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Colonel James Givins
This school bears the name of, and is located on land formerly owned by, Colonel James Givins, who came to Canada after fighting on the British side during the American Revolution. In 1791 he was commissioned in the Queen's Rangers and subsequently served as Indian agent at York from 1797. Appointed Provincial Aide-de-Camp to General Brock during the War of 1812, he was highly commended for the courageous manner in which, in command of a... -
David Gibson 1804-1864
This building, a good example of an early Victorian farm-house was completed in 1851 by David Gibson. Born in Glamis Parish, Forfarshire, Scotland, Gibson emigrated to Upper Canada where, in 1825, he was appointed a Deputy Land Surveyor. He was an ardent supporter of William Lyon Mackenzie, and was twice elected as a Reform member to the provincial parliament. One of Mackenzie's chief lieutenants in the unsuccessful Rebellion of 1837, he fled to the United... -
Dixie Union Chapel
Constructed of stone from the nearby Etobicoke River, this building also known as the Stone Chapel, is a rare surviving example of a "union" chapel from the settlement period of Upper Canada. It was erected in 1837 through the efforts of John Silverthorn, Allen Robinet and Daniel Harris, prominent early settlers of Toronto Township. It replaced a previous log structure in which Anglicans, Methodists and Presbyterians worshipped as early as 1816. The erection of such... -
Edith Kathleen Russell 1886-1964
A distinguished Canadian educator, Kathleen Russell was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia. She graduated in 1918 from the Toronto General Hospital School of Nursing and, in 1920, became first director of the University of Toronto's Department of Public Health Nursing, established to prepare personnel for the expanding field of public health service. An outspoken advocate of progressive reform in nursing education, she soon became dissatisfied with the inadequate training provided at many Canadian hospitals. As... -
Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe 1766-1850
The wife of the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim was born at Whitchurch, Herefordshire, England. Orphaned at birth, she lived with her uncle, Admiral Samuel Graves, and subsequently married his god-son, John Graves Simcoe. She accompanied her husband to Upper Canada where she travelled extensively. Her diaries and sketches, compiled during these years, provide a vivid description and invaluable record of the colony's early life. In 1794, near this site, Mrs. Simcoe... -
Jean-Baptiste Lainé Site
In the 16th century, prior to the arrival of Europeans, a village was founded on this site by the Huron-Wendat, a Nation of agriculturalists and fisher-hunter-gatherers. In response to increased conflict in the region, many smaller villages merged to form a three-hectare settlement of 1,700 people, with more than 50 longhouses arranged around a central plaza, surrounded by a palisade, a ditch and an embankment as protection. The economic and political functions of the Huron-Wendat... -
Jean Lumb, C.M., 1919-2002
Jean Lumb was born Jean (Toy Jin) Wong in British Columbia, and came to Toronto in 1935. She was soon operating a profitable fruit store and, by 1959, she co-owned the well-reputed Kwong Chow restaurant with her husband, Doyle Lumb. Energetic and outgoing, she established strong links with prominent politicians and, in the 1950s, lobbied successfully for the removal of discriminatory immigration regulations in Canada. Wide-ranging community work earned her numerous honours, including appointments to... -
Ashbridge Estate, The
This property was home to one family for two centuries. Sarah Ashbridge and her family moved here from Pennsylvania and began clearing land in 1794. Two years later, they were granted 600 acres (243 hectares) between Ashbridge's Bay and present-day Danforth Avenue. The Ashbridges prospered as farmers until Toronto suburbs began surrounding their land in the 1880s. They sold all but this part of their original farm by the 1920s. Donated to the Ontario Heritage... -
Aurora Public School
Constructed in 1886, the Aurora Public School is one of the finest remaining examples in Ontario of a public school designed in the High Victorian manner. The building features a picturesque or irregular silhouette, a mixture of styles and an abundance of decoration. Its prominent architectural details include a belvedere atop a hipped roof, parapet gables with bold finials and an ornamented belfry. These elements are enhanced by the use of elaborate brickwork for the... -
Berczy Settlement 1794, The
In November 1794, William von Moll Berczy (1744-1813), colonizer, road builder, architect and painter, brought the first settlers to Markham Township. This group had originally emigrated from Germany to New York State, but moved to Upper Canada in 1794 and acquired extensive lands in this area. In 1795-96, sickness and famine reduced their numbers, but those who remained or returned to their holdings laid the foundation for the rapid development of Markham Township after 1800... -
Bethesda Church and Burying Ground
When the first German settlers led by William Berczy arrived in this area in 1794, they were accompanied by the Rev. S. Liebrich who established here one of Upper Canada's earliest Lutheran congregations. Services were held at first in the house of Phillip Eckardt, but under the guidance of the Rev. Johan D. Petersen, who was pastor 1819-29, a church named St. Philip's was constructed on this site in 1820. Eckardt donated the land for... -
Bishop Charles Henry Brent 1862-1929
An outstanding humanitarian and churchman, Brent was born near Newcastle and ordained in Toronto in 1887. Following parochial service in Buffalo and Boston, he was elected first Episcopal Bishop of the Philippine Islands in 1901. Confronted by the devastating moral and physical effects of opium drug addiction, Brent became an uncompromising advocate of drug control. He urged international co-operation in eradicating drug abuse and served as president of the Opium Conference at The Hague (1911-12)... -
Brant House, The
The original house on this site was built about 1800 by the famous Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea). Two years previously, Captain Brant had been granted some 3,500 acres of land in this area for his military services to the Crown during the American Revolution. He died here in 1807, and the house, around which grew the community of Wellington Square, was thereafter occupied by his wife Catherine and his youngest son Captain John Brant (Ahyouwaeghs). The present house, a replica of the original, is the result of an extensive restoration carried out in 1937-38. -
Canada's First Aerodrome
In May 1915, Curtiss Aeroplanes and Motors, Ltd. established Canada's first aerodrome and flying school on this site. The school, and the Curtiss aircraft factory on Strachan Avenue in Toronto, were managed by John A.D. McCurdy, Canada's first aviator. Most of the graduates went to England at their own expense, to join the Royal Flying Corps or the Royal Naval Air Service. When the Royal Flying Corps, Canada was created in January 1917, its first... -
Canada's First Victoria Cross
Born in 1833 a short distance from north of this site, Alexander Dunn was educated at Upper Canada College and at Harrow, England. In 1853, he was commissioned Lieutenant in the 11th Hussars. A participant in the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava on October 25, 1854, he saved the lives of two of his regiment by cutting down their Russian attackers, and thus became Canada's first winner of the newly created Victoria Cross... -
Canadian International Air Show
Human fascination with flight has made air shows popular since the early days of aviation. Toronto was the site of numerous air shows as it developed into a centre of air transportation and aircraft manufacturing in the early twentieth century. The Canadian International Air Show originated in 1946 when the National Aeronautical Association of Canada attracted overflow crowds to a show at De Havilland Airport in Downsview. Staged annually thereafter, the air show moved to... -
Colborne Lodge 1836
Built by John Howard (1803-1890), it was named after Sir John Colborne, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada. Howard, an architect and engineer, emigrated from England 1832, becoming Toronto's first City Surveyor 1834 and City Engineer 1838. He was an art collector, painted scenes of Toronto and devoted himself to improving his estate, which forms part of the present-day High Park. In 1873, he offered his property to the city for a public park, but retained possession of the Lodge and 45 acres until his death. -
Colonel William Chisholm 1788-1842
The founder of Oakville was born in Nova Scotia of Loyalist parents who moved to Burlington Bay in 1793. William served with distinction in the militia during the War of 1812. He settled in Nelson Township in 1816 and became a successful store keeper, timber merchant and ship owner. In 1827, he purchased from the Crown 960 acres of uncleared land at the mouth of Sixteen Mile Creek. Here, he built mills, laid out a town plot and opened the harbour to shipping. Chisholm was thrice elected to represent this district in the Legislative Assembly. -
de Puisaye Settlement 1799, The
In the fall of 1798, some 40 exiled French Royalists under the leadership of Joseph-Genevieve, Comte de Puisaye (1754-1827), emigrated from England to Upper Canada. The following year, they were given rations and agricultural implements and settled along Yonge Street in the townships of Markham and Vaughan. However, these members of the nobility and their servants were unable to adapt themselves to a pioneer existence and, by 1806, their settlement, known as Windham, was abandoned. De Puisaye lived for a time on an estate near Niagara, but returned to England in 1802. -
Discovery of Insulin 1921, The
In one of the most important advances in modern medicine, a team of investigators isolated and purified insulin in a building that stood on this site. On May 17, 1921, Frederick Banting, a young surgeon, and Charles Best, a recent graduate in physiology and biochemistry, began a series of experiments on pancreatic secretions in an attempt to find a treatment for "diabetes mellitus." Working under the general direction of J.J.R. Macleod, an expert in carbohydrate... -
Dufferin County Court House
Construction of this imposing brick court house was begun in the spring of 1880. Designed by C.J. Soule, a Guelph architect, it was built by the contracting firm of Dobbie and Grierson. Although the first provisional county council meeting was held here on November 24, 1880, the two-storey rectangular building constructed to house the judicial and administrative office of the newly created county of Dufferin was not completed until early 1881. Its impressive exterior is... -
Dutch Settlement of Holland Marsh, The
The Holland Marsh consists of 7,000 acres of reclaimed land in the Schomberg River Valley. Named after an early provincial official, this fertile area was drained between 1925 and 1930. John Snor, Canadian Representative of the Netherlands Emigration Foundation, visited the sparsely settled Marsh and proposed the relocation here of recent Dutch immigrants in Ontario. Assisted by grants from the Netherlands, Canada and Ontario, fifteen Dutch families, many from Friesland and Groningen originally, settled on... -
Eildon Hall
One of the oldest structures in the area, this interesting house was the first Canadian residence of Susan Mein Sibbald (1783-1866), a gentlewoman pioneer whose memoirs were published posthumously in 1926. The building was erected in stages and revealed much about the changing needs and aspirations of its various owners. Initially a small Regency style cottage, it was begun in 1830 by William Kingdom Rains, an early settler, and acquired around 1835 by Susan Sibbald... -
Enoch Turner School 1848, The
This schoolhouse, the oldest remaining in Toronto, was built at the expense of Enoch Turner, a wealthy brewer, as a "free school" for the Anglican parish of Trinity and adjoining parts of St. Lawrence Ward. An Act of 1847 had made free common schools possible in towns and cities of Canada West, but the municipal council of Toronto had refused to establish them. Enoch Turner's school was the first free school in the city. In... -
First Steam Train 1853, The
On May 16, 1853, the Ontario Simcoe and Huron Union Railroad Company operated the first steam train in Canada West from Toronto to Machell's Corners (Aurora). The train, consisting of four passenger and freight cars was drawn by the steam engine "Toronto," the first locomotive constructed in what is now Ontario. The arrival of the railway accelerated the development of this community, which was incorporated as a village in 1863 and a town in 1888...