184
Mitchell & Co.'s general directory for the City of Toronto, 95; see also p. 285 and 287.
185
1849 is the year that Ellwanger & Barry and George Leslie broke off their partnership. Though the dates given for
the founding of both nurseries vary, Mount Hope and Toronto Nurseries both occasionally dated their start as 1849. The
Canada farmer, Vol. 1, no. 1 (Jan. 15, 1864), 118-119.
186
The Canada farmer, Vol. 1, no. 1 (Jan. 15, 1864), 118. Up until the 1820s many British and Americans would not
eat tomatoes, considering them poisonous as members of the deadly nightshade family.
187
Mitchell & Co.'s general directory for the City of Toronto 1866, 285-287.
188
City of Toronto directory, for 1867-8, James Sutherland, 334
189
City of Toronto. directory, for 1867-8, James Sutherland, 334
190
Guillet, Edwin C. Toronto: From Trading Post to Great City. (Toronto: The Ontario Publishing Co., Limited,
1934), 288-292.
183
76
77
191
was more bookish and became the clerk in the store and also the telegraph operator.
(George Jr. and
John Knox Leslie would be fascinated by the telegraph and telephone for the rest of their lives.) George
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Leslie Jr. was elected First Vice-President of the Toronto Electoral Division Society’s Agricultural Society.
Squire Leslie was an active village magistrate, hearing cases. For example, a Leslieville resident, James
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Squires was charged with perjury in a shooting case. George Leslie, J.P. heard the case.
Though not an
elected representative, Squire George Leslie stood up for Leslieville. East Enders felt that their needs were
chronically ignored by City Hall. In 1870 George Leslie went again and again to the City to try and have the
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tolls on Kingston Road abolished. The toll system was not abolished until 1896.
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By 1868 George Leslie advertised that the Toronto Nurseries was the largest in Canada. There was about
80 acres in the main block of the Toronto Nurseries between Pape Avenue on the west, Leslie Street on the
east; Kingston Road on the north and Eastern Avenue on the south. Another 20 acres (originally Charles
Coxwell Small’s land) lay south of Eastern Avenue, on the lake. He owned other land scattered throughout
Leslieville totaling about 150 acres. In 1869 George Leslie Sr. was 65 years old, considered ancient in those
days, and his sons began to take over more of the work of Toronto Nurseries. For the next 12 years John
Knox Leslie (Jack) was in the nursery business with his father and brother George Leslie Jr.
As the nineteenth century progressed, people were becoming more aware of the interrelationships between
trees and the environment, particularly the water cycle. Fruitgrowers’ President D.W. Beadle spoke of the
need to plant greenbelts and forests:
… the planting of native forest trees in belts around cultivated farms improves the conditions of climate by
governing to a great extent the degrees of temperature and rainfall, that our health and length of years, and
the sanitary condition of the country, depend on the influences these noble forest trees exert upon them.
They stand, if I may so express it, as gigantic capillary ducts, for the daily attraction and repulsion of fluids,
set in motion by the force of the sun, which raise these fluids gently from, and gain return them to the bosom
of the earth, and in this way they are made the instruments in regulating and graduating the permanency of
rainfall. While inhaling carbonic acid vapours, and condensing them in the shape of woody fibre as so much
stored up heat for our future use, they daily accumulate and emit that pure oxigen [sic] element without
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which human life could not exist.
Trees were no longer a farmer’s enemy, but his friends.
It was a fruitful time for the Leslies. On June 1, 1970, at Leslieville, Robert Cumming Jennings (1843-1920),
a banker, married Caroline (Carrie) Leslie, George’s daughter. Robert Jennings was the son of the Rev.
John Jennings and his wife Margaret. Dr. Jennings was a well-known Presbyterian minister. The witnesses
were William Tyndale Jennings of Toronto and George Leslie Jr. of Leslieville.
In the early 1870s, George Leslie sold a ground-breaking book, at the Toronto Nurseries:
H.A. Engelhardt. The Beauties of Nature Combined With Art. Montreal: John Lovell, 1872. For sale at all
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seed stores and at by Leslie & Sons, Toronto Nurseries.
In 1874 the Trustees of the Toronto General Burying Grounds hired H. A. Engelhardt, then Canada’s leading
landscape architect, to lay out Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Garden cemeteries were becoming highly popular
and this was to be Toronto’s showpiece. George Leslie and Sons won the contract to supply the trees,
shrubs and other plants, working closely with Engelhardt. James M. Goodall (1836-1918), a Highland Scot
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like George Leslie, laid out the Mount Pleasant cemetery for George Leslie.
In 1875 Engelhardt, Leslie
and Goodall turned the wooded ravine and plateau into a peaceful and proper resting place for the Victorian
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City of Toronto directory, for 1867-8, James Sutherland, 165.
Globe, January 20, 1868.
193
Globe, January 29, 1868.
194
Globe, March 29, 1870.
195
Grip Fast, July 2007, p. 4.
196
The Canada farmer, v. 1, no. 10 (Oct. 15, 1869), 391.
197
Englehardt, H.A. The Beauties of Nature Combined With Art. Montreal: John Lovell, 1872.
198
Horticulture. Boston: Mass, March 16, 1918, 255;
192
78
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dead. Goodall went on to become the City of Toronto’s inspector and responsible for planting over 40,000
trees along the City’s streets. Many of those trees came from the Toronto Nurseries.
Engelhardt’s book laid out his vision of what a cemetery could be. It should be a spacious, well cared for and
“admirably arranged…city of the dead”. Good landscaping would ennoble people. These garden cemeteries
should welcome everyone, no matter what their religion or denomination, replacing the overcrowded church
graveyards of the day. Such garden cemeteries should be accessible to the city, but away from noise and
bustle, on the outskirts. Engelhardt, true to his ideas, had winding roads laid out with smaller paths. Graves,
he thought, should be “from East to West” without too many fences to break up the visual harmony:
“cemeteries should also be well provided with seats and shade trees, characteristic and emblematic.”
Cemeteries, like Mount Pleasant, became valuable arboretums with species of trees from around the world
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and many interesting and unusual cultivars.
George Leslie was renowned for his fine hemlocks, a dark evergreen often thought appropriate for hedges,
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particularly in cemeteries. (It is ironic that George Leslie who did so much to beautify the graves of others
now lies himself in an unmarked grave in the Necropolis.) By the time he supplied the plants for Mount
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Pleasant Cemetery, George Leslie had two large greenhouses
and the Leslies were recognized as
experts in horticulture. They attended conferences in both Canada and the U.S. For example, George Leslie
Jr. attended the meetings of the State Pomological Society of Michigan. There was a discussion about the
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decline in the number of varieties of apple, a concern that is shared today.
George Leslie Sr. was known for training younger men to be gardeners and probably had trained some of
his competitors. In 1870, Canadian-born William Rennie (1835-1910) opened a seed store. Toronto had
about a dozen seed houses, then including those of George Leslie, James Fleming, George Keith, William
Rennie and Joseph Adolphus Simmers (1826-1883) who was also based “Over the Don” (in East York).
Simmers had been one of Leslie’s apprentices. In 1873 John S. and Richard Clarke Steele (1843-1910),
with Sylvester E. Briggs (1846-1926), lived 665 Broadview Avenue), founded Steele Brothers and Company
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which later opened a nursery in the east end of Leslieville on Queen Street.
George Leslie knew all of
these men well, sat on Boards with them, and probably shared scotch around the Toronto Nursery store
stove with them at one time or another. Tain, Ross-shire (also spelled “Rothshire”), where young George
had worked for Lord Anchorfield, had produced good whiskey since the Middle Ages. Glenmorangie distillery
there now produces fine single malts using water from the springs above Tarlogie.
One of the young students of his was special, a man after George Leslie’s heart – and his youngest
daughter’s. Alexander McDonald Allan (1844-1933) was the son of Rev. Daniel Allan, a Presbyterian
minister (both the Leslie daughters married the sons of Presbyterian ministers) and Margaret Macdonald. He
was born on the family farm, at Easthope near Stratford, Ontario. He went to the local public school and
then Stratford High School. After that he came to Toronto and was privately tutored for several years,
training to become a lawyer, but all did not go well. His heart was not in books, but in growing things. He
gave up his studies, supposedly for his health, to do manual work as a gardener. He spent several years
travelling in the U.S. learning about horticulture. After that he returned to Canada and became a protégé of
George Leslie’s, training at the Toronto Nurseries. While there he fell in love with the beautiful Esther (Essie)
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Pleasance Crawford, “H.A. Englehardt (1830-1897): Landscape Designer,” German-Canadian Yearbook V. 8
(1984), pp. 170-173.
Coutts, Sally, “Easeful Death in Toronto: A History of Mount Pleasant Cemetery”, Society of the Study of Architecture
in Canada Bulletin V. 11 N. 3 (September 1986), 9-10.
http://www.heritagefdn.on.ca/userfiles/page_attachments/Library/1/3153855_Mount_Pleasant_Cemetery_ENG.pdf
200
Engelhardt, 28 – 30.
201
Scott, William, The Florists’ Manual. (Buffalo: The Florists Publishing Company, 1906), p. 132.
202
Thomas, John Jacob. Rural Affairs: A Practical and Copiously Illustrated Register of Rural Economy and Rural
Taste. (Albany, NY: Luther Tucker and Son, 1873), Vol. II, p. 215.
203
Third Annual Report of the Secretary of the State Pomological Society of Michigan, 1873. Lansing: W.S. George &
Co., 1874.
204
Crawford, Pleasance. “William Rennie” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, http://www.biographi.ca
79
Leslie. On June 21, 1873, Alexander McDonald Allan married Esther Ann Leslie, the youngest daughter of
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George Leslie.
Alexander McDonald Allan wrote frequently on rural matters with articles, letters to the editor, etc. in the
Canada Farmer, the Farmer’s Advocate, the Weekly Globe, the Horticulturist and the Country Gentleman.
He became editor and owner of the Huron Signal and a director and eventually President of the Ontario Fruit
Growers Association. He became well known as an expert in fruit growing, and was in demand at fairs and
exhibitions across North America to judge the fruit growing competitions. In 1886 the Canadian government
appointed Alexander McDonald Allan as a Commissioner On Fruits at the Independent and Colonial
Exhibition in London. Allan was also instrumental in promoting the export of fruit to Britain. In 1886 he
shipped over 100,000 barrels of apples to Britain. He also helped developed markets for Canadian fruit in
continental Europe, including shipments to Norway and Sweden, Germany and even far off India. He
organized the Imperial Produce Company of Toronto, which became one of Canada’s largest fruit exporters.
He also founded the London Fruit Co. to sell Canadian fruit there. The Pall Mall Gazette called Allan “The
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Fruit King of Canada.”
In 1876, the Province of Ontario asked the Fruit Growers’ Association of Ontario to undertake a display at
th
the International Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. This was a major World Fair, on the 100
Anniversary of American Revolution, but it had been a bad fall. The plum crop failed totally. The pear crop
was “unusually light”. Heat and drought had damaged the apple crop. Exhibitors of agricultural produce
faced a challenge. George Leslie was not just an exhibitor. He was on the Provincial Advisory Board for the
Ontario delegation to the 1876 Philadelphia Exhibition and partially responsible for the Province’s showing
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there. Despite the drought, George Leslie & Son, of Leslie exhibited 35 varieties of apples; 23 varieties of
pears; 15 varieties of plums; ten varieties or grapes as well as currants, gooseberries, and raspberries. The
pears sound off the tongue like poetry: Blood-good, Pratt, Beurre d’Aremberg, Steven’s Genessee, Belle
Lucrative, Kirtland, Vicar of Winkfield, Duchesse d’Anglouleme, Winter Nelis, Louise Bonne de Jersey,
Clapp’s Favorite, Flemish Beauty, Beurre Giffard, Des Nonnes, Easter Beurre, Tyson, Hazel or Hessel,
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Buffam, Glout Morceau, Napoleon, Beurre Diel, Mount Vernon, and Bartlet.
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That year George Leslie boasted that “The Montreal Telegraph Co. have an office on our premises.” This
allowed the Toronto Nurseries to receive, confirm and even bill orders for plants, seeds, and other products,
over the telegraph wires, a distinct competitive advantage, just as e-mail and the Internet are today. Through
the telegraphic skills of John Knox Leslie, they were able to specialize in mail order. By the end of the
decade the Toronto Nurseries appears to have absorbed William Lambert’s nursery to the east as well as to
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have expanded north of the Kingston Road.
An 1879 advertisement for Toronto Nurseries claimed the
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nursery is 200 acres in size. George Leslie owned the 100 acres of the main nursery and, from 1870 to
1884, a 22 ½ acre field that became the subject of a legal fight between George Gooderham and the City of
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Toronto. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of the Gooderhams in1895.
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George Leslie Jr. was Deputy Reeve, Township of York, but still very involved in the nursery.
By 1877,
George Leslie was himself 73 years old and becoming known as “Old Man Leslie”. He was still involved in
the Toronto Industrial Exhibition. The Exhibition moved each year from city to city around the Province,
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Globe, June 24, 1873.
Morgan, Henry J. The Canadian men and women of the time a handbook of Canadian biography. (Toronto: W.
Briggs, 1898), pp. 11-14.
207
Richmond, Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, Herbert Bruce Sandford, Reports on the Philadelphia International
Exhibition of 1876. (London: Houses of Parliament, 1877)
208
Sessional Papers. Legislature of the Province of Ontario. Toronto: Ontario, Legislative Assembly, Volume IX. Part
II, 317.
209
White, William, Graeme Mercer Adam, George Stewart. The Canadian Monthly and National Review. (Toronto:
Adam, Stevenson & Co., 1876), p. 348.
210
Toronto city directory, May, 1873, to May, 1874, Wm. Henry Irwin, 117
211
Canadian Horticulturist, May, 1879.
212
Supreme Court of Canada, Gooderham v. Toronto (City), 25 S.C.R. 246
Date: 1895-03-11,
http://csc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/1895/0rcs25-246/0rcs25-246.html
213
Fisher & Taylor’s County of York Townships Directory, 1876. Township of East York, 179.
206
80
however, many groups pressed for the Exhibition to be permanently held in Toronto. The first annual fair
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was held in Toronto during the first three weeks of September in 1879. George Leslie, Jr. was a Director
215
of the Toronto Industrial Exhibition. He stayed working with his father in the family business. In 1881 John
Knox Leslie left the nursery when he was appointed clerk of the Township of York, a position he held until
1888. Squire Leslie still continued to act on behalf of Leslieville despite his age. In 1880 George Leslie &
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Son petitioned the City to install gas street lighting on the Kingston road to Leslieville.
Highly respected in the industry, he was a valuable asset to the Province. In 1880, the Agriculture and Arts
217
Association of Ontario presented George Leslie with a special silver medal. His nursery stock was “Gold
Medal Nursery Stock” and that medal from the Toronto Horitcultural Society is still in the possesson of one
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of Leslie’s descendants.
In 1880 George Leslie testified before the Ontario Agricultural Commission on
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forestry. George Leslie Jr. was an expert witness before the Agricultural Commission in 1881. The Leslies
told how they had begun by importing very young seedlings mostly from the Lawson Seed and Nursery
Company, Edinburgh. They found it cheaper to import than to raise them from seed here, but grew the
seedlings to selling size here. They sold trees and shrubs for orchards, shelterbelts, lawns and roadside
planting. For street trees George Leslie Jr. particularly recommended European ash, Norway maple, Silver
maple, Horse chestnut, and Basswood (Linden), street trees found throughout Toronto today. George Leslie
Jr. also liked Purple beech, European weeping birch, Scotch elm, and American elm (nearly wiped out later
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by Dutch elm disease).
In 1881 the Globe interviewed George Leslie Sr. and Alderman James B.
Boustead, City Commissioner, about planting street trees. People often planted “bush trees” – uncultivated
or wild trees that they dug up in ae forest and transplanted on their lawns. Because their roots were
damaged, such trees rarely survived. George Leslie Sr. listed his favourite trees for city streets: European
ash, Scotch and American elms, Horse chestnut, Basswood, Norway maple, Silver maple, Sugar maple,
walnut, birches and Lombardy poplars. The newspaper commented on the lack of municipal funding for
trees.
There is no civic appropriation for either the planting or care of trees, but the City Commissioner [Boustead]
says that he spends as much as $500 some years on this branch of public work. This money he takes from
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the general health appropriation.
Agricultural Commission representatives visited the Toronto Nurseries and left their impressions:
As you approach Leslieville you find a wooded neighbourhood. There is half a mile of the Kingston road
shaded with large trees, planted in the public ground, and north and south, a hundred acres extend, covered
everywhere with young trees of a thousand kinds, interspersed with towering plantations, dotted here and
there with mighty trees, the monarchs of the grove. When we learn that thirty years ago there was scarcely
a tree in sight, we see that it is in the power of man, if he choose, in no long period to reproduce the
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forest.
In 1882 George Leslie Sr. offered practical advice on growing trees to the Commissioners. He disapproved
of monoculture tree plantations with long rows:
If trees are planted by the acre, ten acres or more, they should never be planted in rows; planting in rows is
never practiced in Europe where thousands and thousands are planted every year. They are planted in, or
dotted in, as the grounds suits, among rocks and stones from three to five feet apart. Plantations set for
timber and other uses are better mixed with evergreens, such as spruce and pine trees. Those procured
214
Guillet, 288-292.
Globe, August 19, 1880.
216
Globe, May 1, 1880.
217
Canadian Horticulturalist, 1888, 29.
218
Globe, May 1, 1880.
219
Globe, October 26, 1880.
220
Ontario Agricultural Commission. Report of the Commissioners, And Appendices A to S. (Toronto: Ontario
Agricultural Commission, 1881), pp. 166-169.
221
Globe, April 25, 1881.
222
Ontario Bureau of Forestry, Annual Report of the Bureau of Forestry for the Province of Ontario, (Toronto, 1882),
p. 29.
215
81
from the nurseries are always the cheapest. When the ground can be ploughed deep it helps the growth of
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the trees.
George Leslie, in 1881, once more made the newspapers. He and George Jr. had built new barns with
lumber from trees that they themselves had grown. This was sustainable forestry at a time when most
thought the giant White pines of Ontario would be there forever, waiting to be chopped down and floated to
224
225
the sawmill.
His colleagues admired his success, widely spoken of in the trade.
Under the John A. MacDonald’s National Policy, tariff walls went up to protect Canadian industry. The
Canadian Pacific Railway was built to carry goods and people across the country. Toronto Nurseries’ trees
could now go almost anywhere in Canada. The nursery was finally protected from the competition across
the border. Business boomed, but the Leslies were unhappy about government intrusion. Nineteenth century
Reformers like Leslie were philosophically opposed to tariffs – even when they benefited from them:
Messrs. Geo. Leslie & Son report they do not attribute their increased business this season to the N.P.
[National Policy] but to the scarcity of fruit and ornamental trees in the States. The firm export trees instead
of having to import them, and as far as they are concerned they would be willing to see the tax taken off
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tomorrow as to trees, etc.
Life was not always easy for the elderly Leslies. Their daughters had married and moved away, with families
of their own. In 1882 Mahala Leslie had a painful accident when she was trying to light a chandelier in the
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drawing room. She climbed on a chair and it tipped over, throwing her to the floor. She broke her left wrist.
George suffered from erysipelas or St. Anthony’s fire, a skin infection, on the face. In the days before
antibiotics erysipelas could become chronic and even life threatening as there was no effective treatment
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available.
The Leslies gave up the general store and post office around 1882. It was sold to Joseph
Trebilcock (1850-1926), from neighbouring Norway. The brick building at the northwest corner of Curzon
and Queen dates at least to 1882 when they took over the store. They may have tore down the old building
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or merely renovated it.
Local residents in the 1950s believed it was the original George Leslie Post Office
230
and General Store.
George Leslie continued as Justice of the Peace:
LESLIEVILLE MAGISTRATES COURT. Mr. J. Leslie, Sr. J.P., presided. The first case was Robert
Johnson, charged by J. Platt with using insulting, abusive, and threatening language...George Warner and
Thomas Smith were charged with trespassing on the premises of Mr. Alex. Ross. The boys pleaded guilty,
on which the prosecutor asked His Worship to deal leniently with them. The case was dismissed with
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costs.
Men and boys frequently trespassed in Leslieville. The temptation to steal food was constant in a time of real
hunger. Yet while need was a factor, so was greed. People stole produce, poultry and livestock to re-sell
them. In 1881 chicken thieves hit the Leslies several times. Mahala Leslie raised valuable Dorking hens for
their eggs. In October, “Thieves broke into the fowl house on the premises of Mr. Geo. Leslie, Sr., a night or
two ago, and stole thirty-four hens. With almost unparalleled audacity, the fowls were killed and plucked on
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the premises.”
It took nerve to raid a magistrate’s hen house, but it was widely believed then that many of
223
Appendix Report of Fruit Growers’ Association, 1882.
Globe, July 28, 1886
225
Allan, Alexander McDonald. “Some Lessons We have Learned and Suggestions for the Future.” The American
Journal of Forestry. (Cincinnati, Ohio: Robert Clarke & Co., September 1882 – October 1883), pp. 294-295.
226
Globe, March 24, 1882.
227
Globe, March 24, 1882
228
Toronto Daily Mai, November 2, 1882.
229
Globe, April 8, 1882 . Trebilcock may have torn down the old Leslie post office and built a new one on the site. The
post office remained on that corner for many years.
230
Grade Seven Class, Room 29, Leslieville of Yesteryear: A Study of the Local Community. (Toronto: Leslie Street
Public School, Toronto, 1957.)
231
Globe, September 3, 1881.
232
Toronto Daily Mail October 23, 1882.
224
82
these marauders were poor Irish from west of the Don: Cabbagetown and Corktown. They raided the
Nursery too. The Leslies put up high wooden walls to keep trespassers out:
Complaints are made by Messrs. Geo. Leslie & Son, of gangs of young lads breaking into their nurseries on
Sunday afternoons. Yesterday afternoon five were observed climbing over the fence, each loaded with
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handkerchiefs filled with plants. A policeman is badly needed in the neighbourhood.
Other nurserymen faced the same challenge. As the City spread eastward, it brought urban poverty into a
Leslieville long accustomed to rural poverty. The labourers of Leslieville could always feed themselves with
vegetables from the garden, fish from the lake, a cow in their yard, their own pig, and a few chickens, as well
as whatever they could earn in the brickyards, nurseries, slaughterhouses or cutting ice off season. Poor
people in crowded slums had fewer resources.
George Leslie, though unsympathetic to thieves, was a great benefactor to Leslieville. George Leslie planted
trees along Leslieville’s streets of Leslieville, including Eastern Avenue and Queen Street. According to the
Globe, “Mr. Leslie did much to open up and develop the east end, planting many trees that now afford
234
grateful shade to pedestrians.”
Desirous of making improvements in the east end of the city, Mr. Leslie proposed the opening up of a new
street through his own lands, south of Queen street, and to his energy and liberality are largely due the
creation of what was at first called South Park street, now Eastern avenue, he donating the right of way
through his own grounds, a length of some 2,000 feet, equal to several acres. Under his supervision, and
entirely at his own expense, this avenue was planted, as were other streets in the neighborhood, the rows of
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horse chestnut in front of the Queen street property being considered the finest in the Dominion.
Some of George Leslie’s horse chestnuts are still standing.The Leslie’s were still generous with their trees
and with their land. In 1883 George Leslie gave 50 feet of ground to build a fire hall at the corner of McGee.
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Street and Kingston Road. He also donated “enough shade trees to plant along the front.”
Leslie
encouraged urban forestry, and growing street trees throughout his career. In an interview a few years later,
he was asked about the Ontario Fruit Growers’ Association: Yes, I have been interested in it from its
formation; and now I read THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURALIST with much pleasure, but I think you
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should devote more attention to the subject of Forestry.
By this time Toronto Nurseries were marketing
their products wholesale to “Tree Dealers and Agents” who could buy trees in bulk “at low figures to the
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trade.”
In 1884 the City of Toronto annexed most of Leslieville after a referendum. Most people thought Leslieville
had little choice but to join the City. Speculators, encouraged by th pending annexation, bought up market
gardens and abandoned brickyards to subdivide for working-class homes:
New houses are springing up like mushrooms in all parts of Riverdale, and quite a boom has commenced in
real estate. Property is changing hands daily, and small houses suitable for mechanics, etc., find purchasers
as soon as they are completed. The prospects of annexation to the city of Toronto sometime during the
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ensuing year has induced many small capitalists to speculate.
In 1888 George Leslie was 84 but still active in Toronto Nurseries. He believed, however, that the Nurseries’
days were numbered:
Value of land, for instance, has wonderfully advanced. A corner lot which I owned at one time and sold for a
site for a bank [corner of Colborne and Yonge St.] for $100 per foot, is now worth $2000 per foot; and
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Globe, Monday, June 5, 1882.
Globe, June 26, 1893
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Globe, May 6, 1893.
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Globe, March 24, 1883
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The Canadian Horticulturist, vol. XI, no.2, 1888.
238
Globe, September 26, 1881.
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Toronto Daily Mail, October 23, 1883.
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83
84
although these grounds are so far east of the Don, they are already too valuable to hold for orchard or
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nursery purposes, and must be sold soon for building lots.
George Leslie began selling some of his nursery housing. He sold some property at the northwest corner of
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Eastern Avenue and McGee Street to Edward Blong for $1,500. It became housing.
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In January, 1888, George Leslie, was ill again. He was a Methuselah by the standards of the time.
His
health was declining and he was frequently bed ridden, in considerable pain. He was no longer able to take
part in running the nursery. As the Globe put it in 1893: Resigned to the inevitable, Mr. Leslie…bears the
infirmities of his great age cheerfully and uncomplainingly, grateful for many mercies—notably that his
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wonderfully retentive memory is so little impaired.
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The nursery was still known nationally for its high quality and reliability.
But trouble loomed. John Knox
Leslie was not interested in the nurseries. George Jr. was not up to the task of following in his father’s very
large footsteps. George Jr., though a competent gardener, did not have a good business mind and dabbled
in questionable investments. John Knox Leslie had resigned as clerk of the Township of York when his
father asked him to take over managing the business side of the nurseries, including real estate dealings.
However, John Knox’s mind was elsewhere – on politics. Free from his responsibilities as Township clerk,
John Knox Leslie could now through himself into local politics, becoming what we now call a “community
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activist”. In 1888, the City extended Queen Street’s sewers.Queen Street residents were expected to pay
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for the sewers. They objected and John Knox Leslie led the fight to appeal the assessment.
On May 6, 1893, when it was clear George Leslie was dying, the Globe interviewed him. He recalled his
childhood and how he came to Canada as well as the growth and development of Leslieville. The Globe
commented on his character: Decided in character, adhering closely to his convictions, he, in establishing a
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business followed persistently what was considered the proper course... George Leslie died on June 14,
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1893, with his family around him. Out of respect, the City of Toronto flew its flag at half-mast. His funeral
was on June 27, 1893. He was buried at the Necropolis overlooking the Don Valley. All of city council
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attended. Mayor Robert John Fleming was a pallbearer as was old friend and competitor, William Rennie.
The attendees read like a Who’s Who of Toronto society. Rev. W. Frizzell of the Leslieville Presbyterian
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Church led the services. George Leslie had been the oldest member of that congregation.
They buried
George Leslie Sr. next to Caroline Anne Davis, his first wife. Son, George, is buried in the same plot; Mahala
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Greenall is in next door the plot. None of their graves are now marked.
A PATRIARCH’S DEATH
MR. GEORGE LESLIE, SEN., PASSES AWAY AT A RIPE OLD AGE—A MAN WHO DID MUCH FOR
TORONTO
Full of years, and respected by all with whom he came in contact during a life prolonged far beyond the span
allotted to man, Mr. George Leslie of Leslieville passed away shortly after 4 o’clock on Saturday afternoon.
He had been gradually sinking for the past few days and his family were gathered together in anticipation of
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Globe, June 8, 1883.
Globe, June 28, 1888.
242
Globe, February 7, 1888.
243
Globe, May 6, 1893.
244
The Canadian live-stock and farm journal [Vol. 6, no. 63 (Jan. 1889)], p. 21.
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Globe, March 28, 1888 Globe.
246
Globe, May 3, 1888.
247
Globe, May 6, 1893.
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Globe, June 26, 1893
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Leslie Jennings (1875-1958) started as in the North West Mounted Police as a constable and became Deputy
Commissioner of the R.C.M.P. He married Jean Gladys Bowen-Perry in September, 1911. She was the daughter of
RCMP Commissioner A. Bowen-Perry. Information communicated by Sandy Ramos, historian, RCMP, Ottawa.
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Globe, June 28, 1893.
251
From the ledgers of the Necropolis Cemetery.
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the end. Those who surrounded the bedside were: Ald. John K. Leslie and Mrs. Leslie, George Leslie jun.,
the two sons, and Mrs. R. T. Jennings, Toronto Junction, and Mrs. A. Macdonald Allan of Goderich, the
daughters of Mr. Leslie, accompanied by their husbands. Though he suffered a good deal during his last
illness the end was peaceful.
Arrangements for the funeral have been made. It will take place on Tuesday to the Necropolis, and will
doubtless be attended by many citizens who have known Mr. Leslie during his residence of nearly 70 years
in Toronto.
Mr. Leslie was born at Rogart, Sutherlandshire, Scotland in 1804. When he was twenty years of age he
came with his parents to Canada, the voyage occupying six weeks. The family settled on a farm at
Streetsville, but in 1825 Mr. Leslie came to Toronto and worked as a gardener, among the grounds on which
he was employed being those of the old parliament buildings on Front street, Upper Canada college,
Osgoode hall and the asylum for the insane. Later on he opened a seed store – the first of its kind west of
Kingston—and he commenced dealing in nursery stock. At that time he used as a nursery the property
bounded by King, Sherbourne, Front and Princes streets, but, as the growth of the city advanced, it became
necessary to move outward. The present grounds on Queen street east he purchased in 1845 from the late
C.C. Small, crown clerk. From that time on his business increased, until it became the foremost of that line in
Canada. Mr. Leslie did much to open up and develop the east end, planting many trees that now afford
grateful shade to pedestrians. He was a Presbyterian and years ago took a prominent part in the affairs of
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Knox church. He was a life-long Reformer and one of the oldest subscribers to The Globe in Ontario.
George Leslie was a pioneering nurseryman who promoted the Toronto Horticultural Society, Allan Gardens,
the Toronto Industrial Exhibition, and the Ontario Fruit Growers Association. Though he did not wander from
place to place dropping apple seeds like Johnny Appleseed, he was responsible for many orchards. He
supplied the trees; educated the farmers about fruit growing; helped find ways to market Ontario fruit in
Britain; and lobbied for government support for the industry. George Leslie was also active politically in the
Reform Party, but was not a politician himself. George Leslie stood back and watched his sons run for office
while he remained the unelected Squire of Leslieville. He was one of the founding members of the Leslieville
Presbyterian Church, and, in a time of religious intolerance, apparently a tolerant man. He, for example,
allowed the Roman Catholic community to use Leslie’s Grove for fundraisers. Records do not indicate that
he ever belonged to an Orange Lodge.
George Leslie left a large estate with considerable real estate, including properties on Queen Street East, on
Jones Avenue, on Curzon Street, on Eastern Avenue and on Leslie Street, worth almost $115,000 in
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1893. Today he would have been a millionaire. Mahala was left land rich, but cash poor, with no income
except from a failing business. George and John Knox Leslie almost immediately sank into trouble. They
had invested heavily in telephone equipment that competed with Alexander Graham Bell’s. They lost.
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In 1895 the Estate and Mahala Leslie successfully appealed their tax assessment. In 1897, Mahala Leslie
tried to make a deal with the City. She asked $600 a year for the rest of her life in exchange for what was left
of Leslie’s Grove. She was 73 years old and there was no Old Age Pension. On July 16, 1897, Mayor R. J.
Fleming led a parade of politicians, officials and citizens to proposed park sites around Toronto. Leslie
Grove was one: The first stop-place was at the corner of Jones avenue and Queen st. east. A property here
enclosed by a barb-wire fence consists of two and a half acres of natural park, the rear part cultivated, but
the great share of the property boasting of a grove of splendid trees, maple, elm and pine, amid a tangle
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undergrowth and beautifully wild vegetation.
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Globe, Monday, June 26, 1893.
Globe, November 16, 1893.
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Globe, Saturday, November 9, 1895.
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Toronto Star, July 17, 1897.
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86
87
In other words, the arboretum was a mess, but the trees were impressive. Not all the aldermen were
convinced. His enemies accused Alderman John Knox Leslie of trading political favours in exchange for a
pension for his step-mother. This was not an outrageous accusation given the Council’s penchant for
corruption or “boodling”, as it was called. One politician said that: “The parks were used largely by people
who lounged around and spent the day instead of providing a living for themselves.” Someone else said that
Alderman Joseph Russell had said that Leslie Grove was worthless. Alderman Russell shot back that his
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own land [brickyards] in the vicinity was assessed at $25 a foot, a lot of money in those days. The land
was not worthless; he was for the deal. Other Aldermen and the Mayor admired the beautiful trees in
Leslie’s Grove. Alderman John Hallam, a long time enemy of John Knox’s, tried to block the deal, arguing
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that the square was too small for a park. The deal passed by a majority of 18 to four.
Leslie’s Grove,
commonly known as “Mosquito Park”, was now a City Park and soon to become a playground. Middle-class
reformers, like Silas Armstrong, led the playground movement. They believed that providing outdoor
recreation could prevent a number of social ills and improve health, especially by preventing tuberculosis. In
1902 the City of Toronto began allowing the public use of schools, including school yards. In 1905 the
Toronto Council of Women began a “vacation school” and teachers as supervisors. In 1907 the Toronto
Board of Education took over the vacation schools, and began supervising three summer playgrounds. In
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1909 J.J. Kelso
and the Toronto Council of Women formed the Toronto Playground Association. The
Evangelia Settlement, founded in 1902, was the first “settlement house” in Canada. Settlement house
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workers created the playground at Leslie Grove.
In 1913 the City Parks Department assumed
responsibility for playgrounds, and opened many more. In 1914 the City playground budget increased to
$49,000. There was no playground equipment or field house at Leslie Grove until 1915 or 1916.
Things went from bad to worse for Toronto Nurseries. In 1899 they were hit by an embezzler. Their
bookkeeper and salesman, Frank Warner, siphoned off money from the accounts. Warner was jailed for 30
days. “A light sentence was imposed, in view of the fact that the prisoner has a wife and eight children
depending upon him. The Magistrate gave him a strong lecture, and told him that “his ideas as to the rights
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of property were very hazy, indeed.” In 1900 Henry Lamb stole some books from George Leslie Jr. and,
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unlike Frank Warner, was not let off easy. He was sentenced to 40 days at hard labour for his crime.
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In 1905 Mahala Leslie died of heart failure in the Western Hospital. After she died most of the Nurseries
was sold. Part was sold to Hart & Barkey, gardeners; and part to Ross & Son (J. McPherson Ross and
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Charles Ross) who purchased a much smaller Toronto Nurseries.
The Toronto Nurseries had its head
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office at 1167 Queen Street East, across the street from the old 1164 Queen Street East address.
Continuing under the Toronto Nurseries name, Ross & Son, “Nurserymen, Landscape Architects”, offered
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landscape gardening, as well as trees. . They frequently advertised in the newspapers, reminding
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Torontonians that they did not have to go to the country to get plants. Toronto was “Right Here in Town”.
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In 1916 Toronto Nurseries sold “Extra Size Shade Trees Half-price to Clear the Ground.”
Much of the land was mortgaged to the Gooderhams and sold off for housing around 1910. On July 20,
1910 Esther Leslie Allan, wife of Alexander McDonald Allan, died of cancer. By 1911 George Leslie, Jr. was
a lodger in Annie Swinton’s boarding house at 173 Seaton Street. In 1915 George Leslie Jr. died and was
buried beside his father and mother. The Canadian Pacific Railway bought some of the Toronto Nurseries
land after his death. The CPR was one of Canada’s biggest real estate developers and speculators. In the
mid-1920s “Leslie Gardens” was laid out and neat rows of bungalows built on Larchmount, Berkshire,
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Might City Directory, 1903.
Globe, August 6, 1897; Toronto Star, July 17, 1897.
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founder of both the Toronto Humane Society and the Toronto Children’s Aid Society.
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Stott, Mary Dale, ed. History of Canadian Settlements. (Toronto: Self-published), p. 65.
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Globe, September 16, 1899
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Toronto Star, September 12, 1900.
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Globe, October 30, 1905.
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Toronto Star, April 29, 1927.
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Toronto Star, April 24 and April 27, 1912; Globe, April 3, 1913.
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Globe, April 3, 1913.
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Globe, October 10, 1914.
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Globe, April 19, 1916.
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Rushbrooke, and Marigold. Marigold Gardens was built on a wetland: “nothing but bulrushes and
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swamps”.
These uniform streetscapes stand out in the jumble of houses that characterize most of
Leslieville.
Attitudes towards trees had changed. In 1917, Riverdale residents protested when the City of Toronto cut
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down an old beech tree. It was a local landmark about 200 years old. On December 31, 1883, another old
landmark tree was cut down with hardly a murmur heard. This was massive elm stood at the north east
corner of Queen Street East and Pape Avenue in front of the house where Alexander Muir had lived when
he wrote the “Maple Leaf Forever”. This was also the home of Toronto’s former High Constable William
Higgins. Leslieville believed this was a hanging tree where locals had lynched a number of malefactors over
the years. After they cut down the elm, they sawed it into sections and gave the rounds to Leslieville’s
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butchers for butcher’s blocks.
John Knox Leslie died in 1920.
In the early 1920s the Dunlop Football Grounds occupied part of the old Leslie Nurseries. Toronto Nurseries
Ross & Son was, next door at 1167 Queen Street East. In 1922 the Toronto Nurseries moved to Eastern
Avenue and Leslie Street. Their new address was 701 Eastern Avenue. They opened a branch sales ground
at corner of Danforth and Ellerbeck Avenues, where, thanks to the completion of the King Edward Viaduct,
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business was booming. Construction ate up the old Toronto Nurseries. In 1923 66 houses were built on
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Berkshire Avenue. Ross & Son no longer advertised as “Toronto Nurseries”, just “Ross & Son.”
In 1924, the Globe remembered the CNE’s founding and listed the first Committee. A number of familiar
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names were there, including George Leslie Jr.,
but by the mid-1920s the term “Leslieville” had
completely faded from use. By 1926, people spoke of George Leslie with nostalgia: Do You Remember
When? Though Present News Come Quick and Fast, ‘Tis pleasant to recall the past… When George Leslie
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had his nurseries in Leslieville, and his sons George and John were with him in the nursery business?
nd
Daughter Caroline Leslie died on January 2 , 1929, in Brantford. She was 81. Her husband was Robert
th
Cumming Jennings. In 1933 Alexander McDonald Allan, Esther Leslie’s husband, died at Toronto in his 89
year.
After the 1929 stock market crash, people stopped buying plants as unemployment skyrocketed. By the
winter of 1930 Toronto Nurseries was in financial crisis. Creditors demanded payment. Even Oudijk
Brothers in Holland, who provided Toronto Nurseries with tulips and other bulbs, sued for non-payment of
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bills. In April 1930 Trustees in Bankruptcy auctioned off Toronto Nurseries.
George Leslie was gone, but not forgotten. On June 20, 2009, Councillor Paula Fletcher, George Leslie’s
descendent Caroline Floroff, and others unveiled a Heritage Toronto plaque in Leslie Grove Park to honour
George Leslie, founder of Leslieville. George Leslie and the Toronto Nurseries are being re-evaluated at a
time when trees themselves are increasingly treasured, especially by city residents. Perhaps George
Leslie’s greatest legacy is in the trees lining Toronto’s streets and gracing our parks.
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“Short Stories of Leslieville”, Ward 8 News, February 9, 1979.
Toronto Star, December 17 1917.
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Toronto Daily Mail, December 31, 1883.
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Globe, April 22, 1922.
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Globe, March 31, 1923.
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Globe, August 22, 1924.
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Toronto Star, July 17, 1926.
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Toronto Star, January 13, 1930.
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Toronto Star, April 28, 1930.
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Leslieville had three major industries: brick making, livestock, and market gardening. Later urban
immigrants from Britain often resented Leslieville’s identification with “pigs, flowers and bricks”. In a 1903
Letter to the Editor, G. Vennell called for streetcar service to the area between Broadview, Greenwood,
Danforth and Gerrard, protesting that: It is a mistake to suppose that all this land is used as market gardens,
brickyards and cattle ranches. There are hundreds of acres of some of the best residential sites in the city
unoccupied, and only waiting street-car facilities to be taken up and built upon. As it is, houses are going up
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in every direction…
The smelly, dirty industries that made Leslieville were obstacles to a developing
suburban Riverdale. Yet over half Leslieville’s land surface has been, at one time or another, a brickfield.
This industry, more than any other, shaped the land forms of Leslieville. Even many local streets are named
after brickmakers, including Jones Avenue after John Jones, Wagstaff Drive after Albert Wagstaff, Logan
Avenue after John and George Logan, Sear Street after Charles Sear (1816-1866), etc.
To make bricks brick manufacturers needed clay, sand for the moulds, and water for tempering the clay
(improving its quality and texture), but that was not enough. They needed cheap labour. Most brickyards had
less than a dozen employees. A gang of hands, mostly family, including women and children, worked under
the direction of the moulder, usually the father, to make bricks. Brickmaking was labour intensive and was
profitable because labour, often Irish Catholic, was cheap, or even free. Women and children worked in all
the different stages of making bricks.
Leslieville’s glacial clay deposits were largely free from organic matter and pebbles, making the clay perfect
for brickmaking. Brickmakers searched for clay deposits by walking along Leslieville’s creeks, looking for the
blue clay that was usually buried under sand, gravel, and topsoil. Fast-running creeks sliced down through
overburden, exposing the clay. This clay, burned in the kiln, produced a rich red brick. Wherever there were
creeks in Leslieville, brickyards followed. The brickmakers dug the clay from along the shore of Ashbridge’s
Bay and the banks of Leslie Creek, Hastings Creek and Ashbridge’s Creek. Brickyards appeared all along
creeks from their sources in springs near Danforth Avenue right down to Bay. The large baymouth bars that
make Leslieville’s gentle north-south slope provided sand. Brickmakers mixed the sand and other materials
with the raw clay to improve the quality of the brick and set its colour. They mixed in water to give the clay
the right consistency for the kilns. The moulder sprinkled sand on the surface of the brick mould to keep the
clay from sticking.
All clay was not created equal. The deposits south of the railroad line were shallower than those further
north, and closer to the surface. This made them easier to dig by hand an they were the first exploited. This
clay was less leached than the deeper deposits. It held more iron oxide, producing that red colour that
characterizes so many Toronto buildings. The deeper deposits, more leached out by rainwater run-off, and
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higher in lime, produced a buff or yellow brick that the Victorians called “white brick”. They were exploited
later.
In the early days here, brick making was by hand, using the “slop-mud” method. It was a home industry in
which brickmakers made just enough bricks to support themselves and their families, often supplemented
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their brickyard profits with farming, tavern-keeping or ice-cutting in the winter.
By 1851 two brickmakers
are listed in the Census for York Township: George Brockwell (1822-1866) and John Morley (c. 1821-1884).
Other brickyards were operating from early on in the Liberties. In Brown’s General Directory of 1856,
Thomas Brockwell (c. 1794-1881) is listed as having a brickyard immediately to the east of George Leslie’s
nursery on the south side of Kingston Road, between the Toronto Nurseries and William Lambert’s
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nurseries. Another early brickmaker was Joseph Russell (1808-1892) who had a brickyard on Kingston
Road. He was from County Tyrone, Ireland, but grew up in Monaghan. He came to Toronto during the
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Famine in 1849 and opened a brickyard on Kingston Road in 1857.
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Globe, June 13, 1903.
McIlwraith, Thomas F. Looking for Old Ontario: Two Centuries of Landscape Change. (Toronto: University of
Toronto Press, 1997), p. 90.
279
Montgomery, Robert J. “The Ceramic Industry of Ontario” in Thirty-Ninth Annual Report of the Ontario
Department of Mines. Vol. XXIV, Part IV, 1930, p. 4.
280
Brown’s Toronto General Directory, 1856, p.46
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Adam, History of Toronto and County of York, Vol. I, 382.
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Technology changed brickmaking slowly. Brick became widely available in Ontario after the 1850s because
of the cheap bulk transportation that planks roads and railroads offered. Bricks went to market at first by
wagon and then by train. In the 1850s, the growth of the railways opened the way for a building boom, of
which bricks were an important part. There was another building boom in the 1880s and another after 1910.
Brickmakers only reluctantly accepted mechanization. The investment of capital even simple machines
demanded was beyond many poor men. Most brickmakers also had a conservative craft tradition. It could be
summarized as, “This is how my great grandfather did it, this is how my grandfather did it, this is how my
father did it, and this is how I’m going to do it too.” Many of Leslieville’s brickmakers, such as the Wagstaffs,
Morleys and Prices, came from many generations of brickmakers. Leslieville’s brickmakers produced few
bricks at first and more as time went on, but not because methods were better. There simply were more
brickmakers making bricks. Brickmakers had large families which became, in turn brickmakers, and more
and more brickmakers came from Britain. Brickyards spread throughout Leslieville. At first brickmaking was
a seasonal business, from May to October. They dug the clay out by hand with shovels in late fall to allow
time for seasoning or weathering over the winter. A winter’s frost and snow broke the clay down into smaller
lumps by spring. Excavating the raw clay was called “winning the clay” and was back-breaking, dangerous
work. They did not shore up the banks of the pits and these often caved in, burying people. (The steam
shovel was not invented until 1879.) In Leslieville the brickmaking season ended at the end of October or in
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early November.
In late May the making season began again. Flooding on Ashbridge’s Bay and the little creeks running into
sometimes delayed the start of the making season. In 1882, for example, heavy rain damaged the
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brickyards and delayed the start of the brickmaking season. Heavy rain made some unemployed while it
made others in Leslieville happy: It is curious weather that will satisfy everyone. Now the market gardeners
are happy, but the brickmakers and their labourers are grumbling because the rain has stopped their work
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for a time.
Workers hauled the weathered clay to the pug mill by hand in wheelbarrows. (Later small,
railroad carts called "dinkies", pulled by horses or locomotives, hauled the clay to the pug mill.) Workers
ground the clay into a powder by hand and screened it to remove pebbles. Children often did the screening,
breathing in clay dust as they worked. Then the even harder work of “pugging” or tempering the clay began.
Workers, mostly women and children, kneaded the clay with their hands or feet until it was the right
consistency. (Around 1850, horse-driven pug mills came into use in some of the more British progressive
brickyards. A horse walked round and around on a treadmill, a mechanical grinder: the pug mill. It pulverized
clay into a fine powder, and stirred and kneaded it with large wooden augers or paddles. Workers added
water to the clay. By 1900 the pug mills were steam powered.)
Children often were the ones who carried the clay to the moulding area from the pug mill, sometimes on
their heads. The moulder made the bricks entirely by hand using wooden moulds. The clot moulder, usually
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a boy or a woman (following the British practice), cut the lumps into a brick-sized piece or clot. The clot
moulder then passed the clots to the brick moulder. The brick moulder was the most skilled and was
foreman and usually the father of the family. A brick moulder stood at the moulding table from 12 to 15
hours a day, six days a week. He could make up to 25,000 bricks a year – by hand.
The brick moulder took a clot and rolled it in sand. He then “dashed” the clot into the mould. The sand kept
the wet clay from sticking to the mould, but the moulder also used various mixtures of sand or chemicals
(e.g. borax, ferro-red or manganese dioxide) to create different coloured bricks. (Brickmakers suffered a high
incidence of cancer.) Brickmakers offered their products in a wide range of colours. Around the 1870s
houses built in two colours of brick, red and “white” (or yellow as we call this brick now), became very
popular in Ontario. Bricks ornamented houses in complex patterns inspired by an English fashion for
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Toronto Daily Mail, November 6, 1882.
Toronto Daily Mail, June 6, 1882.
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Globe, May 18, 1882.
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Garside-Neville, Sandra. “Brickmaking in 19th century York: a preliminary survey” at
http://www.tegula.freeserve.co.uk/BRICMAK.HTM
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polychromatic brick. Builders used contrasting colours of brick over doors and windows, in belt courses, in
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corbels, at the corners of buildings, in diamonds and lozenges, etc.
After moulding, the off-bearer stacked the green or unburned bricks on a hack barrow, a specialized wheel
barrow. The off-bearer then wheeled the bricks to a drying area out-of-doors, often under a shed roof. He
placed the bricks on a flat bed of sand. The off-bearer then went back with the empty mould to the moulding
table. In these drying yards, workers allowed the bricks to dry for a few days and then stacked the bricks in a
herring bone pattern, turning them from time to time. This stack was called a “hake” or a “hackstead”. It took
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skill to stack the bricks so that they dried evenly.
Leslieville’s first kilns were clamp or scoved kilns, temporary ovens built of brick with openings at the bottom
to feed the fire. In a clamp the bricks themselves formed the walls of the kiln. The brickmakers allowed them
to bake from eight to 12 days. They added salt while the brick baked to change their color and waterproof
them. Wood was the fuel for Leslieville’s scove kilns. Steam, called “water smoke” poured out of the top of
the kiln. With many kilns burning at the same time, Leslieville must have been wreathed in smoke during the
brickmaking season. Respiratory problems were common. When the water smoke had burned off, the
brickmakers increased the temperature in the fire holes. They fed dry wood to the fires to raise the
temperature to 1800 F. or 982 C. Sometimes they placed a little cone of clay in the clamp as a kind of
thermometer. When it melted, the kiln was hot enough. The brickmaker coverd the fire holes over,
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suffocating the fire. Then the brickyard laborers dismantled the clamp and sorted the bricks.
Some bricks burned too hot and vitrified, becoming glass-like. These “clinkers” were used for walks or paths.
George Leslie probably built his nursery paths of over-cooked bricks. It was a common practice. The undercooked or “salmon” bricks had high insulating value and were used to build the inner walls of houses. Most
bricks were “stock” bricks or ordinary building bricks. The best bricks were “face bricks”, used for the façade
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or face of a building.
The bricks were stored outside in large stacks. Often children would form a line
across the brickyard and one would toss a brick to the next in line until the whole load of bricks was moved.
Brick catchers moved incredibly heavy loads, one brick at a time, singing as they worked.
This was the simplest method of making bricks, virtually unchanged from the 1700s, but by the 1890s,
change swept through the brickyards. John Russell (1838-1912) was probably the first to introduce new kiln
technology to Leslieville. In 1894, he built a continuously-feeding kiln that could burn all year around,
abolishing the “brickmaker’s season”. However, periodic or ‘beehive" kilns would continue to be used in
Leslieville as well as the downdraft rectangular kilns The new kilns were more energy-efficient, but were not
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cheap. John Russell used 150,000 bricks to build the foundation for his modern kiln.
Leslieville’s
traditional brickmaking families passed down their knowledge from father to son (and from mother to
daughter). They may not have welcomed innovations, but to compete with outsiders if not each other, they
had to adopt new ways. In the late 1840s advertisements for brickmaking machines began appearing in
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Toronto newspapers. These machines used horse power and were demonstrated at provincial exhibitions
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and fairs. In 1848 Butter’s Patent Brick Machine was advertised in the Globe: This Machine grinds the
clay and moulds the Brick directly on the pallets by horse-power, and delivers them ready to be put into the
hack or pile, making from 25 to 35 per minute, according to the length of lever the
286
Ritchie, T. Notes on Dichromatic Bricks in Ontario, in Bulletin of the Association for Preservation Technology, Vol.
II, No. 2, (1979), 60-67.
287
See Dobson, Edward. A Rudimentary Treatise on the Manufacture of Brick and Tile. (London: Crosby Lockwood
and Son.) First printed 1850, 10th edition, 1899.
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for a good summary of brickmaking see http://brickcollecting.com/history.htm See also Charles Thomas Davis, A
Practical Treatise on the Manufacture of Bricks, Tiles, Terra-Cotta, Etc. (Philadelphia; Henry Carey Baird & Co.,
1884).
289
Ritchie, T. Developments in Brick Manufacture and Use. National Research Council of Canada, (reprinted from
Canadian Clay and Ceramics Vo1. 51, No. 1, January/February 1978, p. 8, 10-12 and 52 DBR Paper No. 765), p. 1.
290
Toronto Star, May 7, 1894
291
Globe, May 3, 1848 and April 22, 1848.
292
Globe, April 20, 1855.
94
95
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horse is attached to, thereby saving 75 per cent more manual labour than any machine extant.
Alfred
Hall’s machine was advertised the same year. These were soft-mud machines, but in 1854 John Charnock
of Hamilton patented a stiff-mud or extrusion machine. It forced the clay though a dye, extruding a ribbon
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that could be sliced into bricks that burned hard with crisp edges and smooth sides.
In 1852 Richard
Vervalen invented a steam-powered brick making machine. In 1855, the following advertisement appeared
in the Globe:
To Brickmakers. The Newly Patented Canadian Brick Making Machine, on a Self-Acting Principle. Its merits
consist in the ease, rapidity, regularity and perfection, with which either Shop or Stock bricks…are moulded
and turned out at the same time the clay is being ground in the most perfect manner by horsepower….Machines constantly on view at C. Vales’ Factory Adelaide Street, and applications to be made
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there and at No. 16, Front Street, Toronto….John Parsons, Patentee, Toronto, March 1, 1855.
Most of these early machines used horse power not steam. With them brickmakers could make pressed
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brick, soon highly desirable. J.P. Oates developed a machine for making pressed bricks around 1856. In
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1857 a brickmaking machine won a prize at the annual exhibition.
One year later Henry Martin of
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Pennsylvania invented the Martin machine. Bawden’s One Horse Machine was advertised in the Globe on
Tuesday, May 11, 1858. Hand-moulded brickmaking and the pressed brick process continued at the same
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time, but gradually the hand-moulded was eased out.
With the introduction of even this rather primitive machinery, the price of bricks fell:
The fall in the price of bricks here, is generally attributed to the introduction of machinery in the manufacture
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in the place of hand-labor…”
By 1860 there were nine brickmakers and many more labourers in Leslieville. The population was 400.
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In 1862 Chambers’ stiff-mud auger machine revolutionized brickmaking. This machine extruded a long belt
of brick clay and automatically cut off automatically regular lengths of brick that could then be fired in the
kiln. It created a hard grainy brick replacing the older, softer irregular bricks of hand-moulding. The first clayworking auger machine made in Canada was manufactured in London. It was similar to the Tecumseh
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auger, made in Michigan.
During the 1860s a brickyard labourer made about of $1.50 per day or about $450 a year.
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Between 1861 and 1891, brick became very popular: “The proportion of all dwellings built with brick shot up
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from 4 to 21 per cent.”
Brickmakers demonstrated their wares, including brick, drain tiles, and sewage
pipe at the annual Provincial Exhibition.
David Wagstaff (1841-1928) began his operations in 1863. In 1865 he bought land on Eastern Avenue along
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the shore and worked there for two years until the clay ran out.
Technology innovation came slowly to
Leslieville’s brickyards. Only in 1873, more than 20 years after horse-powered brick machines became
available, did a Leslieville brickmaker begin to use horses to replace some human muscle. On Pape
Avenue, David Wagstaff began using horses to power machinery to make brick.
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Globe, April 22, 1848 Globe.
Ritchie, 1.
295
Globe, May 19, 1855 Globe.
296
Globe, July 19, 1855.
297
Globe, October 3, 1857.
298
Montgomery, 4.
299
Burnett, John. A Social History of Housing 1815-1985. (London: Methuen, 1986). 2d ed., p. 27.
300
Globe, September 12, 1855.
301
Hutchinson's Toronto directory, 1862-63, 81.
302
Montgomery, 4.
303
Conant, Thomas. Upper Canada Sketches. (Toronto: William Briggs, 1898), p. 197.
304
McIlwraith, 90.
305
For an excellent history of the Harris Family and related families see http://harris-history.com/tree/665.html
294
96
97
Sometime before 1866 Leslieville grocer, James Morin (c.1835-1882), went into the brick business. In 1869
he bought a brick machine and began advertising that his Leslieville bricks were machine-made pressed
bricks:
BRICK! BRICKS! THE LESLIEVILLE BRICK COMPANY ARE MAKING EXTENSIVE PREPARATIONS
FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF MACHINE MADE PRESSED BRICKS, And are now open to receive orders
for 5,600,000 of red brick@ at $8 50 PER THOUSAND! June or July delivery. And can fill orders for large
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quantities during the season. Address, James Morin, Leslieville.
Mitchell’s Directory of 1866 lists six brickmakers in Leslieville: Thomas Brockwell, Thomas Fox, William
Hunter, James Morin (groceries, flour and feed, wines and liquors, and brick manufacturer), Walker Morley
and John Russell. The Directory missed several. David Wagstaff was listed as a farmer, but was operating a
brickyard as well. Thomas Beatty had a brickyard, but was listed as a bus driver and farmer. William Cook
was a brickyard owner, but only listed as proprietor of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. John Elwood was retired, but
probably still worked as a brickmaker. John Elwood’s brickyard was near what is now the Brewer’s Retail
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Store on Queen Street East is now. His widow still lived there in 1879. John Morley had retired and was
now a fisherman, turning the brickyard over to his son Walker Morley. The Logans had probably had not
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branched out to brickmaking yet.
For some people brickmaking was a side line, as they had farms or
doing market gardens too. Brickmakers usually had other business interests since brickmaking was
seasonal. Some, like the Russells and Sawdens (also spelled “Sawdon”), were builders, bricklayers and
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contractors. In Britain, brickyards were sometimes owned by women or taken over by widows. Leslieville’s
widows sometimes took over their dead husband’s market gardens and even taverns. At least one women
(Jane Morley) ran her own brickyard in Leslieville. In 1869 a list included a few more brickmakers including:
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John Elwood, Thomas Fox and James Morin (general merchant).
Brickmakers were itinerant in the early days, moved from plot of land to another as they used the clay up,
buying or leasing new land as they went. From Eastern Avenue, David Wagstaff moved to Pape Avenue,
where he bought eight acres and worked it for six years until 1873.
In 1869 William Cliff in England invented one of the first tunnel kilns. They revolutionized the brick industry.
Cliff’s kiln was a 90-foot long tunnel with narrow gauge rails for cars that could carry bricks into the kiln. The
tunnel itself acted as a flue. Air entered the lower end and exited from the upper. Hot air entered through
flues in the kiln walls and below the tracks where it flowed through the bricks stacked on the deck above the
burning gas. While it took some time for this type of kiln to be perfected, tunnel kilns came to dominate brick
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making in the twentieth century.
By the 1870s and 1880s Leslieville’s brickyards were no longer strictly family affairs and had some degree of
mechanization, using horse power. They usually employed a gang of about ten hands to make about a
million bricks a year. It was not enough to have good machinery, good clay and a cheap workforce. Brick
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manufacturing took skill and knowledge and was not for everyone.
According to the 1871 Census James
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Morin, was 35, born in Ireland, Roman Catholic and a storekeeper.
Morin may have been the first in
Leslieville to make pressed brick, but he could not make his yard pay. In the next year his brickyard was
auctioned off:
Insolvent Estate of James Morin, of Leslieville, Auction Sale of Bricks on Wednesday next, the 13th inst.,
There will be sold by public auction on the presences at Leslieville, all the bricks belonging to the above
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Globe, May 6, 1869.
Might and Taylor Toronto Directory, 1879, 80.
308
Mitchell’s General Directory, 1866, 404
309
One of the earliest 19th century records of brickmaking in Layerthorpe, York, England, was about a John Morley,
who ran a brickfield there in 1802. Morley women took over the yard by 1830, after John had died. Elizabeth Morley
ran the yard and advertised it as 'E. Morley & Sisters'. from Garside-Neville, Sandra. “Brickmaking in 19th century
York: a preliminary survey” at http://www.tegula.freeserve.co.uk/BRICMAK.HTM
310
McEvoy, Henry, The Province of Ontario Gazetteer and Directory. Toronto, 1869, 262.
311
Ritchie, T. Developments in Brick Manufacture, 1.
312
Myrvold, Barbara. The Danforth in Pictures: A Brief History of the Danforth. (Toronto: Toronto Public Library,
1979), p. 17.
313
Federal Census of 1871 (Ontario Index).
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98
insolvent estate, contained in nine lots (complete and incomplete,) supposed to number about TWO
MILLIONS OF BRICKS. Each kiln as it stands will be sold separately. Sale at 1 o’clock. TERMS: … and
under cash; over that same …cash and balance in three months secured by the approved endorse note with
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bank interest added. …Andrew Henderson Auctioneer. John Kerr, Assignee. Toronto, March 8th, 1872
Despite the failure of Morin, others went into brickmaking in Leslieville, including the sons of some of the
farmers and fishermen like the Ashbridges, Hastings, Wises and Crothers. The 1871 Census lists Thomas
Hastings, 35, as a brickmaker. John Mulvey and John McCracken, a fellow grocer, bought out James
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Morin’s bankrupt brickyard. “Red Brick for sale 25,000. John Mulvey, 483 Queen St. W.”
McCracken,
John, of Mulvey & McCracken are listed in Cherrier, Kirwin & McGown's Toronto city directory for 1873 as
316
brick manufacturers, but it was not long before they too went bankrupt.
In 1873, the Long Depression”
began. The brick manufacturing plant and clayfield in Leslieville, formerly owned by James Morin was sold
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off.
John Mulvey lost almost everything except his handsome white brick home (built in 1869), now known
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as Mulvey House, on Bathurst Street, home to the Factory Theatre. In 1874 John McCracken, Thomas
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Mulvey’s partner, was working again as grocer on Kingston Road, having given up the brick business.
In 1875 brickmaker John Smith was on the east side of Leslie Street south of Kingston Road facing
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brickmaker David Wagstaff on the west side of Leslie. Leslieville Brickmakers listed in the 1877 Toronto
Directory were: Thomas Bazley, Edward Butcher, George Ford, John Hopkins, Henry Jones, George Knight,
Walker Morley, Martin Norton, Patrick Norton, John Parkin, James Russell, John Russell, Joseph Russell
Sr., Thomas Russell, William Russell, Arthur Whiteside and George Wise. These brickmakers are listed in
the 1878 Might and Taylor Toronto Directory: William Best, Charles Camplin, George Cook, Thomas Fox,
John Hamilton, Thomas Hastings Jr., John Jones, John Knight, John Morley, Walter Morley, William Norton,
Thomas Sawden and William West. Brickyards pitted the land all along Heward Creek, Leslie Creek,
Hastings Creek and Ashbridge's Creek. Brickyards also pockmarked the area south of Kingston Road to the
shoreline (Brick Court recalls these early yards.) As the brick clay ran out, brickmakers moved on to other
clay deposits, often leasing rather than buying in keeping with the transient nature of brickmaking. Earlier
brickmakers relocated their plants constantly, making bricks wherever there was a demand for their product
and clay. With the development of brickmaking machinery, brickyards became more permanent. However,
for most of the nineteenth century, whatever machinery they had was portable, easily dismantled and moved
to a new location.
John Jones is listed as a brickmaker in the 1878 Might and Taylor Directory. His brickyard was in a cluster of
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brickfields south of the Kingston Road between Knox Avenue and Coxwell Avenue.
In 1879 Edwin
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Rossiter, from a family of brush makers, became another brickmaker in those yards. George Wise was on
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Eastern Avenue at Knox. Henry Jones was a also brickmaker. John Jones had a brickyard on the south
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325
side of Eastern Avenue.
Samuel Arnold began manufacturing bricks at Leslieville in 1877.
Patrick
Horton was born in Tipperary, Ireland. He began in a brickyard on Leslie Street. From 1874 to 1877 he
worked a new brickyard between Curzon and Clifford (Jones) streets. He hired about ten men and made
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around a million bricks a year.
314
Globe, March 8, 1872.
Globe, March 15, 1871.
316
Cherrier, Kirwin & McGown's Toronto city directory for 1873.
317
Globe, May 21, 1873.
318
Globe, May 21, 1873.
319
Fisher & Taylor's Toronto directory for 1874.
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Toronto directory for 1875, Fisher & Taylor, 150
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1878 Might and Taylor Toronto Directory, 130.
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Might and Taylor Toronto Directory, 1879, 116.
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1878 Might and Taylor Toronto Directory, 182.
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Might and Taylor Toronto Directory, 1879, 80.
325
Myrvold, Danforth in Pictures, 17
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Adam, History of Toronto, Vol. I, 381.
315
99
In the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of 1876, many different brick machines were displayed, including
American, Canadian, French and German inventions. The Chambers machine, the invention of Cyrus
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Chambers, was on show as well as the Gregg machine which could make 50,000 bricks in a ten-hour day.
As they made and shipped higher quantities of bricks, the brickmakers constantly quarreled with the
tollkeepers and the County of York over tolls. In 1869, John Elwood, one of Leslieville’s earliest residents
and a brick manufacturer, went to the York County Council to complain over his treatment at Tollgate No.
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One.
In 1882, the brickmakers based west of Greenwood’s lane claimed that they were entitled to
“passing through the gate at half toll”. The Kingston Road toll keeper objected. There was a lawsuit
between the brick manufacturers and the lessee of the Kingston Road tollbooth over the toll payable on a
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wagon of bricks. However, the opening up of Eastern Avenue in 1882 made the toll booth increasingly
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ineffective as people could now easily circumvent it.
Leslieville’s rural industries, pigs, brick or flowers, began as family affairs. People were tied closely, not just
by proximity, but by marriage. Though divorce was almost unknown, the concept of blended families would
not have been foreign to them as death, not divorce, broke up their marriages. Brickmakers married market
gardeners; market gardeners married fishermen; fisherman married brickmakers and they had children who
married butchers, and so on. People rarely married across religious lines (so-called “mixed marriages”), but
it did happen in this tightly-knit community.
Bricks became more important after 1860, when more towns passed by-laws (fire limits) prohibiting new
wooden building following. Disastrous fires swept cities, including one that incinerated much of downtown
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Toronto. Bricks became a mark of status and brick houses spread into the countryside.
In 1887 the City
of Toronto extended its fire limits, passing a by-law requiring new buildings to be built of brick. Some people
fought the fire limits because of the expense entailed in building with brick, but others welcomed the
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protection it gave against fire, a constant danger in a city of wooden buildings. More and more houses
were built with brick. Farmers like the Ashbridges family lived first in a log cabin, then in a frame house and
finally in a solid brick house. A brick home advertised the owner’s prosperity and taste. As well, brick
houses were built with a double wall with an air space between, offering better insulation and reducing
dampness. Historian Thomas McIlwraith, states that, “The widespread use of brick is Ontario’s most
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distinctive landscape characteristic.”
Certainly Leslieville’s many brickyards contributed to building a brick
Toronto. A high percentage of Ontario’s old buildings are made of brick compared to other provinces.
In the 1870s the fashion was to build houses in two colours of brick (dichromatic), red and white. Bricklayers
created houses richly ornamented in complex patterns, with diapering, corbels, quoins, etc. They used
contrasting colours over windows and doors in drip mouldings, under the eaves in corbels, in string courses,
etc. At first the white bricks were more expensive since it was heavy labour to reach these clay far beneath
the surface. By the 1890s, new technology, such as steam shovels and dynamite, made it possible to dig
deeper to get the more leached clays that burnt in the kiln into a beautiful light brick.
Around 1877 the Henry Martin brick machine was introduced to Canada. This advanced soft-mud machine
was extensively used in Leslieville’s brickyards. Philip, Abram and Jacob Kells of Michigan designed a
machine that used a different technique to extrude clay than the earlier stiff-mud machines. Instead of a
plunger, an auger extruded the clay in a continuous ribbon. The Kells machine received a Canadian patent
in 1882. In 1884, H.C. Baird, Son, and Company of Parkhill, Middlesex County made their first Kells auger
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machine. This machine was very widely used.
Soon a large number of the Kells machines were in
operation across Ontario, eventually eclipsing their soft-mud rivals. According to brick making historian, T.
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New York Times, July 28, 1876
Globe, February 3, 1869.
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Toronto Daily Mail, July 12, 1882.
330
Toronto Daily Mail, October 4, 1882.
331
McIlwraith, 90.
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Globe, May 4, 1887.
333
McIlwraith, 88-89.
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Montgomery, 4.
328
100
335
Ritchie, over 30 Ontario brickyards were using Kells machines by 1906.
The machine manufacturers
advertised widely in newspapers, and were a presence at fairs and exhibitions, including the one in Toronto:
BAIRD SON, BRICK AND TILE MACHINE MANUFACTURERS
Messrs. H.C. Baird & Son, of Parkhill, are here again with their exhibit of brick and tile machines and are
located at the northeast corner of the agricultural building. They exhibit the new Quaker brick machine in
operation, also their Kell’s patent combined brick and tile machine, also “a new feature,” a new patent
revolving re-press brick machine. This new machine is so constructed that it is capable of pressing double
the number of bricks than any other machine now in use. A detailed description of these machines will be
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given in another issue during the Exhibition.
The Gurney foundry in Toronto also manufactured the Martin machine:
BRICK MACHINE OUR MARTIN PATENT
With Every New Feature of Value Will be Ready for Inspection at an early date. Manufactured by THE E. &
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C. GURNEY CO., LTD., TORONTO.
As the industry became more mechanized, other manufacturers including the Laidlaw Manufacturing
338
339
Company, Bain & Colville (Hamilton; later called Bain & Son ); Bechtel Brothers (Waterloo) , sold brick
340
machines, clay crushers, moulder sanders,
racks, pallets, etc. Byron E. Bechtel invented an automatic
341
cutter for stiff-mud machines. William Townsley in Yorkville made a brick machine in conjunction with the
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William Hamilton & Son, St. Lawrence Foundry.
Most of these machines were based on American
prototypes. By 1882 manufacturers were advertising that brick-making was now possible all year around,
using mechanical dryers:
BRICK MAKING! All the year, by using the CALDWELL DRYER, a triumphant success, used by the largest
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manufacturers. J.K. CALDWELL, 232 Lake st. Chicago, or 605 Walnut-street, Philadelphia, Pa.
With new technology, by 1885, Joseph Russell Sr. was turning out 900,000 bricks a year.
Valley Brickworks opened, becoming the largest brickyard in Toronto.
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In 1889 the Don
Brick making became thoroughly mechanized in most yards and the brick clay fields exploited to the fullest.
Around 1900 the Greenwood Avenue plants shifted to updraft and downdraft kilns. Updraft kilns pushed hot
air up. Downdraft kilns pushed the air down and around the kiln. In continuous down-draft kilns temperature
controlled air passed through a series of chambers. This improved the quality of the bricks while boosting
the output. These new technologies could produce several million bricks a year.
The work was still dangerous. In 1905, in Albert Wagstaff’s shale pit on Greenwood Avenue, a ton of clay fell
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on William Broomsgrove, crushing him. In 1908, another man died the same way in another Leslieville
brickyard. Emerson Benns, was working in the Bell Brothers, at 301 Greenwood Avenue, digging clay from
the side of the pit when clay fell on him from about 12 feet above, killing him instantly. Such deaths were
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common and coroner Latimer Pickering decided that no inquest was needed.
In 1907, a hurtling dinky
loaded smashed into David Chapman, in a brickyard on Dawes Road, north east of Leslieville. It knocked
him into a puddling machine where “a dozen rapidly rotating knives” mangled his body. In this case,
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Ritchie, 1.
Globe, September 12, 1889.
337
Globe January 30, 1888.
338
Globe, February 21, 1905; Globe, May 14, 1898.
339
Globe, March 10, 1902.
340
Globe, February 9, 1901.
341
Ritchie, 1.
342
Globe, January 7, 1870.
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Globe, February 18, 1882.
344
Adam, History of Toronto and County of York, Vol. I, 382.
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Globe, October 30, 1905.
346
Toronto Star, May 23, 1908.
336
101
102
David Chapman owned the brickyard. He was a prominent Conservative, as were a number of brickyard
347
348
owners. The year before another brickyard owner was knocked into a clay-mixing machine.
There were more insidious dangers. Natural gas, odourless and invisible, seeped into pockets in the shale
and overlying gravel. Joseph Russell Jr.’s brickyard stretched between Leslie Street and Greenwood
Avenue, south of Gerrard. In 1908 workers were digging clay in the bottom of a 50-foot-deep pit. One worker
swung his pick and struck a pocket of gas. Gas gushed out, splattering clay all over. Russell had workmen
bring in a three-inch auger and inserted pipes into the ground. Workers then lit the gas. It burned for three
days:
This is not the first indication of the presence of natural gas, however, for some thirty years ago two men
were overcome with it while digging a well on Jones avenue, near Queen street. Mr. Russell intends making
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tests to ascertain whether the [gas] is present in paying quantities.”
Over 30 years before, on March 1, 1866, George Brockwell asked Charles Sear, to work on his well at his
house at 138 Jones Avenue, just north of Dundas Street. Sear ran a ladder down, set up a block and tackle
over the well and went down to clear out the well. George Brockwell and Sear’s assistants stood by
watching, ready to haul up the excavated soil. Sear had only worked for a few moments when they saw him
fall unconscious. His helpers froze, but Brockwell went to rescue Sear. No one thought to tie a rope around
Brockwell. This was a common safety measure among well-diggers. Brockwell fell over next to Sear. Water
was rapidly rising in the well and the unconscious men were in danger of drowning. By this time, the
shouting of the lads drew the Brockwell women and neighbour David Wagstaff. Wagstaff was George
Brockwell’s brother-in-law and a seasoned brickmaker. He tied a rope around himself and went down only to
pass out. The women pulled him back to the surface. Three times he tried to rescue Sear and Brockwell.
Three times he failed, passing out. After the third attempt, Wagstaff was unconscious for five hours.
Flames shot out of the well. Someone dropped a cigar or pipe or perhaps a lantern in the well lit the gas.
The men tried to smother the blaze by covering the well, but tongues of fire erupted from the ground in other
places around the property. Bad news travels fast in rural villages. Soon the news it reached the Leslieville
school. Alexander Muir closed the school and sent the children home. The oldest Brockwell girl led her
siblings children home to the tragedy. Muir went along, willing to help in any way he could, but it was too
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late.
Natural gas may be behind another explosion in 1930 in the Albert Wagstaff brickyard at 348 Greenwood
Avenue. A tool shed blew up leaving only splintered wood and pieces of stove iron. The building, the stove
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and the tools were literally blown to bits. No one was in the shed which was in a deep shale pit.
Fire was a danger in brickyards. Large supplies of dry cordwood and coal lay ready for the kilns. Gas was
sometimes present. Smoking, even on the job, was almost universal. In 1894 fire swept through John
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Russell’s brickyard.
In 1904 another fire destroyed over ten cords of hardwood in John Russell’s
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brickyard, 104 Greenwood Avenue. A suspicious fire had also occurred recently at the Simpson brickyard.
Injuries and deaths had been widely accepted not just in brickyards, but in workplaces everywhere. In 1922
there was another death in a brickyard, but by this time the public mood had changed and the Factory Act
was in place. Such accidents were no longer seen as the inescapable cost of working. A system of factory
inspection existed, but failed this particular worker, according to Coroner Pickering’s inquest into the death
of Archibald Baxter. Baxter had climbed a ladder to replace a belt. Workers should have shut down the
machinery, but did not and had never been ordered to do so. The machinery caught Baxter, mangling him,
tearing his clothes off. The Factory Inspector responsible for that area of Toronto had not inspected the
Standard Brick Works for over a year. The employer had not posted the rules and regulations under the
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Toronto Star, August 19, 1905.
Toronto Star, July 7, 1906.
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Toronto Star, September 18, 1908.
350
King, George B. Fond Memory and the Light of Other Days: The Old Leslie Street School and a Last Century
Tragedy "over the Don". (Toronto: privately printed, no date), pp. 6-7.
351
Globe, February 6, 1930.
352
Toronto Star, May 7, 1894.
353
Globe, June 23, 1904.
348
103
354
Factory Act. As well cave-ins plagued Leslieville’s brickyards. In 1927 brickyard worker, John Roderick,
355
was injured seriously in a cave-in, suffering multiple fractures. Many brickmakers fought legislation like
The Factory Act. The Canadian National Clay Products Association resisted mandatory eight-hour work day
legislation, threatening that, if it was introduced, brickmaking would move to more welcoming provinces. The
Association also consorted to keep wages low. Holding back workers’ wages was a long tradition in
brickyards. Brickyard workers only got about two thirds of their pay. The employers kept the rest until later
claiming that they needed this money to defray any potential costs arising from hospitalization or doctor’s
bills: …it will be a great mistake to pay him full wages. While I find most men straight and above board in
dealing with them, there are many who would take advantage of their injuries if they were receiving 100 per
356
cent of their wages. By the 1890s, due to bad practices like this, plus the legalization of labour unions and
increased militancy, there were a number of brickyard strikes.
By 1900, brickmaking was the biggest employer in Leslieville. In the 1903 City Directory there were ten
Leslieville area manufacturers:
1. Isaac Price, plant, 528-532 Greenwood Avenue
2. John Price, plant 165 Greenwood Avenue
3. Joseph Russell, 1318 Queen Street East
4. Bell Brothers, (James and George) Greenwood Avenue
5. Morley & Ashbridge (George Morley and Jesse Ashbridge) 165 Greenwood Avenue
6. John Logan, Greenwood Avenue
7. Walker Morley, 160 – 162 Greenwood Avenue
8. Joseph Russell, 164 – 198 Greenwood Avenue
9. Simpson Brick Company, plant, 40 Blake Street
10. D. (David) Wagstaff, 1140 Queen Street East
In 1903 Leslieville and nearby parts of Riverdale had 60 master brickmakers including many whose families
357
started as butchers or market gardeners such as the Hollands and Finucans. By 1905 there were seven
yards on Greenwood Avenue south of the Grand Trunk Railway line:
1. John Price,
2. Walker Morley,
3. Jesse Ashbridge,
4. the Bell Brothers,
5. Morley and Ashbridge,
6. Thomas Sawden
7. and David Wagstaff.
They all used the same methods to make brick with Parkhill Martin brick machines. The largest yards were
John Price and the Bell Brothers. John Price had two Sheldon and Sheldon dryers as well as open shed
dryers. The kilns were fueled with wood. John Price produced high quality red and white brick at the rate of
seven million bricks a season. The Bell Brothers produced four million bricks a season. The others made
between 1,750,000 to 2,000,000 bricks each a season. By 1910, Joseph Russell, Queen Street East, had
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Globe, April 5, 1922
Toronto Star, April 6, 1927
356
Toronto World, January 26, 1921
357
Toronto City Directory, 1903
355
104
one of the largest brickyards in Canada, producing white and red stock brick. Joseph Russell had two
machines that ran all year around and five more machines that ran for seven months a year. These were all
Martin machines. In five other plants drying was by the rack and pallet method or by hacking. In the two
permanent plants Sheldon & Sheldon tunnel dryers were used. Joseph Russell had some scoved or clamp
kilns, some case kilns, some rectangular downdraft kilns and one big continuously-operating egg-shaped
kiln that used coal for fuel. The others used wood. This brickyard produced mostly “white” or buff-coloured
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bricks. Four more yards lay north of the rail line on Greenwood Avenue. These yards were:
1. John Logan,
2. Albert Wagstaff,
3. Isaac Price,
4. and J.E. Webb.
John Logan, Isaac Price and Albert Wagstaff made about three million bricks a year. In 1912 at the Albert
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Wagstaff’s yard, a Martin brick machine could turn out 85,000 brick a day.
J. E. Webb made about two
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million bricks annually. All four brickyards turned out “very excellent hard red brick”.
These brickyards
extracted shale from deep deposits north of the railline. They used a steam shovel set on a railroad car
running a portable narrow-gauge rail line. The shovel and the locomotive were called a “Dinky”; the cars
were “Dinky cars”. 20-ton saddle engines were often used. The brickyards sat at the top of the banks of a
hole about 100 feet deep. Men blasted the shale out with dynamite. They dumped the raw material into
dinky cars. The steam engines hauled it up on cables to the brick plants at the top. Workers stored the
finished bricks in hakes in the brickyard. Then they were loaded on railroad cars for delivery. Railroad spurs
or “team tracks” ran into the Greenwood Avenue brickyards. Elevated ramps allowed workers with
wheelbarrows to load bricks directly into the boxcars. The following Leslieville area brickmakers had their
own CNR sidings in 1926: J. Lucas & Co. 359 Greenwood Ave.; John Price Ltd., 395 Greenwood Ave.;
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Toronto Brick Co Ltd., Greenwood Ave.; and Albert H. Wagstaff, 348 Greenwood Ave.
In 1912 the City widened Greenwood Avenue and it soon was lined with houses. With the building boom,
more bricks were needed than ever before. However, a hard winter in 1912 stopped brickmaking in January
and February since the clay beds froze. A cold wet spring prevented bricks from drying properly. A “brick
famine” resulted. Brickyards could not meet the demand and refused orders. One Leslieville brickmaker fell
700,000 bricks behind and could not fill his orders:
Bricks are scarce. People with new houses fondly planned for completion this summer are being held up for
want of bricks in all parts of the city, and the suburbs. Penalty clauses calling for completion of work by a
certain date will be powerless in view of a brick famine. Many brickyard offices are refusing orders, and few
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of them will guarantee delivery within a month.
Brickmakers knew that their days in Leslieville were numbered. Land had become too valuable to be used
for brickmaking. Houses made from those very bricks pushed the brick industry out. Suburbia creept up to
the edge of the brick pits and brickmaking with its noise, smoke and danger was simply incompatible. In
1913, Joseph Russell, owner of one of the largest brickyards in Canada, sold his 55-acre brickyard on
Gerrard Street East. The land all around it had been developed for housing. Rows of neat bungalows lined
new streets. Monarch Realty Company bought the Joseph Russell property for $150,000. Tanner and
Gates, developers, subdivided the brickyard for housing. They extended Alton and Hastings, and laid out
new streets including Stanton, Parkfield and Sawden. They had to do a lot of grading in the rough and
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Baker, M.B. “Clay and the Clay Industry of Ontario”, Ontario Bureau of Mines, no. 5, 1906, pp. 109-110.
Toronto Star, December 11, 1912.
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Baker, 110-111.
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Kennedy, R.L. “History of Private Sidings” at
http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/industrial/history/train_sidings.html
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Toronto Star, June 13, 1912.
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105
cratered brickyard before it could be sold for housing. This was not Russell’s last brickyard: he had another
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on Blake Street.
Early brick plants had been a family affair. They had no sales force, did not advertise and did not deliver. It
was cash and carry with builders picking up bricks at the brickyard gate. Skills were handed down from
father to son as they were in the Morley, Wagstaff, Price, and Russell families. If the father brickmaker died
and there were no sons, sometimes a wife or daughter took over. Many trained in this craft tradition made
only bricks to support themselves, hardly thinking of brickmaking as an industry, more a way of life from their
forefathers. They were conservative, slow to modernize. Even in the 1920s, some Toronto brickyards were
still using scoved kilns and wood as fuel. Their brick trucks were still drawn by horses, instead of trucks.
However, some families like the Russells and Prices lead in innovation. One dry press machine could make
more bricks in a day than the traditional hand-moulding brickyard could make in a year. If brickmakers were
to survive in the twentieth century they had to become more competitive, use modern technology and
expand their markets beyond the local builders. The industry began to consolidate into fewer, larger
brickyards. In 1921 Joseph Russell remained in business at 40 Blake. Along Greenwood Avenue there
were: Albet Wagstaff, 302 Greenwood Ave. and 336 Greenwood Ave.; Price & Smith, 386 – 436
Greenwood Ave.; John Price, Ltd., 395 Greenwood Ave.; Standard Brick Company, 460 Greenwood Ave.;
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and John Logan, 471 Greenwood Ave. This was far fewer than ever before, but by 1926, there were only
four brickyards left on Greenwood: J. Lucas and Co., 359 Greenwood Avenue; John Price Ltd., 395
Greenwood Avenue; Toronto Brick Co Ltd.; and Albert H. Wagstaff at 348 Greenwood Avenue. Success
spelled its own doom as the clay began to be used up. Increased demand for bricks and mechanization of
the brickmaking process depleted the Leslieville brickfields. Spreading subdivisions of brick houses covered
the clay beds in the 1920s. Riverdale’s residents complain of being trapped between the smells from the
Morley Avenuesewer plant, the smoke from the garbage incinerator, the reek of filthy creeks and ponds
(including Small’s Pond) and the constant smog and noise of the brickyards.
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There were only 14 plants in all of York County in 1930 compared to 30 in 1906.
With the Great
Depression in the 1930s, the bottom dropped out of the brick industry. With no demand, only the Price
brickyard remained and was now called the Toronto Brick Company.
After World War Two, returning veterans married and needed housing, the demand for brick was
unprecedented. Large plants using modern methods and machinery shipped bricks across the province from
production centres, such as the Don Valley Brickyard on Bayview Avenue in Toronto. Brickmakers used
modern dryers, steel trucks, automatic cutting tables, disintegrators, brick machines, mould sanders, etc.
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and streamlined factory methods to compete.
The Toronto Brick Company closed in 1956 when the
United Ceramics Limited of Germany acquired it. This was Leslieville’s last brickyard. In 1962, the company
relocated the Parkhill Martin brick machine from the former John Price Brickyard to the Don Valley
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Brickworks to make soft-mud bricks for the “antique” brick market.
In 1984 the Don Valley Brick Works
closed.
The abandoned brickfield south of Gerrard and west of Greenwood Avenue was used by local residents as a
baseball diamond. They called on the City to buy it for a park since there were few parks in the
neighbourhood and Parks Commissioner Chambers obliged. Mayor Tommy Church opposed this new park.
Many city politicians felt parks encouraged the working class to loaf around. The Mayor felt that the money
could be spent better elsewhere and did not want to see the mill rate go up to pay for playgrounds and
athletic fields: …the present was no time for purchasing parks and some which had been bought were
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nothing but brickyards.
Riverdale filled with returning veterans, most English. Many were embittered after
serving as cannon fodder in the fields of Flanders on the Somme. One local bit back at the Mayor in a Letter
to the Editor of 1919, reflecting the post-war anger that many felt:
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Toronto World, January 15, 1913.
Might’s Directory 1921, 282 - 283
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Montgomery, 9.
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Globe, November 10, 1905.
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Simonton, Jean. “Former Toronto Brick Company, East York.” Typescript. January 28, 1986; Unterman McPhail
Cuming. Don Valley Brick Works: Heritage Documentation and Analysis. Prepared for Metropolitan Toronto and
Region Conservation Authority. December 1994.
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Toronto World, October 29, 1919.
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Mayor Church for some reason or other seems “dead set” against giving the residents in the neighborhood
of Greenwood avenue a playground and apparently the only thing he is able to say against it is that it’s “an
old brickyard.” I fail to see why in the world this enters into the question at all—would his Worship desire to
have it remain so or would it be to the interest of the city at large to have the spot improved and at the same
time prove a great benefit to the health and welfare of the community. Look out, Mr. Mayor. Your treatment
of the East End in this matter is very poorly camouflaged by “economy” talk at this time. The East End is
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coming into its own. EAST ENDER
In 1920 the Greenwood Athletic Field was renamed Greenwood Park. The new park was graded and
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leveled. Tommy Church graciously opened it in the pouring rain. By then the area around the park was
solidly built up. Developers like William Prust and the MacEachern firm subdivided the area. It became
densely populated by working class families. Builders put up many “California style” bungalows, including
many double houses (duplexes), as well as larger houses or “villas”. Families also built their own homes,
often from plans, sometimes from mail-order or catalogue kits including those produced by the Timothy
Eaton Company and Aladdin. Factories and brickyards sat cheek and jowl with houses, soot blackening the
brick on the bungalows.
Many of the new houses the Ashbridges and Hastings farms were solid brick or brick-fronted. However,
many were simply tarpaper boxes or wooden shacks. In the housing shortages before and after World War
One, many bought lots and lived in tents with only an outhouse. The northern part of the old Ashbridge farm
land was developed into a “Shacktown”, without running water, electricity, police or firehalls. At first, it was
still part of the rural Township of York, not amalgamating with the City of Toronto until 1909. Shacktowns
were not welcome. Neighbours and politicians used the fire or brick limits bylaws, to restrict neighbourhoods
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and drive out or keep out poorer people.
In 1920 the one Toronto ratepayers’ association asked that
virtually all of Toronto be covered by the brick limits: “The purpose is to prevent the erection of wooden
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shacks.”
Albert Wagstaff built the Vera Apartments around this time, named after his only daughter. The corners of
this eccentric building are decorated with over-baked vitrified brick or clinkers. The apartment building turns
away from the main street with its monumental front entrance facing the brick plant, not Greenwood Avenue.
The original Wagstaff home is buried behind factory additions, but can still be seen from the front steps of
the Vera Apartments. He also built the Avalon Apartments at Gerrard and Woodfield Road, and the Louise
and Alberta Apartments on Dundas Street East.
Once a property had been subjected to the digging, blasting, scraping and general mayhem of brickmaking it
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was heavily cratered, bare of all vegetation, with a hard clay surface. It was “as bald as a brickyard”. The
derelict brickyards became subdivisions, schools and parks. Joseph Russell’s brickyard became Greenwood
Park. A Wagstaff brickyard was filled in and became Monarch Park. Felstead Park was Logan’s brickyard.
The playing field of St. Patrick Catholic Secondary School is also a rehabilitated clay quarry. Another
brickyard became first Harper’s Dump and then the Greenwood Subway Yards. Manufacturers, such as
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Colgate Palmolive, used other brickyards for factories.
In 1965 the City of Toronto Board of Control approved zoning changes to allow a high-rise and town house
complex in the old Price 16-acre brickyard, on the east side of Greenwood Avenue, south of Felstead
Avenue, on Trobrick Road. The developer, Torbrick Investments Ltd., had to consider heating all the
buildings from one plant; acquire houses on Greenwood Avenue to increase the amount of parkland and
build a pedestrian path to provide access to Monarch Park. Five per cent of the 18-acre development had to
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be a park.
The 1,404-suite apartment and town house complex included nine apartment buildings from
nine to 22 storeys and five clusters of townhouses along with a small shopping mall. Torbrick Investments
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Toronto Star, November 1, 1919.
Globe, August 14, 1920.
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Toronto World, April 30, 1919
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Toronto World, November 2, 1920
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Toronto Star, August 4, 1911.
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Myrvold, 17.
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Globe, August 27, 1965.
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108
Ltd. was asked to buy up the remaining Greenwood Avenue properties adjoining the site. The CN tracks
bordered the south end of the site. Therefore, the planners also wanted an earth berm between the tracks
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and the buildings to reduce noise.
Local residents feared that the increased demand on schools and
recreational facilities and the growth in traffic would cause problems. Residents of Felstead and Greenwood
Avenues went to the City Building and Development Committee to protest, in effect saying: “Not in my
backyard even if my backyard is a gaping hole half-filled with garbage. They wanted the developer to
provide a pool and rink. They were also concerned about possible damage to their properties from pile
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driving, as had happened when the Greenwood subway yards were built.
The development was
considerably downsized due to their protests.
In 1966 the Toronto Board of Education agreed that a new high school was needed in the area. They held
closed door meetings for two years to discuss possible sites. In the end they decided on “an old brickyard
and unofficial dump”. They choose one of the highest tenders, mystifying critics. Torbrick Investments Ltd.
received six properties and $700,000 cash for the Price brickyard. The builders had to sink deep caissons
because of the type of landfill (garbage) in the deep hole. Vanbots Construction Ltd. drilled as deep as 100
feet to find firm ground. In March 1972 the new Lakeview Secondary School was in partial use. In
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September 1972 it opened with 950 students. It was later closed because of lack of students and sold to
the Toronto Separate School Board. It is now St. Patrick Catholic Secondary School.
There are still many reminders of Leslieville’s brickyard. Home of brickmaker John Price still stands at 100
Greenwood Avenue next to his mother’s on the north. Another Price house stands across the street. Further
north on Greenwood Avenue, Isaac Price’s house is now a group home. Brick manufacturers’ homes, like
these and the Sawden houses on Queen Street at Greenwood, the Russell houses on Verral Avenue and
others still testify to the beauty of Leslieville brick. One of the most popular Toronto bricks was the John
Price red. It was a high quality face brick and first made on Greenwood Avenue. This rich red brick has a
frog (indent) on top, with “J. Price” moulded into the brick. The Prices are interesting not just because of
their brick-making history in Toronto and in Bridgwater, England, their original home. In a March 23, 2007,
interview on the BBC, Somerset Sound's Jo Phillips interviewed local historian and writer Roger Evans.
They discussed the role of Somerset and slavery. 2007 was the bicentennial anniversary of the 1807
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abolition of the slave trade by Great Britain. Somerset’s wealthy families had grown rich from West Indian
plantations and slavery. But during the Battle of Sedgemoor, King Charles I granted permission for
convicted rebels to be enslaved. 612 Somerset men were transported as slaves to the West Indies. There
these “red legs” died like flies in the sugar plantations. After four years of slavery, the surviving men were
granted free pardons, but few made it back to England. Those that did told horror stories. The common
people of Somerset hated slavery. Their Non-Conformist (Methodist, Baptist, etc.) religious convictions
fostered a passion for equality. In 1785, Bridgwater became the first English town to petition parliament to
abolish slavery. Parliament shelved the petition. Undaunted the people of Somerset continued to work
against slavery.
On August 31, 1846, Frederick Douglass lectured in Bridgwater and appealed to them to do more to end
slavery. The townsfolk of Bridgwater, Somerset petitioned the people of Bridgewater, Massachusetts to join
them in fighting slavery. Among the 1,200 signatures on this petition were Prices, Blakes and Manchips,
ancestors of the Prices, Sear, Billings, Dibbles and others of Leslieville. Some wrote letters, others later
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fought for the Union against the Confederacy in the American Civil War.
As brickmakers grew wealthy, they moved away to north Riverdale or other upper class areas. Yet the
brickyard heritage is still written large on Leslieville for those who know how to read its alphabet. Albert H.
Wagstaff’s brickyard and plant remain at Wagstaff Drive and Greenwood Avenue. Brickyards still pit our
topography in lumps and bumps. Thousands of red and buff brick bungalows, villas and terraces cover wide
areas of Toronto.
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Toronto Star, August 27, 1965.
Toronto Star, October 14, 1965.
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Globe and Mail, December 22, 1972.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2007/02/19/abolition_somerset_and_slavery_feature.shtml
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Letter from the inhabitants of Bridgewater, Somersetshire, England, to the Inhabitants of Bridgewater,
Massachusetts, New-England, America, Dated Sept. 10, 1846; with the Reply of the Latter, Dated Feb. 10, 1847.
(Boston: Andrews & Prentiss, 1847).
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110
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Early Ontario had appalling roads. It was difficult to move produce and meat from place to place and even
harder to keep it fresh. Meat was safe only if it was consumed near where it was slaughtered and
processed. People’s lives depended on the quality and freshness of the product because adulterating foods
by adding filler was common. Due to the lack of refrigeration, food poisoning often caused illness and death.
Butchers’ livelihoods depended on their reputation for a safe, fresh product. Even when ice boxes, the first
refrigerators, became common, Salmonella, Staphylococcus, Campylobacter and other bacteria in food
brought death to all classes, but particularly the urban poor.
Leslieville was close to Toronto and had one of the few relatively good roads. It also had an alternate
delivery route by water through Ashbridge’s Bay to Toronto Harbour. Therefore, it became a place to fatten
cattle and pigs whose meat could be sold fresh at the St. Lawrence Market. Drovers herded cattle along the
roads that funneled into Leslieville. Here were broad fields on the marshy meadows along Ashbridge's Bay
with grasses that were rich, nutritious and cheap. As well, distillers and brewers used the byproducts
(including the mash) from their businesses to feed cattle. (It is said that Gooderham’s cattle were very happy
beasts – until the inevitable.) Moreover, much of Leslieville was outside the City of Toronto until 1884 and
was not subject to City taxation or by-law enforcement. This allowed butchers to operate piggeries and
slaughterhouses free from complaints about noise and stench. Butchers were not welcome in downtown
areas. Their cow-houses and piggeries created what was then termed “an intolerable nuisance”. Even the
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smell was thought to cause disease: The stench arising from them is exceedingly unhealthy.
The stench was not wanted; the food was. Beef for the rich; pork for the poor. Pork was a key element in the
diet of most Torontonians. Pigs ate virtually anything and needed little space, making pork cheap. As well
pork could be preserved as bacon and ham and kept for a period without refrigeration. Pork was the only
meat that many people could afford both here and in the “Home Country”. Canadian ham and bacon
became popular in England, being reasonably priced and of high quality.
Leslieville butchers built their good name over generations so that people were confident in the safety of
their products. Butchers served long apprentices. Boys followed in their father’s footsteps, but there were
women butchers and meat cutters as well. (A Mrs. Swift who had a store near Queen and Leslie was a
butcher in the 1890s.) The families of butchers often intermarried and there was a real camaraderie
between them as well as healthy competition.
One of the first butchers in Leslieville was Cubitt Sparkhall of Norfolk, England, who came to Canada as a
baby in the Gooderham Worts family emigration. (His mother was Mary Worts). In 1839 he started as a
butcher with a stall in the St. Lawrence Market. In 1845 he bought a farm on Logan's Lane. Cubitt Sparkhall
died December 29, 1886, and is buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Sparkhall Avenue is named after this
family.
The Holland family was perhaps the dominant family of butchers in Leslieville. They came to Canada from
Ireland as an extended family before the Potato Famine, arriving in 1843. Later other Hollands came to
escape the Potato Famine. Emigrants who had family already in Canada had a ready-made support network
making survival more likely. However, there were no guarantees. Grosse Ile records show that a number of
young Hollands (their relationship to Leslieville Hollands is unknown) died at this quarantine station in the St.
Lawrence River near Quebec City. Starvation, typhus and cholera haunted the coffin ships that took the
desperate Irish to North America in the years of the fever fleet.
The Hollands were skilled craft butchers. They settled on a park lot, in the newly-opened subdivision north of
Kingston Road and built a piggery and slaughterhouse. Later the public school and the Catholic school were
built nearby. Apparently it was not a problem if the children had to smell a piggery all day long as they sat at
their desks. (They were probably used to it.) This part of Leslieville was an Irish Catholic enclave. This
subdivision was one the first of three in the early days of Leslieville. See the advertisement below:
Eastern Entrance.
Great Sale Of Lots adjoining Leslie’s Nursery, [on the East,] opposite, Where the Eastern Entrance to the
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Harbour must be. There will be offered for sale by public Auction, on Wednesday, The 3 June next, at one
o’clock, on the ground, ninety valuable lots, lying between The Kingston Road and the Bay. These Lots have
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Globe, April 2, 1867.
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deep water in front of them, and the water Lots must become very valuable, as there can be no doubt but
that the Eastern Entrance to the Harbour will before long be constructed, and the water frontage in better
opposite these lots than at any other point along the Eastern Bay. Many of the lots have been already
disposed of at high prices, and in order to close the Estate the whole will be disposed of on that day. There
will be also offered for competition, immediately after the above sale of lots, a number of beautifully situated
PARK LOTS, containing from one to eight acres each, on the north side of the Kingston Road, opposite to
the above lots. Terms very easy – only one-fifth down and the balance in 12 equal annual installments. For
particulars, apply at the office of Messrs. Morrison & Leys, Solicitors, Church street, Toronto, Robt.
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Beekman, Auctioneer, Toronto, May 10, 1857.
Irish Catholic immigrants faced discrimination in every aspect of society. The anti-Catholic Orange Lodge
dominated Leslieville; most employers belonged. Opposition to Catholic schools was fierce yet Catholics
may not have been entirely welcome in the public schools. Brutality was common in schools, but this teacher
went too far gone too far even for the time. George Leslie, who was known for his affection for children,
hired Alexander Muir to replace this violent teacher. Muir did not believe in corporal punishment and never
strapped or beat a student.
ASSAULTING A SCHOOL MASTER
Terence Holland appeared to answer a charge of assaulting Mr. William Cole, teacher of school-house No.
6, Kingston road.
th
The COMPLAINANT said – On the 24 instant, the defendant came to my school-house in a great rage,
waving a pair of tongs in his hands, and vowing vengeance against me for beating his son, a boy 12 years of
age, who is a scholar of mine. Two of my boys took the tongs from him, when he struck me a blow on the
side of the head, knocked me down and attempted to kick me. He was, however, prevented, by persons who
took him away. I had on that same day punished the boy for making a great noise in the school, striking him
two or three blows across the back with a switch. The boy had resisted by trying to lay hold of my leg, but I
pushed him away, and he fell with his right arm against the desk. The boy then became very saucy, and I
struck him some more blows across the back, when he ran home, and his father immediately came over
with the tongs, as I have previously stated. The parents had previously expressed a wish that I would punish
their children, as they are bad boys.
…Holland said that the boy was beaten most unmercifully, having no fewer than nineteen cuts on his back.
He was enraged at this cruelty to his child, and did commit the assault alleged. He would have knocked
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down his own father had he done so.
The Hollands succeeded as butchers, probably because of their skills, but also because of the support they
could lend each other. Leslieville eventually had at least five Terrance Hollands, all butchers. The Hollands
cured pork bellies and smoked hams out of their home at first. They then built a wooden slaughterhouse or
abattoir and in time a larger brick building. The waste from their abattoir went into Hastings Creek, the small
brook that flowed across that part of Leslieville. Neighbours began to voice concern about water pollution
and blamed the Hollands:
Complaints have repeatedly been made of a quantity of polluted matter, disagreeable to the olfactory sense
and dangerous to health, carried down the creek, which rises north of and passes by the piggery, and it is
supposed this establishment is the cause of it. But an examination shows that as much pollution is caused
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by the surface drainage of adjacent land, manured with all kinds of filth, as from the pig-styes.
The Hollands were not alone.
Leslieville had small slaughterhouses and soon the abattoirs became bigger. By the 1850s the scale of
production increased because of Toronto’s population was growing population. Before that most meat came
from farmers who slaughtered their own beasts and from village butchers. Farmers fattened their hogs up on
corn in the summer and butchered them in the fall. Settlers slaughtered pigs only for their own use. Then,
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Globe, June 3, 1857.
Globe, March 27, 1858.
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Globe, May 24, 1883
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later, with increasing prosperity, farmers sold their pigs to local butchers, like the Hollands, who cured the
meat for the market. Small stockyards and packing houses were scattered through Leslieville. Toronto’s
wealth rested on the produce of the countryside around it. In 1845 the main exports from the Port of Toronto.
were flour, wheat, ashes (potash), peas, pork, beef, hams (45,500 pounds), Timothy seed (a type of forage
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grass), butter, lard, wool, sheep skins, leather for shoes, salted hides, furs, shingles, starch and lumber.
In 1880 there were eight families of butchers in Leslieville. Many, though not all, were Irish Catholics like the
Hollands, the Gallaghers and the Nolans. Butchers did not have just a shop. They had everything they
needed to make bacon, ham, sausages and pork chops, along with lard. They owned a sausage machine,
horses, delivery wagons, stables, a slaughter-house and a piggery. Leslieville, south of the Kingston Road
and west of the Leslie Nurseries filled with stockyards and cow byres on a larger and larger scale. Because
of the marsh’s reputation for disease and its clouds of mosquitoes, land near it was not desirable for
housing. However, its proximity to good rail connections and the Kingston Road, as well as to grass and
mash, made it ideal for livestock. The Gooderhams, John Clarke, George Morse, Henry and Eduard Blong
and others penned livestock here and fattened them for sale. George Gooderham alone fed thousands of
cattle on the mash from his distillery which he piped across the Don to the cattle byres (barns) that stood
where the Lever Bros. Soap Factory and a new luxury car dealership stand today.
The Blongs were Protestant Irish of Huguenot descent. Eduard and Henry Blong raised and butchered cattle
both for the Canadian market and the British markets. Eduard owned a large farm on the south side of
Queen Street where the Woodgreen Church is now. His farm, like the Gooderham operation, was essentially
a feed lot. He, like most Leslieville butchers, had a stall in St. Lawrence Market. George Morse (Morse
Street is named after him) was another man who raised cattle and got rich off the by-products of the
slaughterhouse. He owned the Morse Soap Works and later got rich shipping meat to “The Old Country”. In
1854 William Davies (nicknamed “Piggy Davies”) set up one of Toronto’s earliest packing houses. It was on
Front Street. In 1861 he opened his first meat processing operation. It was at the St. Lawrence Market. By
then the Grand Trunk Railway was complete. This railway made it easier to bring livestock to market and to
ship products to consumers. During the American Civil War, there was a huge demand for pork to feed the
Union Army. George Morse and others began shipping meat to the U.S. Many village butchers became
wholesale butchers, moving into meatpacking. They produced hams, bacon and other products for shipment
across Canada and for export, particularly for the American market and the United Kingdom. The British
bacon market was lucrative. The British liked the lean Canadian bacon. Leslieville butchers slaughtered the
hogs, dressed the carcasses and cured the pork. They packed the pork in barrels filled with brine for
shipping across the Atlantic. By-products of the slaughterhouse included hides (used to make leather), lard
(used in cooking and to make soap), bones and blood (ground into bone meal and blood meal), etc.
William Harris arrived in Leslieville from England in 1870. He began making sausage and sausage cases in
at Pape and Queen. He completed his apprenticeship as a butcher while working for William Davies
between 1870 and 1872. While working for Davies Harris found that local livestock dealers like the Blongs
and local butchers did not use every part of an animal’s carcass. He moved up on Pape’s Lane to north of
Gerrard Street where he opened a rendering plant using “every part of the pig except the oink”. Later he
moved his plant to Danforth and Coxwell, leasing Glebe or Clergy reserve land where taxes were low. His
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rendering business was known as the “glue factory”.
The three-story brick building was 125 feet long and
60 feet wide. In 1900, the glue factory burned to the ground. Since it was outside the city limits, Harris’ own
private fire brigade was left to fight the blaze alone – unsuccessfully. The fire threw 40 men out of work.
Harris moved his business to landfill at the foot of the Don River and later to Strachan Avenue. In 1901
William Harris experimented in prepared dressed beef and shipping it to Britain on consignment. He had the
cattle slaughtered at his abattoir and the chilled meat put in special refrigerator rail cars. He sent it express
to Saint John, New Brunswick, where it was put on a refrigerator ship for England. Harris became very
wealthy. His firm became one of the founding members of Canada Packers. The Harris home, Cranfield
House, still stands on Pape Avenue.
Leslieville’s families were closely linked through marriage. For example, the Wagstaffs, brickmakers, were
related to the Harrises, butchers, through the marriage of Ada Wagstaff to James Harris, the oldest son of
William Harris. Edward and Henry Blong controlled most of the pastureland south of Queen Street. Peter
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Smith, Smith’s Canadian Gazetteer, 197.
See http://harris-history.com/wharrisco/wharrisco-p2.htmlbusiness by 1903.
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MacDonald, Toronto Alderman and superintendent of Leslieville Presbyterian Church’s Sunday school,
married Sarah Blong. Peter MacDonald Jr., his son, married William Harris’ oldest daughter, Annie Louisa
Harris.
Leslieville butchers participated fully in the life of the village. When politicians did not deliver on their promise
to build a free skating rink in Leslieville, Brickenden Brothers, butchers and carriage makers, built one
themselves and gave it free of charge. They also built handsome terraces of homes on Logan Avenue and
Morse, just north of Queen Street East.
The area butchers were generous, but they were no angels. In 1902 police charged Charles Wagstaff, Albert
Anderson, John Anderson, John Holland, William Heward and George J. Smith, all sons of Leslieville, with
assaulting Constable Ward. (This was an ecumenical attack. The Catholic Holland and Protestant Wagstaff
had no problem joining forces to assault the constable.) By now the old Morin House was called Stone’s
Hotel (soon to be re-christened The Duke of York). It was a favourite watering hole. On Dominion Day, July
1, Constable Ward told the loitering men to move on. They declined. Anderson punched the policeman in
the stomach and Ward tried to arrest him. The group piled on him, kicking and punching. They claimed in
court that Ward had no right to interfere with them. The judge gave the local boys light sentences, saying, “I
don’t want to hit these men too hard, but I want them to understand that they shouldn’t interfere with the
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police.”
In 1905 John Holland and three other young Leslievillers, punched Constable Drury to the ground and then
kicked him, four on one. This was near Holland’s home on Curzon Street sometime after midnight. They had
been drinking in Drollery’s barn, a shebeen. The mother of one of the men had called the police because the
men were so rowdy and foul-mouthed. Another patrolman came to Drury’s aide. Holland pulled a picket from
a fence and went after Patrol-Sergeant Roe with it. The two policemen swung their batons and their
attackers fled. Holland had two previous convictions. He and three others were convicted of assaulted
Constable Drury. Later in 1905 John Holland was again charged with assaulting a policeman, Constable
Dixon this time. In 1906 Holland was found guilty of smashing a beer bottle over Constable Hawthorne’s
skull. This was in front of the Duke of York Hotel. It had became a place for thugs to wait and “roll a drunk”.
As early as 1914 theft was a problem at the hotel. The court found William Howard guilty of robbing Tom
Falconer of 25 cents. Judge Morson sentenced Howard to five days in jail.
While butchers could be bad boys, they were not the only ones.
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Toronto Star, July 8, 1902.
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Taverns hosted militia musters, fairs, agricultural society dinners, election banquets, political meetings,
church services, dances and parties. They were welcome oases for travelers, not just places to get drunk.
While they lacked the decorum desired by the elite, taverns were essential:
The [roads] where there are any…are generally poor; the surface rough, the bridges wretched, and
attendance at the inns defective, as must necessarily be the case where there is too great a tone of general
equality and familiarity, amidst a scattered, independent, and uncultivated people. But greater kindness and
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fellow-feeling often exist here than are to be found in the more accomplished receptacles of politer people.
In the early days, winter was the time for travel and socializing:
There are only two seasons when you can travel with any degree of comfort, -- midsummer and midwinter.
During the former part of the year, travelling on horseback is preferable, or in a light waggon – during the
latter, when there is snow on the ground, in a sleigh, which, from the smooth gliding half-flying sensation you
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experience, is by far the most delightful mode of land gestation…I ever experienced…
Early inns on Kingston Road included The Queen’s Head, Blacksmith’s Arms, The Puritan and the Tam
O’Shanter on the southeast corner of Queen Street and Broadview Avenue. It had a swinging sign with Tam
O’Shanter (from a Robbie Burns poem) on a galloping white horse. Around 1835, an English settler named
Charles Watkins built a tavern at the northwest corner of Boston Avenue and Queen Street East. Watkins
liked farming more than running an inn so he rented the inn out. The first landlord, Sandy Watson, kept the
inn until about 1847. Then James Shaw rented the place and it became known as Shaw’s Inn. It was one of
the first taverns in Leslieville. According to John Ross Robertson:
Tavern-keeping in that locality was then in its palmiest days. There was an almost continuous stream of
traffic passing by during the winter,--great, comfortable farmers’ sleighs bringing in loads of produce to the
rising young city; rough, heavy wood-sleighs, piled high with sweet-scented pine and rough cordwood;
besides vehicles conveying passengers and the mails, for in those days the Kingston Road was one of the
mail routes. All year round, but particularly during the winter, the many taverns in this locality -- Shaw’s was
the most easterly one at the time -- did a roaring trade. Mr. Shaw was very fond of horses, and it was one of
the sights of the neighbourhood to see the black hostler, an old escaped slave known as ‘Doc’, trot out Mr.
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Shaw’s team to water every morning.
In 1847 George Smith and William Cook, local farmers and brickmakers, opened a tavern near the south
east corner of Leslie Street and Queen Street East. George Smith and William Cook were the ex-owners of
Shaw’s Inn. In 1852 their new venture was named Uncle Tom's Cabin. “Doc”, Lewis Dockerty, was the
patriarch of the community of African Americans nearby. He worked at Shaw’s Inn, handling the horses.
(Shaw’s Hotel burned down in 1861. In 1865 Joseph Russell bought lot put up a new site and some twostorey brick building.) Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery book, Uncle Tom's Cabin, was originally
subtitled, The Man that Was a Thing. Uncle Tom’s Cabin or Life Among the Lowly. Uncle Tom‘s Cabin was
an instant hit in the USA, Canada and Great Britain. The Globe, owned by George Brown, well-known
newspaperman and abolitionist, printed extracts and the whole fifth chapter:
Within weeks there were separate Toronto and Montreal editions based upon the Boston printing. In St.
Thomas, Canada West, a diorama illustrative of Mrs. Stowe’s more poignant scenes was widely viewed, in
Toronto strolling players dramatized the novel in the streets…Hundreds of young boys who, less than ten
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years later, would enter the Northern armies, devoured it in the one-volume edition.
A number of black families including the Barrys, Churneys, Davises, Dockertys, Frenchs, Harmons, Lewises,
Minks, Sewells, Whitleys, Wilrouses, Winders and Woodforks, lived along Kingston Road in the 1860s.
Thomas Carey and Richard B. Richards hired refugees from slavery to cut ice on Ashbridge’s Bay. Black
sailors like the Harmons lived on Kingston Road, but also stayed in the inns. Black crews were popular.
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Stuart, 160.
Dunlop, 54-55.
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John Ross Robertson, Landmarks, Vol. III, p. 320.
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Davis, Charles Twitchell and Henry Louis Gates, editors. The Slave's Narrative. (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1985), p. 121
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119
120
There are many refugees who “go down to the lakes in ships, that do business on the great waters;” and
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these fresh water sailors earn good wages in summer.
Captain Averill, explained why they preferred black crews:
Colored men do very well for deck hands, and firemen, and the like of that. They are the best men we have.
We have to pay them the same as white men, and I prefer them to some portion of our citizens. We have to
keep them separate from white sailors. We cannot mix them. We always carry a black crew or a white one.
We will take a crew of firemen, darkies, or a crew of deck hands, darkies. They are fully as good as white
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sailors, in regard to temperance. We can put more confidence in them than we can in white men.
Many of these sailors were involved in the Underground Railway. At the risk of their lives, black sailors
visiting southern ports distributed pamphlets giving slaves information about escape routes. They formed a
last link to freedom, putting fugitives on their ships and sailing them across the Great Lakes to Canada.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was the centre of Leslieville's social life, or, at least, the social life of the men folk. The
toll booth stood to the east; Gowan’s Orange Lodge was at the back; McLatchie’s blacksmith shop was to
the west; and north, across the road, was George Leslie’s general store and post office. The Gut, the cove
where Leslieville’s fisherman docked, backed onto Uncle Tom Cabin property. It was busiest in winter when
the brickmakers and nurserymen, fishermen and sailors, had time on their hands. John Ross Robertson
described it:
During the same period, about seventy years ago, there stood one mile to the eastward, on the Kingston
Road, the hub of the village of Leslieville--Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This hotel was kept by two typical
Englishmen, George Smith and William Cook, and it was a centre of the social life of the district. Brickmaking and tree-growing were the principal occupations of the inhabitants round about, and as these
industries were inactive in the winter months Uncle Tom’s was the rendezvous for cards, dominoes and
drinking. Although beer and whisky sold for two-pence a glass, it is said that there was but little
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drunkenness at this hotel.
However, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was not alone. In 1836, when the population of Toronto was only 9,652 there
were 76 taverns, or one to every 127 inhabitants and besides these liquor was sold in most of the grocery
stores. There were about 300 licenses during the 1860s when the population of the city was from 45,000 to
55,000 or about one to every 166 persons. In 1874, when the population was 68,000, there were the
following licenses issued: 309 tavern, 184 shop, 24 wholesale and 16 vessel. That is about one tavern
license to every 220 persons. Later with the growth of the temperance movement, taverns began to close,
driven out of business. In 1911, with a population of about 450,000, there were only 110 taverns, 50 shop
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and 11 wholesale, and no vessel licenses, or only one tavern license to every 4,091 persons.
To serve liquor, an inn needed a license. The City of Toronto granted taverns licenses on a yearly basis.
The innkeeper had to show that he had the number of rooms required for travelers. In the mid nineteenth
century Ogle Gowan was the Grand Master of the Orange Lodge . He was also the City of Toronto’s License
Inspector. Gowan visited the inns along the south side of the Kingston Road. It is fair to assume that
Orangemen had an easier time getting and keeping a license than Catholics. However, lack of a license did
not stop many from serving (or making) liquor. Leslieville’s Irish Catholic turned to rough drinking places in
barns or shacks, called shebeens. A notorious shebeen was Duffy’s on Dagmar Avenue. Catholics were not
welcome everywhere. In the back of Uncle Tom’s Cabin was the Gowan Lodge, an Orange Hall. It was
named after Ogle Gowan, Francis Medcalf, Grand Master of the Orange Lodge and Toronto Mayor from
1864 to 1866 and again in 1874 and 1875, held a political meeting at Uncle Tom’s Cabin:
Eastern Division. F.H. Medcalf will address the Electors at Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Mr. Geo. Smith’s, Kingston
Road, on Tuesday evening, 7:30 sharp, Emerson Coatsworth Chairman Con. Com. East Toronto. The Hon.
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Howe, Samuel Gridley. The Refugees from Slavery in Canada West. Boston: Wright & Potter, 1864, p. 76.
Howe, 76-77.
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Robertson, Landmarks, Vol. VI, p. 520-521.
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Pearson, W.H. Recollections and Records of Toronto of Old. (Toronto, William Briggs, 1914), p. 234.
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121
M.C. Cameron will address the electors residing on the Kingston Road east of the Don, at Mr. George
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Smith’s, Leslieville, on Tuesday Evening next, the 14th instant, at 7:30 o’clock.
Irish Catholic competition opened next door to Uncle Tom’s when James Morin, grocer and brickmaker, put
up a red brick building just to the east. (The Morin House later became the Duke of York tavern.) Groups
had their favourite bars then as now. The Morin House was the drinking hole of the Green; Uncle Tom’s
Cabin was Protestant and Orange. In the nineteenth century rivalry between teams might float on an
undertow of religious animosity: A story of the old days, when there was a battle royal every Saturday night
between the adherents of the Orange and Green or a mixup betwixt the volunteer firemen and the
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bluecoats, will earn a footing quicker than an invitation to the house to lubricate.”
Morin opened during the
Long Depression and soon ran into financial trouble. Local people believed that he had skipped town leaving
his debts behind him. However, he opened another hotel in the west end of Toronto , but did not
venture into brickmaking again.
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Insolvent Estate of James Morin, of Leslieville, Auction Sale of Bricks on Wednesday next, the 13 inst.,
There will be sold by public auction on the presences at Leslieville, all the bricks belonging to the above
insolvent estate, contained in nine lots (complete and incomplete,) supposed to number about TWO
MILLIONS OF BRICKS. Each kiln as it stands will be sold separately. Sale at 1 o’clock. TERMS: … and
under cash; over that same …cash and balance in three months secured by the approved endorse note with
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bank interest added. …Andrew Henderson, Auctioneer. John Kerr, Assignee. Toronto, Mach 8 , 1872
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Around 1873 George “Codder” Smith and William Cook sold Uncle Tom’s. William Woods was proprietor
of the “Leslie Hotel, Kingston Road” for a few years. He was born in King’s County, Ireland, and came to
Canada in May, 1853. In 1866 he married William Susan McLeartney, 19, also of Ireland. He took over the
Leslie Hotel in 1876. He catered to tourists:
In connection with this hotel he has a garden and conservatory and also owns a lot near the lake for the use
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of guests desirous of boating or fishing. His premises have a frontage of 81 x 230 feet.
It then passed into the hands of Henry (Hank) Callender. Callender remodeled the tavern and operated as
Callender’s Hotel. (Samuel Crothers was the bartender for a number of years.) In 1884, after the Long
murder, it briefly lost its liquor license. It operated as a temperance hotel until Hank Callender regained the
license. The hotel property had a frontage of 150 feet by 500 feet and could accommodate 40 guests. It had
a stable that was reputed to be one of the best on the Kingston Road. An advertisement for a political rally
(Saturday December 18, 1878 Globe) shows the diverse functions a tavern and hotel continued to play in
the nineteenth century:
Mr. John Leys will address the Electors of East Toronto as follows: Jackson’s hall, No. 701 Yonge-street,
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near Bloor-street, on Friday Evening, the 15 inst., at half-past seven. Calendar’s Hall, Leslieville Saturday
th
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Evening, the 16 inst., at half-past seven, Hon. Mr. Morris is requested to be present.
In 1881 Elias A. Jones leased the Morin House from Hank Calendar who continued to live there. Jones was
born in Vermont. His grandfather was killed in the Revolutionary War. When he was 13, his mother died, and
he was left alone in the world. He moved around from town to town and drove a stage for about 14 years.
He came to Canada in 1855 and became a horse trainer. He began a bus company but, in 1857,
unscrupulous rivals raided and burned out his business at Duke and George Streets. He lost his vehicles,
but hung unto his business until he was out competed by the street railways. He moved to Leslieville where
he trained horses and did odd jobs. He died in 1891. Henry Callendar died at his hotel at 1211 Queen Street
East on February 15, 1895. He left two daughters; one was married to Charles Phair, a well-known jockey
and trainer. After Callender died, Phair ran his horse business out of the hotel stables. Many jockeys,
grooms and other horsemen lived in Leslieville. The Woodbine race track was important to the local
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Globe, March 14, 1871.
Toronto Star, April 6, 1901.
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Globe, March 8, 1872.
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“Codder Smith” from “codding you” meaning to “sell you a line”, “hook you in”, like fishing for cod.
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Adams, History of Toronto, Vol. I, 489 - 490.
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Globe, December 14, 1878.
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economy. It attracted visitors from out of town and filled the hotels from summer to fall, but particularly
before important races, such as the King’s Plate [now Queen’s Plate]:
One section of the community which is greatly benefited is the hotelmen. The hotels in the east end from
the Don to the Woodbine, have felt the impulse for over a month, these suburban hostelries being occupied
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for the last month with stablemen, trainers, grooms and the miscellaneous entourage of the race horse.
Greenwood Avenue was named after another hotel keepers, John Greenwood and Catherine or Kate
Dwyer, his Irish wife. Greenwood was a carriage maker from Leicestershire, England. They opened their
hotel at 1366 Queen St. E., the northwest corner of Greenwood and Queen street East in 1864. Another
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John Greenwood was a 16 Puritan leader hung when he refused to submit to the Church of England. A
painting of this John Greenwood, Puritan, hung over the tavern as a visual pun. Hence, the Puritan Hotel
was not a temperance hotel as the name might suggest. After her husband John died in 1868, Kate
Greenwood continued to run the tavern, an ice business, and a market garden.
In 1889 Leslieville’s hoteliers included: Charles Ayres, Eastern Ave.; Henry Callender (Leslieville Hotel),
1211 Queen St. E.; E. A. Jones, 1225 Queen St E (The Morin House); and Richard O’Leary, 1366 Queen
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St. E. (the former Puritan Inn).
By 1900 the Morin House was sometimes called Stone’s Hotel after
Richard Stone, the owner. In 1906 contractors tore down an older Duke of York tavern, on Queen Street
near Bond, downtown. Shortly after the Morin House became the Duke of York.
By World War One the glory days of drinking were over. Hard drinking was central to pioneer life in Ontario.
Binge-drinking and chronic alcoholism devastated families, particularly women and children. Many women
came to see drinking as an assault on their families, robbing the family of the husband’s pay and health.
(Women drank too, but it became unacceptable for women to drink in public. Women who did so were seen
as prostitutes.) By 1887 the Young Women’s Christian Temperance Union had a branch in Leslieville and
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held social events as well as meetings.
The Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was also
active in Leslieville. Temperance became a very popular campaign and swept through the churches of
Leslieville. It gave women a sense of power in their lives at a time when they were still disenfranchised
politically.
There were many restaurants and unlicensed taverns and saloons in the East End by the 1890s, just as the
licensed ones were being closed down by temperance reformers. They expressed horror at bars:
They are the resorts of fallen and degraded women and men that have almost by their acts severed
themselves from the human race. In these holes the frequenters of the police court are found in numbers.
There are, of course, grades in these places, but the highest grade of these liquor dives is altogether too low
for a city that lays claim to morality as does Toronto.
… The women, some young, some older, for the most part were of that class that has fallen as low as it is
possible to fall. Without reputation, shame, or honor, they assemble in such places as this to gather what
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pleasure they can out of brutal pastime.
In 1901 there were 150 licensed hotels in Toronto. There were only five hotels left “over the Don”. The
Toronto Star published an article on April 6, 1901 on these taverns. By that time, there was only one liquor
store left “across the Don”, but there was always beer – or so they thought: Beer is the favorite beverage
over the Don. Whiskey has a good run, too, but beer is the work-a-day man’s solace after a busy day.
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Leslieville’s bars were not ornate: the customers prefer surroundings as plain as their drinks. The law
required each hotel to have at least six fully-furnished rooms for rent. Some owners did not rent the rooms,
but made money only from the bar. Sometimes customers used the rooms for illicit purposes. Leslieville’s
bars held illegal cockfights and dogfights, as well as poker games and bare knucle boxing matches. As well,
Leslieville men had a reputation for fighting with their feet:
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Toronto Star, May 19, 1899.
Toronto Business Directory with Telephone Guide, 1889 p. 205-207.
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Globe, January 22, 1887.
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Toronto Star, October 20, 1894.
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Toronto Star, April 6, 1901.
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A fight occurred in Jones’ hotel [the Morin House], on the Kingston road, Monday night, during which a
Leslieville bricklayer named Allcock was badly kicked about the face. Constable Patterson, one of the
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mounted policemen, arrested Gus Hamilton as the guilty party yesterday morning.
Shebeens still flourished. In 1901 a judge sentenced Frank Duffy to three months in Central Prison for
keeping a common gaming house. Duffy’s shebeen, was in a shed was on Dagmar Avenue. Bootlegging
was common in Toronto before Prohibition (and even more common during). Police arrested A.D. Simon,
owner of the Duke of York Hotel, and two of his bartenders, E.B. Stone and William Harrison, for selling
bottles of more than a quart in size for consumption away from the bar. At that time, it was legal to sell a
quart of liquor for take-away, but not more. Magistrate George Taylor Dennison fined the bartenders
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$100.00 each. From about 1907 to 1930 George and Ellen Chisholm ran the Duke of York. They were
prominent Conservative Associations and Roman Catholics. Ellen McDonald Chisholm came from a family
of publicans. A brother was proprietor of the Parkdale Hotel. Ellen and George Chisholm died in 1930.
By 1908 the temperance movement was eliminating liquor licenses across Ontario. They were well
organized and financed. They divided Ward One into seven districts. Charles Bully was in charge of Gerrard
Street, east of the Don and north to city limits; E. O. Weston – Don River to Logan Avenue, between Gerrard
and Queen Streets; Walter Davidson – Logan Avenue to Greenwood Avenue, between Gerrard and Queen
Streets; and Henry Radcliffe – Don to Greenwood Avenue, south of Queen Street. They were highly
successful. In 1916 Ontario prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages except Ontario’s own wine (then
considered vile stuff). People could drink only medicinal or scientific purposes. Doctors began writing
prescriptions for liquor. Patients carried their “medicine” home in brown paper bags.
In 1919 The Volstead Act passed in the U.S. and the rum-running era began. Many Canadians smuggled
liquor across the Great Lakes at night. (Al Capone is rumoured to have had a late night rendezvous with
local rum runners at Cherry Beach). By the time Prohibition was repealed in Ontario in 1926, only 15
breweries remained. The Liquor Control Act placed the sale of alcoholic beverages under government
control. Liquor was and is sold in government liquor stores while the large brewers founded the Brewers
Retail to sell beer. Only near beer, Fergies’ foam, named for Premier George Howard Ferguson, was
allowed in taverns, but there was still joy in Leslieville. Near beer still was better than no beer.
Duke of York Busy
The Duke of York Hotel at 1227 Queen street east, near the Woodbine race track, was a scene of
excitement. In a room almost ninety feet long and forty-five or fifty feet wide well over two hundred men and
youths were trying out Ferguson’s beer (Fergie’s Foam). Many more were unable to find seats and crowded
around the doorways with an eagle eye watching for some person to vacate a chair. “What have they done,”
asked a new arrival about nine thirty, “turned this place into an aquarium or something? I didn’t think that
there were this many men in the city wanting to try out four point four.”
Later in the evening some of the men procured chairs and placed them beside a wide window sill which they
used as their table. The waiter was rather adverse to serving them on this improvised stand but was
convinced that he would not be arrested.
Standers Not Served
About ten o’clock a wagon drove up to the side of the hotel. Four dust covered men shouldered their way
through the crowd. “Eight glasses” was their curt demand. “Sorry, sir,” answered the waiter, “but you will
have to wait for a table.” After standing for ten minutes one of them indignantly declared, “Here we are like
four fools standing around waiting to try some beer. Not only that but we drive nineteen miles to have this
privilege.” Another man standing nearby said, “Well, I’ve been down in this corner for two hours. Every time I
see a seat and make for it I’m beaten out. Guess I had better go home.” Two visitors from the United States
were testing out the Nickle beer with apparent gusto. “I think I’m getting drunk,” one of them said after two
glasses. “What!” exclaimed another drinker, “got drunk on this stuff. Say, you must be from the States to get
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the idea that this stuff will give you a jag. No kick at all, I’ve been trying to get jingled all day. Bunk.”
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Globe, September 21, 1887.
Toronto Star, November 8, 1912.
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Toronto Star, May 22, 1925
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Fergies’ foam tempted many to bend the rules and make a little money on the side. In 1926 James Neilly,
O’Keefe’s truck driver, was delivering to the Duke of York. His truck concealed several unmarked barrels of
strong beer, among their marked O’Keefe’s barrels of 4.4% Fergie’s foam. Police charged O’Keefe’s
Beverages Ltd. and Neilly with having liquor in an illegal location: the delivery truck! Neilly claimed that he
unloaded the mystery barrels off a boat at Cherry Beach when a stranger told him he could make three
dollars a barrel on the strong beer. He took the blame; his employer took none:
“It was my own fault, I am to blame,” he said, “I was trying to make a little money on the side.”
“I want you to understand I am not simple, and I do not believe you,” said Magistrate Browne who fined
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Neilly fined a huge fine of $600. It had to be paid or Neilly would spend three months in jail.
In 1934 strong beer was again allowed in hotels and taverns. The Duke of York was ready.
OLD HOTEL READY FOR BEER DEMAND
Duke of York Is Veteran Hostelry in Its Section
Alterations are going on in the Duke of York hotel, Queen and Leslie sts., to meet anticipated demands
under the new beer bill. This is the first report of hotel alteration.
A sitting room and office on the main floor is being changed to make way for a beverage room, which will be
23 feet by 62 feet and will have accommodation for 100. There will be from 25 to 30 tables.
F. Haymer, manager, informed The Star that the hotel had engaged six men as waiters. There would be
additional help taken on for dining room service, he said.
“The alterations for the beverage room are being rushed so that we will be able to open for business as soon
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as we received the authority,” Mr. Haymer stated. “We are having all new equipment.
Haymer pointed out that the Duke of York was one of the oldest hotels in the east end. It remains today at
the southwest corner of Queen and Leslie. Despite the Duke’s checkered past, it is one of Leslieville’s best
loved landmarks.
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Toronto Star, August 21, 1926.
Toronto Star, July 20, 1934
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One Leslieville was a pious village of church goers who raised money for charity, taught Sunday school,
visited the poor and did other good deeds (including making money). The other Leslieville was a rough and
tumble place. Heavy drinking, fist-fighting, gambling, cock-fighting and general mayhem, inside and outside
of the shebeens and taverns, made Leslieville a wild, wild east. Working class men and women held a
profound distrust of and disdain for authority. These two Leslieville’s interacted in complex ways, often along
class, gender and sectarian divides. Social life for many revolved around church; for others, the tavern; and,
for some, both places. Every village had glue that held it together. Without a tavern, a general store and post
office, and a blacksmith shop, and a church or two (or three), rural hamlets withered. Men socialized at work,
the lodges, in the tavern, at the smithy or around the general store’s stove. Women socialized at church.
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Churches sponsored everything from fashion shows to dances to parades. Moreover, churches were the
moral authorities of Victorian Ontario. They successfully lobbied governments to pass legislation governing
behaviour such as drinking, gambling and church going. Sabbatarianism made Leslieville’s Sundays holier
and duller. Sabbath legislation banned not only work, but baseball, skating and virtually anything but going
to Church.
Sabbath breaking became more of a concern as the Leslieville area became more settled. If you could not
see what your neighbour was doing when he was not in church, how could you know he was doing
anything? When you could see him sinning, then trouble began. By the 1870s there started to be
complaints about hunting and fishing on Ashbridge's Bay:
Cannot there be something done by the authorities to effectually drive terror into a few “pot-hunting” sports,
who, not satisfied with the season being in, infest the Marsh on Sunday, and shoot ducks and other game
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with impunity!
In 1887 people founded the Lord’s Day Alliance, to fight for a pure Sabbath of rest. In 1893 a Toronto
magistrate fined a cab driver two dollars or ten days in jail for carrying a woman on Sunday. In 1896 in
Leslieville, fishing on Sunday, May 24, Empire Day, cost Thomas Reed, John Taylor and John Christie.
They were fined a dollar and costs or ten days in jail. Even public transit was sinful on a Sunday. In 1897
there was a referendum to ban Sunday street cars. All Leslieville churches supported the ban, except the
Anglican Church which simply ignored the issue. In 1907 the Lord's Day Act (Federal) passed.
Methodists
In 1859 James Beaty, a staunch Orange Protestant, owner of the planked Kingston road, began a Sunday
school in Ashport. The only nearby church was Anglican: St. John of Norway (1853). While Methodists, like
the Ashbridges, attended the Anglican Church when there was no Methodist chapel nearby, their style of
worship was very different from the Church of England. Out of the Sunday school there developed a
demand for Methodist meetings. At first the Methodist meetings were held in the Ashbridges’ house. The
Ashbridge family were originally Quakers, then became Anglican, supporting St. John Norway., However, a
religious revival, the Second Great Awakening, swept North America from about 1800 to 1840. Methodist
camp meetings converted many thousands. The Ashbridges lost status when they became Methodist.
Methodism was associated with emotional excess and welcomed the poorest of the poor. As one person put
it: The social status of the adherents of the Methodist Church was not then as high as it has been for some
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time past. In fact, to become a member of that Church was to some extent to lose caste.”
George Leslie,
though Presbyterian frequently hosted meetings in his cottage. (His wife Caroline was a Methodist; her
brother, John Beatty was a preacher.)
Another, Beatty, Thomas, (1825-1893) also hosted prayer meetings. Thomas Beatty was born in New
Brunswick, and came to York Township in 1840. He worked on Jonathan Ashbridge's farm until 1850. He
then purchased a block of land at the northwest corner of Kingston Road and Greenwood’s Lane from Jesse
Ashbridge while still working as his farm manager. Beatty became a brickmaker. In the late 1850s or early
1860s he used his own red bricks to build a house on Kingston Road (now 6-8 Cherry Nook Gardens).
Beatty kept the Commercial Hotel on Jarvis Street from 1850 to 1854, and then the Prospect Hotel until
1868. Then he retired to drive the bus on Kingston Road and make more bricks. In 1859, Thomas Beatty
donated a corner lot at Ashport on the Kingston Road for a Methodist church. Thomas Beatty, Jesse
412
Moore, Yan. “Closely knit community to a street of character”, Ward 8 News, April 5, 1978.
Globe, August 23, 1870.
414
Pearson, W.H. Recollections and Records of Toronto of Old. Toronto, William Briggs, 1914, 248.
413
127
128
Ashbridge and Amy Ashbridge raised the money to build the church. The church cost between $800 to
$1,000 and congregation paid off the mortgage for years. The building was 40 by 30 feet, and seated 250.
Before the days when the term “Leslieville” was popularized, the church at Ashport was called the “Kingston
road church”. Later it was also known as the “Leslieville Methodist church” and the “Queen Street East
Methodist Church”.
A steep flight of stairs led from the street to the main floor of the church, leaving a high basement with lots of
natural life for the Sunday school below. Above the door was: "Wesleyan, A. D., 1859." John Ross
Robertson described it: The floor is bare, the wooden chairs are not suggestive of comfort, while a
mammoth furnace in the room, its branching pipes, the low ceiling and the half underground room give it all
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a somber air.”
Educating their children also in their letters and their faith was vital. Childhood was fragile. Epidemic disease
and the high infant mortality rate robbed families of their young. Thomas Beatty and his wife, Ella Winnett,
had two sons and three daughters that survived to maturity, but another two died in the diphtheria epidemic
of 1877 that swept through Leslieville. The fact the loss of children was common did not make it any the less
devastating. A hymn of the the time recalls this:
When He cometh, when He cometh
To make up His jewels,
All His jewels, precious jewels,
His loved and His own.
Refrain
Like the stars of the morning,
His brightness adorning,
They shall shine in their beauty,
Bright gems for His crown.
He will gather, He will gather
The gems for His kingdom;
All the pure ones, all the bright ones,
His loved and His own.
Refrain
Little children, little children,
Who love their Redeemer,
Are the jewels, precious jewels,
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His loved and His own.
John Carroll, who lost his twin brother in childhood, owed much to Sunday Schools. He was born in a fishing
hut on Saltkill’s Island in Passamaquoddy Bay, New Brunswick in 1809. In 1814 the Carrolls settled in York
where his father was a labourer and his mother ran a boarding-house. John Carroll went to school only until
he was nine. However, in 1818, he enrolled in the first Methodist Sunday school in York. Here, he learned to
read and write. The Sunday Schools taught thousands of poor children who had no other access to
education. Carroll and others became fiercely committed to the Sunday School movement.
When he was 13 John Carroll went to work on his older brother William’s farm northwest of Toronto. It was
one of the most miserable times in his life. Child labour could be brutal. In 1823, he was “born again” in a
Methodist camp meeting. He became Methodist minister, one of the circuit rider or “Saddlebags” in 1827. He
rode a horse on a route through rural Ontario, preaching here and there, often in homes or barns. Carroll
was a hellfire-and-brimstone preacher and author with a humorous, accessible style, unusual in a writer of
this period. Historian John Webster Grant noted: Few other writers have described nineteenth-century
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Robertson, J. Ross. Landmarks of Toronto, Vol. IV, 401-402.
Words by W.O. Cushing, 1856, music George F. Root, 1866, from the Cyberhymnal
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/w/h/whenheco.htm
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417
Canadian Methodism from within, and none with such irreverent yet sympathetic wit.
One of his most
famous books was, The Stripling Preacher. In 1863 John Carroll was elected co-delegate or vice-president
of the annual conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, the highest Methodist office open to a
Canadian. In 1869 he retired as a circuit rider and became minister at Leslieville Methodist Church. That
year he wrote a famous book, Reasons for Methodist Belief and Practice relative to Water Baptism. In 1874
John Carroll founded WoodGreen Church as a small mission. He named the new church after Dr. Enoch
Wood and Dr. Anson Green, two prominent Wesleyan Methodist preachers.
The Methodist Church attracted the working class who valued the equality and direct approach to God that
John Wesley, founder of Methodism, promoted. They could not afford pomp and circumstance. Even after
John Carroll’s efforts, the church was in debt. After he had left Leslieville Methodist, they continued to hold
fundraisers. In 1882 Thomas Beatty held a “series of entertainments” with Rev. J.M. Wilkinson. Admission
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was free, but a collection was taken. They netted a $95.25, a good sum at the time.
Rev. John Carroll died December 13, 1884, at Leslieville, having founded both Leslieville and Woodgreen
Methodist Churches. He was not the only famous Methodist minister to serve in Leslieville. William Henry
Withrow was a minister, journalist and author. He was ordained in 1864. In 1874 he became editor of the
Canadian Methodist Magazine and Sunday school periodicals. Withrow Park and Withrow Avenue are
named after his family.
In 1889 the Leslieville Methodist Church held special services for the thirtieth anniversary of the church’s
founding. Another convert to Methodist, William Gooderham Jr. was one of the preachers. He, like his
brother James, was “born again” and strongly anti-liquor and would have nothing to do with the family
business.
The two Methodist churches hosted concerts, lectures, magic lantern shows, cantatas, children’s events,
etc. In 1894, for example, the Victoria College Glee Club had a concert at Woodgreen Tabernacle. In 1895
the Queen Street East Methodist Church hosted a harvest home entertainment. Church-sponsored events,
like parlour socials, were held in churchgoers’ homes as well. Annual picnics were held at Victoria Park. The
children marched there en masse, banners flying, singing hymns as they went. By the late 1890s, the
Epworth League was an important organization within the Methodist Church. It was dedicated to bringing
young people to Christ. To encourage this, the League hosted debates lectures, calisthenics and other
special events. Queen Street East Methodist Church had Epworth League. The Protestant churches of
Leslieville were also the spiritual homes of the Orange Order. Lectures on the life and virtues of William of
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Orange were not just confined to the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne on July 12 . Throughout the
year sermons catered to Orangemen and women.
In 1896, the Queen Street East Methodist Church welcomed a new pastor, the Rev. Thomas Edward
Egerton Shore. In 1909 the Methodist Church sold the Queen Street East Church to raise money to build a
new church building. The old church sat vacant until the 1920s when one of the Ashbridges built a small
machine factory around it. The old chapel, one of the oldest buildings in Leslieville, can still be seen almost
buried behind factory façade. The priority was a new Sunday school. A three-storey brick Sunday school
building was built first. J. W. (Joe) Flavelle laid the cornerstone of Riverdale Methodist Church on July 24,
1912 at at the corner of Gerrard and Leslie. In 1925 Riverdale Methodist, WoodGreen Methodist, Rhodes
Avenue Presbyterian and other churches joined to become the United Church of Canada.
As Riverdale grew, new churches were required. In 1927 the United Church of Canada planned a $25,000
church at Queen Street East and Greenwood Avenue, hoping to draw new people to the church: “The old
Wesleyan church once had a mission in this locality, but it is said that there are many families living in the
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vicinity that now have no church home.”
This was St. Stephen’s United Church, at 1369 Queen Street
East. The church opened in 1928. In 1981 an arsonist burned it down. Riverdale Housing Co-op now
occupies the site.
417
Grant, John Webster, “John Saltkill Carroll”, The Dictionary of Canadian Biography On-Line”, 2000.
Globe, March 4, 1882
419
Toronto Star, September 21, 1927.
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Presbyterian
In 1877 local Presbyterians established a congregation in Leslieville. Rev. J. M. Cameron, of East
Presbyterian Church, conducted the first service. The congregation met in Gowan’s Hall (Orange Lodge)
until they could build a church. The congregation of 15 included: William Rennie, James McGuire, William
Carlyle, George Leslie, Sr., Mahala Leslie, Margaret Blong, Abigail Bain, Robert Crow, James McKerrow,
Janet McKerrow, Hugh Spears, M.D., Constance Spears, James Miller, Martin McKee, John Trotter and
John McRae Ross. George Leslie sold them the land for a new church at Carlaw and Queen. His brother,
Robert Leslie, a successful contractor, was on the building committee. Leslieville Presbyterian Church
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opened on July 14 , 1878. Growth was slow at first because Leslieville was only lightly populated.
However, the congregation was anxious to have its own pastor. In 1881, William Frizzell came from
Newmarket to be pastor. Frizzell was from Dungannon, County Tyrone. The Presbyterian Church in
Leslieville was composed almost exclusively of immigrants from Scotland and Ulster. Leslieville Presbyterian
Church was near and dear to the Orange Lodge. Professional anti-Catholic lecturers, including former priest,
Charles Chiniquy and phony nuns, like Maria Monk, titillated church goers with tales of promiscuous priests
and nuns, convent tunnels and murdered babies. Such lectures filled the church to standing room only.
Many had to be turned away on important Orange days.
The congregation was still small and not financially strong, but in 1883 they built a large Sunday school.
They had a Young People’s Association and a Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavour [Epworth
League]. The officers of the Christian Endeavor Society were all women. Churches allowed women
leadership roles even if those lead were all or mostly women and children. There was also a Women’s
Foreign Missionary Society and later a Coal and Clothing Society “for the relief of the poor”. Mahala Leslie,
Squire Leslie’s wife, was president. Fundraising events brought the small community together. They were
often held in Leslie Grove or on George Leslie’s lawn. In 1886 the Presbyterian Church held a raspberry
festival on the Leslie’s lawn. The Riverside Band played, but, as often happens on a Southern Ontario
summer’s day, it rained. Church socials were also held on the grounds next to the Church building. Lectures
by visiting missionaries and visiting clergy were popular. In 1894 George Wilson of Knox College lectured on
the Manitoba School Crisis. These events allowed the churches to raise money while treating residents to a
sort of sanctified travelogue. “Rev. Mr. Goforth of China will give an address on missionary work in the
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Queen Street East Presbyterian church this evening. ”
By the 1890s the Church had a large and strong congregation. It was no longer rural. Squire Leslie, loved
though he had been, was dead. In 1895, the Leslieville Presbyterian Church became the Queen Street East
Presbyterian Church.
In 1895 a Toronto Branch of the Provincial Sabbath Observance Alliance was formed. Rev. William Frizzell
was one of the founding members and a leader. Labour unions also wanted Sunday kept as a holiday. They
were afraid that workers would lose the one morning of rest that they could count on. Union leader, Daniel
John O’Donoghue, an Irish Catholic, wanted a legal half-holiday for all working people. On May 10, 1897,
the Sabbath Observance movement packed all of Leslieville’s Protestant churches, with the exception of the
Anglican Church:
A fine evening filled the east of the Don churches yesterday, and in all of the churches, except the Anglican
churches, the Sunday car question was touched upon, and Sunday service condemned. The Rev. Wm.
Frizzell, at Leslieville Presbyterian church, discussed the question from three points of view. A Sunday
service would not be a benefit to workingmen; the day would become a holiday instead of a holy day; the
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day was set aside for rest and worship.
The campaign failed. The majority of Torontonians wanted Sunday streetcars.
As Leslieville grew with thousands of bungalows, new churches were required. Bloor St. Presbyterian
Church sponsored a small congregation that began meeting in a tent at the corner of Gerrard Street East
and Reid Avenue in 1906. That same year they built a small brick church. Rev. D. Wallace Christie, just
graduated from Knox College, became its first minister in 1907. In 1909, with the annexation of Midway, the
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Toronto Star, Saturday, April 28, 1894
Toronto Star, December 5, 1894.
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Daily Mail and Empire. May 10, 1897.
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City of Toronto changed the name of Reid Avenue to Rhodes Avenue. In 1909 volunteers added an annex
to the church. In 1924, the Rhodes Avenue congregation voted for Union in 1924 and some members left to
start St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church on Eastwood Avenue.
Roman Catholic
Leslieville was an Anglo-Celtic village with an Irish Catholic underclass. Catholicism and Irishness were
seen synonymous. Catholics were often called “native Irish”. Many Irish Protestants simply referred to
themselves as “Scottish” or “British”. In 1841 the Catholic Church divided Upper Canada into two dioceses.
Michael Power became bishop of the new Diocese of Toronto. He was born in Halifax to Irish parents. His
father was a sailor; his mother kept a boarding house. Orrdained at 23, he had several postings in Quebec
before he came here in 1842 as bishop. Power died on October 1, 1847, of typhus caught tending to dying
Irish immigrants. He was 42. Mourners buried him in the crypt under the altar of St. Michael’s Cathedral.
Both Anglican and Catholic priests died serving the typhus and cholera victims. Giving the last sacrament to
the dying was dangerous. The priest struggled to hear confessions in the noisy Immigrant Sheds or the
Toronto Hospital. The lice that carried typhus jumped from the patient to the priest.
Irish Catholics came in numbers to Leslieville during the Irish Potato Famine. The Fogartys, Finucans,
Flynns, Larkins, Ryans, Hollands, Kavanaughs and others lived mostly around in the subdivision between
Curzon and Leslie, north of the Kingston Road. Here some, like the Wilds, had small market gardens.
Catholics took on the jobs no one else wanted. They worked for hard labour for low wages in the market
gardens, cut ice, fished and made bricks. These were seasonal jobs, with no job security. Women and
children worked in these industries, particularly market gardening. Women sometimes became servants.
There were no benefits and the social assistance system except the dreaded poorhouse and the Church.
Working people did not put their economic security in “one basket”: the whole family worked at whatever
they could find. Though welcome to do menial labour, Irish immigrants were not entirely welcome in society.
Victorian society was hierarchical, patriarchal and racist. People were expected to know their place. With
hard work an ambitious Protestant might become a self-made man, but it was much harder for Irish
Catholics to climb the social ladder. A few tycoons like street railway owner Frank Smith and brewer Eugene
O’Keefe were exceptions.
Some, Irish Catholics, like some of the Hollands, fought their way through life with their fists. Another was,
Daniel Tim Daniel O’Sullivan, a blacksmith. He owned the Blacksmith Arms on the hill in Norway. He was a
street brawler and a leader of the Catholic Irish. He and his brawny brothers were noted for donnybrooks
with Orangemen. He helped to found St. Joseph’s Parish, Leslieville.
Locked out of society, Catholics built their own institutions, including schools, hospitals, insurance
companies, lodges and charities. From 1860 to 1890, Toronto had 40 new Catholic parish churches.
Catholic numbers shot up due to immigration and the high birth rate. It was as if Catholics were bearing
more and more to make up for the lost. However, given the high child mortality rate, the more babiesa
couple had the more chance one or two would survive to adulthood. In 1871 Catholics built a two-room brick
school on Curzon Street. This, the heart of Catholic Leslieville was next to an abattoir and a piggery. At first,
priests held mass in the school. Priests, like Francis Rooney, came out from St. Paul’s Church on Power
Street. On November 10, 1878, the Diocese of Toronto created St. Joseph’s Parish. It was the first Toronto
parish east of St. Paul’s. Catholics fundraised to build a brick church.
The first priest at St. Joseph’s Church was Michael McCartin O'Reilly. O’Reilly was born at Granard, County
Longford, Ireland, in 1842. He entered St. Mel's Day School in 1860 and left in 1862 for the Toronto
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Mission. Bishop John Joseph Lynch ordained him in 1866 and O’Reilly was sent to St. Mary's Church, on
Bathurst Street, as assistant. O’Reilly served in various parishes, including Brock, St. Catharines, Thorold,
Stayner and Uxbridge. In June, 1878 he took charge of the new parish of St. Joseph. (In 1892 he
established St. John Roman Catholic Church further east as a mission of St. Joseph’s. He died on January
17, 1893, and was buried under the altar of St. Joseph's Church.) Robertson, an Orangeman if ever there
was one, said of O’Reilly, that he was:
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Personal communication from Fr. Tom Murray, Archivist, St. Mel’s College, Longford, Ireland.
133
134
…as popular as a man as he was as a priest. He was always welcomed wherever his business or his duties
took him throughout the district, irrespective of his creed. He took considerable interest in public affairs and
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was also a member of the Separate School Board.
The architects of the new church were Kennedy, McVittie and Holland. They built it near the school.
Archbishop Lynch laid the cornerstone on September 28, 1884. It was pouring rain. Lynch used the same
silver trowel that Bishop Power had used to lay St. Michael’s Cathedral’s cornerstone in 1843. James Pape,
James Walsh, Thomas Finucan, Thomas Wild, Daniel Tim Daniel O’Sullivan, Daniel Fitzgerald, Lewis
Fitzgerald, John Pape, J.G. Murphy and 200 others watched as the parish’s Irish Catholic Benevolent Union
Band played. James Pape contributed a floral arrangement in the shape of a horseshoe. It rained and then it
poured.
Orangeman John Ross Robertson, while disparaging Leslieville’s landscape, praised the new church:
…is one of the prettiest features in a district which has few natural advantages, either in scenery or
surroundings…The church is bright, light and airy, cool in summer and always comfortably warmed in winter.
In addition to these advantages the congregations at all the services are always good, and when any
noteworthy preacher occupies the pulpit, or special services are announced, it often happens that many of
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the would-be auditors fail to find the necessary accommodation.”
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Almost every year, on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, and the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne (July 12 )
violence between the Orange and the Green broke out. This was marching season and one side tried to
parade through the other side’s neighbourhood. Hand guns were common and cheap; liquor was even
cheaper. The police force, almost all Orangemen like William Higgins and John Calvin Davis, sided with the
Orangemen and even participated in the riots. Eventually the whole police force was fired and replaced with
a professional force under a soldier, William Prince. Many Irish Catholics came to almost trust the police
after 1875. That year Orange mobs attacked a peaceful Catholic religious procession, mostly women and
children. The procession was celebrating a Jubilee Year, by going to each of Toronto’s parishes and doing
the Stations of the Cross. The Jubilee Riot was probably the largest riot in Toronto’s history. To the
astonishment of all concerned, the police served and protected the Catholics even though it meant a number
of constables were seriously injured. The new Toronto police force was there to maintain law and order, not
support misbehaving Orangemen.
Thus it was with some trepidation (and cleaning and oiling of firearms), that Toronto awaited the anniversary
of the birth of the Great Liberator, Daniel O’Connell. O’Connell was one of the great heroes of Irish
independence. The organizers were the Emerald Beneficial Association (EBA), widely considered a front for
the Irish Brotherhood. The EBA’s stated purpose was innocuous. It was to provide members with support
and financial assistance in case of sickness or death. There was nothing about armed rebellion,
overthrowing the Crown or liberating Ireland. Leslieville’s EBA Branch No. Four marched and its Emerald
Band played familiar old country tunes. It led the Irish Catholics of Leslieville along Kingston Road, through
Corktown and down to the docks. There they greeted the Hamilton EBA led by M. McMahon. The growing
body began to form up behind Grand Marshall James Doherty. Vicar-General Francis Rooney was in the
first carriage with Mayor James Edwin O’Reilly of Hamilton and others. The parade got under way,
marching up from the docks to the Bishop’s Palace on Church Street. The bands played Irish music all the
way. The Archbishop graciously received the parade. From the Palace they marched to the Cricket Ground.
There was music, food and a little discreet gambling. There was archery. There were also games and
prizes:






standing jump (prize box of cigars);
running jump (bottle of champagne);
married men’s race ($4 prize);
running hop, step and jump (box of cigars);
three quick jumps (bottle of wine);
100 yard race ($50); etc.
Of course, speech followed speech followed speech.
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Robertson, Landmarks, Vol. IV, 341.
Robertson, Landmarks, Vol. IV, 341.
135
136
EBA speakers called for friendship between Protestants and Catholics, and celebrated Canada’s freedom of
religion. After the speeches, men let a greased pig out of a box to run squealing through the crowd until
captured (and roasted). At the end of the day the Emeralds accompanied their Hamilton brothers and sisters
contingent back down to the docks. The bands played more Irish music. The Hamilton brethren and Mayor
O’Reilly sailed back home. Those remaining on the steamer Prince Arthur for a midnight cruise. However,
an Orange mob was now crowding the dock, preparing to riot. Obscenities flew as fast as the rocks over
head as the Prince Arthur pulled away from her moorings. The EBA on board could not arm themselves with
stones and instead pummeted their foes with deckchairs. Toronto’s police once again stood up for law and
order and pushed the rioters back from the steamer. As the steamer left, the Orangemen continued to roar
at the Irish Catholics. The Prince Arthur disappeared into the darkness of Toronto Harbour.
About 500 anti-Catholic rioters thronged the dock, but, as news spread, more came down to the waterfront.
They were armed with rocks, bottles and fireams. Orange banners unfurled. The police formed a thin blue
line. With nightsticks at the ready and backs were to the bay, rocks thumped down on their heads. At least
one constable was seriously injured. When the Prince Arthur docked, men planned to board her to attack the
EBA. Police reinforcements arrived, cowing the mob. When the Prince Arthur finally returned at about 1:30
a.m., nearly everyone had gone home or to taverns to wash away their sorrows. No arrests were made.
Like other churches, St. Joseph’s social events involved more than marches and riots. The parish hosted
concerts, teas and other fundraisers. Benefits helped to pay off the the mortgage. In 1880 St. Joseph’s
Parish hosted a concert at St. Lawrence Hall “to aid in liquidating the debt on the parochial residence of Rev.
Father O’Reilly, at Leslieville.” The concert featured quartettes, soloists, including a piano solo of the
sentimental favourite “Home Sweet Home”, and, of course, Irish songs. In 1882, Catholics had an open air
festival and picnic at Leslie’s Grove to raise money to build their church. A brass and quadrille band played
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and the young people took part in track and field events. They raised $150.00.
There was a concert at St.
Lawrence Hall to raise funds to pay off the Catholic schools mortgage. The concert featured vocal and
instrumental music presented by Misses Murphy, Lynch, Carroll, and Doherty, and Messrs. Costello and
Gallivan. Dancing followed.
Despite some Protestant goodwill, Leslieville still was not safe for Catholics. When bullies roughed up Father
O’Reilly, even Orangemen were shocked. This was their local priest and no one in Leslieville would touch
him. It must have been strangers: Father O’Reilly is deservedly respected in the neighbourhood by both
Catholics and Protestants, and does not deserve such treatment. It is only fair to say the young men are not
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residents of Riverside.
In 1888, St. Joseph’s Church was finished. Bishop O’Mahoney dedicated the Church on July 18. Charles
O’Reilly, treasurer of Detroit’s, Irish Land League, gave the first sermon. One can only wonder what the
Orangemen thought of this. Even then, however, things were more nuanced than a simple Green vs.
Orange reading would admit. The larger community, including some Orangemen, helped to defray the
Catholic debt. More fundraisers were held. In 1898 the parish held a fancy fair to pay off St. Joseph’s
Mortgage. It was held at Dingman’s Hall, now Jilly’s, in Riverdale. Mayor John Shaw, a stalwart Orangeman
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and member McKinley L.O.L. 275, not only was present, but chaired the event.
Following Father O’Reilly’s death, Father William Bergin was pastor for several years until, in 1893, J.J.
McEntee became rector of St. Joseph’s. The parish became known for its musical vespers. It was blessed
with fine singers and a dedicated congregation. Catholics helped St. Joseph’s not just because it was
expected of them or because the priest told them to. They had lived through a truly traumatic time, the
Potato Famine. Those who had not suffered themselves had family, friends and villages who starved in the
An Gorta Mor. The Famine changed how Catholics, here and in Ireland, related to the Church. Irish
Catholics before 1847 were not considered deeply religious. England’s Penal Laws had restricted the
practice of their religion and Catholic education. Thus, while the Church was important to Irish Catholics, it
was not necessarily central to their lives. After the Famine, Irish Catholics turned to their Church to survive.
They needed leadership, social services, education and, above all, comfort. The Church became a focus for
most Irish Canadian Catholics. The pulpit influenced every aspect of life, including how a man voted.
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Toronto Daily Mail, July 25, 1882.
Globe, June 5, 1882.
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Daily Mail and Empire, December 14, 1898.
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137
Bishops and priests told Catholics how they should vote. Some of the most difficult struggles within
Toronto’s Catholic Church in Toronto in the 1880s and 1890s were over introducing the secret ballot in
Catholic school board elections. The clergy instructed the laity to oppose the secret ballot for school board
trustees. Catholics had their own school, their own poor house (the House of Providence on Power Street),
their own bank, their own hospital (St. Michael’s Hospital) and a host of social service agencies. In 1907 the
Separate School Board built a new four-room school on Leslie Street just north of St. Joseph’s Church. In
1914 St. Joseph’s Church built a new parish house.
In Leslieville it may have felt as if people lived in two separate worlds, one Catholic, one Protestant, on the
same landscape with the same roads, rivers and trees. Occasionally, however, even in Leslieville, there was
intermarriage between Catholics and Protestants. In 1870, Daniel Tim Daniel O’Sullivan married an
Anglican. Wealthy Family Compact descendent Charles Small married a Catholic. In most cases, the
children were raised in their mother’s faith. The churches, both Protestant and Catholic, vigorously
disapproved of mixed marriages.
By 1900 St. Joseph’s parish had 220 families. Most worked in brickyards, market gardens and stores. When
the streetcar suburbs boomed, thousands of Catholics moved into the “Goose Flats”, as Leslieville was
sometimes called. More parishes were created. However, Protestant immigrants, mostly from English cities,
poured into Riverdale too. Although Catholics grew in number from 7,940 in 1851 to 28,994 by 1901, their
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relative share of Toronto population fell from 25.8 per cent to 13.9 per cent.
One of Toronto’s most famous Catholics was Father John Fraser of St. Joseph’s Church. John Andrew
Fraser was born in Toronto in 1877. His parents were poor Scottish immigrants. In 1902 John Fraser left for
China as a missionary. He was the first Canadian priest to go into the foreign missions and the first North
American priest to work as a missionary in China. Renamed “John Mary Fraser” on ordination, he went on to
become the founder of the Scarborough Foreign Mission Society. Monsignor Fraser College (opened 1975)
is named after Fraser. He died in 1962.
In 1994 St. Joseph’s and Our Lady of Good Health Parish was established to serve the Tamil Catholic
community. It included the old St. Joseph’s of Leslieville.
Anglican
In 1853 St. John of Berkeley (later called St. John the Baptist Norway) opened. Charles Coxwell Small
donated the land. Though east of Leslieville on Woodbine Avenue, most early Leslieville Anglicans attended
services there. Many are buried in the large cemetery. In 1874 the first Sunday school was held in thea area.
It was followed by a church servicein. Volunteer clergy and students from Trinity College officiated. This
became congregation became St. Matthew’s Church, just west of Leslieville. In 1876 they build St.
Matthew's Church at DeGrassi Street and Grover (later Cumming) Street. It is now a City park.
Martin McKee, a merchant and planing mill operator, owned a lot of land in Leslieville. Though he was a
Presbyterian, in 1882 he gave land on Kingston Road for Leslieville’s first Anglican Church. Anglicans had a
Sunday school in Gowan Hall until St. Clement’s Church opened. John Jones, George Cook and David
Wagstaff were the first trustees of the new Anglican Church. In October, 1882, the first rector, the Rev. J.
Scott Howard, took charge. The parish was struggling. It was in debt and the building needed repair. Only
about 15 persons attended the morning service. The first baptism in St. Clement’s took place in 1883. On
March 25th, 1884, the City of Toronto annexed the territory north of Queen Street and south of Danforth
Avenue, from the Don River east to Greenwood Avenue. It became St. Matthew's Ward. Annexation led to
significant subdivision of properties and the building of new homes in the area. The wave of British
immigration from 1890 through to World War One filled the fields of the Hastings’ and Ashbridges’ farms with
bungalows – and Anglicans. The future looked good for St. Clement’s. In 1894 John Usborne was pastor of
St. Clement’s Church. The congregation was growing and more active: A number of the members of St.
Clement’s church gathered together last evening and laid the floor of the new school-room, after which an
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Nicolson, Murray W. “The Other Toronto: Irish Catholics in a Victorian City, 1850-1900” in Polyphony Summer
(Toronto: Multicultural History Society of Ontario 1984), pp. 19-23.
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oyster supper was served by the ladies.
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A Young People’s Society formed and children’s entertainments were held. The women had their own
organization and held “at homes” as well as fundraisers:
The Congregation of St. Clement’s Anglican Church, Leslieville, held a very successful strawberry festival
and high tea on the beautiful grounds of Mrs. George Leslie, corner of Queen street and Jones avenue, last
evening. The grounds were illuminated and decorated for the occasion, an excellent band was in attendance
and furnished appropriate music. There were amusements of various kinds; and the gathering thoroughly
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enjoyed themselves.
Usborne left the parish in 1897 and Rev. F.C.C. Heathcote took over as rector. The parish finances were a
mess. The parish appointed a committee, consisting of John Greer, W. Montgomery and John Jones (City
Commissioner) to investigate. The finances recovered and, in 1899, the parish built a new St. Clement’s
Anglican Church on the south side of Queen Street East between Jones Avenue and Curzon Street. In 1901
the parish bought 50 feet of land next to the church. They were paying down the debt amd the congregation
was growing with 319 adult parishioners. The average Sunday school attendance was 210. There was a
Boys’ Brigade, a Woman’s Auxiliary to the Missions and a Junior Branch of the Auxiliary (J.A.s). The parish
enlarged St. Clement’s in 1905.
In 1910 volunteers surveyed Toronto to get an accurate count of the religious affiliations of Toronto. The
area north of Gerrard Street between Logan Avenue and Greenwood Avenue had 2,372 records,
representing 6,065 people. (See table on the next page).Those that preferred no particular church were 32.
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81 were not at home. Ten refused to tell their religion and there were 44 vacant houses. By that time the
influx of English immigrants had changed the balance of Leslieville’s denominations. Baptists had been rare
in Leslieville before 1900. By the time of the survey there were more Baptists than the Roman Catholics.
The old Anglo-Celtic Leslieville sank under a Little Britain built on its foundations. The number of Anglicans
had increased dramatically. In 1907 another Anglican church began in Leslieville when St. John the Baptist
Norway Church bought a lot on Gerrard Street where the Ashdale Branch Library is now. St. Monica’s
Church was built in partly by volunteers and began as a small wooden building. The parent parish helped
maintain and enlarge the Church. In 1919 St. Monica’s became an independent parish.
By the end of the twentieth century the area had changed again, becoming multicultural. Mosques became
more common than Anglican churches. In 2002 the Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist Congregation
bought St. Monica's Anglican Church. This church was now on Hiawatha Road. The Unitarians began
renovating the building over the summer. In October 13, 2002 the Unitarians held their first service in their
new building. St. Monica’s Church exists now as a storefront ministry at 1324 Gerrard Street East, near
Greenwood Avenue. In addition to Sunday worship, St. Monica’s hosts a food bank and provides afterschool programs for local children and adult literacy classes.
Jewish
There is no Jewish synagogue in Leslieville but there has been a definite Jewish presence here from the
mid-nineteenth century. In 1847 Judah G. Joseph was an optician and jeweler, with a store at 56 King Street
East. In 1849 his young son, Samuel, was dying. There was no Jewish cemetery nearer than Buffalo or
Montreal in which to bury his boy. Abraham Nordheimer, a piano manufacturer, and Judah Joseph sought
land for a graveyard. At the time there were only 35 Jews living in Toronto. They bought land 60 feet wide
and 400 feet deep for 20£ through the help of Chief Justice, John Beverley Robinson. The Robinson family,
prominent members of the Family Compact, had owned land in the neighbourhood since first setlement.
(Part of Pape Avenue was called Robinson Street for some time.)
They buried Judah Joseph's son, Samuel, in 1850, probably near the cemetery gate where the gravestones
are all under grass. The grave of Catherine, the wife of Alfred Braham, also buried in 1850, was the earliest
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Toronto Star, November 28, 1894
Globe, June 26, 1895.
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Globe, November 14, 1910
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Jewish grave in Toronto marked by a tombstone.
Seven years after the cemetery was founded, the Jewish community established the first synagogue in
Ontario in rented premises above Coombe's drug store at Yonge and Richmond streets. It later became
Holy Blossom Temple.
After 1930 there were few interments, although the cemetery remained in use through the late 1940's. The
Pape Avenue Cemetery is now known as the Holy Blossom Cemetery. It is lies behind high walls, just south
of the Matty Eckler Centre. This is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Ontario and the oldest in Canada west of
Montreal. It is now inactive and permission is needed from Holy Blossom Temple to enter.
In 1919 a new Jewish Cemetery on Jones Avenue, just north of Leslieville, was consecrated. When city
politicians found that the congregations that established this cemetery on Martin McKee’s land had not
applied for the proper permits, the aldermen threatened to have the dead disinterred. Moving their dead was
out of the question. This was unthinkable for others in the community and the anti-semitic alderman backed
off. Although Jews were somewhat reluctantly allowed to bury their dead in the East End, restrictive
covenants kept them from living in much of Leslieville.
Anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism and distrust of religious minorities like the Plymouth Brethren or Baptists
were not remarkable at that time. Despite this, people often found ways to step around prejudices and deal
with each other as human beings.
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The Orange Order dominated Leslieville. This village was an Anglo-Celtic enclave, intensely loyal to Britain,
committed to Protestant ascendancy over Catholics, and convinced of its own version of nationalism.
Orange enthusiasm tipped over into violence from time to time throughout the nineteenth century in what
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historians have termed “recreational rioting”. Today the Orange Order may seem strange, even alien, but
it was probably the most important social institution, apart from the churches. What was it and how did it
become so important?
The Order's name comes from William of Orange, a Dutch prince who married Mary, the heir to the English
throne, Mary. He became King William III. His forces defeated Irish rebels and their French allies in the
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Battles of the Boyne (1690) and Aughrim (1691). The Orange Lodge holds parades or “walks” on July 12 to
commemorate the defeat of the Catholic forces.
In the 1790s Irish patriots, Protestant and Catholic, rose up to throw off English rule. In response,
Protestants formed the Orange Order, a semi-secret fraternal lodge, in County Armagh. They wanted to
maintain the union of Ireland with the British Crown, but also to protect their families. Torching thatched
roofs at night, killing and maiming cattle and outright murder of neighbour by neighbour spawned more
atrocities by both Catholic and Protestant. In the Uprising of 1799 Irish nationalists rebelled against English
rule. The British army put down the rebellion. Neighbours tortured each other with “pitch-capping” and “halfhanging” and the sad butchery of execution and assassination. Secret Catholic societies, called
“Ribbonmen” formed to protect each other and their families. The Highland regiments brought the Orange
Order back to Scotland. Soldiers brought it to Canada in garrisons like Fort York.
In 1822 Toronto’s Orange Order held its first July 12 parade. The Family Compact by and large distrusted
this working class secret society with its loyalist rhetoric and propensity to street fighting. Hierarchies fear
working class movements like this. However, by the 1840s the Orangemen had become so powerful that
everyone had to come to some kind of terms with it. Most of Toronto’s Mayors after that were Orangemen.
The Orange Lodge virtually excluded Irish Catholics from political life and employment with the City of
Toronto, its police force and fire department. Most, though not all, Protestants supported the Orange Order.
Leslieville’s institutions were controlled by Orangemen, such as Edward Kemp, Alexander Muir, John Jones,
John McLatchie and many others. Leslieville’s main meeting hall was the Gowan Hall named after Ogle
Gowan. Gown was credited with founding the Orange Order in Canada.
Like other lodges, the Orange Lodge provided mutual support: social services, health care, insurance
(including illness and death benefits) and aid to widows and orphans. Like its counterpart, the Irish Catholic
Hibernian Benevolent Society, it also provided protection, defending its members and its values with fists,
clubs and guns. The Ladies Loyal True Blues and the Irish Protestant Benevolent Association aided the
needy. Whether Protestant disliked Catholics or not, the social services, the sense of community and the
services by the lodge, were powerful attractions. Moreover, they knew how to have a good party. Watching
King Billy on his white horse parade on July 12 was a highlight for many children.
Orangeism was not just Protestant politically or in name: it was rooted in a spiritual revival and led by very
religious men, such as James Beaty. Even at its worst, it was far more than just an excuse to get drunk and
beat up Catholics. Orange supporters expressed a deep and sincere sense of their Britishness fused with a
Bible-based spirituality. Just as that Britishness was under threat in Ireland from a Catholic majority of
dubious loyalty, Canadian Orangemen felt Canada’s British heritage was under threat from Catholics, this
time Francophone, of equally questionable loyalty to the Crown and Empire. Moreover, the Orange Order
was truly grassroots. It appealed to working class people, many of whom had suffered through hard times
and then lived through the Famine. Many Methodists, Baptists and other Non-conformers (non-Anglicans)
had faced discrimination in the name of the Crown they loved under the very same Penal Laws that
persecuted Catholics. These were not simple bigots, but complex people who feared for their way of life and
had a vision of Canada exemplified by Alexander Muir and the Maple Leaf Forever.
Local Orange Lodge (L.O.L.) Lodge No. 455, the Maple Leaf Lodge, replaced the Gowan Lodge. The name
reflects their pride in Muir . Orangemen and their families enjoyed speeches and singing, as well
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Brian Clarke, in a talk on "Religious Riot as Pastime: Orangemen, Parades, and Public Life in Victorian Toronto"; at
St. Michael’s College, Monday, November 14, 2005.
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as a wide variety of special events. In 1897 Orangemen held “a very successful smoker [concert] in
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Poulton’s Hall” [the Poulton Block].
Like other Lodges, L.O.L. No. 455, Maple Leaf provided sickness and
death insurance benefits to its members. When a baby boy was born the Lodge would pay the doctor’s
expenses. As a teenager he would join a young person’s lodge and, when old enough, join the adult lodge.
His wife would join the Ladies’ Orange Association. Leslieville’s Ladies’ Orange Association was supported
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by male guardians who were initiated “into the mysteries of the order.” (No one messed with the ladies.) If
members were sick or needed financial help, the Lodge would be there. Sometimes, as in 1895, Maple Leaf,
No. 455, L.O.L., paid out more in benefits than it took in. You could not fall back on the state; you could
depend on your lodge brothers and sisters.
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Each year Leslieville’s Orangemen met on the Sunday morning closest to the “Glorious 12 of July”. The
day started with a church service, usually at the Leslieville Presbyterian Church but sometimes at the
Methodist. The minister preached a rousing sermon, reminding them of the suffering their forbearers in
Ireland had endured at the hands of Catholics. In 1895, William Frizzell reminded them, “Orangemen should
be tolerant; while they might hate the Roman Catholic religion they should not hate the Roman Catholics
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themselves.”
It was a very fine distinction that escaped many in marching season. After church,
Leslieville’s Orangemen paraded west to Tollgate One near Broadview and Queen. Here they met
Riverside’s Orangemen who had paraded down Broadview. The Riverside Star fife and drum band led the
way, playing tunes like “The Protestant Boys” and “Croppies Lie Down”. Banners flying, in their best with
hats, gloves and orange and purple collarettes, the Lodges from “over the Don” followed the big drums and
the Union Jacks west along Queen Street into Toronto. As they went, they gathered more and more
Orangemen. Thousands then marched through Catholic neighbourhoods and thousands of Catholics
objected. Loyalty to the Crown, religious fervour and a sense of racial superiority, mixed with alcohol, made
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a powerful recipe for sectarian violence. Riots were a feature of Orange walks, especially on July 12 and
St. Patrick’s Day, but violence was not restricted to those special days. Many Orangemen participated in the
riot that became known as `Stony Monday’ for the stones thrown through government windows to protest
Governor General Lord Elgin’s, signing of the Rebellion Losses Act. Orangemen boasted:
Lord Elgin is not allowed to land at Brockville, and, on arriving at Toronto, is welcomed by a rotten egg
reception; twelve persons are apprehended, of whom three only are victimized [charged]. – July 12. – The
affair at Slabtown [a Catholic neighbourhood in Cabbagetown] takes place. Twenty-three Orangemen, while
at dinner, were attacked by a mob of about four hundred Papists. The Orangemen sallied out, wounded
several “Mickeys,” and chased the entire mob from the scene of action. In 1852 the Orangemen of Toronto
presented each of the Slabtown brethren with a silver medal, elegantly executed, as a mark of the esteem in
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which they were held, for their gallantry and good conduct.
th
On the 17 of March 1858, there was rioting again between Orange and Green factions on the occasion of a
St. Patrick’s procession resulting in the stabbing of Catholic Matthew Sheedy and the stoning of the National
Hotel. Darcy McGee, Irish nationalist and newspaper editor, was speaking. Chief of Police Samuel
Sherwood refused to testify against a fellow Orangeman implicated in the violence. Sherwood further later
unilaterally released a prisoner accused of bank robbery. Mayor W.H. Boulton (an Anglo Irishman with
property in Leslieville) demanded the resignation of the Chief but City Council refused to support him.
Boulton, himself an Orangemen, resigned in protest in November.
An Irish Catholic writer lamented:
In Toronto, the heart of Ontario, the great majority of the population is intensely Protestant, although there is
a very respectable Catholic minority there, who own five churches and several excellent benevolent and
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Toronto Star, March 25, 1897.
Toronto Star, February 21, 1894.
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Globe, December 25, 1895.
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Cormenin, Louis-Marie de Lahaye, vicomte de, The United Empire Minstrel: A Selection of the Best National,
Constitutional, and Loyal Orange Songs and Poems, with a Large Number of Toasts and Sentiments, and a
Chronological Table, Shewing the Principal Innovations and Apostacies [sic] of the Romish Church, Her Persecutions
of Our Protestant. (Toronto: Henry Rowsell, 1852), p. 257.
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charitable institutions. The males of the Orange party are not only organized into Lodges, but also their sons
and daughters. There is a large body of boys organized into what is called “Orange Young Britons,” who are
on a par with the hoodlums who throw stones at Chinamen and assault respectable passers-by on the
street-corners of San Francisco. They go together in gangs, taking offence when they please and assaulting
whom they like, keeping the city in a constant state of trepidation and terror. These have called forth similar
organizations on the other side, and have such names as the “Sons of Erin,” “Young Irishmen,” etc. At one
time the whole Fire Department was in the hands of the Orangemen, and also the police force, and scarce a
month passed without scenes of violence and bloodshed, until at length the Legislature had to interfere and
reconstruct these organizations. The Orange party is the great defender of British rule in Canada, and will
not tolerate a thought of annexation, overawing and terrorizing those who have the temerity at any time to
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moot the question.
Not every Protestant was an Orangeman. Not every Protestant organization supported the excesses of
marching season. In 1878, the following editorial appeared in a Presbyterian journal:
The Twelfth is upon us, and we wait with bated breath for the results. An attempt has been made to stop
processions by legislative enactments. But legal opinion is against this. It is indeed doubtful if any legislature
can put an end to processions. It would seem to strike a blow at the liberties of the people. At the same time,
no good citizen would regret the accomplishment of such an object, when we remember the fearful riots
which have distinguished the Twelfth in past years. We almost dread the occurrence of the Twelfth this year,
as the subject of processions has been discussed in such a public manner and for such a length of time. It
amounts to about the same thing as a wholesale invitation to riot. Meanwhile we trust that better counsels
will prevail, and that the Twelfth will this year pass without riot or molestation. It is to be hoped that the
Orange Societies will follow generally the noble example of those which have determined to observe the
Twelfth this year in a peaceful manner by pic-nics and social meetings. It is comforting to know that strong
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measures are being taken to resist anything like riot.
That year one of Toronto’s largest riots took place on March 18, at St. Patrick's Hall. Jeremiah O'Donovan
Rossa, a Fenian lecturer, was to speak that evening, but 30,000 Orangemen stood outside, torches and
rocks in hand. They smashed the windows of St. Patrick's Hall and St. Lawrence Hall. They threatened to
burn the entire building down if Rossa spoke. The police are believed to have helped Rossa sneak out the
back stairs, dressed as a woman with his beard tucked under a shawl.
The Orange Lodge powerfully influenced politics throughout most of the nineteenth century:
It is an old saying that the Province of Ontario is the “Scotchman’s Paradise.” May we not also call this
Province the Paradise of the Orange Order?” …Never has that society wielded such power in Ontario as it
does today. In evidence of this, look at Toronto, the seat and centre of the Orangeism of Canada. Look at
the City Hall, where not a single Catholic clerk is employed. Look at the Fire Brigade, in which one or two
Catholic subordinates are barely tolerated. Look at the police force, in whose ranks, until within a few weeks,
no Catholic held a position higher than full private. Look at the Post Office, packed with Orange
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favorites…
By 1900 Leslieville the temperance movement had taken the liquor out of many lodges. Without liquor, the
Glorious Twelfth became more of an occasion for a glorious picnic than a battle. In 1895 Maple Leaf L.O.L.
455 met in Dingman’s Hall to debate whether or no they should sail across the lake for a picnic in St.
Catharines on the 12th. This was a gentler Orange Order, but it was yet to face one of the greatest
challenges in its existence.
In 1914 an anarchist assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, setting off a chain of events that
would decimate Riverdale’s young men. Austria, Germany and Italy went to war against Britain, France and
Russia. Canada automatically was drawn into the conflict on Britain’s side. Leslieville’s Orangemen enlisted
eagerly in 1914 to fight for King and Country. Orange enlistment was far out of proportion to their numbers in
the population and Orange Lodges suffered dreadful casualties, losing many members. Returning veterans
were changed by the trenches. Angry at profiteers who had sold shoddy supplies and defective Ross rifles,
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The Irish Canadian, October 20, 1875.
Canadian Presbyterian, Vol. 1, no. 37 (July 12, 1878), 577 & 584.
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The Irish Canadian, Jan. 27, 1887.
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they harbored a deep resentment of politicans, foreigners and those men, including many Quebecers, who
had not enlisted. Moreover they came back in 1918 and 1919 only to face a recession and high
unemployment: The blood of the men overseas was also on the large war-time profits going into the pockets
of many Canadian manufacturers… Sixty thousand members of the L.O.L. had gone overseas with the
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Canadian army and 7,000 went from the City of Toronto alone.
Nonetheless, the Orange Order reached its highest point in the 1920s with the flood of immigrants from
Britain. Many were from from Northern Ireland. There were then more than 2,000 Canadian Lodges. Below
is a listing of Orange Lodges in Riverdale taken from Might’s Directory of 1921.
LOYAL ORANGE ASSOCIATION. Grand Lodge of British North America, meets annually. Officers M. W.
Bro. H. C. Hocken[Mayor of Toronto, 1912-14], Toronto, Grand Master; M. ft. Bro. Wm. Lee, 55 Queen e.
Grand Secretary.
Eastern District.
1. Dian. No. 2054, meets Dian Orange Hall, 182 Rhodes Avenue, second and fourth Fridays.
2. Maple Leaf, No. 455, meets at Oddfellows' Hall, Queen and Broadview Avenue, fourth Friday.
3. Prince of Orange, No. Ill, meets at Masonic Hall, Gerrard and Logan, third Tuesday.
4. Torbay, No. 361, meets at Playter's Hall, Danforth Avenue, second and fourth Thursday.
5. Riverdale, No. 2097, meets Armstrong's Hall, Pape and Badgerow Avenues, first Friday.
6. Sproule, No. 2253, meets first and third Thursday at Dion Orange Hall, 182 Rhodes Avenue.
7. Lt. Col. J. H. Scott, No. 2416, meets second Monday, Masonic Hall, corner Gerrard and Logan
Avenues.
LOYAL TRUE BLUE ASSOCIATION
8. Golden Lion No. 371, second and fourth Tuesday, Sons of England Hall, 221 Broadview Avenue,
Mrs. Johnson, Secretary.
LOYAL ORANGE YOUNG BRITON ASSOCIATION
9. Riverdale Lodge, No. 292, meets Armstrong's Hall, Pape Avenue, third Friday.
10. Hackett, No Surrender Lodge, No. 123, meets corner Broadview Avenue and Dundas every second
Thursday.
11. No. 271, meets Playter's Hall, Broadview & Danforth Avenues, 2nd Wednesday.
12. No. 295. meets Playter's Hall, Broadview and Danforth Avenues. 4th Friday.
LADIES' ORANGE BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION
13. Unity Lodge, No. 80, meets in Playter's Hall, Danforth Avenue, second and fourth Thursdays.
14. Lady Russell Lodge, No. 190, meets In Dian Orange Hall, Rhodes Avenue, second and fourth
Wednesday.
Some were suspicious of anything new or different. According to one Leslieville man: “We took the
Telegram newspaper, since my father wouldn’t take the ‘Star”, saying the ‘Star’ was for Roman Catholics
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and Radicals.”
Toronto was frequently referred to as the "Belfast of the North” due to the Orange
dominance here. Contradictions abound though. In the 1930s Riverdale helped elect the socialist, antiCatholic Jimmie Simpson, as Toronto’s first left-wing mayor.
A thorough review of city directories shows systemic racism. Jewish businesses and homes, as well as
Chinese businesses and homes, were only found along the major arteries in Leslieville. These streets
included Gerrard Street East and Queen Street East. Restrictive covenants kept Jews, Chinese and other
“foreigners” or “outsiders” off the side streets. Catholics and foreigners generally lived near St. Joseph’s
Church and south of Queen Street in the poorer area near Eastern Avenue. Non-Protestant non-British
people were expected to live above their stores or, in the case of Chinese people, their laundries or
restaurants. They were not to aspire to the glories of Leslieville’s side streets. Where they lived was not a
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Toronto World, June 10, 1918.
Smith, Ken. The East End: Personal Recollections of Toronto, East of the Don River from 1915. (Toronto: The
East End Seniors’ Educational Volunteer Organization, n.d.), p. 4.
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matter of choice, but of where they were permitted to live. The power behind discrimination was widely-held
racist attitudes, but the instrument was the restrictive covenant. Restrictive covenants are clauses written
into mortgages and leases, prohibiting certain actions. People used restrictive covenants to keep minorities
from renting or buying property. Real estate agents openly advertised that the homes they offered were in
restricted neighbourhoods. In 1933 in Balmy Beach the Swastika Club, inspired by Hitler’s Nazis, formed.
Thugs attacked Jews at the Beaches. Jews and Italians fought Nazi supporters in the Christie Pits Riot.
However, in World War Two, when the evils of racism and anti-Semitism became all too obvious, prejudice
became more and more questionable. In 1944 Ontario passed its Racial Discrimination Act. Discrimination
by restrictive covenant was challenged in the Wren and Wolf cases. Racist restrictive covenants were finally
outlawed in the 1950s though changing attitudes took longer.
In 1945 World War Two ended with 40,042 Canadians killed. As in World War One, many Riverdale
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residents, Catholics and Protestant, enlisted. Men whose grandfathers fought each other on July 12 now
fought side by side against Nazi armies. The Orange Order sacrificed many members to World War One
and Two. Yet it probably lost more members to a stronger appreciation of tolerance and a different sense of
a Canadian identity not based on loyalty to the Crown and the maintenance of an Empire falling to pieces.
Of the mayors after William Lyon Mackenzie, more than 40 were Orangemen. In 1955 Orange Order Mayor
Leslie Saunders openly campaigned as a “Protestant” and appealed to the victory at the Battle of the Boyne.
Nathan Phillips offered himself as a mayor for all the people. He became Toronto’s first Jewish mayor.
Riverdale was no longer Leslieville. The base for the lodge was no longer there. An urban and industrialized,
the area was no longer rural and agricultural. Citizens had a stronger sense of their own identity as
Canadians. Returning veterans from World War One thought of themselves more as Canadians and less as
British. After World War Two, the Commonwealth replaced the Empire and appeals to imperialism and
imperial values seemed more and more outdated. After the 1960s, with new immigration policies, Riverdale
became a diverse place, with the Indian Bazaar blossoming on the fields of the former Ashbridge’s farm.
The Orange Lodge was rooted in Protestantism, evangelical in its outlook. In the 1800s religion permeated
society, but not just any religion. It was Protestant Christianity. In the mid-twentieth century Toronto
transformed itself into a secular society. The fuel powering the Orange Lodge is long gone. By the 1960s
with flower power, the Beatles and marijuana in the air, the Orange Lodge seemed more and more out of
step: “Who is that bewigged man in a floppy hat on a tired white horse clip-clopping down Queen Street and
who cares?” From 1967 to 1972 Toronto’s last Orange Mayor, William Dennison, a New Democrat, led the
city. The vast majority of Toronto’s lodges have withered away leaving only scattered Orange Lodges,
mostly in small towns like Palgrave and in rural Ontario. It was not just the Orange Lodge that became
irrelevant. Lodges in general lost their important economic function when the welfare state and private
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st
insurance companies took over the lodges’ role as a social safety net.
The Leslieville of the 21 century is
multi-cultural, tolerant and diverse. Some call it “Lezzie Ville” for the many gay people who have homes and
businesses in Leslieville. However, it would be impossible to understand today’s Leslieville without
understanding that it was once as Orange as a maple leaf in October.
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Hay, Marnie. “Who are these people?” A Review of David A. Wilson (ed.), The Orange Order in Canada (Four
Courts Pres: Dublin, 2007.
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/riiss/Reviews/Wilson_Orange%20Order%20in%20Canada.shtml
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Alexander Muir (1830-1906) was Leslieville’s most famous resident, yet now few know much about him. His
The Maple Leaf Forever is now rarely sung. Alexander was born April 5, 1830 in Scotland, son of John Muir,
a schoolmaster, and Catherine McDiarmid, a widow. In 1833 the Muirs came to Canada. Alexander Muir
grew up in Scarborough where he attended his father’s log-cabin school. Alexander Muir became a teacher
too. He graduated from Queen’s College, Kingston, in 1851. He taught in Scarborough from 1853 to 1859.
Muir was, from early on, a leader in the Orange Lodge. Alexander Muir served as the Master of Ontario
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L.O.L. No. 142 in Toronto: “his talents were generously given where necessary to assist the Order.”
His claim that good Orangemen did not hate Catholics, only the Catholic Church, would not have been
accepted by many Catholics, then or now:
Orangemen bear no hatred to poor deluded Roman Catholics, but against the principles of Popish
Priestcraft, and that it was the duty of every Orangeman to assist Roman Catholics when in distress, and to
try and raise them up from groveling in the dust of superstition and ignorance, to a more exalted station in
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the scale of human beings.
In 1860 Alexander Muir married Agnes Thomson and began teaching in the small school next to George
Leslie’s general store. The same year Muir began teaching in Leslieville, Edward, Prince of Wales, toured
Canada. The Maple Leaf was first used as an official emblem of Canada during his visit. The Muirs moved
into a roughcast cottage neext to the Tam O’Shanter Inn. Muir did not believe in hitting his students. George
Lesle hired Muir to replace a brutal teacher at Leslieville’s small frame school at Curzon and Queen (a gas
station is there today). Muir became the principal, from 1863 to 1870, and moved to Leslieville’s new school.
It was a typical rural Ontario schoolhouse, made of local red brick. It was at the southwest corner of Leslie
Street and Sproatt Avenue.
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Alex Muir was “a magnificent specimen of manhood, tall, robust, and every inch an athlete”.
Muir’s
neighbour Greg Clark, recalled: “He was…a tall man with a large, rugged, creative head who walked leaning
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forward as if into a high wind.” He could high jump over six feet, and hop, skip and jump up to 45 feet. One
of his favourite games was quoits (horse shoes), but he excelled at other sports. He was every inch a manly
man and an unusual teacher:
As I attended his school for three winters, I have vivid recollections of his manners and methods of teaching,
and many a fact of useful importance to me in after life was first received from Alex Muir. He was to us boys
and girls a continual surprise from his original ideas, and looking backwards after forty years, I can clearly
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see how advanced he was above his fellows, towering in his individuality.
Muir apparently had a eidetic memory: “They used to say he could take a book, read a page or two, then
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reel off from memory every single word he had read.”
Even more unusual was Muir’s disciplining of
students. He neither strapped his students with a leather belt nor whipped them with a birch rod. Corporal
punishment was expected by parents and students, but too often it was a license for brutality: The bigness
of Alexander Muir stood out above all else in that old school; bigness of frame, of voice, of character. These
were the traits that made the boys fear and love him. He was not a whipper. The boys did not know what it
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was to have Alexander Muir thrash them.
Muir, moreover, did not tolerate bullying.
Unlike most teachers of his time, Muir was not content to have his students learn by mere rote. He involved
them in experiments, took them into the countryside on walks and challenged them to grow mentally and
physically.
After 1863 the Muirs lived in a cottage built in 1853 by Charles Coxwell Small at the northeast corner of
Queen Street East and Pape. William Higgins, retired high constable of Toronto lived on the west end of the
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See http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/3472/webdoc2.htm Rough, Alex: Alexander Muir Orange and,
Patriot and Poet.
445
Globe, July 24, 1857
446
Robertson, Landmarks,Vol. VI, 517.
447
Columbo, John Robert, Canadian Literary Landmarks, (Hamilton: Dundurn Press, 1984), p. 206.
448
Robertson, Landmarks, Vol. 6, 517.
449
Globe and Mail, April 4, 1954
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Robertson, Landmarks, Vol. 6, 545.
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double cottage. The Muirs occupied the east end. The large elm tree in front had a lower branch that bent
out across the road. (This Hanging Tree was, according to local legend, used for lynching criminals.) Later,
in 1869 the Muirs moved to a house on Eastern Avenue. Alexander and Agnes Muir had two sons, James
Joseph and George, and a daughter, Colinette Campbell. In 1864, after only four years of marriage, Agnes
Muir died. In 1865, Alexander Muir married Mary Alice Johnston from Holland Landing. They had one son,
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Charles Alexander, and one daughter, Alice Agnes.
During the Fenian raids, Alexander Muir volunteered as a private in the 2nd Battalion of Rifles (Queen’s
Own Rifles). He was a member of the Highland Company. He fought in the Battle of Ridgeway on June 1,
1866. (While Muir may have fought in the Northwest Rebellion and been wounded in action, there is as yet
no evidence to support this.) He left the Queens Own Rifles in August, 1867. He became a founding member
of the Army and Navy Veterans Society and was a member until he died. Muir was president of the Veterans
from 1892 to 1896. He was official bard for the Militia Veterans of ’66.
Alexander Muir left Leslieville in 1870 and went to Yorkville’s Jesse Ketchum School. Muir taught there from
1871 to 1872. Alexander Muir went to Newmarket in 1872 to be principal there. In 1874 Alexander Muir went
to Holland Landing and then Beaverton. He returned to Toronto and taught at Gladstone Avenue Public
School from 1888 to 1901. From 1890 to 1906 Alexander Muir was principal there. On June 26, 1906 he
died while still teaching. He was 76. School children wept. His own students, numbering over 800, wore
maple leaves pinned to their jackets and dresses to honour him. The School Board honoured him by
renaming his last school Alexander Muir Public School.
The Song
The silver maple and Maple Cottage on Laing Street are the best-known historic sites in Leslieville. Oral
oral tradition has Muir standing under a maple tree in front of his cottage on Laing Street when a maple leaf
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floated down and landed on his coat, inspiring the song.
Yet there are troubling inconsistencies. Maple
Cottage was built in 1873 after Muir wrote the song and after the Muirs had left Leslieville. Moreover Muir
never lived on Laing Street.
The Muir family has a different story. John Ross Robertson interviewed Muir’s widow, Mary Alice, in 1909, a
few months after the poet’s death. She said that her husband was walking with George Leslie:
…near the Leslie nurseries, which were on the south side of the Kingston road, opposite the Muir dwelling
[at Pape Avenue], one day in the autumn of 1867. A small autumn-tinged maple leaf fluttered from a tree on
to Mr. Leslie’s coat sleeve. He tried to flick it off, but the little leaf still clung to his sleeve. Picking it off to
throw it away, he was struck by the beautiful coloring, and called it to the attention of the friend. Knowing
Mr. Muir’s literary ability, the friend, Mr. George Leslie, said, “You have been writing verses; why not write a
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song about the maple leaf?”
Only two hours later Alexander Muir read the poem to George Leslie in the Leslieville post-office and
general store. It was the custom for men to gather every day at 4 o’clock around the stove in their general
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store. Here they told stories while eating cheddar and crackers, washed down with scotch whiskey. Muir
read the poem to Mary Alice and the Muir children the next day. Mary Alice suggested that he put the words
to music so that “The Maple Leaf Forever” could be sung. Muir composed the melody himself. In 1933
George Muir said: From 1864 to 1869 we lived in Leslieville at the corner of Pape Ave. and Queen St. He
wrote the Maple Leaf in 1867, when I was seven years old. I remember the morning after he composed it—
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Later James Joseph Muir moved to Chicago where he became destitute and homeless. John George Muir became a
printer with the Era newspaper in Newmarket. Colinette Campbell married Converse Kellogg, a salesman from New
York, and moved there. Alice Muir, never married, moved to Whitby. Charles Alexander Muir moved further afield -to Montana.
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Bonis, 103-104.
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Robertson, Landmarks, Vol. 6, 558-559
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Masson, Allan. Unpublished manuscript. He was a descendant of George Leslie.
154
155
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although he may have been some time at it before that—he was talking with my stepmother about it.’
George Leslie Jr.’s account was published in the East Toronto Standard:
… I was postmaster of the Leslieville Postoffice, Kingston Road, now 1164 Queen street east. It was quite a
usual thing for Mr. Muir to drop into the office a half hour or so before school time to have a peep at the
newspaper and have a little chat on the current events of the day. On one of these occasions, two days
before Hallow E’en, I noticed an advertisement of the Caledonian Society of Montreal offering three prizes of
$100, $50 and $25 for the three best Canadian patriotic songs or poems to be read at the meeting of the
society on the coming Hallow E’en night.
I drew Mr. Muir’s attention to the matter and said: “There you are, Alec, you are a poet, there is your chance
for glory and a little of the useful ‘rhime’. Mr. Muir was decidedly impressed with the idea, but feared the time
was so short that he could hardly compose anything of merit, mail it, and expect it to reach the Society in
time to be in the competition. However, with a little persuasion on my part, he came to the conclusion to
make the effort. Then came the question as to the patriotic subject or motto to be chosen for the poetic
effusion. This was not very easy to decide upon, and in the course of conversation we drifted out upon the
sidewalk, walking slowly eastward when, after proceeding a short distance, as if wafted from Heaven, a
maple leaf came fluttering downward and slighted on my left arm just below the shoulder and near my heart.
Noticing it, I seemed to feel an inspired thrill and exclaimed: “There, Muir! There’s your text! The maple leaf;
the Emblem of Canada! Build your poem on that.” He said: “I will,” and we parted, he for his school and I
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retracing my footsteps.
The Southam family lived in Maple Cottage from the 1920s. They probably were the main source for the
urban myth about Maple Cottage and the Silver maple there. Their version was printed in the newspapers in
1937 when the Men of the Trees placed a plaque on the old silver maple:
The story goes that returning from a walk, accompanied by his pupils, Alexander Muir, then principal of the
Leslieville School, sat down in the shade of this maple to rest. Blown by the breeze a handful of maple
leaves showered the school teacher and inspired the writing of the song adopted as Canada’s national song.
The maple tree which was to make history shades the lawn fronting “Maple Cottage,” the home of Mrs. F.M.
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Southam, 62 Laing Avenue.
Laing Street was not an obvious site to capture fame or attention. The street was named after William Laing.
Leslieville’s “water” rats lived on Laing and nearby Lake Street (now Knox Avenue). These fishermen,
icemen and others depended on Ashbridge’s Bay for a tenuous living. Their way of life came to an end when
the THC filled in the bay and marsh. Some, like the Southams, were displaced from Fisherman’s Island by
the Harbour Commission’s improvements. Though the Southam family claimed to be the descendants of the
Boultons of the Family Compact, they were not affluent. Leslieville was a bastion of the Orange Orde. There
was a living candidate available as a monument to Leslieville’s only famous man -- and only famous
Orangeman. The myth of Maple Cottage and its tree began to appear in the press. In 1937 in a public
ceremony a plaque was placed on the tree at twilight. Mrs. Robbins, wife of Mayor William D. Robbins, a
th
strong Orangeman, unveiled the plaque. Mayor Robbins led the July 12 Orangeman’s Parade that year.
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Mrs. Robbins had been a pupil of Alexander Muir at Gladstone Avenue School.
The plaque was sponsored by the Men of the Trees. This organization was composed mostly of veterans. It
promoted growing street trees and reforestration. The Men of the Trees sought out Toronto’s finest
specimen trees: the oldest, the biggest, and the most historically important trees. Not only did people admire
the huge Maple Leaf Forever Tree, but Mrs. Southam gave baby maple trees, grown from seeds of the tree,
to those attending. These included Mrs. Hills, Regent of the Alexander Muir Chapter of the Imperial Order of
the Daughters of the Empire (I.O.D.E.). James Muir, the youngest son of Alexander Muir, was there. He
signed copies of his father’s song. He did this usually for money to supplement his social assistance. Life on
welfare was rough in the Great Depression.
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Toronto Star, March 23, 1933.
Robertson, Landmarks, Vol. VI, 558-559.
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Globe and Mail, October 26, 1937.
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Globe and Mail, October 23, 1937.
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156
In 1952 Mamie and Babe Southam Francis spoke to Globe and Mail reporter, Margaret Mackey. The
Southams believed that the old silver maple in front of their cottage was the very tree that inspired Maple
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Leaf Forever. However, Laing Street is eight blocks east of Pape and Queen where the Muir family said
the poet found his inspiration. Why would an urban myth like this gain such widespread acceptance?
When the Southams were young, a new Canadian identity was emerging: Canadian, but distinctly Orange:
...a genuine national sentiment and national unity. Were not Canadians descendants of the “Aryan tribes” of
the German forests who had given Western civilization its superior systems of law and government, and who
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had been historically the dominant races?...The Northmen of the New World”
"The Maple Leaf Forever", reflected this attitude and became English Canada’s unofficial national anthem.
In 1898 well known journalist J. W. Bengough said: We have at least really and truly got a national song.
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Good Alex Muir has done the business. The song has come, and come to stay.
English Canada was
developing of what it meant to be Canadian, as distinct from being British. Many promoted the Maple Leaf
for a new Canadian flag and the Maple Leaf Forever as the national anthem. Moreover, the Orange Order
championed Muir, its own man.
Soon Canada had a new flag. The Red Ensign had a maple leaf emblazoned on a shield on a crmson
background with the Union Jack in a corner. In 1892 the Canadian Red Ensign was declared to be the
official flag of Canadian merchant ships and other sea-going vessels. The 1890s were a period of intense
conflict between Quebec and Ontario, Francophones and Anglophones, Catholics and Protestants. The
Manitoba School Crisis heightened tensions. The Protestant Protective Association, a radical anti-Catholic
secret society, moved into Ontario from the U.S. and rapidly gained political strength. Meanwhile Alexander
Muir had become a celebrity. At public events English Canadians stood to their feet to sing the “Maple Leaf’
and “God Save the Queen.” Muir took part in political rallies in support of the Anglo-Canadian (and Orange
Order) position on the Manitoba Schools Crisis: It is safe to say that no occupant of the platform made a
bigger “hit” with the feminine portion of the audience than the kindly old gentleman, Alexander Muir, who
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beamed through his glasses on the audience as his “Maple Leaf” was being rolled out.
Muir changed the
words from time to time. Here are the words of 1896:
The Maple Leaf, Our Emblem Dear.
In days of yore the hero Wolfe, Britain’s glory did maintain
And planted firm Britain’s flag, On Canada’s fair domain,
Here may it wave, our boast, our pride, And joined in love together,
The Thistle, Shamrock, Rose entwine The Maple Leaf forever.
CHORUS.
The Maple Leaf, our emblem dear, The Maple Leaf Forever!
God save our Queen and heaven bless The Maple Leaf forever!
On many hard-fought battle fields, Our brave fathers side by side,
For freedom, homes and loved ones dear, Firmly stood, and nobly died;
And those dear rights which they maintained. We swear to yield them never!
We’ll rally ‘round the Union Jack, The Maple Leaf forever.
CHORUS.
In Autumn time our emblem dear, dons its tints of crimson hue;
Our blood would dye a deeper red, Shed, dear Canada, for you!
Ere sacred rights our fathers won, To foemen we deliver,
We’ll fighting die, our battle cry, “The Maple Leaf forever!”
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Globe and Mail, December 2, 1952.
Gagan, David, “The Relevance of Canada First” in Bruce Hodgins, ed., Canadian History Since Confederation:
Essays and Interpretations. (Georgetown: Irwin-Dorsey, 1972), p. 77.
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Morgan, 664.
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Toronto Star, February 24, 1896.
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157
CHORUS
God bless our loved Canadian home, Our Dominion’s vast domain:
May plenty ever be our lot, And peace hold endless reign;
Our Union bound by ties of love, That discord cannot sever,
God bless our loved Canadian home, Our dominion’s vast domain:
May plenty ever be our lot, And peace hold endless reign;
Our Union bound by ties of love, That discord cannot sever,
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And flourish green o’er Freedom’s home, The Maple Leaf forever.
By 1900 the Maple Leaf was widely recognized as the symbol for Canada. Sir Donald Smith, M.P., asked
Parliament to get a better Canadian flag. He felt that the Red Ensign was cluttered with the Union Jack and
a coat of arms. Most Members of Parliament wanted a flag with the Maple Leaf. Lady Aberdeen, the
Governor General’s wife and an influential woman in her own right, was in favour. The Hamilton Spectator
said:
GIVE US THE LEAF. Almost every little one-horse revolutionary republic in the western continent has …[a]
star on [their] flag. The maple leaf forever. The Montreal Witness approved of the idea of a distinct Canadian
flag “and says that one emblem should be used to the exclusion of all others, and believes that the maple
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leaf is by all odds the best emblem for the flag.
But the road would be long and proverbially rocky. Canada did not have its own official flag until 1965 when
the country adopted a red and white design with a big maple leaf.
The Secret Underground Hymn of the Anglo Resistance Movement
The Sentinel, an Orange Lodge publication, on the death of Alexander Muir, July 3, 1906, wrote:
Worshipful Brother Muir was a staunch advocate of loyalty to the British Crown and Protestant principles. He
was a familiar figure at patriotic demonstrations and public celebrations, where he took a prominent part in
the programme. He was a man of magnificent physique and matchless eloquence. The many occasions at
lodge banquets and other public assemblies where he thrilled his audiences with a recital of the encounter at
Hart's River in South Africa when our brave Canadian boys were inspired to glorious deeds by 'The Maple
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Leaf Forever' will never be forgotten by those who had the privilege of being present.'
Most of Ontario’s population, and certainly most of Leslieville, were Protestant, English-speaking, and
unselfconsciously imperialistic. They did not question their right to supremacy over Catholics,
Francophones, Quebec, and “foreigners”. Catholics were long regarded as having divided loyalties, owing
allegiance to the Pope before Queen and country. Many, particularly Orangemen, believed Catholicism
irreconcilable with democracy. They considered bishops to be authoritarians who manipulated their flock to
block progress and subvert Canada. Education was a solution to the Catholic/Francophone problem. If all
children went to public schools, they could be taught English, reading, writing, and arithmetic, but also
loyalty Crown and Empire. This would assimilate the Irish, the French and everyone else, except the First
Nations. Aboriginal people were believed to be doomed to extinction anyway, but just in case the residential
school system was designed to assimilate them too.
Neither tolerance nor multiculturalism were the foundation of Canada, as is sometimes claimed today.
Multiculturalism was a concept of the 1960s, promoted by Pierre Eliot Trudeau. The Anglo-Scottish majority
of Ontario in the nineteenth century wanted a country that reflected them. They saw themselves as Canada,
but that world is gone. The Maple Leaf Forever has rarely been sung since the 1960s. It imperialist and proBritish text (and some would argue racist subtext) no longer fit a multicultural Ontario. In 1991 Michael
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Toronto Star, June 6, 1895.
Toronto Star, June 6, 1895.
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Sentinel, 1906.
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158
Valpy wrote that Alexander Muir was forgotten along with the Maple Leaf Forever: The song eventually
became a national embarrassment. It disappeared from schools, was never heard in public, was joked about
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by anglos as the secret underground hymn of the anglo resistance movement.
Even Orange historians now acknowledge that the Maple Leaf Forever Tree in Leslieville has nothing to do
with the song – other than the fact that it is an old maple tree. The Roughian speculates that, by 1930, this
particular maple tree was likely to have been the only really old silver maple standing in that part of
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Leslieville. In short, it was the only candidate left that could have been around to drop a leaf in 1867.
Most of the trees along Queen Street were cleared with the street was widened. In the 1920s most of the
Toronto Nurseries, where Muir and Leslie were walking, was cleared, leveled and graded for housing.
Alhough far to the east of the Toronto Nursery grounds, this silver maple was the sole survivor and,
therefore, a candidate for myth.
By the 1930s when the Southams were promoted their Silver maple on Laing Street, those who could
actually remember the writing of “The Maple Leaf Forever” were dead.
By the Great Depression the song itself was in trouble. The Maple Leaf was losing grounds to a rival:
Inroads on the dominance of this song have been made by “O Canada,” which had its birth in the Province
of Quebec, but whose more general adoption has been hindered by disputes over rival English versions and
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translations.
In 1933, the body of O’Canada’s composer, Calixe Lavallée, body was returned to Canada
for re-interment. Lavallée spent most of his life in the US where he died in 1891. He was buried in a Boston
cemetery. On July 14, 1933, he was reburied in the Cote des Neiges cemetery on Mount Royal in Montreal
after lying in state in Notre Dame Cathedral: The strains of the National Anthem played by massed bands
rang out last night as the body was carried to the old church at the head of a long procession. In the church
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again the organ played “O Canada” … O Canada was outpacing its rival.
In the 1940s someone stole the 1937 plaque. It was probably melted down for scrap metal. By the 1950s the
song was no longer regarded as Canada’s national anthem, official or otherwise. People no longer stood to
attention. They would not sing the second and third verses. The Orange Order, itself in decline, came to the
rescue. On June 20, 1958 the Orange Association of Canada put its own plaque at Maple Cottage, replacing
the 1937 one. The Toronto Historical Board unveiled the plaque while a choir composed of children from
nearby Leslie Street Public School sang the 'Maple Leaf Forever.' The Grand Orange Lodge of British North
America plaque says: Alexander Muir 1830-1906 Principal of Nearby Leslieville Public School who was
inspired to write Canada’s national song “The Maple Leaf Forever” by the falling leaves of this sturdy maple
tree erected by the Grand Orange Lodge of British America 1958.
There were attempts to rehabilitate the song. In 1963 the Canadian Authors Association offered a $1,000
prize for a new set of lyrics to The Maple Leaf Forever. The new lyrics were supposed to be more inclusive,
“inspiring to all Canadians, regardless of their national backgrounds.” Gordon V. Thompson, a music
publisher, offered a cash prize for new lyrics, saying the old were too offensive: The first verse recounts how
the English licked the tar out of the French on the Plains of Abraham and the second how the Canadians
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licked the tar out of the Americans at Lundy’s Lane and Queenston Heights. The contest lit a firestorm in a
teapot as people rallied around the old lyrics and the sentiments they expressed. After all, licking the tar out
of the French and the Yankees was an old Ontario pastime. Canadian Authors’ Association president, Dr.
Helen Creighton, had to defend the organization publicly for daring to suggest changing the words.
In 1968, the Maple Leaf Forever Tree was believed to be 160 years old. A January ice storm damaged the
Silver maple and a large branch was downedl. A City Parks Department crew cleaned the wound in the tree
and applied a dressing. The City installed a protective fence around the yard to safeguard the tree from
trucks turning into Memory Lane. The song did not recover as well as the tree did. In 1980, O Canada, by
Calixa Lavallée and Adolphe-Basile Routhier, became Canada’s official national anthem.
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Globe and Mail, March 12, 1991.
http://www.orangenet.org/outram/maple.htm
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Globe, April 5, 1930.
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Toronto Star, July 14, 1933.
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Globe and Mail, December 4, 1963.
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In 1981 the Toronto Historical Board placed Maple Cottage and the Maple Leaf Forever Tree on its list of
Heritage Properties. The building was becoming derelict. Southam Scientific Instruments occupied Maple
Cottage in 1988, but it lay vacant by 1991. Conestoga Investments Limited had bought it. They were, it was
rumored, were going to tear down Maple Cottage and build a low-income housing development on the site.
The neighbours objected. The property became the subject of the Ontario Conservation Review Board
hearing. There were also rumors that the City was going to chop down the giant Silver maple. It was old and
old silver maples are brittle, prone to spectacular car-crushing, people-flattening collapse. Neighbours and
the Toronto Field Naturalists sprung to the rescue of the Maple Leaf Forever Tree. It is still here, cared for
the arborists from the City of Toronto.
In 1991 Ontario’s Conservation Review Board of the Ontario Ministry met to discuss designating of 62 Laing
Street, Maple Cottage. They held a public hearing. Neighbours wanted the building preserved (and did not
want public housing). Joan Elizabeth Crosbie, a preservation officer with the Toronto Historical Board,
outlined the historical and architectural reasons for designating the property. The chief argument was the
oral tradition that credited the tree with inspiring Muir to write "The Maple Leaf Forever". The evidence was
dubious. John J.G. Blumenson, Preservation Officer, Toronto Historical Board, pointed out that the cottage
was built six years after Muir wrote the song. The Board duly noted that Maple Cottage could not have had
historical significance in relation to Alexander Muir or "The Maple Leaf Forever.” Despite its misgivings, it
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recommended designating 62 Laing Street as a historic property.
In 1995 citizens asked the City to name the lane behind 62 Laing, Maple Leaf Cottage, Memory Lane. In
2000 the City began renovating Maple Cottage. It spent over $300,000 repairing and furnishing the building
and another $128,000 landscaping the property and Maple Leaf Forever Park next door. In 2000, the private
lane at 1307 and 1309 Queen Street East was named Agnes Lane at the request of Eastend Developments.
Developer Nancy Hawley proposed that the lane commemorate Agnes Thomson, Alexander Muir’s first wife.
Hawley argued that there were far too few Toronto streets named after women. Agnes Thomson Muir
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represented “ordinary women”.
Volunteers now maintain gardens around Maple Cottage as a tribute to
the man and the tree an an oasis of green around the sturdy old cottage. The plaque remains, testifying to
the Southan tenacity, the strength of the Orange Order and the beauty of the maple.
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http://www.crb.gov.on.ca/stellent/idcplg/webdav/Contribution%20Folders/crb/english/toronto_laing62.pdf
Kowalenko, W. (Wally), City Surveyor, Works and Emergency Services, Staff Report, January 31, 2000 to Toronto
Community Council.
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/2000/agendas/committees/to/to000215/it048.htm
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161
162
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Despite its beautiful trees, Leslieville was not an idyllic rural village, full of simple, kindly folk. Some simple,
kindly folk may have been there, but so were the mad and the bad. Leslieville was a Wild Wild East with a
reputation for violence, gambling and drinking. Since policing was virtually non-existent, its bars and
shebeens attracted men from Toronto. Horse-races, bare knuckle boxing, dogfights, cockfights, gambling
and wenching drew Toronto men east out over the Don.
COCKFIGHTING ON CHRISTMAS DAY.
Some 40 or 50 “roughs,” – the crème de la crème of the city and the country of York—celebrated Christmas
by cockfighting. They met in the early part of the day at “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” a public-house on the
Kingston-road, near the city … That portion of St. Lawrence Ward, some two and a quarter miles from the
market—is not reached by Police arrangements, there being too few men, we suppose, to extend their
“beats” thus far. It has not even the benefit of gas lights; and dwellers there feel very sore, that with such a
state of things, they are compelled to pay the same rate of taxes as protected portions of the city. It is
outside the jurisdiction of the county constable and the limits of the city police patrol—a sort of neutral
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ground, where any amount of mischief and rascality may be perpetrated.”
Leslieville was policed not by the professional city police, but by County of York constables.
Leslieville had long had a police presence – of sorts. It was the retirement home of Toronto’s first chief of
police. William Higgins, high constable, was born in Montreal around 1798 of Irish Protestant parents. Under
Higgins, the Toronto police served as the enforcement wing of the Orange Order. In 1842 his constables
were: William Ketchum, Joseph Gibson, James Cooper, Richard Murphy, Jesse Doan, Calvin Davis
(Caroline Leslie’s father), John Bell and John “Tory” Earls. Earls often brawled with Daniel Tim Daniel
O’Sullivan and his blacksmith brothers. Higgins strength was monumental:
Higgins was a heavily built, powerful man, one of iron nerve. The late Alexander Jacques wrote in 1889 that
“no man ever had a hand shake from Higgins without remembering his energetic response”. His strength in
his prime was noted, and he frequently, wrote Mr. Jacques “would allow two men on one side of a counter to
grasp him by each hand, while without any effort he would pull both across the counter with the greatest
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ease.
Even a fearsome “copper” like Higgins must have heard children mock him. This children’s rhyme, common
in Leslieville, was remembered by Helen Houston and recorded in the local history collection of the Toronto
Public Library, Riverdale Branch: Brass buttons, blue coat, Couldn’t catch a nanny goat. William Higgins
spent the last part of his life in semi-retirement (he worked as a bailiff), living at Queen and Pape. He died in
1871. His presence had no discernible impact on crime in Leslieville. Lawbreakers took advantage of lack of
law enforcement to disrupt Leslieville’s quiet:
Owing to the absence of city and county police protection the Kingston-road is invaded on Sunday
afternoons by city sports who happen to own or hire horses and arrange trotting matches on the road.
Yesterday afternoon a gentlemen named Reid in attempting to cross the road near Greenwood’s sideline
was knocked down by one of the trotters and received a nasty bruise on the shoulder. The driver did not
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attempt to stop to inquire into the nature of the injury.
Brickmakers had a particularly rough reputation, one that they sometimes earned by fist fights. Kicking a
man while he was down seemed to be a Leslieville specialty. Even brickyard owners were not above
fisticuffs: A well-known brick manufacturer [Walker Morley] in the district has been summoned before the
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local justices on a charge of threatening the life of Mr. Jesse Ashbridge.
Break-ins and petty theft was an ongoing problem and a serious one in an economy where many people had
little and could little afford to lose what they had. In 1868, a Mr. Keenan was convicted of stealing cordwood
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Globe, December 27, 1865.
Robertson, John Ross. Landmarks, Vol. III, 62
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Globe, June 12, 1882.
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.” Toronto Daily Mai,l October 1, 1883
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from Ross Reid. In 1865 James Whitney broke into the toll-house on Kingston road. He took about $8 in
money and a coat. Merchants were especially targeted, as stores now lined Queen Street East.
Domestic violence was a concern even then. An 1882 news report commented: …wife beating has become
a fashionable diversion east of the Don. Several rather serious cases have occurred lately, which have not
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escaped the notice of the police authority….
That year James Bibby beat his wife, Mary Ann Bibby, to
death. “When asked how many children he had, he said, “Three living and three dead; the others might as
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well be dead too.” Bibby worked for William Harris in his glue factory. John Hurly was also convicted of
beating his wife. He and his wife lived on Curzon Street. Judge McDougall said: In this country, thank God,
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people are not allowed to treat women in that way…
Sometimes violence went the other way as when a
Leslieville woman was accused of cruelty towards her husband who was disabled.
Child abuse was all too common. Levi Bright, from a well-known and respected family, was in and out of
trouble with the law. He and his second wife had serious drinking problems. In 1883 his nine-year-old
daughter by his first wife lived with them, but suffered from serious neglect. There was no Children’s Aid
Society to intervene. A Leslieville storekeeper had taken the little girl in for a week and would have allowed
her to stay indefinitely, but Bright had come and taken his daughter. His relatives checked from to time to
see how the little girl, Nellie, was doing. One day they found Levi and his wife dead drunk and went in
search of Nellie. They found her in a neighbour’s house: …in a most wretched condition. She was without
shoes or stockings; and her feet had been badly scalded by the drunken wretches having upset a pot of
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boiling water over them. She was wretchedly clad and wore a miserable and pinched appearance.
This was truly shocking, but Sabbath breaking, drunkenness, racing, gambling and indecent behaviour
shocked Victorian sensibilities even more. Things that raise no concern now were punishable under the law.
In 1871 Caroline Reid was accused of deserting her two-month-old infant and two-year old child. She had
broken a taboo. She was living with a black man who was probably the children’s father. The children were
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not abandoned; her boyfriend was caring for them. She served a week’s imprisonment. In 1882 Justice of
the Peace W.H. Doel found Jane Kendrick guilty of swearing at her daughter-in-law, Isabella Kendrick. If
Jane did not pay her $2 fine, she would be imprisoned for ten days. There were complaints about skinny
dipping in Ashbridge's Bay: Complaints are made of parties indecently exposing themselves by bathing at
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improper hours on Sundays in the vicinity of Leslie, Laing, and Lake [Knox] Streets.
Not only were people gambling and skinny dipping, but they were letting their animals wander. Poundkeepers rounded up and detained wayward livestock. The County of York was responsible north of the
Kingston Road; the City of Toronto was responsible for south of Kingston Road. The poundkeepers were
often overwhelmed: The City Pound By-law seems to be a dead letter as regards the streets off the
Kingston-road. Dozens of horses, cattle, pigs, &c. are wandering around all day and night, to the detriment
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of property in the neighbourhood. In 1879 John Strader was the pound keeper. He advertised that he had
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found: “a bay horse, blind with one eye.” The owners of the animals were expected to bail out their
animals by paying a fee and expenses. In 1880 the Globe complained: Kingston Road is infested with dogs
who disturb the residents overnight. The dogcatchers might find some work to do if they are not too busily
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engaged scooping up the stray canines in Toronto. Sometimes livestock strayed because the owner was
negligent. Sometimes a cow or horse broke down a fence. Sometims, cows and horses were stolen. In the
nineteenth century stealing livestock was considered a more serious offence than today. In 1880 the
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Mulcahey brothers of Leslieville were charged with “illegal possession of a horse”.
Stealing chickens and other fowl seemed to be a lesser, but perennial problem:
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Toronto Daily Mail, May 8, 1882.
Globe, August 26, 1882.
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Toronto Star, March 10, 1897.
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Globe, March 16, 1883.
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Globe, July 14, 1871.
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Toronto Daily Mail, July 20, 1882.
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Globe, June 12, 1882.
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Globe, August 26, 1879.
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Globe, July 29, 1880.
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Globe, August 21, 1880.
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165
Mr. George Logan got the assistance of ex-County Constable Hodgson Tuesday, to track the thieves who
stole his chickens. A young man named McDermott, residing on Defries-street was arrested…Last Tuesday
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Messrs. George Leslie & Son had three valuable chickens of the Dorking breed stolen.
Hunting out of season and other breaches of the game laws also caused concern, but little action:
Summonses have been taken out by Mr. Helliwell, Government Inspector, against parties for infringement of
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the game laws, but they are not served, as the offenders cannot be found”
th
There was on occasion more serious crime. On July 12 , 1882, on the Orange Lodge’s most important
th
night, July 12 , a mob of drunken men attacked a young man outside the Gowan Hall behind Callender’s
(also known as the Leslie Hotel or Crother’s Hotel). This was not unusual; it was a tough neighbourhood. A
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newspaper proclaimed: “…rowdyism and terrorism are predominant in the locality”.
However, the
violence went far beyond the accustomed roughing up. Samuel Crothers was the bartender that night. The
Orange men held a dance in their hall. William Long, did not go to the dance, but drank with friends in the
hotel bar. Some men started teasing James Ferguson. The argument was probably over Lucy Wise, a
young woman from a family on Laing Street nearby. She worked as a servant downtown, but was enjoying
the holiday. James Ferguson was sitting on a bench in the bar-room. The bar tender saw John Banks punch
Ferguson in the head. Ferguson and Banks began sparring in the barroom. Both Long and John Banks were
drunk, but James Ferguson was even drunker.
Samuel Crothers insisted later that they were all intoxicated before they came into Crother’s Hotel. Crothers,
who ran the hotel for the Callender family, was anxious to keep his license. He later claimed he did not know
any of the young men, except Banks. This was highly improbable in a small place like Leslieville. Crothers
also later claimed that he did not know of any quarrelling. Bar fights and intoxiation could and did cost the
bar its liquor license. People said at the time, “that liquor was at the bottom of it, and that nearly all the
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parties who were fighting were muddled with beer.”
The men tried to set up a fight between John Banks and James Ferguson for the next Sunday. Such bear
knuckle fights were popular, and an accepted way to settle disputes. But negotiations failed. Crothers asked
them to leave the tavern. The two groups of angry young men agreed to “take it outside”. James Banks,
William Long and their friends started west for home along Kingston Road. Ferguson could not let it go. He
overtook them and shouted to Banks that he wanted to settle with him. The two groups of men began
fighting near Ross Manson’s butcher store. Ferguson struck Banks with what looked like a stone, but brass
knuckles and billies or koshs were also common. A crowd watched the men fight. Frank Peterson, Banks
and Ferguson fell into the ditch. Ferguson climbed on top of Frank Peterson, and stomped on his leg until he
broke it. Brickyard worker Charles Greenwood carried Peterson back into the hotel for help.
Willie Long fled west along Kingston Road. Hot for retaliation, four men chased him down. One pulled a
revolver and shot at Long, but missed. Long tried to escape by running his home on McGee Street near the
railway crossing. He reached the back of his house, but the men cornered him in a narrow space between
the house and the outhouse. There four men beat and kicked him into unconsciousness. Eliza Long, the
victim’s mother, woke up and came to the back door with a light. There she heard a man say, “Now you’ve
got him, give it to him” and her son cry out, “That will do boys, you have done for me.” She ran to her son.
As the men were leaving, she heard one of them say, “Let us go back and finish him”. When she reached
her son’s side Willie said to her, “Mother, they have murdered me, my face is smashed all to pieces, they
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must have had steel knuckles.”
Banks’ sister lived with the Longs. She was in the Gowan Hall and had heard that there were men fighting
outside Crother’s Hotel. Unlike many others, did not go to watch. Instead she went home with Thomas
Swanton, John Banks and another man. They saw four men running towards them from the east. Fearing
attack, they fled down the GTR tracks until the men had disappeared. Willie came out of his house to tell
them his face had been kicked in. Long had a revolver in his hand and said he wanted to catch his attackers.
He still had his revolver when the next morning, with help, he went looking for his assailants. However, he
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Globe Globe, July 28, 1886.
Globe, May 15, 1883
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Toronto Daily Mail, July 24, 1882.
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Globe, July 22, 1882.
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Globe, July 21, 1882.
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had serious facial and skull fractures and died on July 19, 1882. Long was only 24 and a moulder at
Hamilton’s Foundry in Corktown. He supported his widowed mother. Before he died, he named his
assailants: “two of the most desperate rowdies of the neighbourhood.” One was James Ferguson; the other
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was Hugh Kelly. They were charged and went into hiding.
A Coroner’s inquest was held at the Crother’s Hotel where the men had been drinking and then at
Temperance Hall. The Coroner said that: …he did not understand why Kelly and Ferguson were so reluctant
to show themselves. There were warrants out for their arrest, and by keeping out of the way, they only
strengthened suspicion against them if there were any. They should come forward and tell what they
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knew.
Ferguson and Kelly soon appeared again on Leslieville’s streets and charges were mysteriously
dropped. Thomas Crozier was a scapegoat. He was arrested and kept as a material witness. The Coroner
ruled that he was not in any way connected to the case.
Witnesses were generally uncooperative. James Long, William’s brother, was the first witness at the
Coroner’s inquest. Lucy Wise was in Crother’s tavern and attended the dance at nearby Gowan Hall until
two in the morning. She was a witness, not considered a reliable one. At the time, competition over Lucy
was considered reason for the fight:
A gentleman who is acquainted with most of the parties who are concerned in the tragedy says that a girl
was at the bottom of the trouble. Wm. Long was keeping company with a young girl living in the
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neighbourhood. Several of the other young men who attended the ball on the night of the 12 were also
paying court to her, and she became a subject of contention between them. He said that this fact would
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probably be developed in the course of the enquiry.
Hugh Wise, Lucy’s brother, was a discredited witness. In fact, the Coroner seemed to believe that most of
the witnesses were telling far less than what they knew. The Coroner found that Samuel Cooper and
William Ashby had killed William Long. The police charged them. They were convicted and imprisoned.
While in prison Ashby had second thoughts. He came forward to testify that Hugh Wise and Charles Phillips
were the real killers. Ashby’s uncorroborated testimony led directly to his and Cooper’s release.In 1883, the
manslaughter verdicts against Samuel Cooper and William Ashby were set aside; Phillips and Wise were
charged. As soon as he was out of jail, Ashby began boasting of killing Long. He said that he hit Long with a
heavy strap with a piece of iron on the end of it.
When on the witness stand in the second trial, Ashby denied that he had got together with Cooper in jail and
“talked the matter over with him”. However, if they had collaborated to fabricate their testimony, Ashby and
Cooper would have perjured themselves and innocent men would pay. William Laing testified that he was in
Russell’s hotel the night after Long was killed and heard William Ashby boasting. Ashby said, “I’m only a
little fellow, but I had more to do with it than any of you, and if it had not been for Wise, I’d have finished
him.” Hugh Wise and Charles Phillips came from Leslieville families and had good reputations, as opposed
to Ashby. Leslieville people came forward to testify to their good character, but the jury only took 15 minutes
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to find Hugh Wise and Charles Phillips guilty. Wise broke down as did Phillips’ mother and Lucy Wise.
The resolution of the case raised many questions then and now. Since William Ashby had the most to gain
by fingering Hugh Wise and Charles Phillips for the killing, why was his uncorroborated testimony given such
weight? Why was William Long’s identification of his killers ignored? Why weren’t James Ferguson and
Hugh Kelly charged? This crime shocked Leslieville and charges and convictions were expected. People
expected quick arrests, trials to follow quickly and long sentences. That was justice in the 1880s.
Frightened residents called on the County to provide more constables. Complaints of crime and lack of
police protection helped persuade people to vote for amalgamation with the City of Toronto in 1884. Yet
after amalgamation in 1884, crime continued and even increased. In 1894 Leslieville residents still felt that
they were not getting police protection: There are numerous complaints among the residents of the side and
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Toronto Daily Mail, August 2, 1882.
Globe, July 22, 1882.
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Globe, July 22, 1882.
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Globe, January 19, 1883.
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167
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back streets on account of the lack of proper police protection. In 1895 police protection was a hot issue in
the municipal elections. Robert John Fleming, who would be the new Mayor, stated: I desire to point out
that the police protection is not so complete as it ought to be, and that there are many districts in the city
where life and property are not afforded the security to which those residing in the locality are justly
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entitled.
In 1894 thieves attacked market gardener George Graham on Queen Street. Graham was returning home
about midnight. When he was close to his house, two men asked to share his liquor. He obliged, but then
they demanded money. He turned them down. One grabbed his throat while the other went through his
pockets. They found only 45 cents, a knife and some tobacco. Frustrated, they threw him down and kicked
him. Graham got up, ran home and grabbed a revolver. His attackers tried to force their way in through his
back door. He fired though the window at them. A moment later one of the thieves came to Graham’s front
door, complaining, “You’ve shot that fellow”. He then tried to batter the front door down, but Graham fired
again. The thieves fled, bleeding. One youth turned up at the hospital the next morning badly wounded. Both
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were local men: one from Riverside; the other, Albert Strader, from Leslieville.
Meanwhile, a new newspaper, the Toronto Star, was waging a war against evil, in muckraking style. Some
unlicensed joints in Riverside and Leslieville were targeted: There is always beer there in quantity, so that
the frequenters of the East End hell need not go thirsty after the license law has closed the doors of the
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neighboring hostelries. Ale can be bought for 30 cents a dozen. It is sold for 25 cents a bottle. The Star
disapproved of “Low Whisky Dives” frequented by “Thieves and Shameless Women”. The paper demanded
tighter liquor laws so that fewer and fewer licenses were issued and only to respectable people – no one
with a criminal record. The Star alleged that the licensing system was corrupt. Taverns were, “the resorts of
fallen and degraded women and men that have almost by their acts severed themselves from the human
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race.”
If women were fallen, men were vicious. Cockfighting was a sport “over the Don”. In 1896 police had been
watching “the swift set of young men across the Don [who] have a habit of bringing off cock-fights, dog-fights
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and similar events of the low-down class.”
The fights were secret and hard to prosecute.
By the time Leslieville was becoming industrialized. In the 1890s there were was a large gang operating
here. The East End gang was mostly involved in break-ins, theft and intimidation. They assaulted a local
Chinese Canadian merchant, Ching Wing, who successfully fought back. Police believed they had broken
up the gang for good when the courts sent the gang leaders to Kingston Penitentiary, but the gang was back
in business almost immediately. Police accused them of being a “bad gang of boys” and the Toronto Star
described them as practicing “a wild kind of bohemianism”. They used an abandoned lumber yard on Logan
Avenue as their headquarters. Melees between police and gangsters meant gunfire. Police had no qualms
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about firing at teenagers when they tried to run. In 1894 Constable Burns arrested three cocky or simply
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dim-witted young men for breaking into his own house.
Boathouse owners on Ashbridge's Bay were frequently the target for break and enter and sometimes arson.
There was a series of fires in the east end in May, 1895. Someone set fire to a barn at the back of 223 Pape
Avenue belonging to John Strader. The same night someone burned down numbers 130, 132 and 134
Eastern Avenue. In October 1896, Fred Morley, son of brick manufacturer Walker Morley, was charged with
burning down Samuel Greenwood’s stable and ice-house at 1352 Queen Street East. Greenwood lost 500
bushels of oats, a carload of hay, wagons, buggies and eight horses. He faced heavy financial losses as he
was only partially insured. Sam Greenwood had recently fired Fred Morley.
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Toronto Star, August 10, 1894.
Toronto Star, January 21, 1895.
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Toronto Star, March 12, 1894.
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Toronto Star, October 22, 1894.
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Toronto Star, October 20, 1894.
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Toronto Star, February 3, 1896.
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Toronto Star, October 27, 1897.
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Toronto Star, October 26, 1894.
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168
There had been many failed attempts to burn down Greenwood’s business. According to the Star, “Fire has
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been started in some part of the premises three or four times within the last two months.”
All the fires
started at the same time a night and in each case it was Fred Morley who first shouted, “Fire!” Several
weeks before, Morley had run to Greenwood’s to tell him that his house was on fire. Late at night someone
had set fire to the straw used to pack ice. This time the damage was little, but in the more serious arson, the
circumstances were similar. Morley discovered another fire. He ran to Greenwood’s house, shouting, “Fire!”
again and broke a window. An overhead electricity wire fell, knocking Morley down and shocking him,
making him easy to catch. Morley made damaging statements to the police, incriminating himself. Someone
had set fire to Leonard Marsh’s boathouse not long before. Marsh and Greenwood were good friends. The
police charged Fred Morley with this arson too.
The families of Leslieville were close intertwined. The arson charges against Fred Morley set villager against
villager. On Christmas Day, Fred Greenwood and Sam Greenwood, John Cooney and Fred Wise were
drinking together in one of Leslieville’s hotels. Fred Wise was a good friend and had put bail money up for
Fred Morley. Fred Wise began arguing with the Greenwoods and John Cooney. Soon fists were flying. Wise
took quite a pounding. He had Fred Greenwood, Sam Greenwood, and John Cooney charged with assault.
The Toronto Star called the fight “a family quarrel”, but it was so serious that “it was feared Wise would lose
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one of his eyes”.
Fred Morley appeared in court, charged with burning down Samuel Greenwood’s icehouse. A dozen
witnesses testified. The judge declaimed: You have at least succeeded in proving that this man Morley is a
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firstclass liar, but whether a jury would convict him of arson is another matter.
The evience was just too
circumstantial. He dismissed the case. A month later someone started setting fires in Leslieville again. This
time people openly admitted that a firebug was at work. Someone set a fire in well-loved family doctor Kerr’s
home on Pape Avenue. One house in the terrace of four attached dwellings was empty. The arsonist
entered there and climbed into the shared attic from which he could access all the houses. He bored a hole
through the Doctor’s closet ceiling and poured in accelerant. No one was ever convicted of any of these
arsons. Many blamed Fred Morley. Some blamed the fires on vagrants.
Tramps rode the rails in and out of Toronto and helped themselves to the produce of Leslieville’s market
gardens and orchards. However, as Leslieville became urbanized, vagrancy took on a new face. Often Erie
Terrace (Craven Road) was in the spotlight. Police caught Gladys Durant, a cross-dressing 15-year old girl,
of 523 Erie Terrace trying to ride the rails to Texas. She was with two boys, Phillip Clare, aged 20, of 417
Erie Terrace and Chris James. A county constable arrested the trio in the rail yard in the west end. They
were charged with vagrancy. Petty crime, like this with its hints of sexual misdeeds, occupied most of the
journalistic attention at the time, but serious crime was not unknown in Leslieville. Amalgamation,
industrialization and population growth did not bring crime to Squire Leslie’s domain. Crime was already
there.
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Toronto Star, October 29, 1895.
Toronto Star, December 16, 1895.
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Daily Mail and Empire, January 11, 1896.
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From 1880 to 1890 Toronto’s population doubled. Industry built big new factories along the rail lines in order
to transport goods across Canada and abroad. Working class neighbourhoods deteriorated as the middle
class escaped to suburbs to the north and west. Factory owners moved away their plants to mansions on
Broadview Avenue, to Jarvis Street, to Forest Hill and Rosedale. Close to the rail line and to downtown,
Leslieville’s industries drew on the lake to produce steam. By 1884 Queen Street East was lined with
cattledealers, blacksmiths, dry goods stores, grocers, druggists, and other businesses. Three and four
storey buildings with stores below and apartments, such as the Poulton Block, lined much of Queen Street
through Toronto to Riverside. The Poulton Block at 798 Queen Street East was built in 1885. In 1882 an
auction offered a property on the north side Kingston Road, near the railway crossing “in a good business
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locality”.
As the population grew, Leslievillers wanted better services. They were particularly concerned over the lack
of police protection and the “neglect of any sanitary precaution”, that is -- no sewers or treated drinking
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water. Because of this, popular support for amalgamation with Toronto was strong. The Toronto Directory
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for 1880 lists 169 heads of household in Leslieville. The population of Leslieville in 1884 was about 850.
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600 residents of Riverside (including Leslieville) signed a petition in favour of amalgamation in 1884.
Amalgamation offered sewers and drains; treated water delivered by mains from the City waterworks; a
professional fire department instead of volunteers; better police protection; reduced fire insurance rates;
improved roads and, hopefully, the end of tollgates, as well as lower postage rates. There was little choice.
A politician said: If they refuse to see it, nobody desires to compel them to come in. Let them wait until the
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increase of their taxation or the want of accommodation induces them to seek for union.
Housing began to fill in the market gardens and brickyards along Queen Street. Ads enticed: Buy a home for
yourself at the immense sale of lots on Queen’s birthday on the grounds, Carlaw-Avenue, Kingston-Road.
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Geo. D. Morse & Co. An 1883 auction offered land just beyond the GTR in Riverside. Like a lot of working
class homes of the time the store and dwelling were rough-cast, just plaster over lathing. As well, there were
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“two rough-cast semi-detached cottages containing four rooms” that rented for $4 a month each.
The
same year George Leslie sold some of his land and it was subdivided for housing: East End Lots,
Remember the Great Sale of City Lots on Saturday Afternoon at 3 o’clock, on the grounds, part of Leslie’s
Nursery, Kingston-Road. Gas and Water Supplied. Low assessment. Terms Easy. Apply for particulars to
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Morrison, Taylor, & Co. 77 Front-street East. An 1884 advertisement made clear who the target market
was: CHEAP BUILDING LOTS. We are selling Cheap Building Lots on Carlaw-avenue, Eastern-avenue,
Morse-st., Blong-st., and Kingston-road on very easy terms of payment. NOW IS THE TIME FOR
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WORKING MEN TO SECURE A HOME. POSTLETHWAITE & GRAHAM, 34 King-st., East.
Today a single developer usually handles the whole process of developing a subdivision from buying
agricultural land, laying it out in streets, assigning lots, building houses and selling them. Then landownders
usually sold their property to a land agent. The agent divided it into lots and sold five of the lots to this
person, four to that, etc. Then the person with five lots put up houses himself or paid someone else, usually
a local builder, such as Robert Leslie, Thomas Sawden, John Price, or Robert Billings, to build them.
Brickyard owners often cut out the middlemen by being their own developer, subdividing their brickyards,
building and selling the new houses themselves. Often the land made them rich, not the bricks.
Working class families often built their own homes. Sometimes they lived in a tent or in the basement of their
house while working on building the rest of the house over their heads. Sometimes their homes were tar
paper shacks or shanties. Many still stand in Leslieville hidden behind insulbrick or aluminum siding.
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Globe, March 1, 1882.
Toronto Daily Mail, July 18, 1882
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Toronto Directory 1880, Might & Taylor, 456-458
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Globe, February 8, 1884.
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Globe December 27, 1881.
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Globe,, May 19, 1881.
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Globe, January 31, 1883.
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Globe, June 8, 1883.
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Globe, August 2, 1884.
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Toronto’s first boundaries, set in 1834 included a strip of land south of Queen Street running three and a half
miles east. This strip was called the “Liberties”. Therefore, the south side of Queen Street East was in the
City of Toronto; the north side was in the Township of York. Taxes were higher in Toronto. The Globe
described the results:
The effect of it was that many persons, after their day’s work was done, walked out the city limits to sleep in
the territory conveniently left at just the right distance to constitute a good morning and evening’s walk, and
city was deprived of proper subjects for taxation. It may do for a few years, while the community is yet in a
village state, to put off the water, sewerage, and other questions. But as the population increases the soil
becomes saturated with sewage, the wells receive contamination, substantial highways must be
constructed, the streets must be lighted, police protection must be given, an expensive fire establishment
must be kept in efficient order, and many of the costly necessaries must be provided. As each new cause of
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outlay comes up, the taxes of the municipality come up likewise.
The Township of York in 1882 extemded Gerrard east to Logan Avenue and improved and extended side
lines like Leslie Street turning rural roads into urban streets. Now Gerrard Street allowed people to avoid the
tollbooths on Kingston Road. This decreased the toll keeper’s revenues and made the system even more
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unworkable.
The toll keepers fought back by putting barricades across the side streets going up to
Gerrard Street from Queen Street. Even moving a load of vegetables or bricks a few blocks became timeconsuming. However, the toll keepers could not sustain the blockade. People just went around by a different
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route. By 1883 some of the toll keepers wanted out.
The old ways were not working. Change was
accelerating. That year door-to-door postal service necessitated proper street addresses with numbers on
the houses. Up to then the addresses were unnumbered. In1882 the telephone arrived in Leslieville.
Brickyard owners began to adverise that they were on the telephone line. During the1880s electric city lights
appeared in Ontario.
The proposed annexation of Leslieville by the City of Toronto drove a building boom. Speculators subdivided
the western end of Leslieville in roads: Eastern Avenue, Blong, Carlaw, etc., and divided the land up for
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sale.
According to the Daily Mail:
New houses are springing up like mushrooms in all parts of Riverdale, and quite a boom has commenced in
real estate. Property is changing hands daily, and small houses suitable for mechanics, etc., find
purchasers as soon as they are completed. The prospect of annexation to the city of Toronto sometime
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during the ensuing year has induced many small capitalists to speculate.
On March 25th, 1884, Riverdale and most of Leslieville joined the City of Toronto. With amalgamation, the
City improved the infrastucture gradually as local ratepayers were expected to pay for any improvements
through their property taxes. In 1883 the City of Toronto began laying storm sewers along the streets south
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of Queen Street East, extending old streets and opening new streets.
If sewage was a concern, so was
obtaining drinking water. Wells often went dry as the water table sank: Most of the wells in Riverside are
empty of water. It would be a good thing for the inhabitants if they were now attached to the city, so that
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they may have more water to drink and more to wash with. The groundwater became contaminated too.
Typhoid was a constant danger. One tangible way to measure progress was the construction of sewage
mains. The City boasted of it’s the miles of new sewers it built each year.
Better roads were an important to those thwo considered amalgamation. Then most roads were gravel or
dirt, planked or paved with wood blocks. The wood blocks, about eight inches in diameter, were laid down
on the street, and held together with tar. Poor people stole the blocks in winter and used them for firewood.
Even if they escaped burning, cedar blocks did not last long. By 1886 the City had laid almost 48 miles of
cedar block pavements and 121 miles of sewers. In that year the City laid down cedar block on Queen
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Globe, December 27, 1881.
Toronto Daily Mail, May 9, 1882.
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Globe, January 19, 1883.
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Goad’s Atlas, Toronto, 1884.
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Toronto Daily Mail, October 23, 1883.
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Globe, May 15, 1883.
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Globe, March 15, 1883.
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Street from the Don to Greenwood Avenue, the City’s eastern limit.
Even walking was not easy. There
were few sidewalks in Leslieville and they often were wooden, ramshackle affairs.
Public transportation was essential to developing suburbia. Toronto’s streetcar system created the “streetcar
suburb”. Cheap, effective public transit for the first time allowed a separation between where the working
class lived and where they worked. Yet Toronto’s privately-owned streetcar company was a reluctant
participant in any extension of their lines to the new suburbs in the East End. On Sept. 24, 1886, people met
in Temperance Hall to discuss extending the street tailway to the area. Alderman Peter Macdonald was a
longtime resident. He ran the Sunday School at Leslieville Presbyterian Church, Macdonald was the first
speaker. He called on the Toronto Street Railway Company (TSR), owned by Frank Smith, to expand over
the Don. The agreement between the City of Toronto and the TSR was expiring in 1890. This was widely
believed to be the reason that the TSR did not want to invest in new, potentially unprofitable, routes.
Senator Frank Smith responded by smearing Macdonald:
If gentlemen wanted to speculate in land in the West End, in the north, or over the Don, it was not the duty of
the City Council to compel the Railway Company to lay new lines to these men’s properties, no matter what
the loss to the company was…Ald. Macdonald wanted the company to construct a line in Broadview524
avenue, right past the door of his own property.
In 1887 the TSR did establish a streetcar line up Broadview Avenue from Queen to the corner of Danforth
Avenue. They extended the Queen streetcar line east into Leslieville. In the same year the Grand Trunk
Railway began a new suburban train service, a commuter service: URBAN TRAIN SERVICE….Suburban
trains are run between York and Weston, calling at Greenwood’s avenue, Kingston road, Don, Berkeley
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street, Church street, Yonge street, Union station, Queen’s wharf…
In 1887 the City annexed a strip of land 200 feet deep on the north side of Queen Street East all the way
from Greenwood Avenue to the Beach. In 1888 the City of Toronto established its Streets Department with
John Jones (Master of Leslieville’s Orange Lodge) as its first commissioner. By 1890 it was clear that
Toronto needed a new streetcar system and that Ashbridge's Bay needed to be filled in. Both would cost
millions of dollars and, thus, politicians put them off, year after year, not wanting to drive up property taxes.
Yet demand for better services grew with the population.
Leslieville was now becoming a working class suburb of Toronto, dependent on the streetcar. In the 1890s
cash fare was five cents. A passenger could pay one dollar for 25 tickets to ride the streetcar. Change did
not instantly mean better. In 1891 Ontario's first horseless streetcars were introduced in Ottawa. The same
year William Mackenzie took over the Toronto Street Railway (TSR) from Frank Smith and renamed it the
Toronto Railway Company (TRC). The TRC soon became notorious for poor service. It owned the rights to
run a transit system in Toronto for 30 years (ending in 1921). People waiting at stops saw empty streetcars
fly by them, out of service, as the streetcar returned to car barns at St. Lawrence Street and King Street: A
gentleman inquired of me this morning if the street railway conductors have the right to pass a person, even
though the car is on its way to the sheds for the night. This sort of thing is of frequent occurrence between
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Lee avenue and the Don sheds. In 1893 Toronto streetcars were electrified. Another district street car line
was created along Gerrard Street East to Pape Avenue. A year later people complained: The residents in
the north-eastern section are displeased at not having a street car service either along to Jones avenue on
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Gerrard street or up Pape avenue to Danforth from the present terminus on Gerrard Street. The Queen
streetcar was extended to Lee Avenue. Some complained the streetcars were going too slow, others that
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they were going too fast, “at a rate of sixteen miles an hour…as fast as a locomotive”. Others complained
that there were not enough streetcars:
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Globe, January 1, 1887.
Toronto World, September 24, 1886.
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Globe, May 6, 1887.
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Toronto Star, June 18, 1894.
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Toronto Star, November 20, 1894.
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Toronto Star, January 18, 1895.
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173
174
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Letter to The Editor The Street Car service in the East End is a disgrace to the city, and most discreditable
to the Street Railway, and the aldermen in Ward One should have some regard for their constituents and
make this fact known to the authorities, for they know it themselves. The people over the Don are supposed
to have an eight-minute service, and the people east of the Woodbine get only half as good a service. A
man who misses the car often has time to walk up town before another one overtakes him. EAST
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ENDER
There was now an alternative. Safety bicycle began to appear everyone on Toronto’s streets, giving men
and women a new mobility. An organization of bicyclists formed, the Canadian Wheelmen’s Association..
Even the East End’s young women formed their own bicycle club. Many Leslieville residents joined the
Royal Canadian Bicycle Club on Broadview Avenue, enjoying races and outings. People began to demand
bike paths and the City began to put in cinder bicycle paths.
They also put in more sidewalks, an important consideration when walking was the mode of transportation
for most people. Sidewalks were newsworthy: A new sidewalk is being constructed on the east side of Pape
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avenue, from Queen to Eastern avenue.
The toll gates still stood much to people’s frustration. In 1894, in a scenario occurred that could have come
from the Keystone cops:
A teamster who gave his name as R. Beckett, Box Grove, run No. 1 toll-gate this morning without paying the
necessary fee. The gate-keeper, Mrs. Rowan, boarded a motor car and overhauled him near the Queen
street crossing of the Grand Trunk Railway, where P.C.[Police Constable] Charlton obtained his name and
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address. He paid the toll.
A committee was appointed to review abolishing of tolls. The York County Council wanted a deal. If the City
of Toronto did away with the rental fees for county butchers and gardeners at St. Lawrence Market, the
County would give up the tolls on roads. In 1896 the County of York finally abolished the toll road system.
However, the roads were still dirt and still bad: Queen street, from the Don bridge to Pape avenue, has been
in a perfect sea of mud and slush for the past week. Today a gang of men has been busy scraping off the
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mud and ice and carting it away. Animals still roamed the streets of Leslieville:
COW UPSETS A BUGGY. Peculiar Accident on Eastern Avenue Caused by a Dog and a Cow. On Saturday
afternoon Mr. A. Dickey of Broadview was driving along Eastern avenue with his family when a dog-chased
cow ran into the buggy, upsetting the rig and throwing Mr. and Mrs. Dickey and the children violently to the
ground. No one was injured, except Mr. Dickey, who received some bruises. The buggy was badly
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damaged, one wheel being smashed.
In 1895 the Grand Trunk Railway began stopping the local trains to pick up passengers at Queen Street
East, “at the old Kingston road crossing near Leslieville”. This was in addition to the suburban trains that
already stopped there. A railway station was planned. It was not long before there were complaints about:
the lack of shelter of some kind at the crossing of Queen street at the Don. In wet weather passengers
become drenched while waiting for the train if they are ahead of time or the train is behind, and in the cold
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weather people are half perished, there being no shelter of any kind.
In 1890 the City of Toronto annexed 35 acres in a narrow north-south ribbon of land on the east side of
Greenwood Avenue. By 1890 houses and shops stretched from Broadview all the way to the Beach with
only a few gaps, such as the Ashbridge estate and some of the brickyards. Pape Avenue was lined with
market gardens all the way up to the Village of Todmorden. Between Jones Avenue and Coxwell there were
still three creeks, crossed by tiny wooden bridges. In the 1920s these creeks disappeared into the sewer
system.
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Toronto Star, January 29, 1895.
Toronto Star Tuesday, May 1, 1894.
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Toronto Star, October 2, 1894.
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Toronto Star, March 7, 1894.
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Toronto Star, October 22, 1894.
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Toronto Star, April 13, 1895.
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176
Immigrants from England poured into the East End, drawn by cheap housing and jobs: Already people are
beginning to move, and the East End is filling up rapidly with citizens from other parts of the city, and many
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are coming in from the country.
Shacktowns, like that on Erie Terrace, developed just outside the
Toronto’s limits where municipal regulations did not reach. In York Township taxes were low and services
non-existent. Speculators carved Erie Terrace up into tiny lots that even the very poor could afford. Goad’s
Atlas of 1890 (Plate 50) shows that Edmund Henry Duggan owned four lots immediately east of the
Ashbridge estate. Duggan was involved with the Toronto House Building Association which had developed
Parkdale in 1875. One of the goals of the Association (later called the Land Security Company) was to allow
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low income families to own their own homes. Duggan’s holdings were laid out in tiny lots. Erie Terrace
became a linear slum perched on a sandy gully. The east side of the street was densely inhabited while the
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west side, owned by the Ashbridges, remained undeveloped until later. Most of these shacks were ownerbuilt and lacked plumbing and toilets. There were no sewers, no garbage collection and no police or fire
protection. A 1907 advertisement captures the essence of Erie Terrace, offering cheap land and wood to
build with: $10 A FOOT—Erie Terrace, 100 feet north of Gerrard street cars, no money down, lumber
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supplied to build. David, 75 Adelaide east. Some, including Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health Charles
Hastings, saw these shacktowns as epidemics waiting to happen.
Meanwhile, an industrial boom covered the Ashbridge's Bay shoreline with tanneries, slaughterhouses,
machine shops, paint manufacturers, etc. The number of Toronto’s manufacturing plants nearly quintupled
from 530 in 1871 to 2,401 in 1891. The Canada Paint Company at the foot of Leslie Street was a large
employer in Leslieville. The work was dangerous as men were exposed to toxic chemicals like lead and
Paris green, a paint made with arsenic. These industries paid little heed to the disposal of their waste. Waste
was dumped, waste was buried, and waste was burned. In 1891 the first east end garbage incinerator, the
Eastern Avenue Crematory, was built, chiefly to deal with domestic garbage. It was on the banks of the Don
River, but burned down in 1892.
Technological changes in manufacturing and transportation made goods and services more easily obtained.
It also changed how people thought about themselves and the world. Many working class people began to
cherish new hope that they might climb the social ladder and improve their lives and the lives of their
children. Famous self-made men like Andrew Carnegie were widely admired, but local men, like Joseph
Russell and George Leslie, were also esteemed for their work ethic and their success. If poor men could
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become rich, anything was possible.
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In 1894 a new telephone service was strung through part of Leslieville.
Gooderham’s grove on Queen
Street, planted to hide the cow byres, was cut down, the soil ploughed and “seeded down and otherwise
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beautified.” Mayor Warring Kennedy’s inaugural address in 1895 touched on issues near and dear to East
Enders. I direct your attention to the fact that a large district of the city lying to the north of Gerrard street and
to the east of the River Don is insufficiently supplied with water for fire protection and that it is advisable that
that district should be cut off from the present low service system and added to the high level water supply.
Police protection was a hot issue: I desire to point out that the police protection is not so complete as it
ought to be, and that there are many districts in the city where life and property are not afforded the security
to which those residing in the locality are justly entitled. He called for an increase in the number of police
officers. He also was concerned about children working:
It is patent up to all who take note of these matters that there are far too many boys and girls, who ought to
be at school, running wild on the streets. There are, too, in my opinion, many boys under age at work before
they have completed the most elementary course of education. This ought not to be. Boys, also, are put in
charge of horses, and even machinery, when far too young to have proper control of either, with the result
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Toronto Star, March 12, 1895.
Statutes of the Province of Ontario, Queen’s Printer, 1870, 156.
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Atlas of the City of Toronto and Vicinity. 2nd edition. March, 1890. London: Chas. E. Goad. 1899 Revision. Plate
50.
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Toronto Star, December 21, 1907.
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Goheen, 10.
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Toronto Star, March 19, 1894.
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Toronto Star, May 1, 1894.
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177
that serious accidents occur, ending in injury and even death, which might be avoided if such young lads
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had not been so employed.
Leslieville was still a place for city boys to have fun. Young men and men not so young drove their rigs out
from downtown. Perhaps inspired by the nearby Woodbine Racetrack, they used the Leslieville’s streets,
particularly Eastern Avenue, for racing. In 1896 Aldermen James B. Boustead, William Peyton Hubbard,
John Knox Leslie, J.J. Graham and Mayor Kennedy discussed the relationship of horse racing horses to
Methodism at a City Council meeting. The Mayor, in his inaugural address, had suggested that “certain
streets be set apart for speeding horses.” Alderman Hubbard was shocked that the Mayor, supposed to be a
good Methodist, should even think of such a thing. Leslieville Aldermen John Knox Leslie and J.J. Graham
moved that Eastern Avenue, from the GTR crossing to the Woodbine Racetrack be set apart for speeding.
Kennedy supported the motion: The Mayor admitted being fond of a fast horse himself and he believed that
there were thousands of people, Methodists among them, who would take a pleasure in witnessing the
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speeding.
Whatever the merits of a fast horse to a Methodist, by 1897 people began to wonder if they were cheated by
amalgamation. Skepticism about the Toronto’s intentions for Ashbridge's Bay poisoned the atmosphere, just
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as Toronto sewage poisoned the Bay. In an economic depression people resented the high Toronto taxes
and the efforts of the tax collector to collect those taxes. Not only were people unemployed, but there was a
depression in the 1890s and property values had fallen. There land was no longer worth what they paid for
it:
It is a well-known fact that during “boom times” immense areas of land in the city limits were laid out in lots
by land companies, who purchased at a low price by the acre, and sold at fabulous prices by the foot. In
fact, in order to bring outside market gardners [sic] into the city, the suburban villages or Riverside [including
Leslieville], Brockton, and Parkdale were annexed and became wards of the city. Streets were opened up as
local improvements, pavements and drains were laid, and the land companies commenced to unload on a
gullible public. The purchasers struggled along under the burden of taxes and interest for years, until their
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hearts were broken…
As Toronto’s area doubled in the last two decades of the nineteenth century, the costs of servicing the new
acquisitions pushed taxes up. C.S. Clark, in his 1898 book, Of Toronto the Good: The Queen City of
Canada, stated:
It was in the year 1883 that Toronto became land hungry and began to stretch forth ambitious hands to
seize adjoining sections of the County of York... Toronto now discovered that she had grown even too
strong, and that she had acquired enough territory to hold all the citizens we are likely to have for the next
50 years. Hand in hand with this tremendous extension of territory went the local improvements and the
increase of our debenture debt, and for the last six years citizens have been wondering what all the territory
was ever wanted for, and have been execrating the insane speculative mania which sewered and block
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paved and sidewalked the grassy swards of the county of York’s farm lands.
The pace of change would only increase.
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Toronto Star, January 21, 1895.
Toronto Star, January 28, 1896.
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Daily Mail and Empire, June 9, 1897.
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Daily Mail and Empire, May 8, 1897.
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Solomon, Lawrence. Toronto Sprawls: A History. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007), p. 6.
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178
179
As the twentieth century dawned, people expected better and more. In 1900 typhoid swept Toronto; the City
had to take public health seriously. City Hall built water filtration plants, using alum (aluminum) and chlorine
to treat the water. Leslievillers had welcomed amalgamation with Toronto, seeing it as progress. However,
change was slower than expected. Leslieville’s main street, Queen Street East, was still a mess. In 1901
East Enders celebrated the paving of Queen Street East from the Don Bridge to the GTR tracks: the
boundary between Riverside and Leslieville. They gloried in the smooth asphalt, walking up and down on
the asphalt all night, dancing and making merry. Ex-Alderman John Knox Leslie, City Treasurer Richard
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Coady and Street Commissioner John Jones, did their best to look after the East End. However, streetcar
service to the East End was poor. The City of Toronto was still fighting over transit with the Toronto Railway
Company.
1900 to 1913 was a time of world-wide economic boom, despite a few hiccups here and there. Most of the
housing stock in Leslieville went up from 1900 to 1930. Many houses were constructed from 1900 to 1910.
The older part of Leslieville along Queen Street, and around Booth, Logan, Carlaw and Pape was coved in
housing. In 1900 the Grand Trunk Railway built a new brick station on De Grassi in Riverside. In 1900
telephone subscribers east of the Don got improved service.
Bungalow-style repaced the tall, narrow Gothic Revival design in public affection. The newer houses of 1900
to 1910 are quite different from the houses of 1880 to 1900. In 1909 Gustav Stickley published the first
catalogue of Craftsman homes, complete with floor plans for bungalows. Real estate developers advertised
a popularized form of the Arts and Craft bungalow, calling them “California-style bungalows”, and larger
square Edwardian houses, called “villas”, in their advertisements. The Arts and Crafts or California-style
bungalow could also be built from plans purchased from a magazine like the Craftsman Magazine (19011916), published by Stickley. People could also buy a kit from the T. Eaton Company, Aladdin Homes or a
number of other companies. Eaton’s delivered the pre-fabricated home in a box car to its depot on the east
side of Coxwell Avenue just south of the railroad tracks. From there residents could take their own home to
their lot in a wagon or have it delivered. Hence, many of these buildings are remarkable similar in style -- few
models were apparently used. But there were exceptions. Many working class people also built their own
homes and these houses stand out as unique in a street of clones. Builders also built many bungalows
throughout Toronto, including Leslieville. Builder Peter Harcus described bungalow building here:
We were mostly building six roomed houses for working people and they were what we called the bungalow
type, in other words their roof sloped right down and out the verandah and there were large peers and the
roof made the shelter for the verandah and the verandah went right across the full width of the house and
with the semi-detached … there was usually a little wooden partition in between just to give a little privacy.
Bungalow-style was in, Harcus’s words, “the go”. If a particular style or design was selling well, he built it.
Builders did not usually use an architect. They drew up the plans themselves. They dug the foundations of a
house with a team of horses and a scraper. Harcus used one or two carpenters. Much of the work he farmed
out to subcontractors: bricklayer, plasterer, roofer for the asphalt roof, painter, etc. He describes the area as
he remembered it: It was lovely for a family because they could set their chairs out there and when the man
of the house would come home after a hard day’s work, he’d have his dinner and clean-up, he’d take his
newspaper and his pipe and he’d maybe go out and sit on the verandah and read and pass the time of day
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to everybody passing by, people felt very contented. There was no radio or T.V. in them days.
Squire Thornton, another builder, described the typical six room working-class home: a living room, dining
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room, and kitchen on the ground floor and three bedrooms upstairs. This advertisement was typical:
$2,400 – Last one of 6 comfortable homes, East End, brick front, 6 rooms and bathroom, beautifully
decorated, concrete cellar and Pease furnace, verandah, $200 down, balance equal to rent; don’t miss this
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please.
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Toronto Star, August 2, 1901.
Drever, Dorothy, interviewer. Interview with Peter Harcus, no date. In the Local History of the Toronto Public
Library, Broadview-Gerrard Branch.
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Drever, Dorothy, interviewer. Interview with Squire Thornton, June 14, 1967. Transcribed by Dora Easto. In the
Local History of Toronto Public Library, Broadview-Greenwood Branch, 11.
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Toronto Star, April 23, 1909.
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From 1905 to 1907 Canada lived through a brief, but deep economic depression, driven by speculation in
the American markets. Real estate agents, as in this 1908 advertisement, played on people’s fear of
homelessness:
Our Sub-Divisions For Home Sites.
Our east end sub-division, including lots in Gerrard Street, Morley Avenue, Hiawatha Road, and Ashdale
Ave., and several other streets in this location, at from $3 to $15 a foot, present exceptional bargains. We
will sell the lots on easy terms, or for $15 down we’ll give a deed to a lot. You will find salesman at our subdivision office, corner of Woodward Avenue and Queen Street, daily from 1 p.m. to 5p.m.
SAFETY AND SECURITY
When national credit blew its blast on the “hard times” trumpet last October and contraction began her
devastating work, our lot and home buyers found themselves in an extremely fortunate position. They HAD
their LOT TO LIVE ON. While tenants and rent-payers were being ousted, while unemployed workmen were
being dispossessed, our clients, home and lot-buyers, received liberal extensions when required, and were
pleasantly tided over the period of depression with their holdings intact, without loss of value and without
depreciation. The man who had been paying $16 a month rent was kicked out with his bundle of worthless
rent receipts, while our clients, paying $6 a month on a lot, held it at a well-sustained value without loss,
inconvenience or humiliation.
YOUR OWN HOME
When you buy a lot from us on our installment plan it’s YOURS. You may put a shack on it; you may pitch a
tent on it; you may live on it. You are assured of the most liberal treatment, and you’ll live to bless the day
that you determined to cease paying profits and tributes to landlords. We are offering you delightful home
sites in all parts of Toronto, so you had better come and get acquainted with our plan of providing you a
home by the simplest, easiest means. Robins, Ltd. 22 Adelaide Street East North-easterly corner of Victoria
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Street. Office Open Every Evening This Week.
Home ownership was attractive, even if that home was a tent. A step up from the tent was the tarpaper
shack, a common form of self-built housing in working class suburbs like Leslieville. Purchasing a cheap lot
and building your own home, however humble, was a more attractive solution to a shortage of housing than
renting. A 1911 advertisement appealed to home builders: Connaught Ave. $10 PER FOOT—Desirable
building lots, for sale, just twenty minutes east of Yonge street, on Queen street, first street west of Morley
ave., all local improvements to be laid this year; home builders’ opportunity; very easy terms; plans at office.
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Horton Walker, 9 Toronto street.
Toronto grew from just over 9,000 in 1834 to over 300,000 in 1901. 90 per cent of Torontonians were
citizens was of British ancestry. Although Catholics grew in number from 7,940 in 1851 to 28,994 by 1901,
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their relative share of Toronto population fell from 25.8 per cent to 13.9 per cent.
While Toronto absorbed
thousands of Europeans, including Germans, Italians, Austro-Hungarians and Jews, Leslieville became
more and more English. The new housing between Greenwood Avenue and the Beach became known as
Midway. Modern factories sprung on Carlaw and Eastern Avenue, providing jobs. In 1900, the Niagara
Parks Commission approved a plan to build a massive hydro-electric generating station on the Canadian
side of the Niagara River. Niagara powered Leslieville’s factories with cheap hydroelectricity. In 1902 Alfred
R. Clarke moved his tannery from to 633 Eastern Avenue and became the butt of jokes:
A story circulated that, while Clarke was supervising raising the flag (to celebrate the end of construction)
from his new building’s roof, all Toronto’s church bells rang and factory whistles shrieked. Though Clarke
knew he was a prominent figure in Toronto’s business world, he was, none the less, gratified with the City’s
response to his new tannery’s opening. When he got back to his office he found that the celebrations were
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for the end of the Boer War, not to welcome the new tannery.
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Toronto Star, April 2, 1908.
Toronto Star, July 28, 1911.
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Nicolson, 19-23.
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From http://www.firstportcredit.com/pages/410/410_51_history.html
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In 1905 the Cobban Manufacturing Company changed its name to Phillips Manufacturing Company. In 1907
the firm bought a Carlaw Avenue building for $16,733.00. In 1908 Phillips Manufacturing Co. moved to 258
Carlaw Avenue, Toronto. It mainly produced picture frames. In 1907 the Wrigley Building, 245 Carlaw
Avenue, was built. It was converted into 79 “hard loft” units in 1998. Consumer’s Gas Company built a large
operation on the south side of Eastern Ave. The buildings were made from good red bricks from the
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Leslieville Brickyards. These buildings were built between 1908 and 1912.
Infrastructure had to follow the people who followed the new jobs. Residents lobbied for the extension of
Gerrard Street East through Midway. They demanded that a high level bridge (the Bloor Viaduct) be built
over the Don to connect Bloor Street East to Danforth Avenue. A deep ravine known as the “Devil’s Hollow”
blocked the extension of Gerrard Street East. Hastings Creek cut over 100 feet deep into the earth. In 1901
the City Engineer reported on the cost of building Gerrard Street from Pape Avenue to Greenwood Avenue
so that street car tracks could be laid. In 1902 Alderman W. T. Steward asked City Council to extend the
Gerrard street car line as far as Greenwood Avenue: Every house in the east end was occupied… and good
railway facilities would mean the erection of the very class of dwellings that were needed.
A 1903 Letter to the Editor complained:
…the lack of street-car accommodation stands as a barrier to its more rapid development in the district
bounded by Broadview avenue, Danforth road, Greenwood avenue and Gerrard street. Prospective builders
... are waiting for an indication of car extension in this locality. Property has changed hands to quite an
extent recently. A general increased value is apparent, and all that is necessary to a rapid growth in this
locality is an extension of the Broadview line east along the Danforth road and down Pape avenue to the
Gerrard street line, or east on the Danforth road to Jones avenue, thence south to Queen street. …Distance
makes it imperative to take a car, and popular following would soon tend to increased traffic of the female
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portion of the home.
Another 1903 Letter to the Editor was bold: It is a mistake to suppose that all this land is used as market
gardens, brickyards and cattle ranches. There are hundreds of acres of some of the best residential sites in
the city unoccupied, and only waiting street-car facilities to be taken up and built upon. As it is, houses are
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going up in every direction. The Toronto Railway Company blocked progress.
The City decided to create its own streetcar company, the Civic Car Company, to operate transit in
unserviced areas. However, the Toronto Railway Company refused to allow transfers from the Civic Car
lines to TRC streetcars. If you got on a Civic Car on Gerrard, you would not be able to transfer to a TRC
Car at Broadview. In 1906 the provincial Railway Board ordered the Toronto Railway Company to allow
transfers between its line and the proposed Civic streetcar lines. The Railway Board ruled that new Ontario
Railway Act of 1906 applied. People needed to cross the city, paying only one fare when they transferred
between lines. The Toronto Railway Company appealed the decision and lost.
Complaining about the weather and the street car service are venerable Toronto traditions, but, in 1910,
anger boiled over when the Toronto Railway Company changed its policy from an honour system to a payas-you board system and enforce a non-smoking policy. Torontonians rioted in the streets, defending their
“right” to smoke on public transit.
With the continued refusal of the private railway company to adequately serve the East End, the City of
Toronto progressed with the Civic Car lines. Civic Car lines were to run on Gerrard Street and Coxwell
Avenue from Greenwood Avenue to Main Street and along the Danforth. The City submitted a by-law to the
ratepayers to authorize the issuing of debentures to pay for the building and equipping of the street car lines.
The voters approved the by-law by an-overwhelming majority. In September 1906 the Gerrard street car line
was extended to Greenwood Avenue.
Not everyone was in favour of improving roads. Some rural residents resented Torontonians and their noisy
automobiles. In 1903 York County Council considered improving the roads, but:
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Toronto Historical Board. City of Toronto Inventory of Buildings of Architectural and Historical Importance.
(Toronto: Toronto Historical Board, 1977), p. 30.
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Globe, May 21, 1903.
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Globe, June 13, 1903.
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Councillor Baird stated that he was very much opposed to paying out money for good roads and then have
“the automobile fellow” come out on them from Toronto. He stated that these machines went at a terrific
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rate, and were very dangerous.
As time passed, people became impatient for the promised Civic Car liness: …the rapid growth of Toronto’s
suburban districts—a growth almost unknown to the great majority of Torontonians because there are no
means of easy transportation to these districts. An attempt is being made to get the civic car lines ready for
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operation early this winter.
On December 16, 1912, the Civic Car line began operating for the first time
along Gerrard Street through to Main Street. Toronto Mayor Harry Hocken and City Controllers inaugurated
the new civic streetcar line with a celebration. They rode in the first car. Ordinary citizens were allowed in
the other three cars, free of charge for just that day. As the new street car line extended east across the
Ashbridge Estate along Gerrard Street East, through Midway, development followed: Profits in real estate
investment depend primarily upon the location of the property. People of moderate means must turn to the
eastern section of the city for homesites. The civic car lines on Gerrard Street and Danforth Avenue
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guarantee this.
This was a true street car suburb: And then people could see that this part of the east-end
was being brought very, very near to downtown, and that it was a beautifully wooded stretch of land. The
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cars discovered Gerrard street. They have taken hundreds of home-site buyers and builders down there.
The Toronto Railway Company built the Russell carhouse in 1913 as a paint shop. When their King
carhouse burned down in 1916, they turned their Leslieville operation into a carhouse. Unfortunately, the
TRC had built their car barns on top of Ashport, the cove where the Ashbridges loaded their boats with
produce for York. The streetcar barns slowly began to sink into the soft landfill, leaning precariously as they
slipped side ways. The Toronto Transportation Commission (now the Toronto Transit Commission) was
founded in September 21, 1921, and took over the streetcar companies and their lines. They found the
Russell carbarns unsafe. In 1923 they called for tenders for its demolition, and the erection of a new
carhouse. The new building opened 1924. The Traffic office was located at the northeast corner of the
property.
Joseph Russell, a local builder, populist politician and member of the Russell family of brickmakers,
apparently sold the bricks to build the Toronto Railway Company paint shops that became the car barns torn
down by the TTC. His brickyard was nearby at Queen and Alton Avenue. That may be why the replacement
car barns are called the Russell Car Barns, but they may also be named for John E. Russell, builder and
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contractor, or someone on the Toronto Railway Company staff.
For a short time in 1901 Leslieville had ferry service to the Toronto Island, as Lol Solmon ran his steamboat
Arlington through Keating’s Cut across Ashbridge’s Bay to the foot of Morse Street. However, the Bay was
shallow and full of shoals and only continuous dredging could have kept a channel open. Service only lasted
a summer.
Ashbridge’s Bay was a victim of Toronto’s growth. The City of Toronto put the lower reaches of Leslieville’s
creeks underground in pipes as part of a growing sewer shed. These sewers emptied into the Gut at Leslie
Street and Eastern Avenue, pouring industrial waste and raw sewage into Ashbridge's Bay. In 1906
contracts were awarded for sewers on Gerrard Street and Eastern Avenue. Even the smaller side streets,
like Brighton Avenue, were extended, graded and paved and got sewers. However, when the City planned
to pipe all Toronto’s sewage to Leslieville, residents fought back. They threatened to sue the City. They were
not fooled by City claims that the proposed Morley Road Sewer Treatment Plant plant would not smell, that
the water would be pure, that the Beach would be safe, that it would be pretty. Resistance was futile.
City Council expropriated or bought 62 properties to construct this plant at the foot of Morley Avenue
(Woodfield Road). 45 houses were moved or torn down. The only politicians who voted against Toronto’s
first sewer plant were the aldermen from the local ward, Ward One.
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Toronto Star, November 27, 1903
Toronto Star, November 8, 1912.
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Toronto Star, November 8, 1912.
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Toronto Sunday World, December 22, 1912.
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Toronto Sunday World, Oct. 13, 1913.
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Mayor Joseph Oliver wanted to build the plant south of Eastern Avenue, further away from the houses and
stores on Queen Street. There may have been no sound engineering to go south, but there were sound
political reasons. In 1909 planners accommodated the Mayor without actually moving the site. Instead of
changing the plans, they moved Eastern Avenue north by about 100 feet. Thus, the sewer plant was, as the
Mayor promised, south of Eastern Avenue, 100 feet south! The bend in Eastern Avenue can be seen today.
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British engineers were bought in to defuse local anxiety, by promising that it would be “a pretty park”.
Residents feared the sewage plant would destroy Woodbine Beach: That part of the shore east of the
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Woodbine is practically the only beach where the people can bathe.
In 1913 about 13 miles of trunk sewer went into operation. The Morley Avenue sewage plant then began
handling all of Toronto’s sewage. The system consisted of two east-west tubes, called the high level and low
level interceptors. These both crossed the city and bringing all of Toronto’s sewage to the Morley Avenue
plant. Here it was supposed to be treating by straining it and allowing the solid matter to settle in
sedimentation tanks. Only the liquid left-over or effluent would go into the Bay, and only after being
chlorinated. The City constructed the high level trunk sewer, just south of Gerrard Street, beginning in 1909.
The high level sewer was nine miles long; the low level, which ran near to Queen Street, was four and a half
miles long. The plant had a capacity of only 40,000,000 to 45,000,000 gallons a day – the amount of sewage
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the City produced the day it opened – built-in obsolescence. The Sewage Treatment Plant did not work
from the day it was opened. Raw sewage poured into Ashbridge’s Bay. Local residents, especially those
downwind in the Beach, protested loudly about the reek from the Morley Avenue Treatment Plant. There
were worse problems than the smell. When the wind blew from the east, the currents in the lake carried raw
human waste from the Morley Avenue plant’s outflow pipe back into the intake pipe for the City’s water
supply. Commissioner R.C. Harris reassured citizens that engineers were working on the problem. People
were not appeased.
Other more welcome services came to Leslieville. In 1909 a new police station was built at 126 Pape
Avenue. It is now Ambulance Services Station No. 43.
In 1909 the City of Toronto annexed the area south of the Danforth between Greenwood Avenue and the
Beach. The boom was on. Developers subdivided Midway into an almost all English working class suburb, a
Little Britain. The City built schools such as the Roden School, Duke of Connaught School, Bruce Junior
School, and Riverdale Collegiate. City Council, in an ad hoc and piecemeal way, made provisions for parks
including Lesliegrove Park, Greenwood Park, and Jonathan Ashbridge Park. Wellington Ashbridge offered
the land for Monarch Park. In 1912 Greenwood Park appears on Goad’s Atlas maps for the first time. The
City, under pressure from activists such as Silas Armstrong, provided community centres such as the East
Toronto Community Centre which was where Jonathan Ashbridge Park is now.
Many Midway residents had to rely on City water carts for drinking water. Their wells were too contaminated
to ever allow them to be used again. Safe drinking water was an urgent necessity when even the City water
was bad. When Midway was annexed, Erie Terrace came into the City of Toronto. This narrow street, with
houses on only the east side, stretched from Queen Street past the railway tracks. Unscrupulous
developers cut this strip of land into tiny lots on which poor people built tarpaper shacks and tiny houses,
densely packed together, with no outhouses and no running water. This virtually guaranteed the
contamination of their wells, the nearby creek and the ground water. Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Charles
Hastings hated typhoid fever: it killed his little daughter. Pushed by Hastings, the City of Toronto passed a
By-law requiring all houses in the newly-annexed areas to have a flush toilet, a wash basin, a connection to
City sewers and piped-in City water. Erie Terrace residents protested against being charged for sewage
connections. They had no choice but to comply or leave. The Public Health Department closed their homes
as unfit for human habitation if they failed to puts in “the modern conveniences”. Some protested, but other
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Today it is flat, featureless expanse of patchy soggy turf with the old sludge beds only inches under foot. The park
is redeemed only by a new skateboarding facility and a 1960s pumping plant that looks like a space ship. Some of the
land purchased for the sewage treatment plant was not needed and became Jonathan Ashbridge Park.
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Toronto Star, Thursday March 4, 1909.
Toronto Star, February 18, 1913.
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residents supported the City of Toronto. City politicians were not about to put up with ingratitude from
Shacktown: You came here because this land was cheap. If you expect the City Council to put in water,
sewers, etc., and make your land valuable in a minute, you are mistaken, it can’t be done. Erie Terrace
wants the city to bear the expense of its widening. Other streets don’t get such concessions, and as for your
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aldermen, we have far, far exceeded any promises we ever made to you.
The City widened Greenwood Avenue In 1912. The City of Toronto built the Coxwell Stables in 1912 to
house City Works’ Department horses. These were the horses of the street sweepers. Development soon
stretched beyond Coxwell Avenue, across Toronto Golf Club’s golf course. By 1912 Queen Street was
changing too. New stores including English confectionaries, Chinese laundries and Italian greengrocers and
fruiterers could be found along Gerrard and Queen. In 1912 Tolani Brothers was just one of many on Queen
Street East. Leslieville hosted many heavy industries. The reclaimed lands of Ashbridge’s Marsh had the
British American Oil Company and Toronto Iron Works. New facilities included the Consumer’s Gas
Company plant on Eastern Avenue; the Dunlop Tire Company works; Moss Chemical Mfg. Co.; Fuller &
Stanbury, pork packers; Kent-McClain, Ltd., showcases; Phillips Manufacturing Company Ltd., mouldings;
Wm. Harland & Son, varnishes; A.R. Clarke & Co. tannery and glove manufacturers; Sherman & Cooper
Co. Ltd., gasoline engines; the Toronto Lead and Color Company; the Canada Paint Co. Ltd. ; and many
other important manufacturers.
The City of Toronto annexed the last remnants of Leslieville still in the Township of York in 1909. Many
streets were renamed after 1909 either because they duplicated street names in other parts of the city (a
problem today after amalgamation) or because developers wanted a more saleable name. Those buying
the houses were mostly recent English immigrants and so names were chosen to appeal to them. “Avenues”
were preferred to “streets” as the word was seen as classier. Reid Avenue became Rhodes Avenue, Clifford
Street became Jones Avenue, and so on.
In 1913 the railroads, the City of Toronto, the Toronto Harbor Commissioners and the Government of
Canada agreed to build the Toronto viaduct. This engineering project eliminated many level crossings by
putting the rail lines up on a high embankment. However, reluctant to spend the money, soon the railways
began to drag their feet. Then a Serbian anarchist assassinated an Austrian crown prince and Leslieville’s
men marched off to war. World War One pushed all else aside.
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Toronto Star, December 2, 1911
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The “War to End All Wars” accelerated industrialization
in Leslieville. New technology, powered by cheap
electricity, and a disciplined workforce, vastly increased
Toronto’s industrial capacity. Women moved into
factories replacing men who had gone to the front.
Leslieville’s women had always worked – in market
gardens, brickyards, hotels, etc. However, in now
Leslieville became home to munitions plants and heavy
industry, bigger in scale and different in character than
the family businesses of earlier days.
From 1914 to 1918 military orders poured in as many
men marched off to war. Unemployment disappeared as
industries made shells around the clock. Employment in
the iron and steel trades rose from 4,300 to 9,400
across Ontario between January and December, 1915.
In foundries and machine shops, the increase was from
9,000 to 13,000 workers. In 1917 the Imperial Munitions
Board built a $3 million dollar plant on the new industrial
land in Ashbridge’s Bay. It occupied 60 acres of the
reclaimed marsh. The Toronto Harbor Commission was
in charge of the work, building electrical and forging
facilities. The THC put their Engineering and
Construction Department “at the disposal of the
Munitions Board.” The THC constructed new docks and
rail lines near Cherry Street to accommodate munitions
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works.
Woods Manufacturing’s plant on Logan Avenue was
also busy. In 1895 James William Woods, an Ottawa
businessman, began making and supplying everything a
lumber camp needed -- except food. He sold clothing,
camping outfits and tools, etc. In 1900 he supplied the British government with canvas tents for the troops in
the Boer War, establishing his reputation as a military supplier. He became wealthy furnishing equipment to
the British and Canadian armies in World War One, while his tent factory became the largest in the world.
He diversified and was involved in realty, coal companies, shoe manufacturing, the Standard Explosives
Company and a canvas bag company.
Other new factories came to Leslieville. In 1916 the Wrigley gum factory was built on Carlaw Avenue. This
former gum factory was converted to lofts in 1998. In 1918 Wrigley Canada built a private firehall, at 87
Boston Avenue, to service its factory. The Toronto Hydroelectric System built a new building at 369 Carlaw
Avenue in 1916, to supply power to industry. They added an addition to the south in 1924. (In the 1920s a
“Hydro Store” promoted appliances, such as electric refrigerators and stoves. Women were the target
audience.) In 1917 Rolph-Clark-Stone Limited built its new building at 201 Carlaw Avenue. Rolph-Clark568
Stone Limited was “one of Canada’s largest graphic arts companies.”
Leslieville gained, but Leslieville lost too. Orange Leslieville poured its soul into fighting for King and
Country. Leslie residents served throughout the Canadian armed forces, suffering heavy casualties. Many
were lost in the trenches or came home maimed in mind or body. The war effort was headed by an
Orangeman, Colonel Sam Hughes, until he was replaced by another Orangeman, Sir Edward Kemp. Kemp
was a familiar figure in the East End. He represented the Leslieville area in Parliament, part of an area now
known as Riverdale. Around World War One everything from the Don to the Beach became Riverdale. While
people who lived in the neighbourhood continued to use the term “Leslieville”, the name disappeared from
planner’s maps and directories. In 1917 the “Leslieville Ratepayers’ Association” changed its name to the
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Globe, January 17, 1917.
see http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2007/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-1048.pdf
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“Riverdale Ratepayers’ Association”. After the the war Leslieville rarely appeared in newspapers, except as
a nostalgic reference.
Many men from old Leslieville families served overseas. Robert Wagstaff, 148 Hiawatha Road, served in the
th
238 Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF). William Jones of Erie Terrace died of wounds in 1915.
David William Pape joined up in 1915 and survived the war. Harold Pape of Logan Avenue, a barber, also
survived. Another Pape to serve was Percival John Pape, a gardener by profession. Newcomers to
Leslieville joined up wholeheartedly as well. In 1911 W. Bouldry moved with his family from Shefield,
England to Leslieville. His family lived at 30 Morley Avenue. He worked in the furniture trade. Private Bouldry
was killed in action in 1915.
As the war ground relentlessly on, more and more Leslieville men went to their graves. Some were clear
about their fate. Joe Hickey was killed on November 15, 1915. He enlisted in the Canadian army at Lindsay
in 1915, under the alias “Thomas John Smyth”. He lived at 119 Leslie Street. He had a tattoo over his heart
on his left breast – a tombstone. His name is on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, Belgium. This memorial
is Joe Hickey’s tombstone. It bears 55,000 names, men who disappeared without a trace during the Battle of
Ypres. Carved in stone above the central arch of the gate is: To the armies of the British Empire who stood
here from 1914 to 1918 and to those of their dead who have no known grave. Every evening at 8 p.m., all
traffic through the gate halts while two buglers sound the Last Post. Francis Charles Townsend was killed in
action April 24, 1915. He lived at 65 Rushbrooke Avenue. His body was never found. In 1916 Lance
Corporal William Clare died. He lived on Erie Terrace and was 35 years old. He is buried in the Ridge Wood
Military Cemetery, Belgium. In 1916, Private James Harold Spencer of the 24th Battalion, died from wounds.
He was 20. He lived at 269 Ashdale Avenue. Private Walter Henry Bragg was killed on June 5, 1916. He
was 23. His name too is on the Menin Gate. He lived on Audley Avenue.
Although the innocence of 1914 was gone and men knew this was not a war that would be one easily or
quickly, they continued to sign up. Recruiters worked Leslieville thoroughly. In 1916 recruiting drives were
held at the Teck Theatre, 700 Queen Street East, and Greenwood Theatre, 1275 Gerrard Street East.
In 1916 Private Richard Head was killed in action. He had grown up on Logan Avenue. His wife and three
children lived on Withrow Avenue. Mrs. Head’s brother, Private Edward Trotter, from Carlaw Avenue, was
also killed in action. Not all the casualties of war were in Europe. In 1916 a local newspaper had a contest
for the best letter to Santa. This is one that they printed:
Dear Santa: My name is Jack Head. My mother said you would not give two prizes to one house, but I hope
if I don’t get a prize you will send me a gun with some good bullets. Then when I get a man I can get after
that big German my sister told you about that got my dear uncle [Edward Trotter] and daddy [Richard Head].
As I am the man of the house now, my mother tells me so, I want to feel she is safe. Jack Head, Age 6.
Another letter from Leslieville shows how war affected children:
12 Paisley Ave., Toronto, Dec. 6. Dear Santa Clause: I would like a box of paints and a pair of skates. I reall
do think there is a Santa Claus because he comes to cheer the poor little boys and girls. And hope he won’t
forget the soldiers at the front, who are fighting for us, for the need cheering, too. And don’t think there would
be any Christimas if there was no Santa Claus. And I am just counting the days till Christmas. I will be 10
next birthday. Your friend, Kathleen Fortescue. 12 Paisley avenue, Toronto, Dec. 5.
Her brother wrote:
Dear Old Santa: I want an artillery car and a box of soldiers. I should rather think there is a Santa Claus.
That is why boys and girls are so fond of Christmas time. And I hope you won’t forget to leave the soldiers
something good. Santa don’t you get very tired taking all the presents round and sitting at the table for a cup
of coffie and a piece of cake. I am eight years old. Your friend Ernest Fortescue. P.S. – Will leave cellar
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Window open.
Private James Thomas Murphy had one brother, Vincent and eight sisters including Annie, Alberta, Loretta,
Josephina and Mary. A newspaper reported:
EIGHT SISTERS
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The Toronto World, December 14, 1916.
191
Pte. J.T. Murphy Dead – One of Ten Children.
Pte. J.T. Murphy, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Murphy, 64 Jones avenue, died of wounds in the Australian
th
General Hospital, France, on October 15 . He was 26 years of age, and unmarried. Before enlisting he was
nd
employed by the Toronto Harbour Commission. Pte. Murphy went overseas with the 92 Battalion in May.
He had not been long at the front when he received his fatal wounds. In a letter written on September
twentieth, he said that he was well and entering the trenches for the second time. He is survived by his
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parents, one brother, and eight sisters, six of whom are married.”
A second obituary gave more information.
Mrs. James Murphy, 64 Jones ave., yesterday [received a tele]gram announcing the death of her son, Pte.
James T. Murphy, as the result of wounds in the chest and legs. The message followed a cheerful letter
from her son who stated that he was feeling well and that he hoped to return soon to Toronto. Pte. Murphy
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was 25 years old and enlisted with the 92 Highland Battalion.
Murphy is buried in the St. Sever Cemetery, Rouen, France.
Death struck cruelly at Leslieville; many families in this Little Britain lost more than one man. Two sisters,
living at 445 Morley Avenue both lost their husbands. Hugh Forgie was killed on October 8, 1916. Before
enlisting Hugh Forgie was a conductor on the Toronto Civic Railway. His five brothers were also soldiers.
Thomas Forgie was killed on August 8, 1918. In 1917 Private Harold P. Rule, 24 years old, 107 Leslie
Street, was wounded in the temple and wrist by shrapnel. He had six brothers in the army. He went
overseas with the Sportsman’s Battalion in March 1916. Two of his brothers, Cecil and Leslie, were also
wounded. Brother Reginald was killed.
Two of the most famous Canadian soldiers were the Dibble brothers. Robert George Dibble was born on
March 12 1891 in Toronto, the son of Harry and Lucy Grace Dibble. Though the family lived at 223
Woodbine Avenue, the Dibbles were closely identified with Leslieville through their work as brickmakers and
their involvement in sports. Bob Dibble began rowing competitively in 1912 and won the Canadian Henley
Regatta that year. He was a machinist and a union member, very different from the “gentleman” sportsmen
of English tradition. Many working-class men, like the Dibbles, were involved in amateur rowing. Bob Dibble
went on to win the Canadian singles title five times. Younger brother Harry Dibble was also a champion
athlete. Because athletes had to be gentlemen in order to compete in some of the prestigious British races,
machinists like the Dibble brothers were disqualified. The City of Toronto solved the problem by hiring the
champion Dibble brothers to work as clerks and so become eligible as respectable gentlemen.
Bob Dibble was active in the militia before the war with the Queen’s Own Rifles where he became a
Sergeant. He joined the regular army on October 14, 1916. At 6’1” he was a much taller man than most
th
recruits. He was made Lieutenant in the 180th Battalion. People called the 180 Battalion the “Sportsmen’s
Battalion” because it was was made up of Canadian athletes. Like many Toronto contingents, the
th
Sportsmen expected to go to war together and to fight together. However, the army broke the 180 , like it
many others outfits. They used the green recruits to replace the dead and wounded in regiments already at
st
the front. Bob Dibble went to the 38th Battalion. On February 1 , 1916, Lt. Rob Dibble was wounded in
action. On January 28, 1917, he was again wounded, this time more seriously. He was invalided to England
but rejoined his battalion on July 9, 1917. On August 21, 1917, Bob Dibble was wounded again and was
sent back to England, too seriously wounded to ever return to action. He went home to Canada where he
helped recruit more soldiers. Robert George Dibble died July 21, 1960, in Ajax, Ontario. On August 8, 1918,
Harry Dibble was killed in action. He served with the Central Ontario Regiment. Not just a champion rower,
Harry Dibble was also a hero who had won the Military Medal for bravery. He was buried in the Crucifix
Corner Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux, Somme, France. Alexandrine Gibb, well-known journalist and athlete,
may have been secretly engaged to Lieutenant Harry Dibble. She worked at the Toronto Star, for thirty
years. She never married.
Alexander McPhee enlisted on May 22, 1915 and survived three years of war, only to be killed on
September 10, 1918. He was 31 and a bar tender by profession. The McPhees lived at 40 Laing Street. His
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Toronto Star, October 19, 1916.
Toronto Star, October 20, 1916.
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name is on the Vimy Memorial, Pas de Calais, France. At the base of the memorial, are these words: To the
valour of their countrymen in the Great War and in memory of their sixty thousand dead this monument is
raised by the people of Canada.Inscribed on the Vimy Memorial are the names of over 11,000 Canadian
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soldiers who were 'missing, presumed dead' in France.
Private William McGregor was killed on August 8, 1918. He was 20, son of Archibald and Catherine
McGregor, of 131 Highfield Road. He had only been in France three months. He is buried in the Demuin
British Cemetery at the Somme, France. He went overseas with the McLean Highlanders and was a
Riverdale Collegiate graduate. He worked for Imperial Oil before enlisting. Private Harry Stradling was born
on August 6, 1883, in Yorkshire, England. He enlisted at Toronto on March 2, 1915. He was then working
as a shipper. He was militiaman, and had served with the Devonshire Regiment in England for three
years. He was killed August 10, 1918, during the Battle of Amiens. He is buried at Mezieres Communal
Cemetery, Somme. Private Charles Walter Sturdy, 238 Greenwood Avenue, was killed in action, September
5, 1918, only 11 days after he reached France.
On November 11, 1918, the Armistice ended the War. Canada, with a population less than 10 million, sent
some 660,000 soldiers to Europe from 1914 to 1918. Over 60,000 died and some 173,000 were wounded.
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Over 16,000 Canadians were killed, injured or declared missing at Passchendaele alone. The war cost
Toronto about 10,000 lives. Even after the war, it killed men. Mountie William George Rawbon died of
wounds on February 14, 1919. The Royal North West Mounted Police went overseas to serve, just as they
had in the Boer War. Rawbon had been in South Africa. Now he served in France under Robert Leslie
Jennings, George Leslie’s grandson. He lived at 47 Marjory Avenue. He is buried at Huy (La Sarte)
Cemetery, Belgium.
Civilians were casualties too. In 1917 A. R. Clarke, owner of the tannery on Eastern Avenue, was on the
Luistania off the coast of Ireland when a German u-boat sank the liner. Clarke sustained fatal internal
injuries when he was dragged under by the great ship’s death throes. Influenza or “Spanish flu” spread
rapidly through the army camps and into the civilian population. It killed about 22 million around the world in
1918 and 1919.
The Great War brought death but also accelerated change, bringing new technology and new ways of doing
things. Chain stores began to replace small stores. Self-serve began to replace counter services for
groceries, dry goods and even hardware. It was no longer men behind the counters serving women, but
women serving themselves. In 1919 Dominion Stores incorporated. That year a new Loblaws Store opened
at Queen and Logan. Loblaw's with its experimental "We Sell For Less" cash-and-carry format, quickly
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became so popular.
After the War to End All Wars. Canada saw itself differently. The men who returned were not the same and
the places they returned to had changed in unexpected ways.
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http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=memorials/ww1mem/vimy
see http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/missions/belgium-belgique/bilateral-relations-bilaterales/menu-eng.asp
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Personal communications from Derrick Clements, Weston Corporate Archives, March 30, 2008.
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Veterans returned with an activist, sometimes revolutionary spirit, expressed in the Winnipeg General Strike
of 1919, but also in Yonge Street’s anti-Greek riot. Many were disillusioned and embittered. Elites had sent
them, wave after wave, to die by machine gun fire in long khaki lines. Canada had armed them with the
shoddy Ross rifle that jammed if it got muddy. The trenches were muddy.
Left alone, their wives coped with worried children, acting out fears. The news of war seeped down even to
the toddlers. The wives worried, along with their parents, sisters, lovers, friends and neighbours. Sometimes
it was the worst: the dreaded telegram telling them their man was never coming home. Sometimes it was
waiting for nothing. He just walked into a sea of mud and never came out. Then there was the man who did
come home. Many were not wounded. Lucky ones, they lay at night in the dark staring with hollow eyes at
ceilings until they fell, twitching, into a sleep that does not renew.
Veterans and their families were not satisfied with the Ontario that had been, feeling that now was the time
for change. In 1919 there was a referendum on prohibition. The area east of Greenwood over to Coxwell, full
of returned veterans, voted wet while the older area of Leslieville to the west, mostly Methodist and
Presbyterian old Leslieville residents, voted dry. People on one of these street voted 110 to three against
prohibition. They did not just vote against prohibition. The voters in the area to the east strongly supported
“returning soldier candidates” and labour candidates. This was now a trade union area, urban not rural,
English not Scots-Irish. One street had eight trade union carpenters, three union shoemakers, three union
bricklayers and many union men from various trades. The Toronto World commented: Old England is also a
large factor in the vote. It was stated yesterday afternoon that Earlscourt and Riverdale are large British
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centres in the city.
These were the men and women whose bungalow homes line Redwood, Glenside,
Highfield, Woodfield, Hiawatha, Ashdale, Rhodes Avenue and other area streets. The Roaring Twenties
brought prosperity and a degree of affluence most people had never experienced back in England.
Prosperity came to an abrupt end with the stock market crash in 1929. Factories closed down and the
unemployment rate skyrocketed. People from rural areas and other parts of Canada headed to Toronto,
hoping against hope, that work could be found. Many of them found their way to the East End, creating a
housing shortage. Families doubled up, filling attics and basements, and sometimes garages. Almost no
new housing was built. The area became crowded and rundown. When World War Two began, industrial
production increased dramatically, just as it had during the previous war. The area’s textile industry turned
out such items as uniforms and tents. The metal refinery on Eastern Avenue was also busy in the war effort.
(Bullets were made out of lead, after all.) As men enlisted to fight in the war, women took their places in the
factories. A large number of labourers came to Toronto during this period, seeking employment in the war
industries and setting up homes where they could raise their families. World War Two revived growth,
shaping electronic, aircraft and precision-machine factories. The population grew to over a million in Greater
Toronto by 1951.
World War Two ended unemployment, but it made the housing crisis worse. New houses filled the few
remaining open spaces. The grounds of the Ulster Stadium were subdivided for housing. (One of the set of
stadium stairs remains there, leading from Athletic Avenue to Hertle.) Here the local soccer club, the Ulsters
or “the Redhanders” played daytime matches and night games under floodlights against visiting teams,
including the famous Glasgow Rangers. The stadium was built on the Morley-Ashbridge brickyard. Not far
away, another brickyard (near Greenwood and Queen) had become the Motordrome, Canada’s first
motorcylce raceway, in World War One. After World War Two ened the government offered low-interest
mortgages to returning servicemen as well as other housing. From 1945 to1946 the Canada Mortgage and
Housing Corporation built 1328-1338 Queen Street, Greenwood Court, as veterans’ housing. It was built on
the site of one of the Price brickyards, part of the Motordrome site as well. (In the 1920s the Dunlop Field,
south of Jones and Queen Street East, also became housing.)
However, over the next decades, the area declined. Unemployment went up, industries left, and the housing
stock deteriorated. The area experienced widespread poverty and gained a reputation as a slum although
most homes were solid, well maintained and still stand today. In the 1980s more industries left Leslieville
when governments tore down tariff walls with free trade policies and Canada’s branch plant industries
withered. Carlaw Avenue became a ghost town as the factories were abandoned. Things changed when
young urban professionals moved into Leslieville. The bungalows were affordable then for first-time home
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Toronto World, Oct. 24, 1919.
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owners, and close to downtown. Real estate agents promoted this part of Riverdale. Renovators, often
referred to as “white painters”, stripped the coal dust off the exterior brick walls and the layers of wallpaper
off the inside, gentrifying the area. These were starter homes for young couples. People gutted and rebuilt
many run-down homes. New and interesting homes, some by architects, began to fill in gaps on Leslieville’s
side streets and laneways.
The area had a lot going for it, except a name. Riverdale was to the west, the Beach was to the east, the
Danforth was to the north, but where was this? In 1987 Terry and Bruce Brackett, owners of etc…news
pushed the City of Toronto to erect street signs with “Leslieville” above the street name. David, their son,
designed the signs. The City gave the Bracketts a $6,000. Older residents who had never forgotten that they
lived in Leslieville welcomed the street signs and the reappearance of “Leslieville”.
New stores and businesses came and advertised that they were in Leslieville. In 1994 the Tango Palace
opened at 1156 Queen Street East. Antique stores, cafes and specialty shops followed. Queen Street East
became trendy with Hello Toast, Barrios, Altitudes, Poof, Ethel, Eye Spy, Lucid, etc. Upscale restaurants
also located here: Joy Bistro, Edward Levesque’s Kitchen, Gio Rana's Really, Really Good Restaurant,
Verveine, Pulp Kitchen, and others. Developers converted Carlaw Avenue factories into highly desirable
hard lofts, sold as condominiums. One shining example is the Wrigley Building. This former gum factory,
originally built in 1916, was converted to lofts in 1998. It was marketed as “The Printing Factory Lofts, “a real
authentic hard loft”. The Rolph Stone plant on Carlaw has been re-invented as a desirable condominium
project..
Sometimes the old went out spectacularly. On March 27, 2001, fire destroyed the A.R. Clarke Limited
building as it was being converted into a film sound stage. The tannery on Eastern Avenue was in
receivership at the time. Workers dismantling the pipes inside the building were welding with acetylene
torches while the sprinkler system was shut off. More than 100 firefighters and more than 30 fire trucks
fought the huge fire. Police evacuated nearby businesses and homes were evacuated as flames shot high
into the sky.
Sometimes a local industry died less dramatically, but left a poisoned corpse behind. In 1925 workers built
Canada Metals on landfill south of Eastern Avenue, near the paint factories and the tannery. Canada Metals
polluted the neighbourhood with lead and other heavy metals. In 1973, concerned about high levels of lead
in their children’s blood, a local citizens' group demanded that the government start blood tests of residents
in the area around the foundry. Ontario’s Environment Ministry ordered Canada Metals to stop emitting lead
and lead compounds. Four days later a court disallowed the Stop Order because the judge decided that no
health hazard could be attributed solely to Canada Metals. Potentially harmful lead levels were found in
about 50 of the 732 tests of the area’s children. Many of those with high lead levels were children at Bruce
School on Larchmount Avenue. In January 1975 public hearings began and continued to October 9, 1975.
On April 5, 1976, the Ministry of the Environment issued a control order to abate fugitive emissions and plant
spills. Workers excavated contaminated soil from neighbourhood lawns and gardens in June and July 1977
at a cost of $80,000. On April 23, 1979, readings for airborne lead were published in the media. Lead levels
in the air reached illegal levels 10 times in June 1978, five times in July 1978, eight times in August, nine
times in September, 15 times in October, eight times in November, nine times in December, and five times
in January 1979. In the South Riverdale Community Health Centre helped organized the community.
On February 22, 1980, the courts gave Canada Metals a suspended sentence after it pled guilty to charges
of air pollution. The judge said argued that it was justified to suspend the sentence because Canada Metals
was a good corporate citizen, because there is "no physical possibility of recurrence of the offence", and
576
because there was little, if any, harm done.
The old Leslieville was gone, but a new Leslieville was growing in the same place. Place exists not just in
streets and houses, lake and creeks, but in the heart and imagination. While Leslieville may have
disappeared from the public mind for over 60 years, it lived on in the hearts of its elders. In the first history
of Leslieville, written by school children in 1957, an older timer said that, “Pigs, flowers and bricks” were the
577
making of Leslieville.
Slaughterhouses, brick manufacturing and market gardens were the basis of
576
577
Diemer, Ulli. “The Canada Metals story: A chronology” Seven News, February 28, 1980.
Robert Adams, “Pupils Record Leslieville Story”, Toronto Star, Tuesday, June 25, 1957.
199
Leslieville’s economy when George Leslie put his store on rollers and moved it to Leslieville. After 1900
Leslieville industrialized, but that too changed. In the 1970s and 1980s Leslieville’s economy was in tatters.
Factories, like Dunlop Tire and Colgate Palmolive, closed their doors and moved away, leaving brown fields.
People with new skills and attitudes have moved into the neighbourhood, creating new businesses with new
jobs. These newcomers do not, by and large, seek to replace the old, but to understand it. This has fuelled
the renaissance of Leslieville. Leslieville is an urban village, open to everyone, tolerant and diverse. The
Leslieville of George Leslie’s day was populated by people who came from the USA, from Scotland, from
Ireland, from England. Later a few from came from Eastern Europe, some Chinese families arrived and a
scattering of Jewish families lived and worked here. Some of the black families here came from the USA to
escape from slavery; others were United Empire Loyalists with as proud a claim to that identity as the
Robinsons, the Jarvis family and others of the Family Compact. Others came from the Caribbean and from
Africa itself.
No history of any village is about one man or about one family. In a curious way we choose a name for a
place as a convenience, like a coat hook to hang our memories and dreams on. So this book is not just
about the Leslies or the Ashbridges. It is about you and me and where we hang our memories and dreams.
Ultimately, Canadian history rests on the First Nations, like the Kichigos of the Mississauga Nation, who
were here when everyone else came. The First Nations saying, “All my relations”, applies now as never
before. Every village and every villager has their own story to tell. Whether our ancestors were on shore
watching the first Europeans come or whether our ancestors came on those ships, we all share the need to
connect with each other and the world we live in. All my relations.
200
Some Local Street Names
Clearly most Leslieville streets were named after families who lived here or after those who built
the houses on the street. Only a few, such as Eastern Avenue, are self-explanatory. Furthermore,
street names changed over time. Doel became Dundas; Kingston Road became Queen Street.
Street names changed because citizens requested it (as when Erie Terrace became Craven
Road) or because amalgamation led to duplication. As well, street naming went through fads and
suffered at politicians’ whims. In 1905, the City Street Naming Sub-Committee wanted all new
east-west streets called “avenues” and all the north-south ones to be “streets”. It wanted to do
away with “place” and “square”. The cost and unpopularity of the idea stopped these aldermen.
The Sub-Committee was often arbitrary. Aldermen named streets after themselves, friends, and
family. The Street Naming Subcommittee tried to erase the term “street” and replace it with
“avenue”. They thought “avenue” was more prestigious. Real estate agents preferred other
classier terms, “boulevard” or “gardens”. Hence, Leslieville has
Cherry Nook Gardens.
Agnes Lane – After Agnes Thomson, Alexander Muir’s first wife.
Alton – Alton, like Hiltz, is a Palatine German family name. The
Palatines were Protestant refugees who fled from Germany to
Ireland. The Palatines were mostly Methodist and came to be
regarded as the enforcers of the Orange Order.
Applegrove -- After the Ashbridge orchards.
Ashdale -- After the Ashbridges family and the 'dale' or valley
where Ashbridge’s Creek flowed.
Athletic – This street spanned the gap between two athletic fields:
Greenwood Park and the Ulster Stadium (1924 to 1945). The
concrete stairway at the east end of Athletic Avenue was the main
entrance to the Ulster Stadium’s grandstand.
Audley -- Formerly Victoria Avenue. In 1895 the name was
changed to avoid duplication. Lord Audley was the leader of a
Cornish rebellion in 1497. One of the aldermen on the Street
Naming Sub-Committee was Cornish and for many Cornish street
names. Hideaway Park is tucked away at 23 Audley Avenue.
Austin – This street was developed around 1900 and is probably
named after James Austin of the firm Austin & Foy, the owner of the new and resplendent
Spadina House. Austin was also president of the Dominion Bank of Canada. It also may be
named after a local minister named Austin or a member of the Badgerow family.
Badgerow – Formerly Franklin Street. It was renamed after George Washington Badgerow (1841
– 1892), an Ontario lawyer and politican. He represented York East in the Legislative Assembly of
Ontario from 1879 to 1886 as a Liberal member. The family, originally “Bergereau”, were early
settlers in Markham and strong supporters of the rebels in 1837. Some later became outlaws in
the Markham Gang.
Berkshire – This name was likely given by real estate agents hoping to attract English
immigrants to Leslie Gardens housing estate.
Bertmount – For Albert (Bert) Wagstaff. Bertmount Avenue runs straight through the site of the
Wagstaff family home and brickyard.
Billings – Robert J. Billings was from Somerset, England. Like many brickyard workers, he also
became a contractor.
201
Bisley – In 1905 Russell Place, site of a Russell
brickyard, was renamed Bisley, after a local family. It is
probably the shortest street in Leslieville. One of the
Russell homes still stands at 16 Verrall Avenue.
Blong – Logan, south of Queen Street was originally
known as Blong. The Blong family came to Canada from
Ireland, but were originally Huguenots from France. This
prominent local family were wholesale butchers and
cattle dealers. In 1895 when Blong became Logan,
Norfolk Avenue became Blong.
Bloomfield – After George Bloomfield, shoemaker, and
his family, local residents.
Booth – After a local butcher.
Boston - After the Boston family. Frank Boston
managed a gravel pit in Ben Lamond and began the first
streetcar (tramway) service on Kingston Road. His son
Joseph was a florist.
Brick Court – After the brickyards between the shore of
Ashbridge's Bay and Kingston Road.
Brighton – Formerly Hallam Street. John Hallam was a
Toronto alderman, hide and leather merchant. He
founded the Toronto Public Library. Changed to after a
local family, the Brightons, not the English resort town.
Brooklyn – Because it was by a brook, now buried underground. It ran through John Russell’s
brickyard.
Bushell – after local residents. The Reverend John Bushell was an Anglican priest in Leslieville.
It could also be named after a contractor named Edmund Bushell who died as a result of being
gassed while in action as a sapper in World War I.
Busy – Probably Busy because it was a very busy street. Stables line the north side. Teams of
draft horses delivered the goods from the Queen Street shops.
Cam Fella Lane – After Cam Fella, who died in 2001, with a remarkable record as a harness
racer.
Carlaw - Scotsman John Carlaw was the controller for the Grand Trunk Railway. He owned a
farm next to George Leslie’s, though he never lived in Leslieville. Many gentlemen like Carlaw
speculated in real estate. Though his private life was marked by tragedy, John Carlaw was highly
regarded and was one of the founders of Parkdale. When Carlaw subdivided his farm, he ran a
north-south road through the middle and gave it his last name.
Caroline - After Caroline Davis who married George Leslie.
Cherry Nook Gardens – Around 1860 Thomas Beatty built his red brick house at the north end
of the farm lane running south down to Queen Street. This east-west street and the houses were
built around 1910. The street was likely named after the Ashbridges’ orchard, cut down for the
Duke of Connaught School.
Coady – After a local family of Irish Catholics who worked in the market gardens and brickyards.
The street was subdivided around 1911.
Colgate - Formerly Natalie Street. It was renamed after the Colgate Palmolive Company of
Canada Ltd. The soap factory was a major employer. Before that brickyards lined both sides of
Natalie.
202
Connaught – After the Duke of Connaught, Governor General of Canada. A son of Queen
Victoria, be became a nuisance during World War One when he tried to direct Canada’s war
effort.
Coxwell - After Charles Coxwell Small (1800-1864) who was a gentleman farmer and member of
the Family Compact. He owned a valuable farm of 500 acres east of Leslieville in Lots 6, 7 and 8,
York Township, where he raised prize-winning shorthorns. The Small family came from Berkeley,
England. Major John Small, his father, fought the first duel in Toronto. The Smalls donated the
land for St. John of Norway Church and cemetery. Small’s town home, built in 1845, still exists,
much altered, at 298 King Street East.
Craven -- originally Erie Terrace. This street was developed as a “shacktown”, outside of
Toronto, in the 1890s. It has many tiny owner-built houses. Ashdale Avenue was not subdivided
until later. No houses were built until later when its large lots were sold to more affluent buyers.
This is why Craven Road only has houses on the east side. Ashdale Avenues bigger homes were
built with their backs turned on disreputable Erie Terrace. The rowdy poor of Erie Terrace were
often accused of trespassing. When the City of Toronto widened Erie Terrace, Ashdale’s home
owners had nothing to gain. They lost some of their property and taxes went up to pay for the
wider street. A deal was made. The City of Toronto put up a tall wooden fence was to keep the
poor out of Ashdale yards. In 1923 the name was changed to “Craven Road” to eliminate some of
the stigma attached to living there.
Curzon -- It may be named for the Curzon family. Robert Curzon was a clerk at City Hall where
he worked for Richard Coady, City Treasurer. City officials were in a good position to have streets
named after friends. Sarah Anne Curzon, Robert Curzon’s wife, was one of Toronto’s first
feminists and active in the temperance movement. She was a popular writer, credited with
restoring public interest in Laura Secord, the heroine of the War of 1812.
Dagmar – Probably after Princess Dagmar of Denmark who married Czar Alexander III of
Russia. She was the sister of Queen Alexandra who married Edward VII, King of England. She
was pretty and very popular.
Danforth - After Colonel Asa Danforth, an American contractor who built the road to Kingston in
1799.
Dibble – After the Dibble brothers, Robert and Harry. It may be a memorial specifically to Harry
Dibble who was killed in action in the trenches.
Dorothy – Maybe after Dorothy Mander whose mother was Stella Katherine Price.
Dundas - This street was not completed through Leslieville until after 1955. It is named after
Henry Dundas, a Scottish bureaucrat responsible for controlling Scotland on behalf of the
English. The highlanders burned him in effigy not poor daft King George.
Eastern - Formerly South Park. This was the “Eastern route” out of town. George Leslie donated
land to the City of Toronto to build Eastern Avenue and gave trees to line it.
Empire – after Empire Mills, a paper mill and stationery supplier. The novelist Hugh Garner once
lived on Empire Avenue. Olwen Anderson, a local resident, left an oral history record on her
childhood on Empire Avenue. Her family was poor and could not afford coal. Instead they
brought the cheaper, but dirtier coke at the Consumers’ Gas plant on Eastern Avenue. They paid
about 18 cents for a bushel. Rent was about $30 a month in the 1930s. However, most people
bought their own home as it offered more security. If a family paid the interest on their mortgage,
578
even in the depths of the Great Depression the landlord could not evict them.
Endean – After the Endeans, Cornish brickmakers.
Fairford – Probably because it was a good place to cross Ashbridge's Creek – a “fair ford” where
the water was shallow. There were a number of drownings near here in the 1920s.
578
“The Trials and Triumphs of a Childhood on Empire Avenue”, Toronto Voice. May 1999, 10.
203
Gerrard – Formerly Rembler's (Ramblers)
Road after Rembler Paul, local veterinarian
and brother-in-law to George Leslie Sr. The
Gerrards were an early family in York with
ties to Montreal, and friends of McGill of
McGill Square. They were original donors to
Little Trinity Church in Corktown. In 1884,
when the City of Toronto extended Gerrard
Street across the Don, Rembler’s Road
became Gerrard Street East. A Paul Street
in south Riverdale was also named after
Rembler Paul. He and his wife Elizabeth
were noted for their eccentricity. They
moved to BC where Paul became wealthy
dealing in mining. They were laid to rest on
a mountain top in Kelowna, B.C. The family
cat is buried with them.
Glenside – Formerly Glencoe. Because it
had Ashbridge’s Creek flowing through a
little valley, in Scotland called a “glen”.
Greenwood – after the Greenwood family.
Their Puritan Tavern sat on the north west
corner of Queen Street at Greenwood Lane.
Harriet – After
Harriet Wharfe
who married a Morley.
Hastings – After Thomas Hastings, local blacksmith and axe maker,
and his family.
Heward – After the Hewards. Many of the more affluent members of
York, like the Hewards and Robinsons, maintained farms to provide
them with a supply of fruit, vegetables, dairy products, etc.
Hiawatha – After the hero in Longfellow's poem. Romanticizing First
Nations people became very popular around this time with the
publishing of a series of books by American Henry Schoolcraft, an
Indian Agent. For a while, the Toronto Islands were called
“Hiawatha”.
Hiltz – After William Wesley Hiltz , school teacher and builder, who
became Toronto’s Mayor in 1924. He introduced time-clocks for City
workers. He was instrumental in getting the new Union Station built,
along with the Toronto Viaduct, long-promised by the Federal
Government.
Jones – Formerly Clifford after a well-known local family. Tom
th
Clifford was a member of City Council for many years in the late 20
Century, working closely with Fred Beavis. Clifford was renamed
after John Jones, city alderman, and Works Commissioner. He was
also a brickmaker, real estate developer and an active Orangemen.
Kent – After the Duke of Kent, son of George V, or because the flat
lands along Ashbridge's Bay reminded English immigrants of the
fields of Kent in eastern England.
204
Kerr– George Powell Price, son of John Price and Jane Powell, local brickmakers, married
Emma Kerr.
Knox – Formerly Lake Street. It was re-named after John Knox Leslie (1846 - 1920).
Laing – After a family of fishermen and boat builders, including William Laing, who built boats at
Laing and Eastern.
Larchmount – Because tamaracks (larches) grew there in a swamp there on Ashbridge's Bay.
Leslie -- After George Leslie Sr.
Logan – After Scottish market gardener, John Logan, and his family. They had extensive
property on this road, previously known as Sewell’s Lane after Samuel and Rachel Sewell.
Louvain – After the Belgian city where alleged German atrocity helped to inspire Canadians to
enlist to “fight the Hun”.
Mallon – After a local Irish family. The Mallons were oroignally butchers in Brockton.
Marigold – After the flower. This was on Toronto Nurseries land where flowers were grown,
including marigolds.
Marjory – Perhaps after the daughter of Thomas John Russell, of the brickmaking family.
Thomas John Russell married Carrie Price, of another well-known brickmaking clan.
McGee – Formerly Darcy Street after Darcy Boulton. It was renamed McGee after Darcy McGee
(1825-1868). This Father of Confederation was assassinated on April 7, 1868 by an Irish
nationalist. In 1884 when this area was annexed by the City of Toronto, it was re-named: there
was already a Darcy Street. Mrs. C. Clarke, widow of John Clarke, owned orchards and
pastureland east of McGee on the Kingston Road. Next to the Clarke property was that of
Edward Blong.
Minto – After the Minto Brothers, tea merchants. William Minto was born in Scotland and came to
Canada with his family. Minto was educated in Lower Canada, but settled in Toronto in 1876. He
and his brother John opened a tea business on Colborne Street. Many years later they moved
their business to Front Street. William moved his family home to the Junction in 1896. The family
were Plymouth Brethren.
Morse – After George D. Morse, well known cattle dealer, who slipped while walking alone along
an embankment on the Don and drowned.
Mosley – After Benjamin Mosley, United Empire Loyalist, and one of the first settlers on the north
shore of Ashbridge's Bay.
Pape – After Joseph Pape, a Yorkshireman who had a market garden at the corner of Gerrard
and Pape.
Parkfield – Because it is near Greenwood Park.
Prust - After William Prust, one of the founders of Haliburton. He immigrated to Canada in 1873
with his wife Ellen Adams and children. They settled first in Peterborough where he worked as a
shoemaker. A man of many talents, Prust became a carpenter and builder. In 1908 Prust moved
to Toronto where he became a real estate developer. He built many of the houses along Prust
Avenue, Sandford, Bloomfield and Ivy. His pride was that each property had its own fruit tree. He
lived on Greenwood Avenue just north of Gerrard. Prust died in Toronto in 1927 at the age of 81.
Queen – After Queen Victoria, formerly Kingston Road. In 1884 the street was renamed Queen
Street when the route of Queen Street was straightened and the street became a continuous
thoroughfare through to the Beach.
Redwood – Named in imitation of “Greenwood”, a sort of echo.
Renwick – After Jim Renwick, local New Democratic Member of the Legislative Assembly, who
died of a heart attack in 1984.
205
Rhodes – Formerly Reid after a local brickmaker, Ross Reid. Likely re-named after the Rhodes
family who had a dry good store on the street.
Rushbrooke – From Leslie Creek, a short fast brook that ran into Ashbridge's Bay where the
street is now.
Sawden – After Thomas Sawden, local brickmaker.
Sear – After Charles and Sarah Sear and their family. Charles Sear was a brickmaker from
Somerset, like the Prices, Bells, Dibbles, Billings and others. He built tunnels in France. He
arrived in Canada in 1866 and became a brickmaker in Leslieville. He was poisoned by gas while
digging a well on Jones Avenue.
Sproat (or Sproatt) – Formerly Methuen, a town in Massachusetts where many members of the
Hastings family had lived. Re-named likely after Henry Sproatt, one of Toronto’s first soft drink
manufacturers, specializing in ginger beer. He was an alderman for many years and knew the
Leslies well. He was Chair of the Board of Works when George Leslie Sr. was on the Board of
Health. Henry Sproatt also sat on the Gas and Water Committee. Sproatt bottles are highly
collectible today.
Stanton – Probably after prominent photographer, Eldridge Stanton, or after his sister, Verna
Stanton who married Dr. Charles Sheard. In 1898 her poems and short stories began appearing
in magazines and journals. She published
four novels.
Thackeray – After William Makepeace
Thackeray, author of Vanity Fair.
Vancouver – Formerly Ashport for the
Ashbridges family and the cove where the
docked their boats (now under the TTC
Russell Car Barns).
Verral – After a family of politicians who
owned stables and a cab and livery
business. In 1884 the Verrals built a livery
stable here and Charles E. Verral was put in
charge. The Verrals are believed to be the
first in Toronto to use automobiles for taxi
cabs, replacing horses. The Verrals were
involved a kickback scheme at City Hall –
the “boodling scandal.” The Russell family of brickmakers built several handsome brick houses on
Verral Avenue. Verral Mews are row houses built around 1903 by Anglican bishop, J. McQueen
Baldwin, on leased land. He wanted to provide good affordable housing for English immigrants.
However, his successors were not as interested in affordable housing the Anglican Church
became an absentee landlord with run-down property. In 1973 Russell-McKay Realty Ltd. bought
the Verral Mews and renovated it. The old facades were kept though veneered over; the insides
579
were gutted. The architect was Vimal Sarin. Thethe interiors are only 14 feet wide.
Walpole – After a local family of builders. John Walpole was a plasterer and a builder.
Woodfield – Originally Morley Avenue, after the family of brickmakers. John Morley’s house still
stands at the north east corner of Woodfield Road and Queen Street East. When the area was
subdivided, the name was changed to draw attention away from the sewer plant and make make
the street more attractive to English immigrants.
Winnifred – Formerly Radcliffe Avenue. The Radcliffes were a local family. In 1905 Radcliffe
Avenue was changed to Winnifred Avenue. A Victorian author, Winifred Radcliffe, was known for
her stories about fairies. Any connection between the fairies and the street is improbable.
579
“Carlaw area houses get a new look”, The Toronto Star, February 1, 1975.
206
Building Gerrard Street East
Toronto Star, November 8, 1912
207
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Websites
Abattoirs/Pigs and Cattle/Tannery
http://www.lib.uwo.ca/programs/companyinformationcanada/ccc-canadapackers.html
see also http://harris-history.com/tree/665.html
http://csc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/1895/0rcs25-246/0rcs25-246.html Supreme Court
Gooderham vs. City of Toronto
http://www.lib.uwo.ca/programs/companyinformationcanada/ccc-ARClarke.htm
AR
Tannery
decision
Clarke
Ashbridge Family
http://www.beamccowan.com/learning_unit_transportation.htm
http://www.lycolaw.org/history/sketches/13.htm
http://www.wolcottfamily.com/watertown.html Wilcott/Walcot Family
Bay
http://www.donrowingclub.com/home_history.php
http://www.crb.gov.on.ca/stellent/idcplg/webdav/Contribution%20Folders/crb/english/toronto_laing
62.pdf
Bricks and brickmaking
http://www.capbrick.com/artisan_brick.htm
http://www.vintagebricks.com
http://brickcollecting.com/history.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2007/02/19/abolition_somerset_and_slavery_feat
ure.shtml
http://www.masonsmasonry.com
http://www.lostrivers.ca/points/Brickmaking.htm
http://www.tegula.freeserve.co.uk/BRICMAK.HTM Garside-Neville, Sandra. “Brickmaking in 19th
century York: a preliminary survey”
Churches
http://www.glenrhodesunitedchurch.ca/
http://www.stjohnsnorway.org Saloranta, Kevin. The Church of St. John the Baptist Norway:
Documented Church History. From existing documents published earlier.
217
http://www.stmatthews-riverdale.com/about.php Whyte, Gerald. Riverdale Historical Society
February, 2007 Updated format; 11 March, 2008
http://www.scarboromissions.ca/Learn_about_us/john_mary_fraser.php Father Fraser
http://www.fraserofwesthill.com/biomon.html Father Fraser
Condos/Loft Conversions
http://mitchell-lofts.com/pages/Mayfair.htm; http://www.alanrealestate.com/003_loftsEast.htm
http://www.jeffreyteam.com/blog/toronto-real-estate-market/toronto-loft-profile-the-printingfactory/New Homes & Condos Magazine .
Crime and The Police
http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/publications/files/misc/history/5t.html
First Nations
http://www.alanbrown.com/TorontoHistory/Pages_VWZ/Withrow_Archaeological_Site.html
Withrow site.
http://www.indianclaims.ca/pdf/ICCP/ICCP17/new%20credit-eng.pdf
http://www.firstportcredit.com/pages/410/410_51_history.html
http://www.indianclaims.ca/download/pdfreports/PDFClaimsReports/English/Mississauga_English
.pdf
http://www.newcreditfirstnation.com/topur2.htm;
http://www.indianclaims.ca/download/pdfreports/PDFClaimsReports/English/Mississauga_English
.pdf
http://www.ontarioplaques.com/Plaques_Toronto/Plaque_Toronto107.html. Lost Withrow plaque
http://www.scar.utoronto.ca/~latta/Ashbridges/h4.htm The Ashbridges site
http://www.torontohistory.org/Pages_VWZ/Withrow_Archaeological_Site.html
Harris Family
http://harris-history.com/tree/665.html
Irish Immigration
http://www.biographi.ca Romney, Paul, Daniel Sullivan in Dictionary of Canadian Biography
OnLine.
http://ist.uwaterloo.ca/~marj/genealogy/papers/land.html
http://www.umanitoba.ca/colleges/st_pauls/ccha/Back%20Issues/CCHA1972/Shea.html
Shea,
Rev. D. S., M.A., B.Th., The Irish Immigrant Adjustment to Toronto : 1840-1860, CCHA Study
Sessions, 39(1972), 53-60.
Leslie Family History
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/SCT-SUTHERLAND/2001-11/1006190975
http://www.calgarycoin.com/modern/cantoken.htm The use of tokens or private coinage.
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Heritage/FSCNS/Scots_NS/Hty_Sct/High_Clr/Mem/Sutherland_MKZ.h
tml MacKenzie, Alexander. Mackenzie's Pamphlet, 1881. Edited by Janet MacKay. The
Sutherland Clearances.
http://www.countysutherland.co.uk/66.html The Statute Labour List for 1809 Sutherlandshire.
http://www.mississauga4sale.com/Mississauga-City.htm The graves of John Leslie Sr and Esther
Beatty-Leslie are in the Streetsville Memorial Cemetery. Description: John Leslie Senior 1786 –
1872
http://www.mississauga.ca/portal/residents/streetsvillememorial;jsessionid=TIUCRBHFD5NZJTR
PH3XD5XWOF25W4PW0?paf_gear_id=13200032&imageId=42400064&index=9&returnUrl=%2F
portal%2Fresidents%2Fstreetsvillememorial%3Bjsessionid%3DTIUCRBHFD5NZJTRPH3XD5XW
OF25W4PW0
218
http://www.mississauga4sale.com/Mississauga-City.htm; "Beginnings of Tipperary Protestant
Emigration": http://members.lycos.co.uk/pears1/index.html P.79
Market Gardening/Farming
http://florist.hortport.com/Past_Issues.htm?ID=2703
http://www.connerprairie.org/historyonline/farming.html Vanderstel , David. Farming and Farms.
http://www.gardendigest.com/timel19.htm The History of Gardening: A Timeline, The Nineteenth
Century 1800-1899
http://www.ellwangerbarry.org
http://www.trca.on.ca/Website/TRCA/ParksAndCulture/Website.nsf/WebPage/black_creek_experi
ence_the_villiage_farm_animals?OpenDocument&Language=EN
Orange Order
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/riiss/Reviews/Wilson_Orange%20Order%20in%20Canada.shtml
Dictionary of Canadian Biography On Line.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/3472/webdoc2.htm Rough, Alex:
Alexander Muir
Orange and, Patriot and Poet.
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Alexander-Muir
http://www.orangenet.org/outram/maple.htm The Maple Leaf
http://www.crb.gov.on.ca/stellent/idcplg/webdav/Contribution%20Folders/crb/english/toronto_laing
62.pdf Decision to designate Maple Cottage a heritage site.
Slavery http://www.slavenorth.com/pennsylvania.htm
Trains
http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/industrial/history/train_sidings.html Kennedy, R.L., History
Of Private Sidings
United Empire Loyalists
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~apassageintime/uelist/m1.ue.html;
World War One
http://38thbattalion.blogspot.com/2008/08/lieutenant-robert-george-dibble.html information about
Robert Dibble
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca for information about those who served in WWI
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=memorials/ww1mem/vimy
information
about Vimy Ridge
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/missions/belgium-belgique/bilateral-relations-bilaterales/menueng.asp info about the Menin Gates
http://www.ancienscombattantsquebecois.com/canadianinfantryquebecregiment.pdf
Many
Leslieville men fought with this regiment.
http://www.canadiangreatwarproject.com information about WWI
City Directories and Maps
1833 Bonnycastle, R. No. 1 Plan of the Town and Harbour of York Upper Canada and also of the
Military Reserve, 1833; Walton, George. York Commercial Directory, Street Guide, and Register,
1833-4 . York, U.C. Printed by Thomas Dalton, c. 1834.
1836 City of Toronto Commercial Directory 1836-7, from Robertson, John Ross. Robertson’s
Landmarks of Toronto. Vol. 3. Belleville, ON: Mika Publishing, 1974. Originally published in
1898. p. 127-149
1837 Toronto & Home District Directory
219
1843 Toronto Directory and Street Guide for 1843-4. Francis Lewis. Toronto: R. & W. Rowsell,
1846.
1846 Brown’s Toronto City and Home District Directory 1846-7. Toronto: George Brown, 1846.
1850 Rowsell’s City of Toronto and County of York Directory for 1850-1. Ed. By J. Armstrong.
Toronto: Henry Rowsell, 1850.
1856 Brown’s Toronto General Directory, 1856.
1857 York Home District. 1857. In the collection of the Toronto Reference Library.
1866 C.E. Anderson and Co. Toronto City Directory for 1868-69. Toronto: C.E. Anders, 1866.
1866 Mitchell's general directory for the City of Toronto and gazetteer of the counties of York and
Peel for 1866.
1867 City of Toronto directory for 1867-8 (Toronto: James Sutherland).
1868 C.E. Anderson and Co. Toronto City Directory for 1868-69. Toronto: C.E. Anderson, 1868.
1869 W. C. Chewett & Co.'s Toronto city directory. 1868-9; McEvoy, Henry, The Province of
Ontario Gazetteer and Directory. Toronto, 1869,
1873 Toronto city directory, May, 1873, to May, 1874; Cherrier, Kirwin & McGown 1873
1874 Fisher and Taylor, Globe Printing Company, 1874.
1878 Canniff, William, et al. Illustrated historical atlas of York County. Toronto: Miles and
Company, 1878.
1879 Might and Taylor Toronto Directory, 1879.
1880 Might & Taylor Directory Might and Taylor, Hunter and Rose Co., 1880.
1881 July 11, 1881 Globe Map of Toronto.
1884 Goad’s Atlas of Toronto, 1884. Plate 34.
1889 Atlas of the City of Toronto and Suburbs. [Goad] Insurance Plan of Toronto. Toronto, 1889.
nd
1890 Atlas of the City of Toronto and Vicinity. 2 edition. March, 1890. London: Chas. E. Goad.
1899 Revision.
rd
1910 Atlas of the City of Toronto and Suburbs. 3 edition. Vol. 1. Toronto: Chas. E. Goad,
Toronto, 1910.
1912 Atlas of the City of Toronto and Suburbs. Toronto: Chas. E. Goad, Toronto, 1912.
1921 Might’s Directory 1921, 282 – 283.
1923 Atlas of the City of Toronto and Suburbs. Toronto: Goad’s Atlas and Plan Co., 1923.
1924 Atlas of the City of Toronto and Suburbs. Toronto: Goad’s Atlas and Plan Co., 1924.
1987 Harris, R. Cole, editor and Geoffrey J. Matthews, cartographer/designer. Historical Atlas of
Canada: From the Beginning to 1800. Vol. I. Toronto, Buffalo, London: University of Toronto
Press, 1987, Plate 4.
Interviews and Personal Communications
Clements, Derrick, Weston Corporate Archivist, 3/30/2008. Personal communications
Drever, Dorothy, interviewer, transcribed by Dora Easto. Squire Thornton, (Toronto: in the Local
History of the Toronto Public Library, Broadview-Gerrard Branch, 1967).
Drever, Dorothy, interviewer. Interview with Peter Harcus. (Toronto:in the Local History of the
Toronto Public Library, Broadview-Gerrard Branch, no date).
Murray, Fr. Tom Archivist, St. Mel’s College, Longford, Ireland, personal communication.
220
100 Greenwood Avenue .......................... 108
1164 Queen Street East ............................ 69
1318 Queen Street East, brickyard ......... 103
1444 Queen Street East ............................ 40
1799, Irish Uprising .................................. 143
1877 Toronto Directory .............................. 98
rd
3 Sutherland Fencibles ............................ 63
A.R. Clarke & Co. tannery ...............187, 198
abattoir .............................................112, 132
Aberdeen, Lady ....................................... 157
abolition of the slave trade ....................... 108
abusive language
ten days imprisonment ............................... 164
Act of Union,
1841 ............................................................. 72
Adam, Graeme Mercer ........................74, 85
Adam, W. ................................................... 67
adulterating foods .................................... 111
advertisements for brick making machines93
African Americans.................................... 118
Agnes Lane.............................................. 200
agricultural societies ..........................47, 118
Agriculture and Arts Association of Ontario
............................................................... 80
Agriculturist, ............................................... 74
Aladdin .............................................107, 179
alcoholism ................................................ 122
Alderville First Nation ................................... 6
Alexander Muir Public School .................. 153
Allan Gardens ................................65, 73, 85
Allan, Alexander McDonald ...........78, 87, 88
Allan, Daniel Rev. ...................................... 78
Allan, Esther
death ............................................................ 87
Allan, William ............................................. 65
Allcock ..................................................... 123
Alton Avenue ...................................104, 200
amalgamation .......................................... 170
Ambulance Services Station No. 43 ........ 186
American Civil War .................................. 108
American elm .......................................40, 80
American market...................................... 115
American Revolution ...........................37, 46
Revolutionary War.........................................5
An Gorta Mor ............................................. 48
Anchorfield ...........................................64, 78
Anderson
Elias ............................................................. 37
Robert .......................................................... 23
Anderson, Albert ...................................... 116
Anderson, John........................................ 116
Anderson, Olwen ..................................... 202
Andersons .................................................. 50
Anglican 39, 47, 63, 126, 130, 132, 137, 139
Anishnaabe ................................................. 5
Ojibway......................................................... 4
anti-Greek riot ......................................... 197
anti-slavery........................................ 39, 118
Applegrove .............................................. 200
apples ......................... 48, 55, 65, 72, 73, 79
apprentices ....................................... 78, 111
indentured servants ......................................73
Arabella ..................................................... 64
arboretum ...................................... 69, 78, 87
Archdiocese of Toronto ........................... 132
Arlington .................................................. 184
Armagh ................................................... 143
Armistice ................................................. 192
Armour ...................................................... 73
Armstrong, Silas...................................... 186
Armstrong's Hall ...................................... 149
Army and Navy Veterans Society ........... 153
Arnold
Samuel .........................................................98
arsenic .............................................. 23, 176
arson ....................................................... 168
Arts and Crafts ........................................ 179
Ashbridge estate ................. 28, 41, 175, 176
Ashbridge family and Methodist meetings
............................................................ 126
Ashbridge log cabin .................................... 4
Ashbridge orchard............................. 40, 200
Ashbridge Book......................................... 40
Ashbridge, Alfred ...................................... 40
Ashbridge, Amy....................................... 128
Ashbridge, Dorothy and Betty .....................40
Ashbridge, Elizabeth ........................... 38, 49
Ashbridge, Hannah ................................... 38
Ashbridge, Jesse ...... 40, 103, 126, 128, 163
Ashbridge, Jesse ...................................... 40
Ashbridge, John ...................... 37, 38, 46, 49
Ashbridge, Jonathan ................... 37, 47, 126
Ashbridge, Levi Heath .............................. 61
Ashbridge, Mary .................................. 38, 49
Ashbridge, Sarah ...................................... 38
Ashbridge, Wellington ............................... 40
Ashbridge’s Bay .............................. 5, 90, 92
Ashbridge’s Bay Yacht club ...................... 25
Ashbridge’s Creek...... 6, 30, 34, 90, 98, 184,
200, 202, 203
Ashbridge’s farm ..................................... 150
Ashbridge’s House .............................. 34, 99
Ashbridge’s Woods ....................... 34, 39, 40
Ashbridge's Bay .. 5, 14, 15, 30,53, 111, 126,
184, 189, 204
description as it was 1863 ............................18
Ashbridge's Bay, ice cutting .................... 118
Ashbridge's Bay, industrial development 176
221
Ashbridge's Bay, wildlife ............................ 12
Ashbridges property subdivided ........40, 107
Ashby, William ......................................... 166
Ashdale ............................................190, 200
Ashdale Avenue....................................... 181
Ashdale Branch, Toronto Public Library .. 139
Ashport ....... 39, 47, 48, 49, 51, 74, 126, 205
asylum for the insane ................................ 85
Athletic ..................................................... 200
Atlantic salmon .......................................... 15
Attawandaron............................................... 5
Audley ..............................................190, 200
Aughrim ................................................... 143
Austin ....................................................... 200
Avalon Apartments .................................. 107
Averill, Captain......................................... 120
Ayrshires .................................................... 47
Baby Point ................................................... 5
Badgerow................................................. 200
Bain & Colville.......................................... 100
Bain & Son ............................................... 100
Bain. Abigail ............................................. 130
Baird, York County Council ..................... 184
bald as a brickyard................................... 107
Baldwin, J. McQueen ............................... 205
Baldwin, Robert ......................................... 72
Balmy Beach............................................ 150
Bankruptcy, Toronto Nurseries .................. 88
Banks, John ............................................. 165
Baptist ........................................63, 139, 143
Barker, Joseph........................................... 37
Barnhart, Charles....................................... 67
Barry, Patrick ............................................. 69
bascule bridge ........................................... 24
baseball ................................................... 105
Baseline ..................................................... 37
Bathurst Street ......................................... 132
Battle of New Orleans ................................ 46
Battle of Ridgeway ................................... 153
Battle of Sedgemoor ................................ 108
Battle of the Boyne ..................129, 134, 143
Bawden’s One Horse Machine .................. 95
Baxter, Archibald ..................................... 102
Bay of Quinte ............................................... 4
baymouth bar .......................................12, 28
Bisley ......................................................... 98
Beach ....................................................... 175
Beaches ................................................... 150
Beadle, Delos White ............................73, 77
Beamish, George ....................................... 71
Beattie, James ........................................... 63
Beatty, Esther ................................63, 64, 75
Beatty, John ...................................63, 64, 65
Beatty, Thomas....................49, 97, 126, 201
Beattys ...........................................50, 63, 69
Beaty, James .............................47, 126, 143
beaver ................................................... 5, 17
Bechtel Brothers ..................................... 100
Beckett, R. .............................................. 175
beech tree, protest .................................... 88
beehive kilns ............................................. 93
beer ................................................... 39, 124
begging ..................................................... 49
Belfast of the North ........................... 48, 149
Bell Brothers ................................... 100, 103
Bell, Alexander .......................................... 85
Bell, John ................................................ 163
Ben Lamond...................................... 59, 201
Benares ..................................................... 65
Bengough, J.W. ...................................... 156
Bennett, John ............................................ 12
Benns, Emerson ..................................... 100
Bergin, William ........................................ 136
Berkeley Castle ......................................... 59
Berkshire ........................................... 87, 200
Berkshires ................................................. 48
Best ........................................................... 34
Best, James ........................................ 57, 72
Best, William ............................................. 98
Bests ......................................................... 50
Bibby ....................................................... 164
bicycle ..................................................... 175
Big Bluestem ............................................. 30
Billings ..................................... 170, 200, 205
Birdwatchers ............................................. 17
Bisley ...................................................... 201
Black sailors ............................................ 118
Blackburn, Thornton.................................. 67
blacksmith ....... 47, 50, 53, 75, 126, 132, 203
Blacksmith’s Arms................................... 118
Blake Street .................................... 103, 105
Blakes ..................................................... 108
Blong ................................................. 34, 201
Blong Street ............................................ 170
Blong Street (now Logan Avenue ........... 171
Blong, Edward................................... 84, 204
Blong, Margaret ...................................... 130
Blong, Sarah ........................................... 116
Bloomfield, George ................................. 201
Bloor Street Presbyterian Church ........... 130
blueberry ................................................... 30
Blumenson, John J.G. ............................ 160
board walk ................................................. 25
boat builders ............................................. 15
Boer War ................................. 181, 189, 192
Bond Head, Sir Francis ............................. 67
Bonnycastle, Richard Henry ............... 12, 14
boodling ............................................ 87, 205
Booth ........................................... 17, 18, 201
Bootlegging ............................................. 123
borax ......................................................... 92
Bostons ..................................... 59, 158, 201
222
Boston Avenue ........................................ 118
Boston Inn .................................................. 61
Bouchette, Joseph .....................6, 14, 47, 50
Bouldry, W. .............................................. 190
boulevard planting ..................................... 73
Boulton, D'Arcy ....................................7, 204
Boulton, William Henry ......................49, 145
Boultons ................................................... 155
Boustead, James B. ..........................80, 177
Boyle, David, archaeologist ......................... 4
Boys’ Brigade........................................... 139
Bracketts .................................................. 198
Bragg, Walter Henry ................................ 190
Braham, Catherine and Alfred ................. 139
Brantford ................................................ 8, 88
Bread Basket .......................................39, 48
Break-ins.................................................. 163
brewer ...................................................... 132
Brewer’s Retail Store .........................97, 123
brewery ..................................50, 53, 75, 123
Brick catchers ............................................ 93
Brick Court .........................................98, 201
brick famine ............................................. 104
brick limits .................................................. 99
brick yards ................................................. 50
Brickenden Brothers ................................ 116
brickmaker’s season .................................. 93
Brickmakers .............................90, 92, 98, 99
Brickmakers, brawling ............................. 163
bricks, pigs and flowers ............................. 90
brickyard owners................................49, 163
brickyards, Greenwood avenue ............... 103
Bridgewater, Massachusetts ................... 108
Briggs, Sylvester E. ................................... 78
Bright blacksmith shop .............................. 73
Bright, James ............................................. 51
Bright, Levi ............................................... 164
Brighton ...........................................184, 201
British American Cultivator ........................ 48
British American Oil Company................. 187
Broadview Avenue ... 7, 47, 59, 90, 118, 145,
170
Broadview Avenue, streetcars ................. 172
Brock ..................................................49, 132
Brockton...........................................177, 204
Brockville ...........................................55, 145
Brockwells, George .....................90, 97, 102
Brooklyn ................................................... 201
Broomsgrove, William .............................. 100
Brown, Frederick........................................ 46
Brown, George...................................68, 118
Brown, Patrick ....................................... 49, 50
Brown’s General Directory ......................... 90
Brown’s Pond.......................................18, 34
Browne, Magistrate .................................. 124
brownfields ................................................. 25
Bruce Junior School ................................ 186
Buchanan, James ..................................... 63
building boom .................................... 92, 104
Bully, Charles .......................................... 123
bungalows ....................................... 104, 179
Burns, Constable .................................... 167
Burns, Patrick ...................................... 37, 46
bush trees ................................................. 80
Bushell .................................................... 201
Busy Street ............................................. 201
Butcher, Edward ....................................... 98
butchers .................. 39, 50, 51, 53, 103, 111
butchers blocks ......................................... 88
Butter’s Patent Brick Machine ................... 93
by-laws ...................................................... 99
Cabbagetown .............................. 61, 82, 145
Caldwell Dryer ......................................... 100
Caledonian Society of Montreal .............. 155
California-style bungalow ................ 107, 179
Callendar, Henry ............................... 20, 121
Callendar’s Hotel..................................... 121
Cam Fella ................................................ 201
Cameron, Malcolm Colin ........................ 121
Cameron, Rev. J.M. ................................ 130
Campbell, William ..................................... 65
Camplin, George ....................................... 98
campsite Mississauga ................................. 7
Canada Farmer ......................................... 79
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
............................................................ 197
Canada Packers ..................................... 115
Canada Paint ............................ 23, 176, 187
Canadian Agriculturalist ............................ 71
Canadian Authors Association ................ 158
Canadian Brick Making Machine .............. 95
Canadian Henley Regatta ....................... 191
Canadian Horticulturalist ........................... 82
Canadian Methodist Magazine ............... 129
Canadian National Clay Products
Association ......................................... 103
Canadian National Exhibition .............. 38, 73
Canadian Naturalist .................................. 14
Canadian Pacific Railway ................... 81, 87
Canadian Wheelmen’s Association ........ 175
Caniff, William ........................................... 20
Capone, Al .............................................. 123
Carey, Thomas ....................................... 118
Carlaw ....................................... 59, 171, 201
Carlaw Avenue, cheap building lots ........ 170
Carlyle, William ....................................... 130
Carnegie, Andrew ................................... 176
Caroline ................................................... 201
Caroline Street .......................................... 72
Carroll ............................................. 128, 136
Carrying Place, Bay of Quinte .................... 5
Cary .......................................................... 17
223
cash and carry ......................................... 105
catalogue .............................................67, 68
catalogue homes ..................................... 107
Catalogue of Fruit & Ornamental Trees,
Custead ................................................. 65
catalogue, Toronto Nurseries .................... 71
Catfish Joe’s island .................................... 14
Catholic school ........................................ 111
Catholics ............................................63, 132
cattle ......................................39, 47, 90, 111
CBC Buildings............................................ 65
Cemeteries ................................................ 72
Central Prison .......................................... 123
Centre Street ............................................. 57
Chambers brick machine .....................95, 99
Chambers, Parks Commissioner ............. 105
Chapman, David ...................................... 100
Charlton, Constable ................................. 175
Charnock, John....................................93, 95
cheese .................................................39, 48
Cherrier, Kirwin & McGown's ..................... 98
Cherry Beach ...................................123, 124
Cherry Nook Gardens ......................126, 201
Cherry Street ........................................... 189
child labour ............. 55, 67, 90, 92, 100, 176
children
Children’s Aid Society .............................. 164
Chinese ....................................149, 167, 199
Chinese laundries .................................... 187
Chiniquy, Charles .................................... 130
Chippewa ..................................................... 4
chlorine ...................................................... 23
cholera ..................................................... 111
Christian Endeavor Society ..................... 130
Christie Pits Riot ...................................... 150
Christie, John ........................................... 126
Christie, Rev. D. Wallace ......................... 130
Church Street........................................... 134
circuit rider .........................................64, 128
City Council. 20, 57, 145, 172, 177, 183, 184
City Council, tolls ....................................... 59
City Directories .......................................... 75
City of Mississauga .................................... 65
City of Toronto . 51, 59, 69, 80, 99, 107, 132,
143, 166, 170, 171, 175, 183, 184, 191
1834 ............................................................. 47
City of Toronto Horticultural Society .......... 65
City of Toronto vs. George Goodheram .... 79
City of Toronto, annexations...107, 111, 137,
186
City of Toronto, tavern licenses ............... 120
Civic Car lines .......................................... 183
Civil War ......................................53, 59, 115
Clare, Phillip............................................. 168
Clare, William........................................... 190
Clark .......................................................... 34
Clark, C.S. ............................................... 177
Clark, Greg.............................................. 152
Clark, James ............................................. 51
Clark, William ............................................ 51
Clarke, A.R. ..................................... 181, 192
Clarke, C. ................................................ 204
Clarke, John ...................................... 51, 204
Clarkson .................................................... 65
Claus, William ............................................. 8
Clergy Reserves ....................................... 47
Cleveland .................................................. 46
Cliff, William .............................................. 97
Clifford Street ............................ 98, 187, 203
CNE .......................................................... 73
Coady ...................................... 179, 201, 202
Coal and Clothing Society ...................... 130
Coatsworth Cut ......................................... 24
Coatsworth, Emerson ....................... 20, 120
Cobban Mfg ............................................ 183
Cobourg .............................................. 46, 64
cockfighting ..................................... 163, 167
coffin ships ........................................ 49, 111
Coghlan, Elizabeth .................................... 55
Cogwagee ................................................... 6
Colborne Street ................................... 69, 82
Colborne, John, Governor General........... 68
Cole, William ........................................... 112
Colgate .................................................... 201
Collins, John ............................................. 12
Commercial fishing ................................... 15
Commercial Hotel ................................... 126
Commissioner On Fruits ........................... 79
Committee of Markets and Health ............ 20
Commonwealth ....................................... 150
concession and sideroad .......................... 37
Conestoga Investments Limited ............. 160
Connaught ...................................... 181, 202
Consumers Gas Company 68, 183, 187, 202
Cook, George.................................... 98, 137
Cook, William ............................ 97, 118, 120
Coon, John ................................................ 37
Cooney, John .......................................... 168
Cooper, George ........................................ 57
Cooper, James........................................ 163
Cooper, Samuel ...................................... 166
Cooper, William................................... 34, 49
cooperage ................................................. 47
corduroy road ............................................ 47
Corktown ..................... 61, 82, 134, 166, 203
Cornell, William ......................................... 46
Cornish .................................................... 200
Cornwall .................................................... 64
Cornwall Street ......................................... 61
coroner ............................................ 100, 102
corporal punishment ............................... 112
Cosburn, Richard C. ................................. 57
224
Costello .................................................... 136
Council of Three Fires ................................. 4
country estates .......................................... 51
Country Gentleman ................................... 79
County of York ........ 47, 51, 53, 99, 163, 175
cow byres .................................111, 115, 176
Cox, John .............................................37, 50
Coxwell ............................. 69, 115, 175, 202
Coxwell Stables ....................................... 187
Coyne, J.H., historian .................................. 7
Cozens .................................................37, 49
CPR ........................................................... 87
craft tradition ............................................ 105
Craftsman Magazine ............................... 179
Cranfield House ....................................... 115
Craven Road............................168, 176, 202
Credit River ........................................4, 6, 14
Credit River Mississauga ......................... 5, 8
creeks ...................................................... 175
Creighton, Helen ...................................... 158
Crenan [Crinan] canal ................................ 64
Crombie Plan ............................................. 24
Crosbie, Joan Elizabeth ........................... 160
Crothers .......................................14, 98, 165
Crow, Robert............................................ 130
Crozier, Thomas ...................................... 166
Cruikshank, E.A. .......................................... 7
Cruikshank, George ................................... 65
crystal Palace, Kingston ............................ 73
crystal palaces ........................................... 69
Culloden ..................................................... 63
Cumming, Margaret ................................... 77
Curzon ........................ 50, 98, 116, 132, 202
Custead, William ..................................65, 67
cyanide, heavy metals pollution ................. 23
Dagmar Avenue .......................120, 123, 202
Daily Mail ................................................. 171
Danforth .....................................7, 46, 90, 98
Danforth, Asa ........................................... 202
Danforth Avenue ... 7, 46, 115, 137, 202, 137
Danforth Road
Darcy Street .................................59, 69, 204
Davenport Road........................................... 7
Davidson, Walter ..................................... 123
Davies, William ............................18, 20, 115
Davis, Benjamin ......................................... 37
Davis, Caroline ............................67, 84, 201
Davis, Elizabeth ....................................... 203
Davis, John Calvin .............................67, 163
Davis, Mabel .............................................. 40
Dawes ...................................................... 100
De Grassi ................................................. 179
decoys
deer, hunting ................................................ 6
deforestration ............................................. 30
Demont, William......................................... 37
Dennison, George Taylor ........................ 123
Dennison, William ................................... 150
Derry Road West ...................................... 65
Devens ..................................................... 37
Devil’s Dip, Devil's Hollow................. 34, 183
Dian Orange Hall .................................... 149
Dibble .......................... 15, 24, 108, 191, 202
Dickey, A., collision with cow .................. 175
Dickson, George P. ................................... 73
Dingman’s Hall ........................................ 148
dinkies ............................................... 92, 104
diphtheria ................................................ 128
disavow, Quakers ..................................... 38
distillery ..................... 18, 50, 53, 75, 78, 115
Distillery District .......................................... 7
divorce ...................................................... 99
Dixon, Constable, assaulting police ........ 116
Doan, Jesse ............................................ 163
Dockerty, Lewis....................................... 118
Doel ................................................. 164, 200
dogs .................................................. 48, 164
Doherty ..................................... 14, 134, 136
Dominion Stores ..................................... 192
Don and Danforth Road ............................ 37
Don Bridge .................................... 47, 57, 67
Don Mount ................................................ 47
Don River .......... 6, 8, 14, 18, 28, 34, 38, 137
Don River, pollution ....................................20
Don Rowing Club ................................ 15, 24
Don Valley........................................... 7, 108
Don Valley Brickworks .................... 100, 105
Don Valley Conservation Authority ........... 41
Doroszenko, Dena ...................................... 4
double houses ......................................... 107
Douglass, Frederick ................................ 108
Downing, Andrew J. .................................. 48
drinking water .............. 18, 20, 170, 171, 186
Drollery .................................................... 116
drought ................................................ 59, 79
drownings, Ashbridge's Bay...................... 18
Drury, Constable ..................................... 116
dry bee ...................................................... 65
Duffy.......................................... 51, 120, 123
Duggan, Edmund Henry ......................... 176
Duke of Connaught ........................... 40, 202
Duke of Connaught School ............... 40, 186
Duke of Kent ........................................... 203
Duke of York ................... 116, 121, 122, 123
Dundas .................................. 7, 47, 149, 202
Dunlop, William "Tiger" ............................. 40
Dunlop Field ...................................... 88, 197
Dunlop Tire ..................................... 187, 199
Dunn, Mary ............................................... 55
Dunne, John Henry ................................... 65
Durant, Gladys ........................................ 168
Dutch elm disease .................................... 80
225
Dwyer, Catherine ..................................... 122
dynamite ............................................99, 104
Earls, John "Tory" .................................... 163
Earlscourt ................................................. 197
East Headland ........................................... 24
East Presbyterian Church ........................ 130
East Toronto .............................................. 73
East Toronto Community Centre ............. 186
East York ................................................... 78
Eastend Developments ........................... 160
Eastern Avenue 59, 95, 97, 98, 99, 136, 149,
153, 171, 202
Eastern Avenue Crematory ..................... 176
Eastern Avenue, shade trees .................... 82
Eastern Avenue, street racing ................. 177
Eastern Harbor Terminals ......................... 24
Easthope .................................................... 78
Eastwood Avenue .................................... 132
Eaton kit home ......................................... 179
Eaton’s depot, Coxwell Avenue ............... 179
edge tool factory ............................50, 53, 75
Edward, Prince of Wales ......................... 152
eight-hour work day legislation ................ 103
Elgin, Lord ................................................ 145
Elliott, William ............................................ 51
Ellwanger and Barry ......................69, 74, 75
Elwood, John .................................51, 97, 99
embezzler .................................................. 87
Emerald Band .......................................... 134
Emerald Beneficial Association ............... 134
Empire Mills ............................................. 202
Endean .................................................... 202
Engelhardt, H.A. ........................................ 77
epidemic ................................20, 23, 59, 176
Epworth League...............................129, 130
Era newspaper......................................... 153
Erie Canal .................................................. 47
Erie Terrace .................... 168, 176, 186, 202
Erindale ...................................................... 65
erratics, glaciation ........................................ 6
erysipelas ................................................... 81
etc…news ................................................ 198
ethnocentric. racist....................................... 6
Etobicoke Creek .................................... 5, 14
Evangelia Settlement ................................. 87
Evans, Roger ........................................... 108
exhibitions and fairs .....................93, 95, 100
exports .........................................48, 55, 115
face bricks.................................................. 93
Factory Act............................................... 103
Factory Theatre ......................................... 98
Fairford .................................................... 202
fairs, in taverns ........................................ 118
Falconer, Tom.......................................... 116
Family Compact ..... 47, 50, 67, 69, 137, 139,
143, 155, 199
Famine ...................................... 90, 136, 143
farm equipment ......................................... 48
Farmer and Mechanic ......................... 69, 71
Farmer’s Advocate .................................... 79
Farr ........................................................... 64
Felstead ............................................ 50, 107
Fencible .................................................... 63
Fenian ............................................. 148, 153
Fergie’s Foam ......................................... 123
Ferguson, James .................................... 165
Ferguson, John ......................................... 38
Finucan, Thomas .................................... 134
Finucans ......................................... 103, 132
fire, oak savannah....................................... 6
fire, Toronto Nurseries, 1849 .......................71
fire brigade ........................................ 67, 115
Fire Department and Orange Order........ 148
fire hall, land donated for .......................... 82
fire insurance rates ................................. 170
fire limits ............................................ 99, 107
fire protection .......................................... 176
fire, Russell brickyard ............................. 102
fireholes .................................................... 93
First Nations ........................ 4, 157, 199, 203
Fisherman’s Island .................................... 14
fishermen .............................. 30, 50, 98, 155
fishing .............................. 5, 14, 23, 126, 132
fishing rights ................................................ 8
Fittinger, McCord and Co .......................... 50
Fitzgerald, Daniel .................................... 134
Fitzgerald, Lewis ..................................... 134
Five Nations League ................................... 5
Flavelle, Joseph ...................................... 129
Fleming, James................................... 73, 78
Fleming, Robert J...................................... 85
Fleming, Robert John ....................... 84, 167
Fleming, Sandford..................................... 18
Fletcher, Paula .......................................... 88
florists .................................................. 55, 57
Flynns ..................................................... 132
Fogartys ...................................... 55, 61, 132
Ford, George............................................. 98
Forest Hill ................................................ 170
forestry ...................................................... 80
Forgie, Thomas and Hugh ...................... 191
Fort Augustus ............................................ 64
Fort Rouillé ................................................ 38
Fort William ............................................... 64
Fort York ................................................... 37
Fortescue ................................................ 190
Foster, Samuel.......................................... 59
foundries ........................................... 48, 189
Fox, Thomas ....................................... 97, 98
Francis, Babe Southam .......................... 156
Franklin Street ......................................... 200
226
Franks, Nursery Seedsman and Market
Gardener ............................................... 67
Fraser, John Mary.................................... 137
French ..............................................4, 5, 158
Frizzell, William ..........................84, 130, 145
Front Street .............................................. 115
Frost ........................................................... 57
Fruit Growers’ Association ...................48, 73
Fruit King of Canada .................................. 79
Fuller & Stanbury, pork packers .............. 187
Fung, Robert .............................................. 25
Gaelic ...................................................63, 64
Gallaghers ............................................... 115
Gallivan .................................................... 136
gambling ......................... 126, 134, 163, 164
games ...................................................... 134
Ganetsekqyagon.......................................... 5
garbage ..............................................23, 176
garbage incinerator ..........................105, 176
garden cemeteries ..................................... 78
Gardener's Magazine ................................ 68
Garner, Hugh ........................................... 202
gas lights .................................................. 163
general store ....................................126, 153
General Store and Post Office ................... 73
gentrifying ................................................ 198
George III ................................................... 46
Georgian Bay Formation ........................... 28
germ theory................................................ 18
Gerrard ....................... 34, 90, 107, 123, 203
Gerrard prairie ........................................... 28
Gerrard Square .......................................... 34
Gerrard Street .......................................... 139
Gerrard Street East .........................129, 149
Gerrard Street, streetcars ................172, 183
Gibb, Alexandrine .................................... 191
Gibraltar Point ............................................ 12
Gibson, Joseph ........................................ 163
glacial drift.................................................. 28
Gladstone Avenue School ...............153, 155
Glasgow Rangers .................................... 197
Glebe ......................................................... 47
Glegg, John Baskerville ............................. 47
Glencoe ................................................... 203
Glenmorangie ............................................ 78
Glenside ................................................... 203
Globe . 50, 57, 59, 68, 69, 79, 80, 82, 84, 85,
88, 93, 95, 98, 99, 156, 164, 170, 171
Globe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin ....................... 118
glue factory ......................................115, 164
Goad’s Atlas ....................................176, 186
Goodall, James M. ..................................... 77
Gooderham ..... 18, 50, 51, 79, 111, 115, 129
Gooderham’s Grove ..........................18, 176
Gooderham’s Windmill .............................. 48
Goodwin ..................................................... 14
Goose Flats ............................................. 137
Gorrie ........................................................ 34
Gothic revival ............................................ 48
Gowan Hall ............. 120, 137, 143, 165, 166
Gowan, Ogle ................................... 120, 143
Grady, J. ................................................... 15
Graham, Joseph ....................................... 63
Graham, George ..................................... 167
Graham, J.J. ........................................... 177
Grand Orange Lodge of British North
America .............................................. 158
Grand Trunk Railway ... 51, 55, 72, 103, 115,
165, 175
Grand Trunk Railway, suburban trains ... 172
Grant, John Webster ............................... 128
Great Depression ............................ 105, 155
great flood, 1878 ....................................... 57
Great Hunger ............................................ 48
Great Revival .............................................. 8
Great War ............................................... 107
Green, Anson .......................................... 129
greenbelts ................................................. 77
Greenhall, Mahala............. 72, 81, 84, 85, 87
greenhouse ................................... 61, 68, 69
greenhouses destroyed by fire ................. 71
Greenwood Avenue, 1905 brickyards .... 103
Greenwood Avenue, annexation 1890 ... 175
Greenwood Avenue, commuter trains .... 172
Greenwood Avenue102, 104, 107, 108, 126,
137, 139, 172
Greenwood Court.................................... 197
Greenwood Park ..... 105, 107, 186, 200, 204
Greenwood Racetrack .............................. 59
Greenwood Subway Yards ............. 107, 108
Greenwood Theatre ................................ 190
Greenwoods ... 15, 23, 90, 99, 100, 103, 118,
122, 165, 167, 168, 203
Greer, John ............................................. 139
Gregg machine ......................................... 99
Grosse Ile ................................................ 111
Grover Street, Cumming ......................... 137
Gurney foundry ....................................... 100
Gut .......................... 23, 30, 34, 69, 120, 184
H.C. Baird, Son. & Co. .............................. 99
hail ............................................................ 57
half pay officers ......................................... 37
Haliburton ................................................ 204
Hall, Basil .................................................. 47
Hall, Alfred ................................................ 95
Hallam ......................................... 20, 87, 201
Hamilton ............................................ 95, 134
Hamilton Foundry.................................... 166
Hamilton Spectator ................................. 157
Hamilton, Gus ......................................... 123
Hamilton, John .......................................... 98
Hamilton, William .................................... 100
227
handcart ..................................................... 61
hanging tree, lynching ............................... 88
Hanlan, Ned ............................................... 15
Hanson St. Yard ...................................... 105
Harcus, Peter ........................................... 179
hard lofts .................................................. 198
Harland, Wm & Son ................................. 187
Harper’s Dump......................................... 107
Harris, Anna Louisa ................................. 116
Harris, James........................................... 115
Harris, R.C. .............................................. 186
Harris, William............................51, 115, 164
Harrison, William...................................... 123
Hart & Barkey ............................................ 87
Hastings ..... 34, 38, 46, 48, 50, 98, 171, 203,
205
Hastings Avenue...................................... 104
Hastings Creek .... 6, 23, 30, 34, 90, 98, 112,
183
Haudenosaunee .................................... 5, 37
Hawley, Nancy ......................................... 160
Hawthorne, Constable, assault................ 116
Haymer, F. ............................................... 124
Head, Jack and Richard .......................... 190
Heale, Sam ................................................ 15
Heathcote, F.C.C. .................................... 139
Helliwell, game laws ................................ 165
Hello Toast............................................... 198
hemlock ...............................................30, 74
hemlocks.................................................... 78
Henderson, Andrew ...........................98, 121
Henry Martin brick machine ....................... 99
Heron, Samuel ........................................... 38
Heward .................................................... 203
Heward Creek ............................................ 30
Heward Farm
for sale ......................................................... 50
Hewards .................................34, 37, 50, 116
Heward’s Creek ...................................34, 98
Hiawatha ..............................8, 139, 181, 203
Hibernian Benevolent Society ................. 143
Hickey, Joe (Adolphus) ............................ 190
Hideaway Park......................................... 200
Higgins, William ...........................51, 88, 163
High Park ................................................... 28
Highland cattle ........................................... 64
Highland Clearances ...........................46, 64
Highlands ................................................... 63
Hills, Mrs. ................................................. 155
Hiltz, William Wesley ............................... 203
Hocken, Horatio Clarence ...............149, 184
Hodgson, ex constable ............................ 165
Hogarth, Thomas ....................................... 53
Holland Landing ....................................... 153
Holland River ............................................... 6
Hollands ... 50, 103, 111, 112, 115, 116, 132,
Holy Blossom .......................................... 141
Hopkins, John ........................................... 98
Horse chestnut .............................. 40, 80, 82
Horse-racing ........................................... 163
Horticultural Society and Botanical Gardens
of Toronto ............................................. 65
Horticulturist ........................................ 48, 79
Horton Walker ......................................... 181
Horton, Patrick .......................................... 98
hotels .................................... 50, 53, 75, 168
House of Industry ...................................... 49
housing crisis .................................. 107, 197
Howard, J. Scott...................................... 137
Howard, William ...................................... 116
Hubbard, William Peyton ........................ 177
Hughes, Sam .......................................... 189
Huguenots ............................................... 201
Humber River .............................. 5, 6, 14, 28
Hunter ....................................................... 34
David ...........................................................20
Peter .............................................................39
William ........................................................97
Hunting .............................................. 17, 165
Hurly, John .............................................. 164
Huron Signal ............................................. 79
Hurons ........................................................ 5
hurricane ................................................... 57
Hydro Store ............................................. 189
ice fishing .................................................... 7
ice harvest ................................................. 17
ice house ............................................. 15, 17
ice merchants................................ 17, 50, 90
iceboats ..................................................... 15
Immigrant Sheds ....................................... 49
Imperial Munitions Board ........................ 189
Imperial Oil Company ............................. 192
Imperial Order of the Daughters of the
Empire ................................................ 155
Imperial Produce Co. ................................ 79
imperialism .............................................. 150
incinerator ................................................. 23
Indian Bazaar .......................................... 150
Indian grass .............................................. 30
Indian hunting park ..................................... 6
Indian Road ................................................. 7
Influenza ................................................. 192
Inglison, John ............................................ 51
inns ................................................... 51, 118
insane asylum, John Howard.................... 65
International Centennial Exhibition in
Philadelphia .......................................... 79
Inventory of Heritage Properties ............... 41
Ireland ........................................... 90, 97, 98
Irish ................................................. 130, 134
Irish Brotherhood .................................... 134
Irish Catholic ............................... 63, 90, 115
228
Irish Catholic Benevolent Union Band ..... 134
Irish Catholics, discrimination .................. 112
Irish emigrants, 1847 ................................. 49
Irish fishermen ............................................. 14
Irish Land League .................................... 136
Irish Protestant...................................48, 115
Irish Protestant Benevolent Association .. 143
Irish rebels ................................................. 63
Irish, enclave............................................ 111
Irish, market garden labourers ................... 52
Irish, population in Toronto ........................ 50
Irish, starving ............................................. 49
Iroquois Confederacy .................................. 4
Isolation Hospital ....................................... 23
Italian greengrocers ................................. 187
J. E. Webb ............................................... 104
J. WRESCH & Son .................................... 68
J.B. Thompson & Co ................................. 61
jacklights, night fishing ............................... 15
Jacques, Alexander ................................. 163
James, Chris ............................................ 168
Jarvis ...........................................8, 126, 199
Jennings ......................................77, 88, 192
Jesse Ketchum School ............................ 153
Jesuits, Society of Jesus ............................. 5
Jewish ............................... 59, 139, 150, 199
John Deere ................................................ 48
John Price Ltd. ......................................... 105
John Price red.......................................... 108
Johnson ...............................................5, 149
Johnston, Mary Alice ............................... 153
Jonathan Ashbridge Park ........................ 186
Jones ....................................................... 203
Augustus ...................................................... 37
E.A. ............................................................ 121
Henry ........................................................... 98
John, Chief .....................................................8
Jones, John .. 20, 23, 90, 98, 137, 139, 143,
172, 179, 203
Peter ............................................................... 5
William ...................................................... 190
Jones Avenue ... 90, 102, 103, 138, 139, 187
Jones Avenue Cemetery ......................... 141
Joseph, Judah G...................................... 139
Joseph, Samuel ....................................... 139
Jubilee Riot .............................................. 134
June, snow in ............................................. 57
Junior Branch of the Auxiliary (J.A.s) ...... 139
Kahkewaquonaby, Peter Jones, Rev. ......... 5
Kavanaughs ............................................. 132
Keating ...............................................24, 184
Keith, George............................................. 78
Kellogg, Converse ................................... 153
Kells ........................................................... 99
Kelso, J.J. .................................................. 87
Kemp, Edward .................................143, 189
Kendrick .................................................. 164
Kenilworth Avenue creek .......................... 30
Kennedy, Dr. ............................................. 20
Kennedy, McVittie and Holland............... 134
Kennedy, Warring ........................... 176, 177
Kent ......................................................... 203
Kent-McClain, Ltd., ................................. 187
Kerr ........................... 98, 121, 168, 202, 204
Ketchum, William .................................... 163
Kichigos .............................................. 7, 199
King Charles I ......................................... 108
King Edward Viaduct ................................ 88
King Street .......................................... 46, 68
King’s Plate ............................................. 122
Kingston ............................................ 73, 152
Kingston Penitentiary .............................. 167
Kingston Road ..... 47, 90, 98, 115, 126, 134,
137, 152, 170, 172, 204
Kingston road church .............................. 128
Kingston Road market gardens .......... 55, 61
Kingston Road Tramway .......................... 59
Kingston Road, planked ............................ 69
Kingston trail ....................................... 39, 40
kit homes................................................. 179
Knight, George .......................................... 98
Knight, John .............................................. 98
Knox College........................................... 130
Knox Presbyterian Church ........................ 85
L.O.L. No. 142......................................... 152
Ladies Loyal True Blues ................. 143, 149
Ladies’ Orange Association .................... 145
Laidlaw Manufacturing Company ........... 100
Laings ......................... 15, 20, 155, 166, 204
Laing Street ....................... 15, 153, 155, 160
Lake Admiralty .......................................... 14
Lake Iroquois ............................................ 28
Lake Street ................................................ 51
Knox Avenue................................14, 98, 204
Lakeshore Boulevard East ........................ 24
Lakeshore Road.......................................... 7
Lakeview Secondary School ................... 108
Lamb, Henry ............................................. 87
Lambert ..................................................... 90
Lambert, William ............... 51, 74, 75, 79, 90
Lambton Park ............................................ 28
Land Security Company ......................... 176
landfill .................................... 15, 24, 25, 108
Landmarks ................................................ 71
Lang, Joe .................................................. 14
Larch of London ........................................ 64
Larchmount ....................................... 87, 204
Larchmount Avenue .................................. 69
Larkins .................................................... 132
Laskey....................................................... 50
Late Loyalists ...................................... 37, 46
Latta, Marti
229
archaeologist ..................................................4
laundries, Chinese ................................... 149
Lavallée, Calixe ....................................... 158
Lavallée, Calixe ....................................... 158
Lawson Seed and Nursery Company ........ 80
Lawson, Peter ............................................ 80
lead
pollution ....................................................... 23
Lee
doctor .............................................................7
Lee Avenue.............................................. 172
Lee, William ............................................. 149
legalization of labour unions .................... 103
Leslie Creek .............. 23, 30, 34, 90, 98, 205
Leslie Hotel .............................................. 121
Leslie Log House ....................................... 65
Leslie Post Office ...........................34, 53, 81
Leslie Street .............. 98, 118, 137, 171, 204
Leslie Street Public School ..........50, 53, 158
Leslie Street Spit........................................ 24
Leslie, Caroline ........................67, 72, 77, 88
Leslie, Caroline Jane
Leslie, Elizabeth “Eliza” ............................ 63
Leslie, Esther .................... 63, 65, 67, 72, 79
Leslie, George ...................................93, 204
1804-1892 .................................................... 63
1841-1915 .................................................... 67
funeral .......................................................... 84
Hiring teacher .............................................. 51
Maple Leaf Forever ................................... 153
Methodist meetings in his home ................ 126
plaque .......................................................... 88
role model .................................................. 176
subdivision of land ..................................... 170
Toronto Horticultural Society ...................... 47
Leslie, George “Geordie” ........................... 63
Leslie, George Jr. 72, 75, 77, 79, 81, 84, 87,
88
Leslie, James ............................................. 63
Leslie, John..........................................63, 65
Leslie, John Knox 20, 67, 72, 75, 80, 84, 87,
88, 177, 179, 204
Leslie, John Sr. ....................................63, 64
Leslie, Mahala.......................................... 130
Leslie, Robert................ 63, 65, 69, 130, 170
Leslie, William ........................................... 63
Leslie, William “Willie” ................................ 63
Leslie,Caroline Davis, death ...................... 72
Leslie Grove .... 71, 75, 85, 87, 88, 103, 136,
186
Leslie’s Nurseries, Toronto Nurseries ....... 17
Leslieville Brick Company.......................... 97
Leslieville definition ...................................... 2
Leslieville Methodist Church .................... 128
Leslieville Presbyterian Church ...84, 85, 172
Leslieville Public School ......................4, 102
Leslieville Ratepayers’ Association......... 189
Leslieville Rowing Club ............................. 15
Lever Bros. Soap Factory ....................... 115
Leys, John ............................................... 121
Liberties ................................ 47, 51, 90, 171
Linton, William........................................... 38
Liquor Control Act ................................... 123
Little Britain ..................................... 139, 186
Little Ice Age ............................................. 57
Little Trinity Church ................................. 203
Loblaws Store ......................................... 192
log cabin .............................................. 39, 99
Logans .............................................. 90, 204
George ............................ 55, 59, 68, 90, 165
John ................ 55, 65, 90, 103, 104, 105, 20
Logan Avenue .... 57, 65, 111, 116, 139, 171,
189
Logan Avenue gang ................................ 167
London Fruit Co. ....................................... 79
Long Depression ....................................... 98
Long Sault canal ....................................... 64
Long, James ........................................... 166
Long, William .......................................... 165
Longboat, Tom ............................................ 6
Longfellow ............................................... 203
Henry ............................................................ 8
Longford .................................................. 132
Lord’s Day Alliance ................................. 126
Lord's Day Act ......................................... 126
Loudon, John Claudius ....................... 68, 74
Louise and Alberta Apartments .............. 107
Louvain ................................................... 204
Lovell, John ............................................... 77
Loyal Orange Young Briton Association . 149
Loyal True Blue Association ................... 149
Loyalists .................................... 5, 37, 38, 46
Lucas, J. & Co................................. 104, 105
Luistania .................................................. 192
Lundy’s Lane........................................... 158
Lynch, John Joseph ................ 132, 134, 136
Lynch, Timothy.......................................... 61
MacDonald, John A................................... 81
Macdonald, Margaret ................................ 78
Macdonald, Peter ............................ 116, 172
MacEachern, real estate ......................... 107
Macfarlane, Donald ................................... 51
Mackenzie, William ................................. 172
Mackenzie, William Lyon .................. 67, 150
Mackey, Margaret ................................... 156
Main Sewage Treatment Plant ................. 24
malaria ...................................................... 12
Mallon ..................................................... 204
Manchips ................................................. 108
Manitoba School Crisis ........................... 156
Manning, James........................................ 51
Manson, Ross ......................................... 165
230
Maple Cottage .................................153, 160
Maple Leaf Forever ..... 53, 75, 88, 112, 143,
152, 156, 157, 158, 160
Maple Leaf Forever Park ......................... 160
Maple Leaf Forever Tree .........155, 156, 158
Maple Leaf Forever, words ...................... 156
Maple Leaf Lodge .................................... 143
Maple Leaf Skating Rink ............................ 34
Maple Leaf, No. 455 ................................ 149
marching season ..................................... 145
Marigold .............................................88, 204
Marjory ..................................................... 204
market garden................... 28, 55, 90, 92, 97
market gardens, brickyards and cattle
ranches ................................................ 183
market gunners .......................................... 17
Marsh, Leonard............................14, 15, 168
Martin ...............................................100, 104
Martin machine .......................................... 95
Masons ..............................................23, 149
Matthews ...................................5, 37, 49, 67
Matty Eckler Centre ................................. 141
McBride ................................................37, 73
McCaulay, James, Doctor ......................... 12
McCormick, Cyrus ..................................... 48
McCracken, John ....................................... 98
McDermott, chicken thief ......................... 165
McDiarmid, Catherine .............................. 152
McDonald, Dr. ............................................ 23
McDonald, Elizabeth .................................. 67
McEntee, J.J. ........................................... 136
McGee .................. 59, 65, 69, 145, 165, 204
McGregor, Archibald and Catherine ........ 192
McGregor, William ................................... 192
McGuire, James....................................... 130
McKay, C.B. ............................................... 51
McKee, Martin........................7, 20, 130, 137
McKerrow................................................. 130
McLatchie, John...........................20, 49, 143
McLean, Donald......................................... 12
McLeartney, Susan .................................. 121
McManus, Catherine ................................. 57
McNamee’s Cut ......................................... 18
McPhee, Alexander ................................. 192
Meadow Vale .................................64, 65, 67
Medcalf, Alfred ........................................... 20
Medcalf, Francis ...................................... 120
Medical Officer of Health ...................20, 186
Memory Lane ........................................... 160
Men of the Trees...................................... 155
Menin Gate Memorial .............................. 190
merchant tokens ........................................ 72
Methodist . 38, 39, 63, 65, 75, 126, 128, 139,
143, 177, 197
Methodist Church....................................... 53
Methuen ................................................... 205
Metro Waterfront Advisory Board ............. 25
miasmas .................................................... 20
Mickeys ................................................... 145
Midewin Society .......................................... 6
Midway ...................... 75, 130, 181, 184, 186
Might and Taylor Toronto Directory
1878 .............................................................98
Might’s Directory of 1921. ....................... 149
Military Medal .......................................... 191
Mill Road ................................................... 47
Mill street ................................................... 59
Miller, James ........................................... 130
Mills, Parker .................................. 37, 38, 50
Mills, Samuel............................................. 48
Minto ....................................................... 204
Mississagi River .......................................... 4
Mississauga .............................. 5, 8, 14, 199
Mississauga Road..................................... 65
Mississauga trail Danforth ........................ 46
Mississaugas .............................................. 8
Mitchell Directory ...................................... 75
Mitchell, Thomas ....................................... 51
Mitchell’s Directory .................................... 97
mixed marriages ......................... 73, 99, 137
Mohawk Trail............................................. 38
Monaghan ................................................. 90
Monarch Park .................... 30, 107, 108, 186
Monarch Realty Company ...................... 104
Monk, Maria ............................................ 130
Monro ........................................................ 50
Monsignor Fraser College ...................... 137
Monteith,Hugh........................................... 46
Montgomery, W....................................... 139
Montreal Telegraph Co. ............................ 79
Montreal Witness .................................... 157
Morin House ............................ 116, 121, 123
Morin, James ...................................... 97, 98
Morley ............................................. 105, 203
Morley and Ashbridge, brickmanufacturers
............................................................ 103
Morley Avenue ................................ 181, 205
Morley AvenueSewage Treatment Plant .. 24
Morley AvenueSewer Treatment Plant ... 184
Morleys ... 50, 90, 92, 97, 98, 103, 163, 167,
168
Morley, Jane,
Woman brick manufacturer .........................97
Morris ...................................................... 121
Morrison, Taylor, & Co. ........................... 170
Morse ................ 20, 115, 116, 170, 184, 204
Morson, Judge ........................................ 116
Mosley ................................. 5, 37, 46, 49, 204
Mosquito Park ........................................... 87
mosquitoes ................................................ 12
Moss Chemical Mfg. Co .......................... 187
Motordrome............................................. 197
231
Mount Hope nursery ............................69, 71
Mount Pleasant Cemetery ...........77, 78, 111
Mowat, Oliver ............................................. 73
Muir, Alexander 75, 102, 143, 152, 153, 155,
156
Muirs .. 53, 88, 143, 152, 153, 155, 158, 160,
200, 218
Mulcahey brothers ................................... 164
Mullaby, Annie ........................................... 73
multiculturalism ........................................ 157
Mulvey & McCracken ................................. 98
Mundie, William ......................................... 72
Munitions Board, World War I .................... 24
murder, Toronto's first.................................. 6
Murphy ..................................................... 136
Murphy, J.G. ............................................ 134
Murphy, James Thomas .......................... 190
Murphy, Richard ...................................... 163
muskrat, trapping ....................................... 17
Natalie Street ........................................... 201
National Hotel .......................................... 145
National Policy ........................................... 81
native transportation routes ......................... 6
natural gas ............................................... 102
naturalists ......................................17, 30, 34
navvies ....................................................... 51
Nazi .......................................................... 150
near beer ................................................. 123
Nechequakekon ........................................... 7
Necropolis ......................................78, 84, 85
Neville ........................................................ 50
New Credit Reserve .................................... 8
New Jersey Volunteers .............................. 37
Newark, Niargara-on-the-Lake .................. 38
Newmarket.......................................130, 153
Niagara Parks Commission ..................... 181
Niagara-on-the-Lake .................................. 38
Nicholsons .....................................50, 55, 59
Nolans ...................................................... 115
Non-Conformist..........................63, 108, 143
Nordheimer, Abraham ............................. 139
Norfolk Avenue ........................................ 201
Northmen of the New World .................... 156
Northwest Rebellion ................................ 153
Nortons ...................................................... 98
Norway .........................................47, 81, 132
Norway maple ......................................71, 80
Nursery catalogue...................................... 72
O Canada ................................................ 158
O’Connell, Daniel ..................................... 134
O’Donoghue, Daniel John ....................... 130
O’Donovan Rossa riot ............................. 148
O’Keefe’s Beverages Limited .................. 124
O’Mahoney, Timothy ............................... 136
O’Reilly, Charles ...................................... 136
O’Reilly, James Edwin .....................134, 136
O’Reilly, Michael McCartin ...................... 136
O’Sullivan, Daniel Tim Daniel 118, 132, 134,
137, 163
Oak Ridges Moraine ................................... 6
oak savannah............................................ 28
Oakville ..................................................... 20
Oates, J.P. ................................................ 95
oath of loyalty ............................................ 38
Odawa ......................................................... 4
Oddfellows' Hall ...................................... 149
Of Toronto the Good ............................... 177
Ojibway ....................................................... 4
Old Mill ........................................................ 5
Old Mississauga Road ................................ 7
Old Woodbine ........................................... 59
Oliver Hammond House ........................... 65
Omagh ...................................................... 63
Oneida Township ........................................ 8
onions ....................................................... 39
Onondaga ................................................... 6
Ontario Conservation Review Board ...... 160
Ontario Fruit Growers’ Association .... 55, 79,
82, 85
Ontario Heritage .................................... 4, 41
Ontario Railway Act of 1906 ................... 183
oral history .................................................. 4
Orange 47, 49, 112, 129, 137, 148, 152, 156,
158, 172, 189
Orange Association of Canada ............... 158
Orange Lodge (L.O.L.) Lodge No. 455 ... 143
Orange Order .......................... 120, 143, 155
Orange Young Britons ............................ 148
orchard .......................................... 57, 59, 61
orchards ................................ 48, 55, 85, 204
O'Reilly, Michael McCartin ...................... 132
Orleans County, New York State .............. 46
Osgoode Hall ................................ 65, 67, 85
Oudijk Brothers ......................................... 88
Over the Don........................................... 115
packing houses ....................................... 115
paint factories ............................................ 23
paint shop ............................................... 184
Paisley .................................................... 190
Palatines ................................................. 200
Pall Mall Gazette ....................................... 79
Palmer, Louisa .......................................... 57
Pape ........................................................ 204
Pape Avenue 57, 95, 97, 115, 139, 153, 175
Pape Avenue Cemetery .......................... 141
Papes ........ 50, 55, 57, 59, 68, 134, 190, 204
park lots .................................................. 112
Parkdale .................................. 176, 177, 201
Parker
Mills .............................................................49
Parkfield .......................................... 104, 204
Parkhill .............................................. 99, 100
232
Parkhill Martin ..................................103, 105
Parkin, John ............................................... 98
Parks Committee ....................................... 24
Parks Department ..............................87, 158
Parliament Buildings ............................65, 85
Parliament Street ......................................... 7
Parries, Richard ......................................... 67
Parsons, John ............................................ 95
Passchendaele ........................................ 192
Pasteur, Louis ............................................ 18
Pathmasters............................................... 39
Patterson, Agnes ....................................... 57
Patterson, Constable ............................... 123
Paul, Rembler ....................................59, 203
peace treaty ................................................. 5
peddlers ...............................................55, 61
Peel ......................................................63, 64
Pegg .......................................................... 38
Penal Laws ................................63, 136, 143
Peninsula, Toronto Islands ..................5, 6, 7
Penn, William ............................................. 38
Peterson, Frank ....................................... 165
petition to abolish slavery ........................ 108
Phair ..................................................59, 121
Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition ............ 99
Philips ....... 20, 37, 41, 46, 57, 108, 150, 166
Phillips Manufacturing Co. ...............183, 187
Pickering, Latimer .................................... 100
piggery .......................................50, 111, 132
pike, killed by pollution ............................... 20
pike, fishing ................................................ 15
pine forest .................................................. 28
plank road ..................................47, 126, 171
plantations ............................................... 108
Platt, J. ....................................................... 81
Platt, Thomas............................................. 67
Playters ...................................................... 37
Playter’s Hall ............................................ 149
Plymouth Brethren ................................... 204
police ..... 134, 136, 145, 148, 163, 164, 167,
168, 170, 171, 176
Police Chief, High Constable ..................... 51
police station, Pape Avenue .................... 186
police, assaulting ..................................... 116
Police, lack of........................................... 163
Pollard, Jonathan ....................................... 59
polychromatic brick .................................... 93
population .................................................. 95
population growth ..............................50, 197
population, 1812 ........................................ 46
population, 1816 ........................................ 46
population, Catholic ................................. 137
pork packing .............................................. 18
Port Credit .................................................... 8
portage ..................................................... 5, 7
portages ................................................... 5, 6
Porter, George .......................................... 46
Portlands ................................................... 24
Post Office ................................................ 74
postage rates .......................................... 170
Postlethwaite & Graham ......................... 170
postmaster, George Leslie Jr.................... 53
Potato Famine, ............................... 111, 132
potatoes .............................................. 28, 39
Pottawatomi ................................................ 4
Potter, John ............................................... 61
Pottery Road ............................................... 7
Poulton Block .................................. 145, 170
poultry ................................................. 48, 81
Power Street ........................................... 132
Power, Michael ....................................... 134
prairie .............................................. 5, 28, 55
Precambrian.............................................. 28
prehistory .................................................... 4
Presbyterian . 77, 78, 85, 126, 130, 137, 139,
148, 197
Prescott ..................................................... 64
pressed brick ....................................... 95, 97
Prices ............ 15, 51, 92, 103, 104, 105, 108
Isaac .............................................................15
Price and Smith....................................... 105
Prince Arthur ........................................... 136
Prince, William ........................................ 134
Printing Factory Lofts .............................. 198
prohibition ....................................... 123, 197
prostitution .............................................. 122
Protestant Boys ....................................... 145
Protestant Protective Association ........... 156
Provincial Advisory Board for the Ontario
delegation ............................................. 79
Provincial Exhibition ............................ 73, 75
Provincial Freeman ................................... 17
Provincial Sabbath Observance Alliance 130
Prust, William .................................. 107, 204
Public Health Department ....................... 186
public school ....................... 51, 53, 111, 157
Puritan Hotel ........................... 118, 122, 203
Quakers .................................................. 126
quarantine station ................................... 111
Quebec ..................... 64, 132, 156, 157, 158
Quebec Act ................................................. 5
Queen Street 7, 47, 118, 137, 145, 149, 153,
197, 204
Queen Street bridge ................................. 46
Queen Street East brickyards ................. 103
Queen Street East Methodist Church .... 128,
129
Queen Street, paving .............................. 179
Queen Street, shade trees ........................ 82
Queen Victoria ........................................ 204
Queen’s College ..................................... 152
Queen’s Own Rifles ................................ 153
233
Queen's Rangers ....................................... 37
Queenston Heights .................................. 158
quoins ........................................................ 99
racetrack, Woodbine .................................. 18
racetracks on Ashbridge’s Bay .................. 15
Racial Discrimination Act, 1944 ............... 150
racism ..............................................149, 150
Radcliffe Avenue...................................... 206
Radcliffe, Henry. ...................................... 123
Radcliffe, Winnifred ................................. 206
Radicals ................................................... 149
railway ............................................47, 51, 92
Railway Board.......................................... 183
Railway Guarantee Act .............................. 50
railway station ..................................175, 179
Ramsey, David .......................................... 49
Rangers ....................................................... 6
Ravina Crescent ........................................ 34
Rawbon, William George ......................... 192
Reasons for Methodist Belief and Practice
relative to Water Baptism .................... 129
Rebellion Losses Act ............................... 145
recreational rioting ................................... 143
Red Ensign ......................................156, 157
red legs .................................................... 108
Red Pine .................................................... 28
Redwood .................................................. 205
Reed, Thomas ...................................63, 126
Reformer ........................................74, 81, 85
refrigeration..................................18, 55, 111
Reid ......................................................... 205
Reid Avenue ....................................130, 187
Reid, Captain
Larch of London .......................................... 64
Reid, Caroline .......................................... 164
Reid, Nelson .............................................. 71
Reid, Ross .......................................163, 164
religious affiliations .................................. 139
Rembler's Road ....................................... 203
rendering plant ......................................... 115
Rennie, William ............................78, 84, 130
Renwick, Jim............................................ 205
restaurants, Chinese ............................... 149
Restrictive covenants .............................. 149
Revolutionary War ................................... 121
Rhodes ....................................149, 187, 205
Rhodes Avenue Presbyterian Church ..... 129
Ribbonmen .............................................. 143
Richards, Richard B. ..........................17, 118
Richardson, Joseph ................................... 51
Richmond Hall ........................................... 61
Ridout, George .......................................... 67
riots .......................................................... 145
Ritchie ................................................97, 100
Riverdale 30, 82, 88, 90, 115, 149, 171, 189,
197, 198
Riverdale Branch, Toronto Public Library 163
Riverdale Collegiate ........................ 186, 192
Riverdale Housing Co-op ........................ 129
Riverdale Methodist Church ................... 129
Riverdale Ratepayers’ Association ......... 190
Riverside ................................................. 177
Riverside Band................................ 130, 145
Robbins ................................................... 155
Robertson, John Ross ..... 71, 118, 120, 128,
132, 134, 153
Robins ..................................................... 181
Robinson, Christopher ........................ 37, 49
Robinson Street, Pape Avenue .............. 139
Robinson, John Beverley .................. 50, 139
Robinsons ........................................... 5, 199
Rochester ................................ 46, 69, 75, 81
Roden School ......................................... 186
Roderick, John ........................................ 103
Roe, Patrol-Sergeant, assault ................. 116
Rogart ........................................... 63, 64, 85
Rolph Stone .................................... 189, 198
Roman Catholics..................... 139, 149, 152
Rooney, Emma ......................................... 40
Rooney, Elizabeth ..................................... 40
Rooney, Francis .............................. 132, 134
root crops .................................................. 55
Rosedale ................................................. 170
Ross & Son ......................................... 87, 88
Ross rifles ............................................... 149
Ross, Alexander........................................ 81
Ross, Charles ........................................... 87
Ross, John McPherson ...... 14, 17, 18,73, 87
Ross, John McRae............................ 57, 130
Ross, Mrs. ................................................. 67
Rossa, Jeremiah O’Donovan .................. 148
Rosshire .................................................... 64
Rossiter, Edwin ......................................... 98
Rouge ............................................... 5, 6, 28
Roughian ................................................. 158
Routhier, Adolphe-Basile ........................ 158
Rowan, Mrs., tollgate keeper .................. 175
rowing ......................................... 15, 24, 191
Royal Canadian Bicycle Club ................. 175
Royal North West Mounted Police .......... 192
Royal Proclamation of 1763 ........................ 5
Rudman, Thomas ..................................... 51
Rule, Harold P......................................... 191
Rule, Reginald ........................................ 191
rum-running ............................................. 123
running, long distance ................................. 6
Rushbrooke............................... 88, 190, 205
Russell brickyard, Morley brickyard ........ 105
Russell, Elizabeth and Peter ............... 37, 67
Russell Abbey ..................................... 67, 68
Russell Car Barns ........................... 184, 205
Russell Place .......................................... 201
234
Russells 15, 51, 87, 90, 93, 97, 98, 100, 102,
103, 104, 105, 176, 184, 204
Russell’s hotel.......................................... 166
Russell-McKay Realty Ltd. ...................... 205
Ryans ....................................................... 132
Sabbatarianism ........................................ 126
saddle-bag ................................................. 64
salmon .................................................14, 30
salmon bricks ............................................. 93
salt pork ..................................................... 53
Sammon ..............................................34, 55
sanctuary, bird ........................................... 74
sand pump ................................................. 23
Sarin, Vimal ............................................. 205
Saunders, Saunders ................................ 150
Sawden ............... 97, 98, 103, 104, 170, 205
sawmill ....................................................... 47
Sawyer, Joseph ........................................... 8
Scadding, Henry ........................7, 12, 14, 30
Scadding, John ....................................37, 50
Scarborough ............................5, 49, 61, 152
Scarborough Bluffs .................................... 12
Scarborough Foreign Mission Soc. ......... 137
school trustee ............................................ 85
Schoolcraft, Henry ................................... 203
Scotch elm ...........................................71, 80
Scotchman’s Paradise ............................. 148
Sear ...........................................90, 102, 205
secret ballot, school board trustees ......... 137
secret underground hymn ........................ 158
Sedgewicks................................................ 57
seed company ........................................... 61
self-built ................................................... 181
Senecas ....................................................... 5
Sentinel .................................................... 157
separate school ...........................53, 75, 137
Seton, Ernest Thompson ...............14, 17, 74
settlement duties........................................ 38
settlement house ....................................... 87
sewage 14, 18, 20, 24, 84,95, 105, 170,171,
176, 184, 186
Sewell, Samuel and Rachel ..................... 204
Shacktowns .....................................107, 176
Shadd, Mary Ann ....................................... 17
shade trees ....................................73, 80, 82
shale ..........................................28, 100, 102
Shameless Women ................................. 167
shanties .......................................38, 40, 170
Shaw, James ........................................... 118
Sheard, Charles ....................................... 186
Sheard, Joseph.......................................... 40
shebeen ...........................................116, 123
shebeens .........................................120, 163
Sheedy, Matthew ..................................... 145
sheep .....................................48, 59, 64, 115
Sheldon and Sheldon .............................. 103
shelter-belt ................................................ 71
Sherman & Cooper ................................. 187
Sherwood, Samuel.................................. 145
Shinny
hockey ..........................................................15
ship building .............................................. 51
Shropshires ............................................... 48
silver maple ............................... 30, 153, 155
Silver maple .............................................. 80
silver medal ....................................... 80, 145
Simcoe, Elizabeth Posthuma ...................... 7
Simcoe, John Graves ................. 6, 8, 37, 38
Simcoe Street docks ................................. 49
Simmers, Joseph Adolphus ...................... 78
Simon, A.D. ............................................. 123
Simpson
Fred ............................................................... 6
Jimmy ........................................................149
Simpson Brick ................................. 102, 103
Simpson, Joseph ...................................... 59
Six Nations Confederacy ............................ 8
skiffs .......................................................... 15
Skinner, Isaiah .......................................... 46
skinny dipping ......................................... 164
Slabtown ................................................. 145
slaughterhouse ......................... 50, 111, 112
slavery ................................. 38, 53, 108, 199
sludge beds ............................................. 186
small fruits ................................................. 57
Small, Charles Coxwell .. 48, 69, 77, 85, 137,
153, 202
Small, John ............................................. 202
Small’s Pond ..................................... 30, 105
smallpox epidemic ...................................... 5
Smith, David William ................................. 37
Smith, Donald ......................................... 157
Smith, Frank .................................... 132, 172
Smith, George J. ..................................... 116
Smith, George ......................... 118, 120, 121
Smith, John ................................... 34, 51, 98
Smith, Larrat ............................................. 49
Smith, Thomas .......................................... 81
Smith, William Henry........................... 28, 72
Smith, William .............................................37
Smith, William, Mohawk historian ............... 4
smog ....................................................... 105
Smoke, Jimmy ............................................ 6
Smyth, Thomas John .............................. 190
soap .................................... 18, 20, 115, 201
Solmon, Lol ............................................. 184
Somerset......................................... 200, 205
Somerset Sounds ................................... 108
Somme.................................... 105, 191, 192
songbirds .................................................. 17
Sons of Erin ............................................ 148
South Carolina .......................................... 59
235
South Park ...................................59, 82, 202
Southam ..................................155, 156, 160
Sparkhall ............................................50, 111
spawning ...................................................... 6
Spearss .................................................... 130
speculation................................................. 47
Spencer, Harold ....................................... 190
sports and recreation ................................. 15
Sportsmen’s Battalion .............................. 191
Sproatt .......................................20, 152, 205
squatters ...................................................... 8
Squire Leslie ........................................72, 80
Squires ................................................57, 77
St. Clair Avenue ......................................... 37
St. Clement’s Church ............................... 137
St. John of Norway .................................. 126
St. John Roman Catholic Church ............ 132
St. John the Baptist Norway .......23. 59, 137,
139, 202
St. Joseph’s Church ........................132, 137
St. Lawrence Foundry ............................. 100
St. Lawrence Hall..................................... 136
St. Lawrence Market .... 8, 14, 17, 39, 50, 55,
57, 61, 111, 115, 175
St. Lawrence River ............................46, 111
St. Lawrence Ward ............................57, 163
St. Marie among the Hurons........................ 5
St. Mary's Church .................................... 132
St. Matthew Presbyterian Church ............ 132
St. Matthew’s Church .............................. 137
St. Matthew's Ward.................................. 137
St. Mel's Day School ................................ 132
St. Michael’s Cathedral ....................132, 134
St. Michael’s Hospital .............................. 137
St. Monica's Anglican Church .................. 139
St. Patrick Catholic Secondary School .... 107
St. Patrick’s Day ..............................134, 145
St. Patrick’s Hall (St. Lawrence Hall) ....... 148
St. Paul’s Catholic Church .................67, 132
St. Stephen’s United Church ................... 129
St. Thomas, diorama ............................... 118
Standard Brick .................................102, 105
Standard Explosives Company ............... 189
Stanton ............................................104, 205
State Pomological Soc. of Michigan .......... 78
steam shovel........................................92, 99
Steele Briggs .......................................61, 78
Stephens .................................................... 30
Stephens, H. .............................................. 72
Steward, W.T. .......................................... 183
Stickley, Gustav ....................................... 179
stock market crash..................................... 88
stockyards ................................................ 115
Stone, E.B................................................ 123
Stone’s Hotel ........................................... 116
Stony Monday’ ......................................... 145
storefront ministry ................................... 139
storm sewers ........................................... 171
Stowe, Harriet Beecher ........................... 118
Strachan Avenue .................................... 115
Strachan, John .......................................... 65
Straders .................................... 57, 164, 167
Stradling, Harry ....................................... 192
Street naming Sub-Committee ............... 200
street railway ........................................... 132
Street Railway Company ........................ 179
street trees .............................. 71, 72, 80, 82
streetcar .............................. 59, 90, 130, 172
streetcar riot ............................................ 183
streetcar suburb .............................. 137, 172
streetcars, for landfill ................................. 23
Streets Department ................................. 172
streets re-named ..................................... 187
Streetsville .......................................... 65, 85
Streetsville Historical Society .................... 65
Strickland, Samuel .................................... 38
strikes, brickyards ................................... 103
Stripling Preacher ................................... 129
Sturdy, Charles Walter ............................ 192
subdividing Toronto Nurseries
town lots.......................................................74
subdivision .................................... 48, 50, 51
subdivision, Curzon Street ...................... 111
subdivisions .............................. 82, 105, 107
Suburbia .................................................. 104
Sugar maple.......................................... 6, 80
Sunday street cars .................................. 126
Supreme Court of Canada ........................ 79
surveyors .................................................. 37
Sutherland Clearances ............................. 64
Sutherland Highlanders ............................ 63
Sutherlandshire ......................................... 63
Swanton, Thomas ................................... 165
Swastika Club ......................................... 150
sweet fern ................................................. 30
Swift, butcher .......................................... 111
Swinton, Annie .......................................... 87
synagogue .............................................. 139
T. Eaton Company .................................. 179
Tain ..................................................... 64, 78
Talbot, Edward Allen ................................. 14
tall grass prairie......................................... 28
Tam O’Shanter Inn.................................. 152
tamarack ............................................. 30, 69
Tango Palace .......................................... 198
Tanner and Gates ................................... 104
tannery .............................. 18, 181, 192, 198
tariff ................................................... 81, 197
tarpaper shack ................................ 107, 181
tavern ............................ 47, 73, 90, 126, 165
tavern licenses, number of ...................... 120
taxation ................................................... 171
236
Taylor Creek .............................................. 28
Taylor, Edwin ............................................. 73
Taylor, John ............................................. 126
team tracks .............................................. 104
teamsters ................................................... 99
Teck Theatre............................................ 190
Tecumseh auger ........................................ 95
Teiaiagon ..................................................... 5
telephone ........................................176, 179
temperance ..............................120, 122, 148
Temperance Hall .............................166, 172
temperance hotel ..................................... 122
tents ......................................................... 107
Terry, Parshall ........................................... 46
Thackeray, William Makepeace ............... 205
Thirteen Colonies....................................... 37
Thompson
Tommy, Parks Commissioner...................... 24
Thompson, Gordon V. ............................. 158
Thomson, Agnes......................152, 160, 200
Thornton, Squire ...................................... 179
Thorold ..................................................... 132
Three Sisters, The ....................................... 6
Times ......................................................... 49
Timothy Eaton Co. ................................... 107
Tionontati ..................................................... 5
Tipperary.................................................... 98
Todmorden ..........................................7, 175
Tolani Brothers ........................................ 187
tolls .. 47, 67, 69, 77, 99, 120, 145, 170, 171,
175
Torbrick Investments Ltd., ....................... 107
tornado ....................................................... 57
Toronto Board of Education .........40, 87, 108
Toronto Brick Company ........................... 105
Toronto Carrying Place ..................5, 6, 7, 37
Toronto Civic Railway .............................. 191
Toronto Council of Women ........................ 87
Toronto Directory ..................................... 170
Toronto East General Hospital .................. 34
Toronto Electoral Division Society’s
Agricultural Society..........................73, 77
Toronto Field Naturalists ......................... 160
Toronto General Burying Grounds ............ 77
Toronto General Hospital .......................... 59
Toronto Gravel & Concrete Co. ................. 59
Toronto Harbor Commission 15, 24, 25, 189,
191
Toronto Harbour ........... 15, 18, 38, 111, 136
Toronto Historical Board ..............5, 158, 160
Toronto Horticultural Society ..47, 65, 72, 75,
85
Toronto hospital ......................................... 49
Toronto House Building Association........ 176
Toronto Hydroelectric System ................. 189
Toronto Industrial Exhibition ................79, 85
Toronto Iron Works ................................. 187
Toronto Islands ................. 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 203
Toronto Lead and Color Company ......... 187
Toronto Nurseries 34, 63, 68, 69, 71, 72, 73,
75, 77, 78, 80, 81, 82, 87, 88, 90, 158
Toronto Nurseries, Custead ................ 65, 67
Toronto Nursery and Seed Garden .......... 69
Toronto Playground Association ............... 87
Toronto Port Authority ............................... 25
Toronto Public Library ............................. 139
Toronto Purchase ....................................... 5
Toronto Railway Co. ............... 172, 183, 184
Toronto Scarp ........................................... 14
Toronto Star ..... 23, 122, 124, 149, 167, 168,
191
Toronto Street Railway Company ........... 172
Toronto Township ..................................... 64
Toronto Transit Commission ... 105, 184, 205
Toronto Viaduct....................................... 203
Toronto Waterfront Revitalization ............. 25
Toronto World ......................................... 197
Townsend, Francis Charles .................... 190
Township of York ............ 47, 51, 69, 79, 171
Township of York school ........................... 51
Townsley, William ................................... 100
trade union area ...................................... 197
tragedy, Jones Avenue ........................... 205
trails ............................................................ 6
tramway ............................................ 59, 201
treaty rights ................................................. 8
Trebilcock ............................................ 51, 81
tree peddlers ............................................. 71
trespass .................................................... 81
Trinity College ......................................... 137
Trotter, Edward ....................................... 190
Trotter, John............................................ 130
Trudeau, Pierre ....................................... 157
tuberculosis ..................................... 8, 40, 87
typhoid .................................. 18, 20, 23, 186
typhus ....................................... 49, 111, 132
Tyrone ......................................... 63, 90, 130
Ulster ....................................................... 130
Ulster Stadium ................................ 197, 200
Uncle Tom’s Cabin............ 97, 118, 120, 163
Uncle Tom's Cabin .................................. 120
Underground Railway ............................. 120
unemployment ........................................ 197
Union armies ............................................. 53
Union Jack .............................................. 157
Union Station .......................................... 203
Unitarian Universalist Congregation ....... 139
United Ceramics Limited of Germany ..... 105
United Church ................................... 64, 129
United Empire Loyalist .................... 199, 204
University of Toronto, Victoria U. .............. 64
Upper Canada Academy .......................... 64
237
Upper Canada College ........................65, 85
Upper Canada Rebellion ...............47, 55, 67
Uprising of 1798......................................... 63
urban lots ................................................... 51
Usborne, John ......................................... 137
Uxbridge ............................................46, 132
vacation school .......................................... 87
Vales, C. .................................................... 95
Valpy, Michael ......................................... 158
Vanbots Construction Ltd ........................ 108
Vancouver................................................ 205
vegetables grown in market gardens......... 55
Vennell, Edward G. .................................... 90
Vera Apartments ...................................... 107
Verral ....................................................... 205
Vervalen, Richard ...................................... 95
Verveine ................................................... 198
veterans ............................ 67, 148, 150, 197
Victoria Avenue........................................ 200
Victoria College.......................................... 64
Victoria College Glee Club ...................... 129
Victoria Park ............................................ 129
Victoria, Queen .......................................... 67
Vimy Memorial ......................................... 192
vinegar ...........................................50, 53, 75
Volstead Act............................................. 123
Wabukanyne ................................................ 6
wages, brickyard ................................95, 103
Wagstaff.....................................90, 105, 107
Robert .......................................................... 46
Wagstaff Drive ......................................... 108
Wagstaffs . 50, 90, 92, 95, 97, 98, 100, 102,
103, 104, 105, 107, 108, 115, 116,137,
190, 200
Walpole .................................................... 205
Walsh, James .......................................... 134
War of 1812 ...............................8, 37, 39, 46
Ward, Constable ...................................... 116
Ward’s Island ............................................. 17
Warner, Frank ............................................ 87
Warner, George ......................................... 81
warrior tradition, Mississauga ...................... 5
water filtration plants ................................ 179
water rats ................................................... 20
water smoke .............................................. 93
water table ................................................. 30
Waterloo ............................................63, 100
Watkins, Charles...................................... 118
Watson, Sandy ........................................ 118
Webb, J.E. ............................................... 104
well .....................................................99, 102
Weller, William ........................................... 47
wenching .................................................. 163
Wendats....................................................... 5
Wesley, John ............................................. 63
West, Thomas............................................ 51
West, William ............................................ 98
Western Globe .......................................... 68
Weston, E.O............................................ 123
Wharfe, Harriet........................................ 203
Whipple, Samuel ....................................... 46
whistle-blowing.......................................... 23
Whitby ..................................................... 153
Whitchurch ................................................ 46
White oak .................................................. 28
White pines ......................................... 28, 81
Whiteside, Arthur ...................................... 98
Whitney, James ...................................... 164
wholesale .......................................... 82, 148
fruit and vegetables ......................................61
wholesale butchers ................................. 115
Widmer
Christopher, Dr. ...........................................50
widows and orphans ........................... 49, 97
wife beating ............................................. 164
WiIlcott, Paul ....................................... 38, 49
wild rice ................................................. 5, 18
Wild, Thomas .......................................... 134
Wilkinson, Rev. J.M. ............................... 129
William Barber House, .............................. 65
William Davies Company ........................ 115
William Hamilton & Son .......................... 100
William III ................................................ 143
William of Orange ........................... 129, 143
Wilson, George ....................................... 130
Winchester Street bridge .......................... 57
Wing, Ching ............................................ 167
Winnett, Ella ............................................ 126
Winnifred ................................................. 206
Winnipeg General Strike ......................... 197
Winters, Jacob .......................................... 46
Wisconsin glacier ...................................... 28
Wises ................... 15, 98, 103,165, 166, 168
Withrow ................................................... 129
Withrow Avenue Public School ................... 4
Woman’s Auxiliary .................................. 139
Women in brickyards .................... 90, 92, 97
Women’s Christian Temperance Union .. 122
Women’s Foreign Missionary Society..... 130
Women's role in War of 1812.................... 46
Wood, Enoch .......................................... 129
Woodbine .................................................. 47
Woodbine ...................... 12, 18, 47, 137, 175
Woodbine Beach......................... 24, 25, 186
Woodbine Ice Company ........................... 17
Woodbine racetrack .................. 59, 122, 177
Woodfield ................................ 107, 191, 205
Woodfield Road
54 Woodfield, fire ........................................41
WoodGreen Church ................................ 129
Woods Manufacturing ............................. 189
Woods, James William ........................... 189
238
Woods, William ..................................50, 121
Woodward Avenue .................................. 181
wool .............................................48, 59, 115
working class suburbs ............................. 181
World Fair .................................................. 79
World War One . 24, 107, 137, 150, 192, 218
World War Two ................................105, 150
Worts, Mary ............................................. 111
Wren and Wolf cases ............................. 150
Wright, Frederick ....................................... 55
Wrigley .....................................183, 189, 198
Yonge Street ..............................7, 47, 68, 73
York ...........................................64, 207, 219
York County brickyards 1930 .................. 105
York County Council ............................... 183
York Hotel ................................................. 67
York Township ........................ 30, 39, 50, 90
landowners, 1796 .........................................37
York, Township ....................................... 107
York, Township clerk................................. 84
Yorkville .......................................... 100, 153
Young Irishmen ....................................... 148
Young People’s Society
Anglican .....................................................139
Young Women’s Christian Temperance
Union .................................................. 122
Young, John .............................................. 51