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83-414: John Solomon Cartwright (1802-1869), a banker ( Bank of Upper Canada ) from Kingston, Ontario , and James Bell Forsyth (1804-1845), a local merchant with family owned Forsyth, Richardson and Company, purchased and subdivided the farm of Sir John Johnson in the northern part of Faubourg Quebec . They gave the three new streets the names of three different Great Lakes : Erie, Huron, and Ontario. Ontario Street

166-529: A National Historic Site of Canada . Designed by architect William Warren Baldwin , 1825–27, the bank resembled a London townhouse with a Doric portico. The Toronto building is on the Registry of Historical Places of Canada, along with two branches. The 86 John Street branch in Port Hope, Ontario , built in 1857 by Cumberland and Storm (last operated by Ontario Bank in 1881 and now Hotel Carlyle and Restaurant) and

249-544: A "General Convention of Delegates" from each riding in which to establish a common political platform. This convention could then become the core of a "permanent convention" or political party - an innovation not yet seen in Upper Canada. The organization of this convention was a model for the "Constitutional Convention" Mackenzie organized for the Rebellion of 1837, where many of the same delegates were to attend. The convention

332-421: A capital near today's London, Ontario . Simcoe renamed the location York after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany , George III 's second son. Simcoe gave up his plan to build a capital at London, and York became the permanent capital of Upper Canada on February 1, 1796. That year Simcoe returned to Britain and was temporarily replaced by Peter Russell . The original townsite was a compact ten blocks near

415-527: A hereditary nobility. In its place, senior members of Upper Canada bureaucracy, the Executive Council of Upper Canada and Legislative Council of Upper Canada , made up the elite of the Compact. These men sought to solidify their personal positions into family dynasties and acquire all the marks of gentility. They used their government positions to extend their business and speculative interests. The centre of

498-531: A key role in solidifying the Family Compact and ensuring its influence within the colonial state. Forty-four men served as bank directors during the 1830s; eleven of them were executive councillors, fifteen of them were legislative councillors, and thirteen were magistrates in Toronto. More importantly, all 11 men who had ever sat on the Executive Council also sat on the board of the bank at one time or another. Ten of

581-660: A large part of their wealth. The association with the Family Compact and its underhanded practices made Reformers, including Mackenzie, regard the Bank of Upper Canada as a prop of the government. Complaints about the bank were a staple of Reform agitation in the 1830s because of its monopoly and aggressive legal actions against debtors. The first Bank of Upper Canada was located on the south-east corner of King and Frederick streets in York , Upper Canada (later Toronto , Canada West ). York

664-514: A legislated Act in order to operate. The joint stock banks thus lacked limited liability , and every partner in the bank was responsible for the bank's debts to the full extent of their personal property. The chartered banks, in contrast, protected their shareholders with limited liability and hence from major loss; they thus encouraged speculation. The Scottish joint-stock banks followed a " hard money policy ." They avoided speculative risk because if they failed, their shareholders were responsible for

747-502: A little stone structure beside his home. Dr. Stuart's lectures were "curious, marked as it was with by unexpected elevations, and depressions of the voice and long closings of the eyes". In that same year, the first brick house in York was constructed, the home and store of Quetton St. George at King and Frederick. St. George imported the bricks from New York state. The Battle of York was fought on April 27, 1813. An American force supported by

830-468: A lower one for common councillors. Two aldermen and two councilmen would be elected from each city ward. This relatively broad electorate was offset by a much higher qualification for election to office, which essentially limited election to the wealthy much like the old Court of Quarter Sessions it replaced. The mayor was elected by the aldermen from among their number, and a clear barrier was erected between those of property who served as full magistrates, and

913-478: A new building was built in the new lands to the west. A permanent fort, Fort York , was built on the site of the garrison. Dundas Street was built to connect York to towns to the west. In the 1820s, the town experienced a surge of immigrants, expanding from 1,000 residents to over 9,000 by the time the town was incorporated as the City of Toronto in 1834. During its existence, the town did not have its own government; it

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996-654: A new capital. Dorchester arranged for the Toronto Purchase with the Mississaugas of New Credit , thereby securing more than a 250,000 acres (1,000 km ) of land. The purchase was disputed in 1788, and a further agreement was made in 1805, but a final settlement of the purchase would only come 200 years later in 2010, for a total of CA$ 145 million . In 1791, Upper Canada was established, with Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake) its first capital. The first Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe arrived in 1792 and first visited

1079-532: A result, there was a major landslide in the first city elections. The first mayor of the new City of Toronto was William Lyon Mackenzie. York's population was primarily from the British Isles (from Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland) with a few other European settlers (French, German and Dutch). York being a garrison town meant there were one or more regiments of Imperial troops stationed there. The officers were considered an acquisition to society, and, "many of

1162-644: A soldier in the Queen's Rangers, murdered Wabakinine , a Mississauga chief and one of the signers of the Toronto Purchase, on the waterfront. The murder of Wabakinine and his wife threatened to derail the peace between the British and the Mississaugas. The Mississaugas, already frustrated by the failed promises of the Toronto Purchase, considered a counterattack, either on the capital itself or on nearby pioneer farms. The York authorities brought McCuen to trial for murder but he

1245-540: A special act of legislature allowed it to continue operating without having to repay its loans with specie. The bank was a small operation, which, like many other early Canadian banks, collapsed in 1866. On 10 July 1832, President Andrew Jackson vetoed the bill for the rechartering of the Second Bank of the United States , arguing that it was utilized by a "moneyed aristocracy" to oppress the common man. The same complaint

1328-442: A squadron consisting of a ship-rigged corvette , a brig and twelve schooners landed on the lake shore to the west of the garrison, defeating the British and capturing the fort, town and dockyard . The Americans suffered heavy casualties, including Brigadier General Zebulon Pike who was leading the troops when the retreating British blew up the fort's magazine . The American forces carried out several acts of arson and looting in

1411-451: A system known as "watch and ward". The first police office was opened in 1826, only open from 11 a.m to 2 p.m daily except Sunday, Christmas Day and Good Friday. The number of constables was eleven in 1810, twenty in 1820 and twelve in 1830. There was a major cholera epidemic in Upper Canada from 1832 to 1834. There were two outbreaks in York, in 1832 and 1834. About 1,000 persons died in the two outbreaks. The disease, poorly understood at

1494-505: A tight bond between the nominally private company and the state. Despite the tight bonds, the Receiver General , the reform-leaning John Henry Dunn , refused to use the bank for government business. The bank's principal promoters were the Rev. John Strachan and William Allan . William Allan, who became president, was also an Executive and Legislative Councillor . He, like Strachan, played

1577-510: Is the result of land fill. The Toronto Islands were still connected to the mainland. It was wooded, with marshes in what is now Ashbridge's Bay and the then natural mouth of the Don ( Keating Channel did not exist yet). Other than Lake Ontario, other waterways into old town included the Don and several other small creeks, such as Garrison Creek , Russell Creek and Taddle Creek . Between 1710 and 1750, French traders established two trading posts on

1660-620: The Farmers' Storehouse company . That came to an end in 1835 when Charles Duncombe produced a "Report on Currency" for the Legislative Assembly, which demonstrated the legality of the Scottish joint-stock bank system in Upper Canada. The difference between the English chartered banks and the Scottish joint stock banks is that the Scottish banks were considered partnerships and hence didn't need

1743-511: The Wyandot (Huron) tribes that had occupied the region for centuries before c.  1600 . By 1701, the Iroquoian villages that had been established along the north shore of Lake Ontario during the sixteenth century had been abandoned. The Algonkian Mississaugas then moved into the York region, created alliances with the former Iroquoian residents, and established their own settlements; one near

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1826-441: The 125 bus on the length of the street as well. It is the subject of Bernard Adamus 's Rue Ontario , a 2010 single that portrays the street generally unfavorably. The street is also the focus of Richard Beaulieu ’s Chroniques du Centre-Sud , a 2014 graphic novel. 45°30′42″N 73°34′00″W  /  45.5116°N 73.5666°W  / 45.5116; -73.5666 Bank of Upper Canada The Bank of Upper Canada

1909-541: The 1980s, which led to many closed businesses and a reputation for poverty and crime. The street has long been notorious for prostitution , particularly in its eastern segment. Since the 2010s, the street has gentrified considerably, in part from the expansion of the village on the downtown section of the street and the Promenade Ontario shopping area in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve , which becomes pedestrian in

1992-481: The 46 West Street branch in Goderich, Ontario , built in 1863 (now offices for Orr Insurance). York, Upper Canada York was a town and the second capital of the colony of Upper Canada . It is the predecessor to the old city of Toronto (1834–1998) . It was established in 1793 by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe as a "temporary" location for the capital of Upper Canada, while he made plans to build

2075-519: The American Revolutionary War but had devalued badly, leading to general distrust of banknotes. Banknotes then were not legal tender, issued by a state bank. They were, rather, similar to cheques written by the bank promising to pay the bearer with "real" (usually metallic) money, or specie , if they returned the cheque to the bank. Any bank that could not redeem its banknotes with specie was forced to close for good. The Bank of Upper Canada

2158-549: The Bank of Upper Canada used all of its influence to prevent any other bank from being chartered in the province. The monopoly was crucial to keeping its notes in circulation and boosting its profits. It succeeded only until 1832, when the Commercial Bank of the Midland District was chartered finally giving Kingston the bank it desired. Paper currency was a banking innovation in the era. It had been experimented with to fund

2241-529: The Bank of the People and quickly began to expand its branch network. The Bank of British North America also entered the provincial market around that time. As a result, the Bank changed its strategy and in 1850 it became the official bank of the Province of Canada, collecting all government revenue and issuing all government cheques. By 1863, the bank was struggling; in 1866 the Bank of Upper Canada closed its doors;

2324-631: The Boulton family, builders of the Grange . Reform activity emerged in the 1830s when those suffering the abuses of the Family Compact began to emulate the organizational forms of the British Reform Movement, and organized Political Unions under the leadership of William Lyon Mackenzie . The British Political Unions had successfully petitioned for the Great Reform Act of 1832 that eliminated much of

2407-485: The Compact was York. Its most important member was the Rev. John Strachan ; many of the other members were his former students, or people who were related to him. Another prominent member of the Compact was Sir John Beverley Robinson who was the Chief Justice of Upper Canada for 34 years from 1829. The rest of the members were mostly descendants of United Empire Loyalists or recent upper-class British settlers such as

2490-527: The Court House at noon, when Sheriff William Botsford Jarvis granted the chair of the meeting to Dr. Dunlop, of the Canada Company , rather than Reform MPP Jesse Ketchum , the reformers' choice, despite a reform majority. The tories then made short order of the meeting, passing a resolution in favour of the colonial administration, and adjourning. Mackenzie's supporters had, in the meanwhile, reassembled to

2573-423: The Don. A path led from Angell's Bridge south to the peninsula and the lighthouse. The chief business part of the town was King and Front streets, the western limit being Yonge street, and the eastern limit the Don bridge. There were, however, many private residences west of York on Yonge, Front and Lot Streets, and as far west as the garrison. In comparison, the original town site itself was not fully developed by

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2656-566: The Farmers' Bank and the Bank of the People were founded on a joint stock basis, until the Family Compact conspired to make new ones illegal in 1838. The monopoly of the Bank of Upper Canada had been slowly eroding with the chartering of the Commercial Bank, and then the joint-stock banks. The Act to outlaw further joint-stock banks in 1838 again tilted towards monopoly. However, in 1841 the Bank of Montreal , long seeking an entry into Upper Canada, purchased

2739-524: The House of Assembly, he criticized the Bank's lack of transparency and accountability to the legislature. The Bank of Upper Canada at York (Toronto) had obtained its charter at the expense of the larger, more economically developed town of Kingston. Deprived of their charter, they established an unchartered bank in 1818 supported with American capital. The government refused to accept its notes given its American ties, and it went bankrupt in 1822. After its failure,

2822-585: The Humber River, Magasin Royale , and Fort Toronto. The success of Fort Toronto led the French to build Fort Rouillé on the current Exhibition grounds in 1750. It only lasted until 1759, abandoned after the fall of Fort Niagara , when the French retreated to Montreal. The British arrived the next year with an army to secure the location. The British claimed all of New France after the 1763 Treaty of Paris , and extended

2905-546: The Macaulay family estate between Yonge St and Osgoode Hall (now Toronto City Hall), which became a working-class neighbourhood known as Macaulaytown. The original townsite area is today known as the " Old Town ". On June 1, 1807, on the south east corner of King and George, a priest named Dr. G. Okill Stuart opened the Home District School, the first public school in York. The school taught both boys and girls and ran out of

2988-486: The Province of Quebec to present-day Ontario. After the American Revolutionary War , the region saw an influx of British settlers as United Empire Loyalists arrived in numbers north of Lake Ontario, as the British offered free land to many. As plans were being made to create the new province of Upper Canada, British North America Governor-General Lord Dorchester selected the area north of Toronto Bay for

3071-621: The Toronto Purchase site in May 1793. Impressed by the site and harbour, he moved the capital to Toronto, on a "temporary" basis, while he worked on plans to build a capital in the vicinity of London, Ontario . Simcoe renamed the townsite York, rejecting the aboriginal name. The name of York was chosen to please King George, as a compliment to the Duke of York, his son. Simcoe founded York on August 27, 1793. Simcoe and his family took residence in July 1793. They found

3154-472: The banks received government support, ordinary farmers and the poor did not. The Bank of Upper Canada was the subject of almost continuous political attack. Shortly after its founding, Reform critic William Lyon Mackenzie published a series of articles on how speculative the Bank's loan practices were, and how close to bankruptcy it was. That resulted in an event, now known as the Types Riot , in 1826 in which

3237-425: The bay to the burning building passed the buckets. In 1826, the first fire company was inaugurated and a fire hall was built on Church Street. Soldiers at nearby Fort York also assisted in fire fighting when needed. There was no official police force. Able-bodied male citizens were required to report for night duty as special constables for a fixed number of nights a year under the penalty of fine or imprisonment in

3320-524: The campus of King's College, today's University of Toronto , at the north end of the roads. Rougher conditions existed in several area. "Macaulaytown", (named after the Queen's Ranger who had been given the park lot) basically a shanty town, and the site of many poor immigrants, was north of Lot and west of Yonge. Squatters lived a meager existence along the Don River and the lakefront. Conditions were poor on both sides of Church Street in back lanes. The worst

3403-661: The city in 1836; and William O'Grady , publisher of the reform newspaper, The Correspondent. In 1826, in the "Types Riot", the printing press of William Lyon Mackenzie was destroyed by the young lawyers of the Juvenile Advocate's Society with the complicity of the Attorney General, the Solicitor General and the magistrates of Toronto. Mackenzie had published a series of satires under the pseudonym of "Patrick Swift, nephew of Jonathan Swift " in an attempt to humiliate

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3486-428: The clique of Bank officers dubbed the Family Compact destroyed Mackenzie's printing press. Mackenzie, a bank critic, pushed for a non-speculative " hard money " policy where the bank loaned out only money that it actually had. Until 1835, all banks in Upper Canada required a legislative charter. Reformers tried several legislative strategies to get their own bank, including attempts to incorporate credit unions such as

3569-426: The convention and "he addressed the meeting with great force and effect". The convention nominated four Reform candidates, all of whom were ultimately successful in the election. The convention stopped short, however, of establishing a political party. Instead, they formed yet another Political Union. In 1833, several prominent reformers had petitioned the House to have the town incorporated, which would also have made

3652-416: The first three years of its operation, the bank's notes comprised between 74 and 77% of the province's money supply. Between 1823 and 1837, its profit on paid in capital ranged between 3.6% (1823) and 16.5% (1832) at a time when the maximum legal interest rate was 6%. The Bank of Upper Canada suspended payments from March 5, 1838 to November 1, 1839 during the financial panic of that year. It was bankrupt, but

3735-617: The former Seneca village of Teiaiagon on the Humber River. The name Toronto is derived from indigenous sources. A portage route from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron running through this point, the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail , led to widespread use of the name. The word "toronto", meaning "plenty" appears in a French lexicon of the Huron language in 1632, and it appeared on French maps referring to various locations, including Georgian Bay, Lake Simcoe, and several rivers. In Mohawk,

3818-584: The full loss. Since the banks did not require a legislated charter, many more banks could be founded, and they were more competitive and freer from political influence and corruption. Duncombe's report opened the gate for many new competitive banks to enter the market - just as the entire Anglo-American financial system was coming apart at the seams in a financial panic lasting until after the Rebellions of 1837 . The Bank of Upper Canada survived only because of its influence on government. Following Duncombe's report,

3901-467: The location to be an isolated wilderness, with dense forest right to the shore. A few families of Mississaugas were the only residents and "immense coveys of fowl." They lived in a tent that once belonged to Captain James Cook the explorer, at the foot of today's Bathurst Street. It would be the temporary capital until 1796, when Simcoe abandoned his plans to make London the capital. The first parliament in

3984-506: The members of the Family Compact running for the board of the Bank of Upper Canada , and Henry John Boulton the Solicitor General, in particular. Mackenzie's articles worked, and they lost control. In revenge they sacked Mackenzie's press, throwing the type into the lake. The 'juvenile advocates' were the students of the Attorney General and the Solicitor General, and the act was performed in broad daylight in front of William Allan , bank president and magistrate. They were never charged, and it

4067-567: The men also sat on the Legislative Council. The overlapping membership on the boards of the Bank of Upper Canada and on the Executive and Legislative Councils served to integrate the economic and political activities of the church, state, and the "financial sector." The overlapping memberships reinforced the oligarchic nature of power in the colony and allowed the administration to operate without any effective elective check. Henry John Boulton ,

4150-599: The most signal and unequivocal defeat of the Yankee Republican party. The British constitutionalists carried every thing before them, and Mackenzie and his abettors are put down now and for ever. Buoyed by large public displays of support following his re-election in January 1832, Mackenzie called for a public meeting in York on March 23, in the face of an increasingly well organized opposition, and threats of violence. Both supporters and opponents of Mackenzie gathered in front of

4233-559: The mouth of the Don River and a garrison was built at the channel to Toronto Harbour . Government buildings and a law court were established. Yonge Street was built, connecting York to the Holland River to the north. To the east, Kingston Road was built to the mouth of the Trent River . In 1797, the town site was expanded to the west to allow for public buildings and expansion. One of

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4316-458: The new area's public functions, a public market, was started in 1803. It continues today as St. Lawrence Market . The settlement was attacked by American troops during the War of 1812. As the British garrison retreated, they detonated their powder magazine, inflicting numerous casualties on the invading U.S. forces, who proceeded to loot and destroy the town. The victorious Americans chose not to occupy

4399-486: The new capital convened in June 1797, after Simcoe had returned to England and Peter Russell was named administrator of Upper Canada. The townsite was first surveyed in 1788, but Simcoe developed a new town plan. The Town of York was laid out in ten original blocks between today's Adelaide and Front streets (the latter following the shoreline) with the first church ( St James Anglican ), Town Hall and Wharf (named St Lawrence after

4482-582: The night. Mackenzie returned to Toronto from his London journey in the last week of August 1833, to find his appeals to the British Parliament had been ultimately ineffective. At an emergency meeting of Reformers, David Willson , leader of the Children of Peace , proposed extending the nomination process for members of the House of Assembly they had begun in their village of Hope north of Toronto to all four Ridings of York (now York Region), and to establish

4565-470: The order of the province. The town grid was extended west and plots of land near New (Jarvis) and Church streets were set aside for public buildings. St. Lawrence Market, St. James' Cathedral and the Courthouse and Jail on King would be built on the public reserves. The Town was also extended in the east along King Street (then a part of Kingston Road) to the Don River . There, Angell's Bridge stretched across

4648-645: The political corruption in the English Parliamentary system. Prominent politicians in reform city politics included James Lesslie , a bookseller and founder of the Mechanics Institute, Bank of the People and House of Refuge & Industry; Jesse Ketchum , the Member of the Legislative Assembly for the city; Dr Thomas David Morrison , founder of the Upper Canada Political Union, and mayor of

4731-418: The position of magistrate elective. The Tory-controlled House of Assembly struggled to find a means of creating a legitimate electoral system that might, nonetheless, minimize the chances of reformers being elected. The bill passed on March 6, 1834, and proposed two different property qualifications for voting. There was a higher qualification for the election of aldermen (who would also serve as magistrates), and

4814-413: The rest. Only 230 of the city's 2,929 adult men met this stringent property qualification. However, the Family Compact - and their member for Parliament Sheriff William B. Jarvis in particular - alienated a large part of the city's construction tradesmen in late 1833. Left without pay, they held Toronto's first strike . Jarvis had them arrested, and obstructed legislation that would protect their pay. As

4897-517: The river) on the west and the first parliament buildings, blockhouse and windmill on the east. Taddle Creek lay on the eastern boundary, the Don River and its wetland further to the east. Two main roads were laid out: Lot Street (today's Queen Street) and Yonge Street, which was built as far north as the Holland River. In 1797, a garrison was built east of modern-day Bathurst Street , on the east bank of Garrison Creek. In August 1796, Charles McCuen,

4980-408: The slum, its north end on King closed off first, and the area redeveloped around the new Colborne Street. March Street (Lombard today) was also noted as being rough and having a red-light district . As the town grew, fire prevention became more important. Starting in 1820, homes were required to have two leather buckets on the front of their houses. If a fire alarm was raised, a line of citizens from

5063-485: The solicitor general, author of the bank incorporation bill and the bank's lawyer, admitted the bank was a "terrible engine in the hands of the provincial administration." William Lyon Mackenzie , the Reform politician and newspaper publisher, was the first to demonstrate the nature of that oligarchic power by showing that the government, its officers, and legislative councillors owned 5,381 of its 8,000 shares. Once elected to

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5146-665: The soundness of the criminal administration of justice in Upper Canada. And lastly, he sees in the Types riot "the seed of the Rebellion" in a deeper sense than those earlier writers who viewed it simply as the start of a highly personal feud between Mackenzie and the Family Compact. Romney emphasizes that Mackenzie's personal harassment, the "outrage", served as a lightning rod of discontent because so many Upper Canadians had faced similar endemic abuses and hence identified their political fortunes with his. See also: Mackenzie' own account The great meeting took place yesterday, and has resulted in

5229-422: The stockholders lost all of their investment of more than $ 3 million, and over $ 1 million dollars in taxpayers money was also lost. The 1827 Bank of Upper Canada Building , its second headquarters (first home was a Georgian building from 1822 and demolished 1880s with current building (now Young People's Theatre ) replacing it in 1887), still exists, located on Toronto 's Adelaide St East. It has been designated

5312-587: The summer. The main portion of Ontario Street runs from Saint-Urban Street in the west (in the Quartier des Spectacles ) to slightly east of Rue Viau in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve . However, there are also small sections in Montreal-East and Pointe-aux-Trembles. The downtown portion of the street is more urban and commercial, and the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve segment is partly residential and becomes pedestrian in

5395-489: The summer. West of Saint-Urbain Street, it is known as President Kennedy Avenue ( French : avenue du Président-Kennedy ) and is home to various hotels and condominiums. This portion of the street is named after the 35th U.S. President , John F. Kennedy , and continues as far west as Mansfield Street . Three green line metro stations are located on Ontario Street: Place des Arts , McGill , and Frontenac . The STM runs

5478-546: The time and caused by contaminated food or water, was acutely infectious. The number of patients overwhelmed the hospital and special sheds had to be built adjacent to house the patients. Upper Canada was established with a bicameral legislature. The upper chamber, the Executive Council of Upper Canada was appointed by, and served the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada . The lower chamber or Legislative Assembly ,

5561-465: The time of incorporation. The Parliament buildings, destroyed in 1813 by war and later by fire, were moved to the west, helping to draw persons to the west. The town became fully developed as far west as York Street, with some built-up areas west to Peter. North of Lot Street, Spadina Avenue was already laid out to the north, and the two north–south roadways that would become University Avenue. 150 acres (61 ha) of land had been purchased in 1825 to be

5644-450: The town and the British eventually returned without conflict. A reprisal attack was made on the American capital of Washington, D.C. a year later. After the war was over, the town continued to grow, expanding to the west, leaving the original town site, a less desirable location, somewhat undeveloped. A new parliament building was erected, near the original location, but this burned down and

5727-458: The town before withdrawing. Although the Americans won a clear victory, it did not have decisive strategic results as York was a less important objective in military terms than Kingston , where the British armed vessels on Lake Ontario were based. The Town of York did not fill the small original blocks, instead development spread to the west; the area west to Peter Street had been annexed in 1797 on

5810-546: The west end to cheer Lieut. Governor Colborne, before returning to the Market Square. As they re-passed the Court House, they were joined by a group carrying an effigy of Mackenzie, who made their way to the Advocate office on Church St., which they began to pelt with stones. After burning the effigy of Mackenzie, a general skirmish ensued when the terrified printers fired a warning shot over the mob's heads. A riot ensued that lasted

5893-456: The west in front of the jail, where they set about passing their own resolutions. Ketchum, Mackenzie, Morrison and others stood in a wagon to address the crowd, when twenty members of the Orange Order grabbed the wagon sending them flying. In an attempt to defuse the growing tension, Sheriff Jarvis assembled the government supporters into a parade of 1,200, which marched off to government house in

5976-410: The word tkaronto , meant "place where trees stand in the water". It refers to the northern end of what is now Lake Simcoe , where the Huron and preceding inhabitants had planted tree saplings to corral fish. The shoreline was likely sandy and parts sloping down to Lake Ontario (see Geography of Toronto ). The original shoreline followed what is now Front Street . Everything now south of Front Street

6059-417: Was able to lend out many more banknotes than it had the cash to redeem because Upper Canada was a specie-poor province, and the notes would pass from hand to hand to enable trade without ever being returned to the bank. On average, the bank lent out more than three times more banknotes than it could redeem; it made 6% interest on each note that it loaned out. The bank's manager, Thomas Ridout, estimated that in

6142-566: Was elected from the various districts. York was situated in Home District and Home District Council was responsible for municipal matters for York. The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada from the 1810s to the 1840s. Several were members of the Executive Council. It was noted for its conservatism and opposition to democracy. Upper Canada did not have

6225-444: Was established in 1821 under a charter granted by the legislature of Upper Canada in 1819 to a group of Kingston merchants. The charter was appropriated by the more influential Executive Councillors to the Lt. Governor, the Rev. John Strachan and William Allan , and moved to Toronto. The bank was closely associated with the group that came to be known as the Family Compact , and it formed

6308-578: Was governed by the province of Upper Canada, with a mix of elected officials and an aristocracy known as the Family Compact controlling the government. By 1830, this led to an ongoing political conflict, which would later lead to the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion . When Europeans first arrived at the site of York, the vicinity was inhabited by the Iroquoian Seneca tribe (from the Five Nations Iroquois of New York State), who by then had displaced

6391-519: Was held in the old Court House on February 27, 1834, with delegates from all four of the York ridings. The week before, Mackenzie published Willson's call for a "standing convention" (political party). The day of the convention, the Children of Peace led a "Grand Procession" with their choir and band (the first civilian band in the province) to the Old Court House. David Willson was the main speaker before

6474-478: Was later 1845) extended in stages toward both the east and the west. Until 1948, it was believed that the street was named after the Province of Ontario , but the discovery of the subdivision documents by a city of Montreal historian corrected that inaccuracy. Although it had been known as Ontario Street since 1842, the name was made official only in 1867. The neighbourhoods that the street crosses, Centre-Sud and Hochelaga-Maisonneuve , fell into economic decline by

6557-421: Was left to Mackenzie to launch a civil lawsuit instead. There are three implications of the Types riot according to historian Paul Romney. First, he argues the riot illustrates how the elite's self-justifications regularly skirted the rule of law they held out as their Loyalist mission. Second, he demonstrated that the significant damages Mackenzie received in his civil lawsuit against the vandals did not reflect

6640-552: Was lodged by the Reformers against the Bank of Upper Canada, which served a similar role. The dismantling of the bank plunged the Anglo-American world into an enormous depression (1836-8) that was worsened by bad wheat harvests in Upper Canada in 1836. Farmers were unable to pay their debts. Most banks, including the Bank of Upper Canada,- suspended payments (i.e. declared bankruptcy) by July 1837 and requested government support. While

6723-467: Was reputed to be Henrietta Lane, off King, west of Church, south to Market (Wellington today), which in 1832 was a center of a cholera epidemic. Pearson recalls the muddy and filthy lane as being the site of a few shanties inhabited by widows, who kept cows. The cows would be led to the garrison common each day to graze. Two stables were also nearby, making the neighbourhood "odiferous" in his opinion. The area around Henrietta would eventually be cleared of

6806-413: Was then too small for a bank, and its promoters were unable to raise even the minimal 10% of the £200,000 authorized capital required for start-up. The bank succeeded only because its promoters had the political influence to have that minimum reduced by half, and the provincial government subscribed for 2000 of its 8000 shares. The lieutenant-governor appointed four of the bank's fifteen directors, making for

6889-687: Was ultimately acquitted due to lack of evidence. An uprising was averted through the efforts of Joseph Brant , a First Nations interpreter, guide and diplomat. All land south of Lot Street was reserved for expansion of the Town or Fort by the government as 'the Commons'. North of Lot Street was the "Liberties", the eventual rural Township of York. It was divided into large 'park lots' where the city's moneyed elite built their estates, such as 'the Grange' and 'Moss park.' With time, some of these estate lots were subdivided, like

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