YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

ACQUIRED BY EXCHANGE

City of London

Ontario, Canada.

The Pioneer Period

AND

The London of To-day

London, Ontario, Canada :
Printed and Published by THE London Printing & Lithographing Company (Limited),
Designeis and Engravers.
1897.

GsT^-h 0 4-35

Entered according to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the office of the Minister of Agriculture, by
The London Printing & Lithographing Company (Limited) of London, Ontario, in the year one thousand
eight hundred and ninety-seven.

Introduction.

"So it stead you, I will write."— Shakespeare.
All mankind look backward and regard the days that are
gone as the happiest of their lives. Whether they were
so or not, does not admit of argument. Happiness is a
condition of mind, and whoso thinks he is happy is so,
the poet who declares "man never is, but always to be,
blest" to the contrary notwithstanding. But the present
work is neither philosophical nor metaphysical. It is practical,
and no elaborate argument is needed to prove what all will
admit — that we enjoy recalling our early days and contrasting
them with the present. As the old soldier " shoulders his crutch
and shows how battles were won," so the pioneer civilian loves to
tell of the past, of the hardships and pleasures, the toils and relax
ations, of the times when every man was practically monarch of
all he surveyed, before there was an official surveyor. But it is
not intended in this work to speak at length of pre-corporate
days. Nor is it designed to embellish the narrative. There will
be found no flights of fancy, no stilted rhetoric, no elaboration
of incident — merely a painstaking effort to fix the periods and
give the stamp of authenticity. With the record of the facts,
the duty of the writer is accomplished, and if here and there
the bald narration is relieved by the interjection of a casual com
ment, it is still in the line of the fact itself. No decided opinions
are expressed regarding controverted points, so there is nothing to
retract or defend. If any inaccuracy exists, it is not for lack of
diligence in searching out all available sources of information,
and no one will more gladly correct any error than the writer.
Archie Bremner.

VIEW TAKEN FROM THE TOWER OP ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.

" The man who takes no interest in his grandfather
may be a philosopher, but he lacks humanity and is not
apt to be a sympathetic friend." — Anon.

CITY OF LONDON

PRIMEVAL DAYS.

Chapter I.

" You ask ine for the plan. I have no plan. I had
no plan ; but I had, or have, materials."— Byron.

A work of this kind, it is a ne
cessity, born of its nature and
scope, that there shall be lacking
literary elegance, even were the
writer inclined to lay claim
to ability in that regard. A
record of events, following
fast, having no apparent bear
ing each upon the other, but all tending to
a certain end, cannot be other than dis
jointed in style. A daily paper is the proof
of this. All topics of interest are touched
upon, but a continuity of narrative is out
of the question. Let us, then, begin at the
beginning, so far as we may, and trace the
rise of London till to-day.
Prior to 1669 the whole of what is now
| the western peninsula of Ontario was the
land of the Neutrals, a band of Indians who
held themselves aloof from the wars of the
Hurons and Iroquois. Catholic missionaries vis
ited these Indians, the first recorded being in
1 626, two hundred years before London was founded ;
and forty-four years later, in 1670, the country was form
ally taken possession of by Father Francois Dollier, priest
of the diocese of Nantes in Brittany, and Father De Galinee,
leacon of the diocese of Rennes in Brittany, on behalf of the
reigning king of France, Louis XIV. Their proclamation recited that
in the previous year,
1669, two missionaries from Montreal and
seven other Frenchmen had wintered on
the spot, and the territory was taken by
virtue of their having been the first of ail
European peoples who had journeyed to
this section, of which they took possession
" as of a territory not occupied." The In
dians' right of occupation seems not to
have been considered. It was a country
rich in wild fruits and game, and in his
description of it De Galinee calls it "the
terrestrial paradise of Canada." We are -
more prosaic in later days. We call it "the
garden of Canada." This proclamation was
set up on the lake shore as near as may
be due south of where London now stands.
It was at the mouth of Kettle Creek. In
1721 Charlevoix passed through Lake Erie, and his description of the north shore was largely
instrumental in influencing Col. Talbot in selecting the site of his settlement in 1803. The

A PIONEER HUNTER AND HIS SON.

10

CITY OF LONDON.

curious-minded have for years been enter
tained by a legend — said to have been told
by Col. Talbot to Mrs. Jamieson in 1837 —
that Kettle Creek derived its name from the
fact of one of his men having dropped a
kettle into the stream. The truth is that
long before the Colonel saw the creek it
was called " Chaudiere " by the French, so
that " Kettle " is but the Anglicized form of
the early French name. But, as this is to be
a history of London, not of the district, let
us pass over all incidents not bearing on
that point and come at once to 1791, when
Quebec was divided into two Provinces, and
Col. John Graves Simcoe became the first
Lieut.-Governor of Upper Canada. Early in
that year Col. Simcoe had written to Sir
Joseph Banks, President
of the Royal Society,
concerning his plans, on
which occasion he said :
"For the purposes of com
merce, union, and? power, I pur
pose that the site of the colony
should be in that great penin
sula between the Lakes Huron,
Erie, and Ontario, a spot des
tined by nature, sooner or later,
to govern the interior world. I
mean to establish a capital in
the very heart of the country,
upon the River La Tranche.
* * * The capital I mean
to call Georgina, and aim to
settle in its vicinity Loyalists,
who are now in Connecticut,
provided that the Government
approve of the system."
Arriving at Quebec,
Governor Simcoe met Col.
(then Lieutenant) Talbot,
who became his private
and confidential secretary.
After the meeting of the
first Legislature, in 1792,
Simcoe planned an over
land journey to Detroit,
and this was accomplished. Major Little-
hales kept a diary of the trip, and in his
journal London's site is referred to. The
party "halted to observe a beautiful situa
tion, formed by a bend of the river — a grove
of hemlock and pine and a large creek. We
passed some deep ravines and made bur wig
wam on the brow of a hill, near a spot
where Indians were interred." There is no
difficulty in recognizing this as a picture of
the spot where Elliott's creek joins the river,
before "Sif ton's Cut" had been made for the
railway. Some years ago Indian remains
were dug up in the neighborhood of Black-
friars Bridge, and in September, 1895, the
skeleton of an Indian maiden, computed to

GOVERNOR SIMCOE.
From an oil painting presented to Bishop
Cronyn by near relatives of the Governor
and kindly loaned by Huron CoUege.

have been buried about seventy years, was
found near the Cove Bridge. On the return
trip the Governor's party reached the site
of London from the opposite direction on the
2nd of March, 1792, and the chronicler says :
" We struck the Thames " [the name had
till this year been La Tranche] "at one end
of a low, flat island enveloped with shrubs
and trees ; the rapidity and strength of the
current were such as to have forced a chan
nel through the main land, being a peninsula,
and to have formed the island. We walked
over a rich meadow, and at its extremity
came to the forks of the river." Here we
have at once a description and an explanation
of the coves. The recital goes on to say that
Governor Simcoe judged this to be "a situa
tion eminently calculated
for the metropolis of Can
ada." The Governor makes
frequent reference in his
correspondence and state
papers to his plan for es
tablishing the capital of
Upper Canada at this
point. He went to Eng
land, however, on leave
of absence in 1796, and
never returned. The cap
ital had in the meantime
been transferred to Little
York (Toronto).
On the 21st of May,
1803, the Governor's erst
while secretary, Colonel
Talbot, chopped down the
first tree in the Talbot
settlement, in what was
then known as the Lon
don District. The courts
for the District were held
first at Turkey Point till
the court house was de
stroyed by fire in 1815, when it was re-
erected at Vittoria. Here again the court
house was burnt, and in 1826 it was .ordered
by the Legislature that the courts should in
future be held " within some part of the res
ervation heretofore made for the site of a
town, near the forks of the River Thames,
in the townships of London and Westminster,
in the county of Middlesex." Here, then, we
have the genesis of London. Rev. Dr. Web
ster had visited the plot some eight years
previously, when the spot was a forest. Sixty
years afterwards, in 1870, he wrote this de
scription of it as it first appeared to him :
" North of Dundas street, and in some places south
of it, was ii thick pinery. Behind where the old

CITY OF LONDON.

11

barracks were built, and on the rising ground north
of the old fair grounds, and off the little stream (then
called English's creek) which runs into Lake Horn,
was a heavy growth of oak, maple, and beech ; while
down in the direction of the railroad station was
hardwood mixed with pine, more especially so to the
east. In the vicinity of Strong's hotel was a narrow,
deep swamp, running toward the old tanneries, west
of the railroad station."
To the reader of
to-day how vague
that description.
Of the distinctive
landmarks, Dundas
street only remains.
The "railroad sta
tion" may mean
one or another,
while "the old fair
grounds," the "old
barracks," "Strong's
hotel," "Lake Horn,"
and the "old tan
neries" have all
disappeared. "Eng
lish's Creek" has
become "Car ling's
Creek," and will
shortly, no doubt,
pass from view.
The decision to
erect the county
buildings at the
forks having been
arrived at, Thomas
Talbot, Mahlon Bur-
well, James Hamil
ton, Charles Inger-
soll and John Mat
thews were named
as commissioners
to superintend the
construction. They
met at St. Thomas,
in March, 1826, and
the following year
the buildings were
completed. They
occupied the site of
the present struc
ture, being two
stories in height,
of frame and logs,
the latter being
placed around the two cells which formed
the "jail" for greater security. It was re
built in 1831. The present structure, or rather
the rear half of it, was erected in 1844, at a
cost of £5,504 lis. 4d. The style of archi
tecture has puzzled many. It was adopted
out of compliment to Col. Talbot, the idea

PLAN OF LONDON,

NO. ACRES, 2,117.

being to create a fac simile of the old feu
dal castle of Malahide, in the county of Dub
lin, Ireland, which has been the family seat
of the Talbots since the reign of Henry II. ,
the first Plantagenet king of England. In
1878 the dilapidated condition of the court
house rendered it
necessary to have
material repairs
effected, the result
being that the
"castle" was en
larged to almost
twice its former
area, but the main
architectural de
sign was still main
tained. The conditions of
settlement in this
district were that
a settler should be
granted a lot on
building a shanty
18 x 24, receiving
the patent on pay
ment of £8. Col.
Talbot, the admin
istrator, granted
many patents on
these conditions,
the first survey
being bounded by
what is now Queen's
avenue, Wellington
street and the river.
The first clearing
was made in the fall
of 1826, by Peter Mc
Gregor, who erected
a log shanty. The
exact location is a
question of human
memory, never to
be absolutely de
pended upon. Hon.
G. J. Goodhue, in
his later years, was
convinced it was on
Talbot street, be
tween York and
King, but the bulk
of testimony is that it was located on
the south - west corner of King and Ridout
streets. A few weeks afterwards John
Yerex erected a log house on the north
west corner of York and Ridout streets,
which stood for many years within the mem
ory of residents still in their prime, and

1840-41.
Drawn by Wm. Robinson, Esq.

12

CITY OF LONDON.

therein was born the first white native of was a crude affair compared with the iron
London, Nathaniel Yerex. In 1826, also, Levi structures of to-day, over which we travel
Merrick built the first bridge over the Thames in electric car, carriage, or on foot, as fancy

HON. G. J. GOODHUE.
First President of Council, 1840.

BB Appointed the first Town Warden
of London, on its separation from
the Township of London for
municipal purposes in 1838.

SIMEON MORRILL, ESQ.
First Mayor of London, 1848.

into London. Up till this time all passage
of the stream had been by fording or ferry,
the latter, established by the Beverleys, being
located at a point where the Wharncliffe

dictates. After the building of the first
bridge there is a certain degree of cloudiness
in the record, but it appears certain that
the second bridge was that of Blackfriars,

OLD VIEW OF LONDON, 1851, AS SEEN FROM THE SOITTH-AVEST.
From a painting made by the late James Hamilton, Esq.
Road intersects the river, but that thorough- erected presumably in 1831 and rebuilt
fare was not surveyed till five years later, twenty years later. There is equal uncer-
in 1831. As may be imagined, the first bridge tainty as to the date of the first structure

CITY OF LONDON.

13

over the river at the foot of Wellington building of the first and second bridges at
street, but it was called "new" in 1840, this point a ferry was maintained, and dur-
reported dangerous in 1847, and in the lat- ing the low water of summer a footbridge —

PLAN
or THE
CITY OF LONDON
SUBURB OF LONDON WEST.
1897
S* Railway Lrnsa 

Steam .Railway hne_ ¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦  | f*"

ter year ordered to be rebuilt. The Ridout a primitive affair constructed of sugar casks
street bridge was first erected in 1848. It and planks— was in use. During this period
was swept away by a flood, as was its sue- the late Charles Hunt erected a bridge from
cessor in 1874 ' In the interval between the the rear of his property in London South to

14

CITY OF LONDON.

the mill site, on the city side. This he main
tained for private travel. A lawsuit with
some of the other residents was the result,
they claiming that Mr. Hunt had fenced in
the street reservation on the city side. The
matter was carried through the courts, the
upshot being that Talbot street was opened
through Hunt's orchard to the river. The
bridge soon afterwards fell into disuse, and
after being open some time the Council gave
permission to close up Talbot street from
Simcoe to the 'river, and so it remains. But
the bridge is gone. In 1871 the bridges at
Dundas and Oxford streets were authorized,
though not built till some time afterwards,
as private subscriptions were to some extent
depended upon. This may be said to have

city limits three excellent railway bridges
of iron, crossing the river on the lines of
the Grand Trunk, Canadian Pacific, and Lon
don & Port Stanley Railways, respectively.
The roads of the early days corresponded
with the quality of the bridges, and were
for the most part of " corduroy.'' Excava
tions in later days have revealed traces of
these primitive roads at a depth of ten or
twelve feet below the present surface of
Dundas street. Gravel and broken stone
came in due course, and in 1880 a section
of the central portion of the city was paved
with cedar blocks. It was calculated that
this roadbed would have a life of twenty
years, but it was more than dead — it was
decayed — in three-fourths of that time. In

OLD VIEW (ABOUT 1833) OF BUSINESS SECTION OF LONDON, FROM RIDOUT STREET TO RIVER.
From a water-color painting made by the late James Hamilton, and kindly loaned by V. Cronyn, Esq.
1 -First red brick built in London, by Dennis O'Brien (?); 2- Court House ; 3-Magazine ¦ 4 -Wilson & Hughes'
law office; 5-Mechamcs' Institute; 6 -Residence of Rev. Benj. Cronyn in 1832- rmSnes
7— Residence of John Jennings ; 8— Dalton's soap factory.
FOR 1897 VIEW, SEE OPPOSITE PAGE.

ended the era of wooden bridges, so far as
the city was concerned, and in 1875 the erec
tion of the present iron structures began,
Blackfriars being the first to be erected.
Victoria Bridge was the second, and all the
others followed in regular course as the old
wooden structures were destroyed or con
demned. In 1895 the electric railway com
pany made arrangements to cross the bridges
where necessary, and made the extensions
needed for this purpose. On this point, it
may be added that there are within the

1895 the blocks were replaced by asphalt
resting on a concrete foundation. Time will
test its durability — to a non-expert it ap
pears practically indestructible.
The municipal records of the early days
remind one very forcibly that "history re
peats itself." The formal minutes of pro
ceedings do not set it down in so many
precise words, but it is plain to be seen,
reading between the lines, that wire-pulling
for trifling advantages was quite as fre
quent on the part of municipal magnates

CITY OF LONDON.

15

in early days as ever since, and the process
was quite as well understood. There were
the usual motions, amendments, and amend
ments to the amendments, varied by an oc
casional ejectment of a councillor from a
meeting " for cause," the councillor retali
ating by smashing the windows. In 1844
an amendment was sought and obtained to
the village charter, and from thence on to
the establishment of the . town a series of
by-laws were enacted for the better govern
ment of the locality, that differ, not in prin
ciple, but only in degree, from those of our
own day. One by-law held a householder
responsible for a blaze in his chimney ; while
the Council passed a resolution condemning

The really great fires of London are spoken
of elsewhere, and it is not designed to fol
low conflagrations in detail. But reference
may be made to the year 1864, when a sen
sation was caused by a large number of
incendiary fires. A reward was ineffectually
offered for the capture of the fire-bug. Many
ominous whispers were heard as to the ori
gin of the fires, but as they never got be
yond the bated-breath stage it would be
gratuitous to revive them at this late date,
and they may have been calumnies at best.
But forty men were appointed as special
constables to supplement the regular force
of firemen. In 1865 the incendiary scare
gave place to one caused by burglars, and

VIEW OF COURT HOUSE AND KENSINGTON BRIDGE, 1897.

in the strongest terms those who attended
fires from morbid curiosity, and requesting
all such to remain at home in future. Were
this not done in all seriousness, one would
be strongly inclined to think that it was
intended as a broad travesty on those who
believe that the whole science of govern
ment lies in passing laws — as though any
man living ever cared a fig for a law the
morality or expediency of which did not ap
peal to his common sense. It was also de
creed that all who attended fires should
work, under penalty of a period in the cells,
and this is still within easy recollection.
But the times change, and now we should
be arrested if we offered to aid the brigade.

a vigilance committee patrolled the streets
at night. In 1863 the first regular " fire-
limit " by-law was passed. To trace the ex
tensions of the " limit " "would serve no
purpose. Changes were made from year to
year, the last in 1895 ; but it may be men
tioned in passing that no fire-limit by-law
was ever passed that was not infringed, and
it may in sorrow be added — alas ! for the
fellow-feeling between law-makers and law
breakers — the infringements were generally,
if not always, with the connivance of a
member of the Council. Ten years later
there was another outbreak of incendiarism,
there being sufficient in the course of the
year to make an average of within a frac-

16

CITY OF LONDON.

tion of three fires every week. The paid
fire department had been organized two
years previously, and this year (1875) the
electric alarm system was inaugurated. The
first fire-bell for alarm purposes was rung
in London in 1848, a trumpet having been
previously used. The bell, yoke and wheel
cost $103. At present there are three fire
stations. A glance over the records of the
past reveals many familiar names among the
members of the fire department, which in
the early days of the volunteer brigade was
composed of many of the leading citizens,
all of whom were proud to " run wid der
masheen," as the Bowery firemen used to say.
In 1843 we find an evidence of London's
advance in civilization in an enactment that

store which stood till a few months since
on the north-east corner of Fullarton and
Talbot streets. The town hall of later days
was on the north-west corner of Talbot
and King streets, a frame building which
still stands but is now brick-veneered. The
municipal proceedings of those days were
of the ordinary character of a staid county
town, and present nothing of historical note.
See illustration, page 24.
The Canadian Gazetteer, of 1846, makes a
short reference to London. It says there
were then two markets. It probably meant
there was a contest as between two sites.
It was about that time that there was an
effort made to establish the market where
the Grand Trunk freight sheds are now,

DUNDAS STREET (ABOUT 1840), LOOKING WEST FROM WELLINGTON STREET TO COURT HOUSE.
From an engraving kindly loaned by V. Cronyn, Esq.
The sketch for this was probably taken about 1840, certainly prior to 1844. The church
to the right, St. Paul's, was burnt down on Ash Wednesday, 1844.
FOR 1697 VIEW, SEE OPPOSITE PACE.

no cows should be " milked, slopped or other
wise fed on the sidewalks in the town of
London." Candor compels the admission that
it _ was many years after London had at
tained the dignity of a city before this by
law was fully enforced. A practice that has
not yet altogether disappeared was legis
lated against in 1843, and several persons
were fined for riding on the sidewalks,
among them a clergyman. This was re
peated in 1895.
Prior to this time, the meetings of the
Council had been held in the one-story

and it is told that the market house was
sawn in two, placed on runners and drawn
to that spot. The Gazetteer also says that
London then possessed a theatre. Perform
ances were given about that period in a
small brick building which stood till recently
in rear of the O'Callaghan terrace. My au
thority is the late P. T. Barnum. On his last
visit to London he pointed out the building
to me as one in which he had given a per
formance some years after the troubles of
1837, but he could not recollect the exact
date. The circumstance was impressed on

CITY OF LONDON.

17

his mind by the proximity of the hkll to the
place of the executions of 1837, and by reason
of the fact that his party had excited the ire
of the townspeople because one of the per
formers had played "Yankee Doodle," and
they were obliged to make a surreptitious
departure. A curious feature about early-day
amusements is the fact that in 1843 a lecture
on phrenology cost the lecturer thirty shil
lings ($7.50) for a license, while a circus license

the following year a number of young men
fitted up a temporary theatre out of a barn
located back of the present police station,
and gave a series of performances. Here
Simcoe Lee, afterwards celebrated throughout
the whole of America, and now an inmate of
the Forrest Home, made his first appearance.
He played a female part, and the perform
ance was interrupted by his father walking
on the stage and taking him off. Among

.A

¦^»y_Xr-lrrr

DUNDAS STREET, LOOKING EAST FROM RICHMOND.

cost fifty shillings ($12.50). The proprietor of
a learned pig also paid thirty shillings license.
In the same year a license was issued to sell
spirits for one evening in the Theatre Royal,
the hall in the Royal Exchange (now the
O'Callaghan terrace). We should smile to-day
at the idea of charging a peripatetic phre
nologist more than half as much as a circus,
and it is an open question which would
feel most offended — the phrenologist or pig-
man — at being placed on the same level. In

those who took part were the present Sir
John Carling, the late Sheriff Glass, and ex-
Mayor David Glass. The Gazetteer also says
there were "excellent roads in all directions."
No doubt it meant " excellent " by compari
son. A road would have to be very bad if
there was not a worse one somewhere. At
the present time there are few roads any
where in America that could not be made
better. There were stages daily to Hamil
ton and Chatham, every other day to Sarnia

CRICKET SQUARE (VICTORIA PARK)— REVIEW 7TH BATTALION, CONFEDERATION DAY, 1ST JULY 1867
FOR 1897 VIEW, SEE OPPOSITE PAGE.

BIRD S

-EYE VIEW VICTORIA PARK, FROM FIRST METHODIST CHURCH.

20

CITY OF LONDON
reek to Goderich.

and Port Stanley, and twice a w
There were ten' churches, one weekly newspaper
and one daily mail. The population was given
as 3,500. The stage fares were: To Chatham,
17s. 6d.; Wardsville, 10s.; Goderich, 15s.; St.
Thomas, 3s. 9d.; Port Stanley, 5s.; Woodstock,
6s. 3d.; Brantford, lis. 3d.; Hamilton, 15s.;
Sarnia, 15s. If the roads were " excellent,"
a man could have made good wages at the
rates then current by walking.
The same year (1846) marked a dis
tinct era in the architecture of London,
for then was erected the first brick
residence within the municipal bor
ders. The owner was Dr. Hiram
Lee, who died eight years after, of
ship fever, contracted while at
tending a patient. Cyrus Sum
ner is also credited with having
built the first brick house, and
some claim the honor for
Dennis O'Brien. There is no
absolute j)roof as between
the three, but various
tri fling c i r c u m stances

seem, when grouped
together, to point to
Dr. Lee. Such points
are confused by
erroneous state
ments made in
print and pre
served. I have
one such be
fore me to
the effect
that twen-
ty-s even
yearsa g o
there
wasnot

BE VIEAV
53rd regi-
MENT (NOAV ls'I
SHROPSHIRE. KING'S
OAVN LIGHT INFANTRY
CONFEDERATION DAV. 1 ST
OF JULY, 1807

VlEAAr

TAKEN FROM

CRICKET SQUARE

(VOW VICTORIA

"¦•£? .

PARK).

^ FOR 1897 VIEW,

¦ ¦'__?**_

! -IT,-. SEE OPPOSITE

'''^%lHKf

SKs.-*' PAGE'

¦ __¦£ jSCS

•¦¦*]9^L^^m

Hh :

'$> Wf-m

B8Hp' ? :a*?

9? /
-, one
brick
house
on Rich
mond St.
south of
King, save
the Tecum-
s e h House
and Nichol's
livery stable.
'-/ 4, The fact is that
/ tf the Farrell (now
/ ^f O'Hearn) terrace
f * and the McCormick
£ h o m este a d av e r e
p erected years before,
while the inner Avails
of Hunt's block are par-
/ tially built of bricks taken
£¦ from the '* Ein Duetschen
* Ha us" which stood on the
y same site. I have another
$ wherein the insertion of a
/ ^ comma makes it appear to the
'¦) "/ J? reader that no directory was
; / .y" issued in London till 1863 — an
, A- error of a decade. On such trifles
does history turn !
Asked at random as to when Lon
don established its waterworks, the
average citizen would reply that it Avas
in 1877. Such would be a mistake. Muni
cipal waterworks date back to 1830. In
the accounts of the district for 1837 there
appears this entry: "To paid Allen Buskirk
for pump on public square, £2 10s." This was
>robably for repairs. Prior to that time the
urce of supply had been the river and springs
along the bank, but in that year a well was sunk
on Ridout street, from which pipes were run to the
jail, where a reservoir was constructed. As in the
ays of Hezekiah, they " made a pool and a conduit
and brought water into the city." This system was
extended and the " town wells " were a municipal
CITY OF LONDON.

21

institution till 1853, when the Legislature was
petitioned for an Act giving power to erect
waterworks. The London and Westminster
Waterworks Company was formed the fol
lowing year, intending to draw from the
Westminster ponds. The project fell through
because of a suspicion that the ponds were of
surface water, as in later years was proven
to be the case. A new company applied for
a charter in 1 876, and the then city engineer
reported in favor of Wilson's springs, on the
6th concession of London township, as a
source of supply. At the close of 1877 the
Council decided on the present site, and the
works were built the following year. Ex
tensive additions have been made each year
to the supply pipes, and no city on the Con-

in it, which would not be the case were the
water in any way contaminated.
The question of hospital accommodation
was forced upon the people of early London
in an emphatic and unpleasant manner. In
1832, Asiatic cholera of the most virulent type
appeared, and so severe were its ravages and
the fright it occasioned that it has been said
the late Captain Groves was eventually the
only person to attend to the sick. The only
doctor, Hiram Lee, was kept busy dispens
ing. So says the only record available. But
it is manifestly an error. Dr. Andrew Chis-
holm was the first medical man to settle in
London^ and nearly a quarter of a century
afterward he superintended the erection of
a hospital on the Hamilton Road. The

WELLINGTON STREET, EAST SIDE VICTORIA PARK, 1897.

tinent is furnished with better water, fresh
from the springs. It had been intended at
first to do all the pumping by hydraulic
power, but of late years steam power has
been added and both systems are now at
command. Springbank, the name given to
the waterworks property, is a charming nat
ural park, about four miles down the_ river.
It is accessible by boat, and the electric rail
way runs to the park. Without going into
scientific details, it may be broadly stated
that the water is free from all impurities,
being supplied to the citizens precisely as it
bubbles from the hillside of limestone for
mation. The best . practical test of its purity
is the fact that brook trout live and flourish

statement concerning Captain Groves also
should be received with due allowance. A
number of immigrants had arrived, and it is
altogether probable that the residents of the
place found their time fully occupied in look
ing after their own sick or removing their
families from the danger of contagion. Hoav-
ever, the statement has been often made and
never contradicted, but it seems too great a
libel on humanity to accept it in its bald
entirety. Possibly the immigrants objected
to nurses. Rev. Dr. Norman McLeod in one of
his works tells of a country town in Scotland
where a stranger nurse was refused even
lodgings, lest she should spread the disease.
In 1849, cholera again appeared, Dr. Going

'->••>,

CITY OF LONDON.

taking charge of the victims. He made _ a
charge for his services, which the Council dis
puted and he Avas forced to accept a smaller
sum. What an opportunity for a moralizer !
If money be the measure of value of the ser
vices of a man who takes his life in his hands
for the benefit of his fellow-man, little wonder
if the earlier victims were neglected. A third
visitation of cholera occurred in 1866, but the
disease obtained no foothold. The first record
of a hospital appears in 1847, when a large
number of sick and destitute immigrants ar
rived from Scotland. A shed was erected for
them on the Market Square, and a special
burying ground procured. This was doubtless
the' old Potter's field on the block "east of
where the drill shed now stands. The cholera
A-ictims had been interred in the cemetery at
the foot of North street. Apropos of the
Scotch immigrants, the writer recalls a con
versation he had some years

SOUTH-WEST VIEAV FROM CRICKET SQUARE, 1860, SHOWING PINE STUMP FENCE
FOR 1897 VIEW, SEE OPPOSITE PAGE.

streets was secured for hospital purposes.
The present building on South street, between
Maitland and Colborne, was completed in
1875, and formally opened by the Governor-
General. Before that time there had been no
hospital surgeon, an officer known as the city
physician, which office Dr. Moore held for
years, paying stated visits. Dr. Hagarty was
the first hospital surgeon. Formerly the city
hospital was under the direct control of the
Council, but of late it has been managed by a
trust of whom the city furnishes four mem
bers, the mayor being one ex-officio. The
others are : T. H. Purdom, C. F. Complin and
Col. Lewis. A hospital under Catholic aus
pices was opened at Mount Hope in 1888,
which was the forerunner of the present St.
Joseph's hos- pital on the corner of
Richmond and Grosvenor Sts.
the present hos-
lustrations of
which are giv
en, stand high
in the reports
of the Govern
ment inspector.
In connec
tion with the
city institution
there is a train
ing school for
nurses, many
graduates from
which are noAV
filling leading
positions in va
rious cities on
the Continent.

Murray Anderson. That gentleman said he
had trusted many of these destitute persons
for stoves on their taking up land in the sur
rounding wilderness, and he added that he
never lost a cent, though he had no security
but their bare word — a tribute to the sterling
honesty of the old pioneers. The shed that
had been erected as a hospital was fired by an
incendiary, probably from fear of contagion.
In 1855, a building for hospital purposes was
erected on the Hamilton Road, east of where
the "One Horse Tavern" afterwards stood. It
contained four wards, each with accommoda
tion for ten patients, Michael and Mrs. Aud
ley being the steward and matron respec
tively. This building was also fired by an
incendiary. The hospital was then for a time
located in the military buildings, and in 1 862
the two-story frame house still standing on
the south-east corner of York and Thames

The hospital for insane is not a municipal
institution, nor is it within the boundaries of
the city, though popularly known as the Lon
don Asylum. It was removed from Maiden
at the instance of the Local Government, of
which Sir John Carling was a member, in
1870, and occupies three hundred acres of land
just east of the city. It has accommodation
for some twelve hundred inmates, and with
Pottersburg on the south and the pork-pack
ing establishment on the east and the bar
racks to the west, it forms the pivot of a
thickly-populated district that is for all but
municipal purposes a part of the city proper.
Among the charitable institutions akin to
hospitals to be found in London to-day are
the Old Men's Home, the Old Women's Home,
the Women's Shelter, the Protestant Orphans'
Home, the Mount Hope Orphan Asylum
(Catholic), the Convalescent Home, and the

CITY OF LONDON.

23

Home for Incurables. Except the Mount
Hope institution these are not the work of
any one church or denomination, but they are
all the outcome of the churches and of Chris
tian benevolence. All of the churches also
have societies under various names devoted
to charitable works. They are conducted un
ostentatiously. The members literally fill the
poet's description of those who
" Do good by stealth
And blush to find it fame."
In 1869, Miss Rye Adsited the city and was
entertained by the Corporation in recognition
of her work on behalf of the waifs of Eng
land, and Mr. Middlemore was in later years
given the use of the Ross farm as a temporary

number of street lights has gone on increas
ing. Electricity has been employed since that
light became general.
It is interesting to reflect in these days
when we talk, correspond, travel, heat,' cook,
light and find a motive power for machinery
in electricity, that it is but a trifle in excess of
the life of one generation since its first intro
duction into London. The first telegram ar
rived here in August, 1 859, over a wire from
Sarnia. The first long-distance telephone was
operated from London — it connected with St.
Thomas — on November 18, 1888.
The year 1855 saw London invested with
all the dignity of a city. The civic expendi
ture during the last year of town life had

DUFFERIN AVENUE, SOUTH OF VICTORIA PARK, LOOKING AVEST FROM WELLINGTON STREET.

shelter for English waifs, under the name of
the Guthrie Home. This has been abandoned,
and there is difference of opinion as to wheth
er efforts in the direction indicated should be
encouraged in Canada. This is not the place
to argue the matter. It is sufficient to record
the fact.
London walked in darkness — temporally,
not spiritually — during the first quarter of a
century of its existence. There were no street
lights, save such as were furnished by the lan
terns in front of the hotels, till 1855, when gas
was introduced, Barker and Spellman having
obtained the gas company's charter two years
previously. Since that time — save during a
short interregnum in the '60s, when the city
and company failed to come to terms — the

been £74,101 13s. lid., which seems an enor
mous sum till it is explained that this amount
included £50,000 paid to the London and Port
Stanley Railway Company and other extra
ordinary expenditures. The expenses for the
first year of city life were £14,381, which was
raised in 1856 to £38,385, omitting in each case
the odd shillings and pence. In this year the
city borrowed £63,000 and consolidated its
debt. From this time on the financial records
of the city show that aid was given to rail
roads, schools built, etc., so that the expendi
ture of no one year can be taken as a guide
to the running expenses, as without an elabo
rate analysis it would be impossible to dis
tinguish between a bonus, an expenditure on
capital account, or an ordinary current pay-

24

CITY OF LONDON.

ment. One method of gauging the growth of
the A^alue of the city is to be found in a com
parison of the assessed valuation at various

As early as 1863 there began to be rumors
of "discrepancies" in the books of the city
treasurer, but they blew over, when one of

VIEW OF SOUTHERN PART OF CITY WHILE GRADING FOR THE G. W. R.
From a painting kindly loaned by Mrs. W. G. Macbeth. por 1897 view, see OPPOSITE PAGE

periods. Even this must be accepted as only
approximate, as there were exemptions, lax
methods of assessment, and other causes that

FIRST LOCOMOTIVE, 1854.
prevent the figures being taken at their face
value. As to laxity in assessing, it was
charged in 1863 that one of the assessors had
undervalued his own property. Assessments
were then made on the rental, and it was said
the assessor had received $66 in rent while he
had based the assessment on $48. This led to
the resignation of the assessor, and in passing
it may be mentioned that Henry Georgeites
can thus see that their scheme of taxation can
be used to perpetrate a fraud. But this is not
peculiar to London, and as the same assessor
was reinstated a few years later perhaps
there is no moral in the incident after all

the collectors was found to be short in his
payments and his sureties had to make good
the shortage. The rumors were revived in
later years and irregularities were discovered
in 1882, when the city treasurer died by his
own hand. But to return to the figures, from
which, without giving the tables of population
and assessment in detail, we may glean a few
facts. Leaving out altogether the early days,
which are valueless for purposes of compari
son and taking only the past twenty years,
we find that m 1876 the population was 18 196
and the assessment $8,508,972, or an assess
ment per individual of about $468 in round
numbers. In 1895 the population
had nearly doubled, reachine*

FIRST COUNCIL CHAMBER.
North-east corner Fullarton and Talbot Streets.

CITY OF LONDON.

25

33,427. The assessed value, hoAvever, had
not increased in the same ratio. Rather it
had decreased, showing an assessment of
$437.00 to the individual, or $15,654,060 in
all. At first glance this appears as though
the population had increased faster than the
value of the city. But a sharp distinction
should be drawn between the assessed value
and the actual value. Apart from the numer
ous churches, government buildings, charita
ble institutions, etc., all exempt from tax
ation, it must be borne in mind that some
factories are also exempt, others are partially
so, while some have a fixed assessment cover
ing a period of years during which additions
are made. Thus the figures, used compara
tively, prove nothing beyond the fact that we

pal bearing. The city to-day covers an area
of 4,089 acres, through which there are 98
miles of streets, with over twelve miles of
electric railway. The street mileage is being
constantly added to, as park lots are sub
divided into building lots. Over one-third of
the streets, 37 miles, are kept in repair under
the local improvements law — that is, by front
age tax. The average rate of taxation in Lon
don during the past two decades has ranged
a trifle below two per cent, of the valuation.
It should be borne in mind, however, that the
valuation is almost always below the selling
price, so that the rate of taxation is not really
as high as it appears to be. The exact finan
cial standing of the city can be best told in
sentence : Its assets are calculated at

one

GRAND TRUNK R. R. BRIDGE AND SOUTH- AArEST RIVER SECTION, 1897.

have progressed both in wealth and popula
tion during the period specified. But there is
another phase of the subject. The returns
show that in only four years out of the
twenty were there decreases in the popula
tion — the years 1881-3-6-9. The decreases
were 216, 106, 207, and 154 respectively, and
are so trifling as to be easily explained by,
say, the temporary stoppage of some large
industry, the opening up of a new survey in
the suburbs, or other local circumstance. The
cheering part in this connection is that the
growth has not been by leaps and bounds, but
steady. Two years show abnormal increases,
but these were more apparent than real.
They were the years (1885 and 1890) in which
London East and London South were amalga
mated with the city proper. The amalgama
tions had no significance beyond their munici-

nearly half a million dollars in excess of its
liabilities, and the last issue of bonds — 4 per
cents., running 30 years — sold at 101.70. It
is worth noting that the first record in the
Council proceedings of money being computed
in the decimal system is dated January 25,
1858. It appears in connection with a memo
rial of the firemen asking that $5 be granted
to the company which first reported at a fire.
Prior to that, accounts were kept in Halifax
currency, though "York" shillings and six
pences Avere the popular bases of computation.
London has from the beginning been a
loyal city and more or less connected Avith
royalty. The name first intended for it,
Georgina, was in honor of the reigning mon
arch. Here the Queen's birthday was first
celebrated as a holiday, in 1850, by resolution
of the Council, and in a London cemetery

26

CITY OF LONDON.

there lies buried a daughter of George IV.
She Avas the wife of an officer of a British
regiment stationed here, and was buried in
St. Paul's cemetery, the remains afterwards
being removed to Woodland. Three times
have members of the royal family visited
London. The first was in 1860, when the
Prince of Wales came amongst us. The de
monstration on that occasion was said by one
who accompanied the Prince to have been
superior to anything in Canada, where his
visit was one continual ovation. The Prince
and party arrived on the afternoon of Sep
tember 12. The Volunteer Artillery fired a
salute, and a guard of. honor was made up of
the Volunteer Rifles, Highlanders and Cavalry.
The city was magnificently decorated. Popu
lation and wealth considered, we have had no
such demonstration since. On a handsome
pavilion erected near the station, the Prince
and party were
received by the
mayor, parliamen
tary representa
tives, councillors,
and citizens' com
mittee. The ad
dress of welcome
did not differ es
sentially from the
ordinary run of
such affairs, but it
contained one sen
tence worthy of
preservation: "The
fact that at most it
is only forty years
since, in the locali
ty where you now
stand, none but the
red Indian dozed
under the shade of the primeval forest,
will sufficiently explain to Your Royal High
ness why we can conduct you to no mag
nificent buildings, to no sacred historic
monuments, such as those which are familiar
to your eye ; but we are persuaded you can
well appreciate the results of an industry
which, in our circumstances, are necessarily
more marked by the useful than the or
namental." This sentence is not resuscitated
for its. elegance of diction — that it does not
possess. But it brings a picture to the mind's
eye, and so is good writing. In reply, the
Prince spoke briefly — six sentences in all.
Two of them contained the kernel of the
speech : " The country through which I have
passed this day presents the spectacle of a
population prosperous and happy. Its prog

ress excites alike admiration and astonish
ment, and the industry evinced on every side
has nearly supplanted the trackless forest of
past generations by smiling fields and pas
tures reminding you of those which so many
of you have quitted in your youth." Let us
not scrutinize too closely the Royal rhetoric,
which is bad, but admire the Royal sense
displayed, which is good. As the party moved
in procession to the Tecumseh House — which
had been leased by the Government in its
then unfinished state and put in shape for
occupancy by the Prince and suite — there
was continued cheering and every manifesta
tion of joy. A party of tAvo thousand school
children had been coached by a Mr. Longman
in the National An
them, and many are
alive to-day whose
fond mothers decked

DUNDAS STREET, LOOKING EAST FROM TALBOT, 1860.
FOR 1897 VIEW, SEE OPPOSITE PAGE.

them out in best bib and tucker to swell the
chorus, which was sung from a large platform
erected for the purpose near the present site
of St. Andrew's church. In response to cheers
the Prince appeared on the balcony of the
hotel, and in the evening there was a display
of fireworks and a torchlight procession.
The next day the Prince paid a flying visit to
Sarnia, returning in the evening to be present
at a ball held in a pavilion erected in rear of
the Tecumseh House. Some three hundred
couples were present, many from outside
places. The Prince danced all of the twenty-
one numbers on the programme, and as fash
ions in dances, as in all else, change, it will be
interesting to recall what was then in vogue,
for which purpose the card of the Prince is
here transcribed :

CITY OF LONDON.

27

1. Quadrille  Miss Moffat.
2. Polka  Mrs. Watson.
3. Waltz  Miss Becher.
4. Lancers  Mrs. Howell.
5. Waltz  Miss Prince.
6. Galop  Miss Askin.
7. Quadrille  Mrs. Judge Small.
8. Waltz  Miss Hamilton.
9. Lancers  Mrs. W. L. Lawrason.
10. Polka  Miss Jennings.
11. Galop  Miss Meredith.
12. Quadrille  Miss Bell.
13. Waltz  Miss Gzowski.
14. Galop  Mrs. Rivers.

doubt. During his stay, addresses were pre
sented to the Prince by the Board of Trade,
signed by D. Farrar, President, and Charles
Hunt, Vice-President ; the St. Andrew's Soci
ety, J. Wilson, President ; the Synod of the
Diocese of Huron, the magistracy, the militia,
and the Welshmen, Benj. Nash, representative.
The Prince is still, thirty-seven years later, hale
and hearty. The royal salute as the Prince
left Canadian territory at Windsor — he hav-

DUNDAS STREET, LOOKING WEST FROM RICHMOND, 1897.

15. Lancers  Miss Gzowski.
16. Galop  Miss Hope.
17. Quadrille  Miss Dalton.
18. Waltz  Miss Paul.
19. Lancers  Mrs. Taylor.
20. Waltz  Mrs. James Daniell.
21. Sir Roger de Coverly .... Miss Brough.
The next morning there was a turnout of
volunteers, firemen, trades societies and citi
zens generally, and at ten o'clock His Royal
Highness took his departure for Niagara
Falls — pleased, let us hope ; tired, without a

ing come back through London — was fired by
the London Field Battery. In 1869 Prince
Arthur and suite visited London as the guests
of the city, and received a hearty welcome,
but not to be compared with that which had
been given to the future king, and a couple
of disagreeable incidents occurred, giving rise
to a good deal of acrimonious discussion that
could not have been pleasing had it come to
the ears of the visitors, as it probably did.
One was as to the charge made for the home

28

CITY OF LONDON.

occupied by the Prince and party — the pres
ent residence of Mr. Ed. Meredith on Bathurst
street — and the other was concerning a point
of military etiquette involved in the forma
tion of the guard of honor. The third royal
visitor was the Princess Louise, who was in
London in company with her husband, the
Marquis of Lome, the Governor-General, in
1879. While in the city she was the guest of
private citizens, but met many who called
upon her. Her hosts were Mrs. Major Wal
ker, who resided in the present residence of
Dr. Eceles, and Mrs. Harris, of Eldon House.
The troublous times of 1836-7 gaAre London
a place in Provincial history. The original
selection of the site had been based to some
extent on its position as a strategic point, and
at the time of the rebellion imperial troops,
the 32nd Regiment, were stationed here.
Col. Maitland, the com
mander, died while

RICHMOND STREET, LOOKING SOUTH FROM KING, 1865.
FOR 1897 VIEW, SEE OPPOSITE PAGE.
the regiment was in London. The 1st Royals
(artillery ; Col. Wetherall) was here about the
same time. In the early days the 20th Regi
ment (Col. Horn) was stationed here, and it
was from the commanding officer that Lake
Horn derived its name. He made the " lake "
by cutting down a thirty-foot hill which stood
betAveen Pall Mall and Hyman streets, and
with the earth so obtained he dammed up the
creek and built a wall for the lake. The work
was done by convict soldiers condemned to
hard labor, and in the lake the soldiers were
wont to take their morning bath. In 1841
the volunteer movement began, and the Lon
don Independent Volunteer Artillery was
organized by Captain Duncan Mackenzie, who
maintained the corps at his own expense for

fifteen years. In 1854 the First Cavalry Regi
ment was formed, and No. 2 Company, under
Captain Burgess, had its headquarters in Lon
don ; it was commanded by Lieut. Strothers
during the Fenian troubles of 1866. Upon the
retirement of Captain Mackenzie in 1856, the
present Field Battery was organized by Col.
Shanly and Major Starr. The field guns were
brought from England, being the first used by
Canadian militia. This Company did duty at
Sarnia during the Fenian troubles of 1866.
Col. Peters, till recently commanding officer,
succeeded Col. Shanly. Capt. John Williams,
who recently retired with the rank of major,
was a member of the Battery for twenty-eight
years and its principal drill instructor. In all,
he served over half a century as a soldier
under the British flag. In the early '60's the
volunteer spirit was rife, the war in the ad
joining Republic causing martial matters to
be uppermost in
the public mind.
In the first year of
that decade Buck
ley's ArtilleryCorps,
the Merchants' Rifle
Co. (Capt. Taylor)
and Major Bruce's
Volunteer Corps
were organized.
Among the leading
militia officers of
that day in London
were Colonel J. B.
Askin ; Lt.-Cols., L.
Lawrason and John
Wilson ; Captains,
H. L. Thompson, J.
B. Strathy, Hiram
Chisholm, William
Lawrason, John C.
Meredith, Chas. G. Hope, A. G. Smyth ; Lieuts.,
F. Kerby, H. Long, Samuel Peters, T. H. Buck
ley, D. M. Thompson, J. B. Smyth ; Ensigns,
George Symonds, E. W. Reid, J. L. Wilkins,
N. Monsarrat, B. Cronyn, Paul Phipps; Cap
tain and Adjutant, A. Walsh. In 1862, James
Moffat and John I. Mackenzie organized a
Company of Highlanders, equipping them at
their own expense. Moffat Avas then a captain
and Mackenzie a private. This state of affairs
would scarcely comport with modern ideas of
military discipline, but it was the true clan
spirit nevertheless. The same year a number
of 'British troops, including the 63rd, were
quartered in London, but Avere withdrawn the
following year in consequence of an affray
between Mayor Cornish and Major Bowles.
Cornish has frequently been spoken of as the

CITY OF LONDON.

29

" rowdy Mayor." His encounter with Bowles
gave him widespread notcSltety, but, such is
the irony of fate, of all his acts this was, if
anything, least deserving of blame. Bowles
had publicly boasted of his intimacy with
Cornish's wife, and Cornish thrashed him.
The troops were withdrawn on the plea that
a "rowdy Mayor" had assaulted an officer.
The affray was really between an injured hus
band and a boastful libertine. Afterwards
other regular troops were quartered here, in
cluding the 47th and 53rd Regiments, a bat-

Later on, in 1885, the Seventh Battalion — or
ganized from the independent companies in
1866 — was taken to the scenes of the troubles
on the banks of the Saskatchewan, but the
backbone of the rebellion was broken before
they reached the scene of conflict. They were
kept at Clarke's Crossing, however, for a long
time. In the days of the Fenian troubles,
when all the military were sent to the front,
many citizens became almost panic-stricken,
and Col. Bruce, advised the formation of a
"home guard." For years afterwards this

RICHMOND STREET, LOOKING SOUTH FROM MASONIC TEMPLE, 1897.

tery of artillery, sappers and miners, and a
troop of military train. The Canadian Rifles
were also stationed here, and the excellent
band of this regiment has been the standard
by which all then residents have since meas
ured musical organizations. The volunteers
with the regulars did good service in the days
of 1866, and, though the London boys never
saw any actual warfare, they were well up in
support at the Ridgeway affair, while they
did good preventive service at various points
on the frontier — mainly Sarnia and Windsor.

was a standing jest, and Falstaff 's army Avas
held to be discounted. Having had our laugh,
we can now see that the "home guard" served
a useful purpose. To quiet the fears of men
whose years handicapped their agility, and to
calm the hysterics of timid women — both
very desirable ends — the " home guard " an
swered as well as would the flower of the
British army ; had it come to a pitched battle,
the " guard " could probably have been routed
by a squad of schoolboys Avith snowballs. On
all occasions when called upon the London

30

CITY OF LONDON.

volunteers have given a good account of them
selves, and for many years to come the chil
dren will be told of the advance on Ridgeway
and of the hardships of crossing Lake Supe
rior on the ice. Not long since the veterans
of Ridgeway turned out in procession. They
were all in the prime of life — a fine body of
men — and marched in solid column in a way
that showed the lapse of a quarter of a cen
tury had not caused them to forget their
training, while the hearty cheers which
greeted them proved that their services in
days of danger had not been forgotten.
Shortly after their return from the North
west the 7th Battalion became disrupted, but
it was soon reorganized, and again ranks
among the "cracks," Col. Lindsay being in
command. The other corps now in London
are the Artillery (Maj. Wood) and the First
Hussars (Colonel
Gartshore). No. 1
Company, Royal
Canadian Infan
try, occupy the
barracks. A trifle
more than the
width of a street
separates the bar
racks and parade
ground from the
city municipally,
but to all intents
and purposes the
military quarters
form part of the
city. As a matter
of record it may be
well to insert here
the names of those

C. F. Williams, Walter Wright, Frank Sadler
and Langford; Color-Sergeant Thos. Goold,
Sergeants McClintock, John Harris, Joseph
O'Roake, Corporals A. E. Walker, W. Dyson
and James Goold; Lance-Corporals Joseph
Amor and Wm. Brown; Privates Hugh Mc-
Roberts, James Ford, H. Arbuckle, J. I. Wal
ker, James Johnston, J. F. Gray, H. Westaway,
Patrick Neil, Charles Potter, W. D. Crofts, A.
Davis, A. McRoberts, James Lozier, T. R. Hard
wood, F. Young, Thos. Livesey, W. Beaver,
W. Andrews, W. Ferguson, George Davis, A.
Somerville ; Sergeants Anundson and Anglin ;
Corporal McDonald ; Pri
vates Wanless, Jones,
Pennington, Fysh,
Burns, Atkinson, Dig-
nan, Kidder, Burke,
Hanson, McCoomb,

COVENT GARDEN, 1870.
FOR 1897 VIEW, SEE OPPOSITE PAGE.

who formed the London contingent who were
sent to the Northwest in 1885 : The staff
comprised W. De Ray Williams, Lt.-Colonel ;
Majors Smith and Gartshore, Adjutant Reid,
Quartermaster Smith and Surgeon Fraser.
The Captains were Ed. McKenzie, Frank But
ler, Thomas H. Tracy, Captain Dillon and S.
Frank Peters. The Lieutenants were Bapty
and Bazan, Chisholm and Gregg, Cox and
Payne, Hesketh, Jones and Pope. The Staff-
sergeants were Sergeant-Major Byrne, Pay
master-Sergeant W. H. Smith, Quartermaster-
Sergeant, J. Jury ; Sergeant of Ambulance, A.
Campbell; Sergeant of Pioneers, M. Cotter.
The private troops were Color-Sergeant A.
Jackson, Sergeant James Becroft, Corporal C.
G. Armstrong ; Privates Geo. Chapman, Ed
ward Harrison, A. Leslie, Charles Pugh, H.
Pennington, George Rogers, W. Schabacker,

Graham, Mercer, Kirkendale, Ryan, Caesar, Pet-
tit, Wright, Smyth and J. A. Muirhead ; Sergt.
Borland, Corporals Richards, McDonald and
Bayley ; Privates Lister, Moore, Mills, Smith,
McCarthy, Pennington, Macbeth, Webb, R.
Smith, Lowe, McCormick, G. Westland, Ben
son, Cowan, Ironsides, Allen, Mitchell, How
ard, Davis, Smith, Labatt, E. P. Dignan, C. D.
Gower, Carey, Gregg, Carnegie and W. Owen;
Sergeants Jacobs, Summers and Neilson ; Cor
porals Field, Rowland and Opled ; Privates
Jacobs, Tennant, Best, Dickenson, Walton,
Martin, Johnson, Moriarity, Peden, Kenneally,
Cassidy, Norfolk, Hayden, A. McNamara, Hall,
Quick, W. Wright, Cowie, Appleyard, Richard
son, Northy, Stinchcomb, Thwaite, Ralph,
Beetham, Walton, Sinnott, Rowason and Mc
Namara ; Sergeant Line, Privates H. Mills, T.
Mills, Stansfield, Black, Collins, Copper, George

CITY OF LONDON.

31

Clark, Connell, Dunkin, Flavin, Harrigan,
Keenan, Land, Lalley, Lovell, Morkin, Thomas,
Wright, Wilson, Brown, Crawford, W. Wright
and J. Clark ; Color-Sergeant Borland, Ser
geants Lynch and Fuller ; Corporals Harrison
and Lyman ; Privates Allison, Barrell, Bigger,
Borland, Brazier, Blackburn, Dickens, Duval,
Essex, Hicks, Hood, Hutchison, McCutcheon,
McCoy, McPherson, Macdonald, Parkinson,
Pickles, Pate, Robertson, Steele, W. Smith,
Terry, Whittaker and Woodall.
Speaking of military matters, an incident
of 1875 should not be forgotten. It Avas the

sation the Avriter had with a venerable chief
on the MoraviantoAAm Reserve during the
holding of the biennial council of the Indians
of Ontario and Quebec, in 1894. The conver
sation turned on the naming of Indians on
their renouncing Paganism. The chief said
that prior to this the Indians, in addition to
their Pagan names, had fantastic cognomens
bestowed on them by the whites, and he in
stanced George King, Avho had been known as
"King George" because of his supposed re
semblance to that monarch, and his legal
name as a Christian was acquired by merely

COVENT GARDEN MARKET, 1897.

distribution of a sum granted by the Domin
ion Government to the survivors of the war
of 1812. Cols. McPherson, Moffat and Taylor,
and Majors Leys and Peters were the examin
ers of the applicants in the London district.
Thirty presented their claims, the youngest of
whom was 78 and the oldest 87, who must
have been 15 and 24 respectively at the period
of the war. The applicants had been at
different points — Lundy's Lane, Queenston
Heights, Detroit, Fort Erie, Stony Creek and
elsewhere. Among the number were four
Indians, one of them named George King.
He is mentioned as his name recalls a conver-

transposing the two words of his nickname.
The first two Indians baptized in Canada, it
will be recollected, received the names of the
King and Queen of France — Henri and
Marie — from the French Catholic mission
aries, in 1610. The English reversed this
practice. The need of a public park never entered
the minds of the early settlers. And why
should it . It was only necessary to step out
of the log cabin to have the whole Province
for a park. Col. Burwell was the first to fore
see the need of the future, and he deeded to
the city St. James' park, Avhich was succes-

32

sively a potato patch and pasture field, but
never a park. In 1855 the city fenced it, but
in the following year it was leased to Thomas
Francis, who used it for the purposes stated
till it was a few years since cut up into build
ing lots. Few of the latter-day residents
know of its location. It was the piece of

ground between the track and Stanley street,
and the Wharncliffe and Wortley Roads.
Agitation for a park began in 1868, and that
year the court house grounds Avere granted
for the purpose on condition that frees be
planted and the grounds improAred. A few
trees were planted, but the project languished

CITY OF LONDON.

33

clark's bridge and avestminster abbey hotel, 1843.
From a painting made by the late James Hamilton, Esq. FOR 1897 VIEW, SEE BELOW.

and died. It might be said to have " died
a-borning." Ten years later Salter's grove
(noAV Queen's Park) was acquired by the city,
and in 1873, after the burning of the old
barracks, the ordnance lands became the
property of the Corporation, and the present
Victoria Park sprang into existence, being
dedicated by the Governor-General, Lord Duf-
ferin, on August 27, 1874. The Park was then
little better than a piece of Adrgin ground,
with no trees upon it, but the plans had been

well prepared — the services of the gardener
of Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, having been
secured — trees Avere transplanted bodily by
citizens — Monte Cristo's achievement on a
small scale — and to-day we have a park
which, for its size, twenty acres, is a spot to
be proud of. It is not necessary to go into all
the details of the arrangements by which the
city became possessed of the old ordnance
lands. Suffice it to say, in brief, that in return
for a site for barracks and parade grounds on

AVELLINGTON STREET (CLARK'S) BRIDGE, 1897.

34

CITY OF LONDON.

BLACKFRIARS BRIDGE, 1843.
the heights which overlook Adelaide and
Oxford streets to the west, the ordnance
lands were turned over to the city. In 1888 R.
Pritchardand A. B.
Powell —
with the
mayor ex-
officio —
were ap-
pointedtrusteesfor the
adminis tration of
the lands,
and when
they re
linquished their
trust in
1894 their
accounts blackfriars
showed The above are from paintings by
the city had been a considerable gainer by the
deal. The illustrations (see pages 18 and 19)
give a clear idea of the park as it was origi
nally and in its vari
ous stages of evolu
tion. The old pine
stump fence is well
remembered by
many, but a circum
stance in connection
therewith is well-
nigh forgotten. The
original enclosure
took in the gore and
closed up Clarence
street (now Park
avenue). The citizens
desired to open this

street, but the mili
tary objected. The
city authorities gave
notice that at a
certain time they
would remove the
stumps, and the mili
tary turned out to
prevent. Nothing
daunted, the citizens
started to open the
street, when the ar
tillery began to fire
blank cartridges.
This was kept up for
some time, but the
stumps were re
moved. The affair created great excitement at
the time, but of course a moment's thought
is only needed to see that the military were
"bluffing."
They were
clearly in
theAvrong. On all oc
casions of
electionsLondon
has been
known as
a "fight
ing " con
stituency— meta
phorically of course,
though
sometimes the tern-
could >he
Esq- taken lit
erally. It was first established as a separate
parliamentary district in 1835, when Col.
Mahlon Burwell became the representative.

bridge, 1857.
the late James Hamilton

FOR 1897 VIEWS,

BLACKFRIARS
SEE OPPOSITE PAGE.

bridge, 1870.

CITY OF LONDON.

35

LONDON AVEST, FROM KENT STREET.

___ i_®j_*iSi*?'-____l .
BLACKFBIARS, OXFORD, AND C. P. R. BRIDGES.

36

CITY OF LONDON.

Hamilton H. Killally followed,
and was in turn succeeded by
LaAvrence Lawrason in 1844. W.
H. Draper was the next mem
ber, resigning to accept a seat
on the bench. John (after
wards Judge) Wilson and
Thos. C. Dixon were the rep
resentatives till 1857, Avhen
John (now Sir John) Carlirtg
came to the front. Since that
time Mr. Carling has repre
sented the city in every Do
minion Parliament, save the
present and that one for the
term of 1874-8, when Col. Walker
won the seat. The Colonel was
unseated in the courts, and J. H.
Fraser wTas elected for the bal
ance of the term. In 1890 Mr. C.
S. Hyman was declared elected
and sat for one session, but was
afterwards unseated by the courts and the
seat aAvarded to Mr. Carling. Sir John also
represented the city in the Provincial Legis
lature from Confederation till the abolition of

THOS. CARLING, ESQ.
First recorded marriage
London district.

representative. Sir John Car
ling haAdng declared his inten
tion of not again going to the
polls, and having been appoint
ed to the Senate, the next con
test for the Dominion house
was between Major Thomas
Beattie and Mr. C. S. Hyman,
the former opponent of Mr.
Carling. It resulted in the
return of Major Beattie by a
majority of 43. A protest was
entered, and the trial will go
I down to posterity as the long
est civil case ever heard in a
Canadian court, eAddence and
argument of counsel occupying
a period of twenty-eight days.
At the conclusion of the argu
ment, Justices Ferguson and
Robertson reserved judgment,
and this had not been given as
these pages are being written. To recapitu
late all the incidents of election contests in
London Avould be as useless as it is impossible,
and anything concerning latter-days, beyond

A.
_ .-

I M

WrATERS' MILL — CARLING'S
From a painting by the late Jas. Hamilton,
dual representation. Mr. W. R. (now Sir Chief
Justice) Meredith Avas then chosen for the
latter position, and occupied it till 1894, Avhen
he resigned to go on the bench, and Avas suc
ceeded by Mr. T. S. Hobbs, who is the present

CREEK, NEAR RrVER — 1843.
Esq., kindly loaned by Geo. B. Harris, Esq.

a bare statement of what the record shows,
would excite a partisan discussion that has
no place here. In the olden-time, physical
encounters were numerous, and in 1832, and
again in 1841, the fighting became virtually

CITY OF LONDON.

37

QUEEN'S AVENUE, LOOKING EAST FROM PETER STREET.

DUNDAS STREET, LOOKING EAST FROM MAITLAND.

38

CITY OF LONDON.

a series of riots, but there is no record of
serious injuries. No doubt many of the sto
ries of election fights are in the main true,
but it is quite probable that an equal num
ber are apochryphal, and it is tolerably cer
tain that, with the lapse of time, all have be
come embellished with what may be termed,
for euphony:s sake, verbal embroidery. There
have been many exciting contests, alike in
municipal, Provincial and Federal politics,
within the recollection of many now living,
but to retail them all would be an endless task.
"In winter's tedious nights, sit by the fire
With good old folks, and let them tell thee tales
Of woful ages long ago betid."— Richard, II.
Then you shall hear of repeating, per
sonation, intimidation, bribery, and kindred
electioneering arts that have — so I have
been laid — been practised in London.
Probably the most exciting contest
knoAvn Avas that in 1865 for the mayor-

NORTH ST. (NOW QUEEN'S AVE.), LOOKING EAST FROM POST OFFICE, 1860
FOR 1897 VIEW, SEE OPPOSITE PAGE.
alty. On the second day of polling the mili
tary were called out — not to quell a disturb
ance, but to preA^ent a possible one. Many
held that the precaution was needless. At
all eA^ents, there was no demonstration worth
speaking of at this date, and the result broke
the reign of Cornish, who had practically been
the dictator of the city for four years.
The administration of justice in early days
was crude. There were none of "the law's
delays," of which Hamlet makes complaint.
At the building of Westminster Bridge the
first criminal was taken red-handed. He had
stolen a fellow-workman's axe. This was the
crime of crimes. As Avell take a pioneer's
right hand as his axe. An impromptu jury
decided that the culprit should be banished
or given a whipping. This latter form of
punishment seems to have been frequently
inflicted for petty thievery, and was later

supplemented by the pillory and stocks, but
it grew into disfavor as the settlement pro
gressed, and the last lashing for larceny was
in 1819. The pillory and stocks withstood
public sentiment for eleven years longer,
but they had been disused for a long time
before in 1830 they were incontinently
pitched into the river. The whipping-post
was restored by Provincial enactment in 1870,
and several men have since been lashed. But
their crimes Were of a different nature, and
humane sentiment is not shocked by the
application of the lash to those found guilty
of specific offences against the person. In
illustration of the primitive methods of these
days, it is said that Mr.
Clarke Gamble, Q. C,
Toronto, father of
Mrs. I. F. Hellmuth,
of this city, acted as
clerk of the court
at an assize held in
a building on the
court-house square,
London, in 1828.
Mr. Gamble is still
living in Toronto,
aged 89 years. Af
ter one of the cases
was tried and given
to the jury, they
were sent out in
charge of a consta
ble to some safe
place. Some time
afterwards one of
the counsel in the
case rushed up to
the judge, saying :
" My Lord, the jury sent out on my client's
case are sitting on the logs outside, with
people around them. Look out of the win
dow and see for yourself." The judge re
plied, "Well, if you can find a safer place
for them let me know," and proceeded with
the court's business. In 1827 the first court
of quarter sessions was held, presided over
by Joseph Ryerson. The jail has had many
temporary occupants. In 1836 all the
women of the place voluntarily made them
selves prisoners, as a measure of safety,
though it does not appear that there was
any need of' this. Since its first erection
there have been but six governors of the
jail. The first was Peter McGregor, who,
however, only held office for a short time
as a sort of " sub." The second was Samuel
H. Parke, who in 1858 gave place to Joseph
Lamb. He died in 1880, and was succeeded

CITY OF LONDON.

39

by Henry Fysh, who held office for three
years, and at his death the late governor of
the jail, Patrick Kelly, was appointed. Mr.
Kelly died in 1896, when the position of
jailor was assumed by Mr. Robert Boston,
of Lobo, ex-M.P. for South Middlesex. The
police force in the early days was an irregu
lar body, dependent upon their fees, a regu
lar force not being appointed till 1855, when
the status of a city was assumed. Though
the police force of London has done a great
deal of dangerous work, many desperate crim
inals having been taken in the act, only on
two occasions have serious assaults been
made upon the officers. In 1874 Constable

Up till that time the liquor law — not so
strict as it now is — was practically a dead
letter. The police force of 1867 was greatly
exercised — as was the whole city — over the
criminal pranks of a man called, for want
of a better or more accurate name, "Slippery
Jack." His practice was to gain entrance to
the sleeping apartments of women — some
times three and four in a night — and awaken
the sleeping inmates by tickling their feet.
He was never caught, though often seen and
several times shot at. Who he was was
never disclosed, though many guesses were
hazarded. The general theory was that he
was an officer of the garrison, and his idiotic

QUEEN'S AVENUE, LOOKING EAST FROM POST OFFICE, 1897.

John Kelly was stabbed and disabled by a
prisoner named George D. Miller, and in 1892
Detective Phair was fatally shot by a man
named Wilson, whom he was trying to arrest.
In 1878 Sergeant James Crawford shot a
robber named Thomas Ley, who had been
guilty of several burglaries, and attempted
to shoot the officer, but this was not in the
city. There have been many minor melees
in which batons were freely used, and in
1872 what was practically a riot on a _ small
scale took place on Dundas street, owing to
the presence in the city of a man named
Mason, from Toronto, whose occupation was
that of informer against those who sold liq
uor illegally. He was rescued by the police.

pranks ceased on the removal of the military.
Many believed that more than one were en
gaged in the escapades. It is quite possible.
All forms of lunacy that confer notoriety
find imitators. The poor fool had a sorry
conception of humor. Bright-witted men do
not consider it funny to throw women and
children into convulsions.
London has been comparatively free from
capital crimes. The sentence of death has
been carried out but twice in London for
murders committed within the city. Prior to
these there had been several executions in
London. Six persons sentenced to death were
indicted for participation in the rebellion of
1836-7. Their " crime " carries no stigma at

40

CITY OF LONDON.

this date, and it is sufficient to state that
their names were Cornelius Cunningham,
Joshua G. Doane, Amos Peasley, Adam Clark,
John Scott and Enos Scott, In 1831 C. A.

VICTORIA DISASTER,
MAY 24, 1881.
Burley (or Burleigh)
was hanged for the
murder by shooting of
Constable Pomeroy, at
Bayham. A ghastly
scene Avas enacted at
the execution. As the
drop fell the rope
broke and the half-
strangled man is said to have walked
about till another halter was procured.
The latter part of the story is probably
untrue, for obvious reasons. The fol
lowing* year Jonathan Sovereen was
hanged for the brutal murder of his
wife and seven children near Burford.
All other executions in London are
within the memory of living inhabit
ants. Thomas Jones was hanged in
1868 for the murder of his niece in
Delaware ; he protested his innocence
on the scaffold. He Avas the last male
factor publicly executed in London.
The statement has been made in print
that he suffered on the same scaffold
as did the victims of the rebellion.
Such Avas not the case. The lumber
used in all gallows structures in Lon
don has been rented for the purpose
and returned to the yard from Avhence

it came. It would serve no useful purpose,
and would confer unenviable and undeserved
notoriety, to indicate the house the threshold
of which, is formed of the crossbeam of the
scaffold from which Jones was hanged,
but it is still standing in London, and
known to the writer. In 1871 Angus Pick-
arc! was hanged in the jail yard for the
shooting of his employer, Duncan McVan-
nell, an East Nissouri farmer. There was
an element of romance connected with
the tragedy that lifts it above the brutal
butcheries of others. Pickard was engaged
to be married, but on some representations
by McVannell to the prospective father-
in-law the match was forbidden. Pickard
asked for his wages that he might go else-
Avhere and marry, and after several re
fusals he shot his employer. The only
woman hanged
in London was
Phcebe Campbell,
who suffered the
extreme penalty
in 1872. The mur
der, committed
in Nissouri, was n
peculiarly brutal

THE SCENE A KEAA" DAYS AFTER.

CITY OF LONDON.

41

one, the victim being her husband. It was
the outcome of an intrigue between the
murderess and her husband's hired man,
Hugh Coyle. Benjamin Simmons was
hanged in 1885 for the butchery of his par
amour, Mary Ann Stokes, and James Smith
in 1890 for the murder of one who for
thirty years had passed as his wife, but with
whom, as he confessed under the gallows, he
had eloped from England, leaving a wife be
hind. At this execution the hangman was
for the first time unmasked. He Avas the now
notorious Radcliffe. This record of capital
crime and its punishment is as concise as the
facts permit. It is not a pleasant subject,
A dreadful tragedy, the sad memories of
which have become mellowed by time, oc-

of 43 tons burthen, 70 feet long, with a 26-foot
beam, and when loaded to her normal capac
ity had a water draught of 16 inches. These
figures are official, but in estimating the capac
ity of the boat the flimsy nature of her con
struction should be taken into account, as this
contributed largely to the subsequent loss of
life. As the boat neared the Cove bridge, and
when a couple of hundred yards below the
bend, she careened, the boiler became loose,
and, rolling over, carried away the stanchions
that supported the hurricane deck. The pas
sengers were crushed down and about one-
third or one-fourth of the total lost their
lives. The exact number who were drowned
or crushed to death cannot be stated, but
there were 182 interments in the local ceme-

CENTRAL AVENUE, NORTH OF VICTORIA PARK, LOOKING EAST FROM RICHMOND STREET.

curred on the 24th of May, 1881 . The air was
clear, the sun shone, and it was veritable
" Queen's weather." The city had given itself
up to' holiday purposes. Thousands had gone
on excursions, but thousands still' remained,
and of these many made Springbank their
objective point. The steamboats were crowded
far beyond their legalized capacity in convey
ing passengers down the river all day, and
the crush became greater on the return trips
toAvard nightfall. About fi v e o'clock the
"Victoria" left the dock at Springbank on
what proved her last trip. That she was
overloaded all at the scene were well aware.
The estimates as to the number on board
range from 600 to 800, but thefe is no method
of exactly determining. The " Victoria " Avas

teries, and several bodies were taken else
where for sepulture. It' is probably not over
stating it to say that 200 persons lost their
lives, and one estimate made at the time,
based on very careful calculation, placed it at
215. To realize the full horror of the disaster,
it must be borne in mind that all the victims
Avere from a circumscribed area. Few fami
lies in London escaped without the loss of a
relative — none without the loss of a friend.
Proceedings were taken against the authori
ties of the boat, but as time wore on the
excitement became allayed, and no judicial
punishment followed. That bad judgment
was shown in overloading the boat goes with
out saying, but it was not tinctured by cupid
ity, as all had paid their return fares. The

42

CITY OF LONDON.

LONDON WEST — FRESHET, 1883.

Council resolved to erect a monument in
memory of the victims, but the matter never
went beyond the passage of the resolution,
and the proposal would find no favor to-day.
The accident put a damper for a time on
aquatic sports, but boating as a pastime is
again in favor, and the London Boat Club is
a flourishing institution, with a commodious
boathouse and grounds that have been laid
out as a golfing place, bowling green and
tennis lawn. A large
fleet of pleasure boats
ply between the city
and Springbank. In
the early years of
London the favorite
stretch of water for
boating was on the
south branch, and no
doubt this will in
future become as it
was in the past. All
the late dennis o'bbien. the facilities for boat-
ing are
there, but Springbank is the
favorite resort.
The physical geography of Lon
don is such that, while there is a
freshet every spring, the city does
not suffer therefrom. Built as it
is on a gradual slope from the
point where the two branches of
the stream form a "fork," the
natural valley only is flooded and
there are but few dwellings and
no business houses* ever affected.
i ee excePti.onal flood occurred in
1883, but it was in midsummer
and was occasioned by a cloud
burst. The downpour began on
the night of the 10th of July

In the surround
ing country and
in London West
a great deal of
damage was. done,
several houses-be
ing wrecked, and
eight lives were
lost. The storm
area was small,
but the rapid rise
of the waters
caused consider
able loss along
the course of the
stream by which
the downpour
found its way to
the lakes.

London East, m its early days known as
Lilleys Corners, became a part of the city,
Ward 5 m 1885. The settlement dates back
to early days. In 1851 Murray Anderson pur
chased a lot in what was then "English's
bush," surrounding the log cabin of the pio
neer, Noble F. English. In 1864, when the
hrst oil refineries were started by W. Baylev
Sen and the Duffield Bros., the population of
London East was about 500, but the develop
ment of the oil industry doubled this in the
next two years. The city pursued a short
sighted policy in driving the refineries beyond
the city limits, because of complaints regard
ing the odor of the oil in course of treatment.
ihe odor remained, but the taxable property
was outside of the jurisdiction of city assess
ors, ihe settlement grew apace till 1874
when the population numbered 2,500 and
incorporation as a village was decided upon.
i Ist 2f January, 1875, the following
became the first municipal rulers of the vil
lage : Reeve, A. M. Ross; Deputy Reeve,

THE O'BRIEN HOMESTEAD.

OLD CRYSTAL PA LAC t RICHMOND ST ^.^g-

WESTERN FAIR GROUNDS.

44

CITY OF LONDON.

Peter Allaster ; Councillors, Isaac Waterman,
R. Gough and J. H. McMechan; Clerk, A.
Isaac ; Treasurer, J. D. Smith. There is no
need to follow in detail the progress of the
village — to tell how the oil industry grew,
declined and revived ; of the establishment of
the car works, their burning, abandonment,
and- resuscitation. It is sufficient to say that
after ten years of life as a Adllage — much of
the time of the municipal rulers being occu
pied in petty squabbles over purely local and
trivial concerns — -London East took a broader
view of its destiny and cast in its lot with
London, making municipally what had been
practically and commercially one from the
beginning. The genesis of London South offers noth-

of 2,500, Avith a fine schoolhouse and two
churches — Episcopalian and Methodist. The
village calls for no special remark in a com
mercial sense, being in that regard a part and
parcel of the city proper.
At first glance it might appear far-fetched
to cite the London Gun Club and the London
Hunt to show the development and growth
of the city. Possibly it would be so were they
quoted as factors in the development, but as
proofs thereof nothing could be more perti
nent. In the early days there was no such
thing as hunting for sport. The streams were
full of fish, while game birds and edible ani
mals thronged the woods. No restrictive laws
hindered the furnishing of the tables of the
settlers, and hunting and fishing were then

WATERLOO STREET (EAST SIDE), NORTH OF ST. ANDREAV'S CHURCH.

ing for especial remark. Municipally there
never was a London South. That was merely
a local name given to the section across the
river in the township of Westminster, which
grew because of its desirability as a dwelling
place. Industrially it has no history, but on
its accession to the city in 1890, as Ward 6, it
added considerably to the population and
assessable value of London.
Though this is not designed as a story of
the whole section, injustice would be clone
were no mention made of London West,
which is in everything but its municipal poli
cy a portion of the city and shortly destined
to become a ward of itself. It was incorpo
rated in 1874, haA'ing previously been known
locally as Petersville, and has a population

matters of routine labor rather than of sport,
as necessary a preliminary to a meal as filling
the kettle or kindling the fire. It is only of
recent years that the game bird supply has
fallen short ; indeed, there are men living who
have hunted on present factory sites, and
some old settlers delight to tell of the time
when Sam Stewart took a random shot and
brought down two wild turkeys that he had
not seen. The influx of settlers drove off the
game, but the fish still remain to some extent.
Fine strings of black bass were taken within
the city limits last summer. The Gun Club
was organized for the better enforcement of
the game laws; that the shooting in the sur
rounding country might not be utterly de
stroyed, and also to protect the fisheries and

CITY OF LONDON.

45

maintain a source of supply, both of which
objects it is accomplishing. The London
Hunt Avas organized in 1885, mainly as a
means of furnishing outdoor sport in which
ladies and gentlemen could join, and to en
courage equestrianism.
Kennels were estab
lished at " Glenmore,"
on a side road in the
tOAvnship of London,
but afterwards re
moved to more capa
cious quarters on the
Proof Line Road, the
name " Glenmore" be
ing retained. During its
existence many horses
that have achieved
continental fame as
R. M. BUCKE, M.D., record-breakers in high
Superintendent Insane jumping have been
trained at Glenmore.
Mr. George Burns acted as Secretary of the
Hunt for the first ten years of its existence,
having recently retired. The following are
the present officers : Master, A. Beck ; presi-

their dogs who had treed a bear on the flats
below the school. The bear came down,
smashed the dogs and took refuge in the river
near the court house. The village people were
excited, and turned I
out en masse with I
their muskets and
firearms. Mr. Kerr
(of the post office)
and Mr. E. W. Harris
took an old dug-out
boat and made for
the animal. It was
finally killed and the
carcass towed down
the river. A dispute
ensued as to who
OAvned the bear,
when the custom of
the country prevail
ed, and it was given
to the hunters who
pursued and remained with it to a finish.
The first record of athletic sports in Lon
don appears in 1853, Avhen it appears there
were in existence flourishing cricket, base-

dr. c A. SIPPI,
Bursar Insane Asylum.

l'j * p i i ( > i B *" * '• » '
i iiifpi ' » ' '~'% * *"'! ' ¦ l ' ' ' ' ' ']¦!' r r f- ' * ?i!
** 1 1 H-fi* 1 1 1 •¦> "|a[ ''I'.. J > si?"** * MMr $ ??! * 'W
TS&tw ¦*¦¦-¦¦* •-- •¦¦ ' ¦ ¦¦&**¦ ¦¦'-¦ -

* *- & *£ M

i3!M*-;

ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE, LONDON.

dent, Major A. M. Smith ; first vice-president,
T. H. Smallman ; second vice-president, G. C.
Gibbons ; treasurer, Dr. J. S. Niven ; sec
retary, Jno. B. Kilgour ; executive commit
tee, Col. F. B. Leys, Col. Dawson, J. C.
Duffield, H. R. Abbott, Col. W. M. Gartshore,
W. T. Strong, A. H. Beddome, Ormsby Gray-
don, A. B. Patterson, Jno. I. A. Hunt.
As an incident of the early hunting days,
it is related that in 1844 the pupils at the old
Grammar School witnessed spme hunters with

ball and racket clubs. The two former have
survived, but racket is a thing of the past,
giving place to golf, lawn tennis and boAvling.
The old racket court stood on the south side
of York street, west of the Tecumseh House.
On the death of the racket club the building
was removed to the corner of Richmond and
York streets, and, being brick-A^eneered, be
came the Holman Opera House. It gaATe
place to Avholesale storehouses on the building
of the present Grand Opera House, in 1880.

46

CITY OF LONDON.

In baseball London has always taken a high
rank with its amateui* players, and in
the days of professionalism excitement used
to run to great heights. London's team, be
came the international champions, and so
advertised the city far and near. The love of
the game still lingers, and Tecumseh Park is
an excellent field for the game. On the park
there is also a bicycle track, and the wheel
men of the city are to be counted by hun
dreds. The use of the wheel, however, has
ceased to be solely a means of recreation, and
it now plays an important part in locomotion
for business purposes. The manufacture of
motorcycles has been arranged for in London,
and this promises to develop into an impor
tant industry, and add to the commercial
importance of London, when these vehicles
become in demand.
As showing the vast strides made by Lon
don in coming out of the wilderness, it is
worthy of note that in 1866 there arose a
hardship from the scarcity of firewood, which
went up to eight dollars per cord, with con
sequent suffering to many. The Great West
ern Railway came to the rescue and secured a
supply from Bothwell, which greatly reduced
the price. For this action the late Charles
Hunt and Thomas Swinyard, directors of the
road, received the formal thanks of the Cor
poration. In 1870 there was another fuel
famine, which the Port Stanley Railway re
lieved by hauling in wood and selling it at
cost. Since then coal has come into almost
universal use.
London enjoys preeminence of all Cana
dian cities in the number and strength of its
A^arious fraternal and beneficial societies.
Masonry stands at the head in point of antiq
uity, the first record of its appearance in the
district being in 1829. The lodges in these
days were peripatetic, one reason being that
the charters were held by British regiments,
and another the fact that there were proba
bly not enough Masons at any point to con
stitute a lodge. The first meeting was held
at what is now Siddallsville or Carlisle. The
following year, 1830, a Masonic communi
cation was held at " the village of the forks."
It was eleven years after, in 1841, that the
first lodge, No. 209a, was organized in London.
Masonic funerals have since been frequent in
the city, but the one which excited the most
comment was that of P. J. Dunn, in 1865.
The deceased brother was a Roman Catholic,
but had apparently died outside the pale of
the Church and was refused burial by the
ecclesiastical authorities. The Masons took
the matter up, nnd the funeral Avas also made
a military one, the deceased having been an

officei* in the volunteers. The funeral was
noteworthy from the circumstances attending
it rather than from the prominence of the
deceased, who had been the manager of the
refreshment rooms at the Great Western
Station. Masonry has always been on the
ascendant scale, though there were times
when dissensions arose in the order. These,
however, belong to the history of Masonry,
and are here only incidentally referred to,
with no intention of reviving matters long
since lost sight of. For purposes of record
there is appended a list of the Deputy Grand
Masters who have held office in the London
District since 1855, as far back as the regis
ter goes :
MASONIC DEPUTY GRAND MASTERS FOR
LONDON DISTRICT.
Prior to 1856 the Masonic District had
been known as the " Western." It was then
changed to " London."

1855-1856-1857-
1858- 1859-1860-1861-
1862-1863-
1864- 1865-
1866-1867-

1870-1871-1872- 1873-
1874- 1875-

W. O. Stephens
-James Daniell
-Thompson Wilson
-James Moffat
-Thompson Wilson
-F. W. Thomas
-Geo. Masson
-Geo. Masson
-Geo. Masson
-C. J. S. Askin
-C. J. S. Askin
Franc-is Westlake
-Francis Westlake
-John E. Brooke
¦John E. Brooke
-Geo. Billington
-Geo. Billington
Francis Westlake
D. B. Burtch
W. D. McGloghlon
I W. D. McGloghlon
I Jas. Sutton

1876
1877 1878
1879- 1880
1881- 1882-
1883- 1884
1885

1887 1888
1889-
1890- 18911892
1893 1894-
1895-

Jas. Sutton
J. M. Banghart
-J. Cascaden
R. B. Hungerford
-Robt. McKay
Wm. Milner
L. G. Jarvis
H. G. Lindsay
-W. G. Lumley
John Simpson
-Luke Slater
C. N. Spencer
John Boyd
¦W. B. Doherty
A. B. Munson
Thos. E. Robson
Alex. Hess
P. W. D. Broderick
' A. R. Rowat '
( A. E. Cooper
AV. W. Rutherford
—W. G. McMillen

In 1854 Oddfellowship gained its first foot
hold in London, and in that year Eureka
Lodge was organized. Oddfellowship has ever
since been a flourishing institution, and the
members are now numbered by the hundreds,
if not thousands. It may be said of both the
Masons and Oddfellows that they have left
their impress upon the architecture of the
city, as the fine buildings erected by the
respective orders attest. They are both noble
specimens of architecture. In addition to
these two ancient orders, there is scarcely a
known beneficial society that is not repre
sented in London, and one of them, the
Knights of the Maccabees, was organized here

CITY OF LONDON.

47

by W. D. McGloghlon, who was the author of
the ritual. The English, Irish and Scotch
have also each their national society.
Speaking of nationality, it may be recorded
that the first Chinaman settled in London in
1878. He did not remain long, but others
soon followed, and there have been more or
less of them ever since.
The first birth in London, already spoken
of, is well authenticated by tradition. There
is no record or trace of either the first mar
riage or first death. The first marriage in the
neighborhood of which definite account can

which to state that the "oldest inhabitant"
of London — that is, the one who has resided
longest in the city — is Mr. W. McCormick,
the next being his brother, Mr. Andrew
McCormick. The oldest native-born resident
is Mr. Verschoyle Cronyn.
HEADS OF THE CORPORATIONS.
Village Presidents. Village Clerks.
1840— Geo. J. Goodhue  [No authentic rec-
1841— James Givens  < ord, but probably
1842— Edward Matthews  [ John Hughes.
1843— Edward Matthews  W. K. Cornish
1844— James Farley  Geo. Railton
1845— John Balkwill  Thos. Scatcherd

WOLSELEY BARRACKS
be found was that of Thomas Carling and
Ann Routledge, the parents of Sir John Carl
ing, which took place in 1820, in the town
ship of London. The legal preliminary notice
required was written and tacked to a tree,
and, in the absence of ministers, the ceremony
was performed by two magistrates, Col. Bur-
well and Squire Springer. The tree to which
the notice was attached stood on the roadside
opposite the present summer residence of Mr.
D. S. Perrin, on the banks of the MedAvay.
Here a man named Getty kept a store, and it
was the most public place in the township in
those days. This may be a fitting place in

— MILITARY SCHOOL.
1846— T. W. Shepherd  Thos. Scatcherd
1847— Hiram D. Lee  Henry Hamilton
Town Mayors. • Toivn Clerks.
1848-Simeon Morrill  J Ch ' Hn'tchinsrm
1849-Thos. C. Dixon  [ JalnesSey
1850-Simeon Morrill  John Doyle
1851 - Simeon Morrill  John Doyle
1852— Edward Adams  John Doyle
1853— Edward Adams  John Doyle
1854— Marcus Holmes  John Doyle
City Mayors. City Clerks.
1855— Murray Anderson  John Doyle
1856— Wm. Barker  John Doyle
1857— Elijah Leonard  John Doyle
1858— David Glass  John Doyle
1859— Wm. McBri.de  A. S. Abbott

48

CITY OF LONDON.

PS*__

P

*•_*

_^. %_**, |5 * i
¦*5.v**'<.. ..;,'-¦•- ¦ I
"¦ '"¦ ^*_*i_i__-_r.«
,  " ¦'¦***&£* ¦

VIEW LOOKING SOUTH-WEST FROM COURT HOUSE, 1844.
Showing Westminster Bridge, Toll Gate, Judge Wilson's and Judge Givens' Residences.
FOR 1897 VIEW, SEE BELOW.

YORK STREET (WESTMINSTER) BRIDGE, 1897.

CITY OF LONDON.

49

City Mayors. <•;/,/ Clerks.
1860-Jas. MofPat  A. S. Abbott
1861-F. E. Cornish  A. S. Abbott
1862 -F. E. Cornish  A. S. Abbott
1863-F. E. Cornish  A. S. Abbott
1864-F. E. Cornish  A.S.Abbott

1865-David Glass 
1866 -David Glass 
1867 -AV. S. Smith
1868-W. S. Smith
1869 _ f John Christie (resigned)
lS. H. Graydon
1870-S. H. Grayclon
1871— J. M. Cousins
1872— John Campbell
1873— Andrew McCormick

.A. S. Abbott
A. S. Abbott
A. S. Abbott
A. S. Abbott
. A. S. Abbott
A. S. Abbott
.A. S. Abbott
A. S. Abbott
. A. S. Abbott
.A. S. Abbott

1885— Henry Becher  A. S. Abbott
1886— T. D. Hodgens  A. S. Abbott
1887— Jas. Cowan  A. S. Abbott
1888— Jas. Cowan  A. S. Abbott
1889— George Taylor  A. S. Abbott
1890 — George Taylor  C. A. Kingston
1891— George Taylor  C. A. Kingston
1892— W. M. Spencer  , . . C. A. Kingston
1893-E. T. Essery  C. A. Kingston
1894— E. T. Essery  C. A. Kingston
1895-.T. W. Little  C. A. Kingston
1898-J. W. Little  C. A. Kingston
1897- J. W. Little  C. A. Kingston
Mu nicipal Treasurers.
JW. \V. Street 1852-82— John Brown
° Uohn Harris 1882-97— John Pope

LONDON SOUTH, VIEW FROM FIRE HALL.

1874— B. Cronyn  A. S. Abbott
1875— B. Cronyn  A. S. Abbott
1876— D. C. Macdonald  A. S. Abbott
1877— Robert Pritchard  A. S. Abbott
1878— Robert Lewis  A. S. Abbott
1879-Robert Lewis  A. S. Abbott
1880— John Campbell  A. S. Abbott
1881— John Campbell  A. S. Abbott
1882— Ed. Meredith  A. S. Abbott
1883 -Ed. Meredith  A. S. Abbott
1884— C. S. Hyman  A. S. Abbott
*During these years the mayors were elected by the
aldermen from among their own number. In other
years the people voted direct for the heaol of the cor
poration.

Municipal Solicitors.
1845-49 -John Wilson /W. R Meredith
1849-55-H. C. R. Becher 18J0-94- (T G Meredith
1855-76— Thomas Scatcherd 1894-97— T. G. Meredith
1876-90— AV. R. Meredith Engineers.
1850-55- Capt. Caddy 1879-91— T. H. Tracer
-1855-59— Samuel Peters 1891-97— A. O. Graydon
1859-79 -Wm. Robinson Tax, Collectors.
The office of tax collector seems to have been a
temporary one prior to the incorporation of the city.
Among the incumbents of the office up to 1S55 were
John O'Neil, John McDowell, John Brown and A. S.
Abbott. After that date the record is :

50

CITY OF LONDON.

1855-56-A. S. Abbott
Alex. Johnston
1857-58— Alex. Johnston
Wm. Oakley
1859-68 -Thos. Fraser
John Blair
1869— John Blair
Wade Owen

1870-80-John Blair
James Taylor
1880-82-James Taylor
Daniel Lester
1883-93-Daniel Lester
J. K. Clare
1894-96— Daniel Lester
Alf. McCoubrey
1897— Geo. S. Hayes "

Police Magistrates.
1855-63— The Mayor ex-officio

City Auditors.
1855- 56 -John F. J. Harris 1872-
Benj. Shaw
1857- E. S. Collett 1873-
Nicholas Wilson
1858-59-E. S. Collett 1874-
A. G. Smyth
1860-63-E. S. Collett 1875—
Benj. Shaw
1864— E. S. Collett 1876-79
Charles Murray
1865-66— A. G. Smyth 1880-81-
Charles Murray
1867— A. G. Smyth ' 1882-83-
John Geary
1868-70 -A. G. Smyth 1884-97-
T. R. Westcott
1871— A. G. Smyth
C. D. Shaw

A. G. Smyth
Alex. Davidson
A. G. Smyth
W. F. Bullen
J. J. Dyas
C. F. Complin
A. G. Smyth
W. D. Riddell
-A. G. Smyth
B. Schram
-A. G. Smyth
John Smith
-Geo. F. Jewell
R. D. Miller
-Geo. F. Jewell
Andrew Dale

1864-82-1882-97-

-Lawrence Lawrason
-E. J. Parke

Chiefs of Police.

Prior to incorporation as a city the chief peace officer
had various appellations. He was at times warden,
high constable, inspector and high bailiff. In ante-city
days those holding the office were John Jennings, Wm.
Robb, Michael McGarry, Philo Bennett, Wm. Reilly and
Peter McCann. Thenceforward the record is :
1855-58— Samuel Ayers 1863 (partial) — W. Basker-
1858-60-Thael Van Valken- ville
burg 1863-77— Richard Wigmore
1860-62 -Brock Stevens 1877-97— AV. T. T. Williams
Police Court Clerks.

1855-82— The City Clerk ex- 1888-93— J. M. Keary
officio 1893-97— John Moule
1882-88— Richard Wigmore
Chiefs of Fire Department.
1873-80— Thomas Wastie 1880-97— John A. Roe
City Registrar.
1858-97— AAT. C. L. Gill

RIA'ER ATIEAV NEAR AYATERAYORKS.

'^^n?(//'

„_ . __ r> -'•-

.'_J^!«jf!sr_Ty_r*r

¦ft\%<-~ <-

,A

Chapter II.

LONDON SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES.

' In every village, marked with little spire,
Embower'd in trees, and hardly known to fame,
There dwells, in lonely shed and mean attire,
A matron old, whom we schoolmistress name."
— Shenstone: "The Schoolmistress."
-the Christian hopes sublime

of the crudest.

Transcend the bounds of fate and time."
—Sir Walter Scott: "Rokeby."
Iondon's first schoolhouse
was an attic in the jail,
where, for a few pence,
Stephen Van Every taught
the children of the day
their "a, b, abs," and it
may readily be imagined
that the furnishings were
Nor was its successor of
four years later, taught in 1831 by Miss
Stinson, noteworthy for its luxuriousness.
There were no patent systems of ventila
tion, but plenty of it. The building was a
one -story structure built mainly of logs.
The flooring and the interstices between
the logs were of terra cotta. That has a
sound of luxury, but it really only means
hard clay. Opposite the door there was a
wide fireplace, and midway between the
hearth and the ceiling a branch of a tree
sprang from the wall. It had grown curvi
linear, and by dint of chopping had acquired

a degree of symmetry. The space between
the curved limb and the wall had been filled
in with — well, terra cotta, and thus serA^ed as
a mantelpiece. On one side of the room was
a desk, which the pupils occupied in turn dur
ing their writing exercises. Some small forms
and a chair for the mistress completed the
furnishings. Such was the beginning of the
educational system which we enjoy in London
to-day, and a few years later, in 1840, the
forerunner of our Public Library was seen in a
newsroom kept by John Norval, " over Garri
son's store," where the casual visitor might
drop in and devour all the current literature
of the day, at the rate of a York sixpence (&\
cents) per visit. Prior to this, however, other
private schools had been established, and
several had lived — and most of them died —
before, in 1842, Rev. Benj. Cronyn was ap
pointed Superintendent of Education for the
town of London and Avas ordered to district
the town for school purposes. He simplified
his work by constituting each ward a school
district. The total amount of the school taxes
at that period did not exceed five hundred
dollars, but the disputations and wrangles
over the spending of this sum were as great
as now when the total expenditure for salaries
alone equals that sum multiplied by one hun
dred and fifty. The "ward schools" were soon

52

CITY OF LONDON.

found to be inadequate, and a demand for
"higher education" sprung up in 1848 that
resulted in the building of the now defunct
" Union School " the following year. The
school board at that time consisted of Right
Rev. Benj. Cronyn, chairman ; J. Skinner, W.
Elliot, G. McLatchey and W. Livingstone, with
Rev. W. F. Clarke as secretary. The first
staff of teachers in this school consisted of J.
B. Boyle, principal ; N. Wilson, J. C. Brown,
Wm. IrAvin, E. J. Craig, J. Taaffe, Jas. Mc-
Learen, Mrs. Hopkins, Misses Bethel, Corrigan,

office. With tho development of the Col
legiate Institute the Union School was be
lieved by many to have outliA^ed its useful
ness, and in 1890 it was razed and the site cut
up into building lots. Many successful busi
ness and professional men of to-day, in Lon
don and elsewhere, were graduated from the
"old Union School," but it had its day, and
sentimentalists may heave a sigh over the
fact that the capstone of the old seat of
learning now does duty as a horse-block with
in gunshot of its former proud position. In

STREET PA BADE OF SCHOOL CHILDREN —

HOISTING THE FLAG — DOMINION DAY.

Sharpe, Lester and Robertson. The scholar
ship this year (1849) numbered 1,800. Sub
sequent principals during the period that
London remained a town were Nicholas Wil
son, Robert Wilson and Hamilton Hunter;
Mr. Boyle again becoming the principal on
the town merging into a city in 1855. He
held the office till he was appointed Inspector
of the city schools, and " died with harness on
his back," being found dead at his desk in the
schoolhouse in 1891. Mr. Carson succeeded
Mr. Boyle as Inspector, and still holds tlie

1897 Mr. Nicholas Wilson completed a fifty-
year term of pedagogy in London, and the
unique event was celebrated by the presenta
tion to him of a complimentary address and
$1,000 in gold, as a souvenir from his ex-pupils
in all parts of the world. As a reminiscence,
it is worthy of note that the last log house
to remain standing in London was on the lot
now occupied by the Simcoe Street graded
school. The growth of school accommodation
in London proceeded pari passu with that of
tlie scliool population, and to-day there is no

CITY OF LONDON.

53

city in the Dominion better provided. The
various Public School buildings, with their
sites, are valued at a quarter of a million
dollars, the furniture and apparatus are
worth thirty thousand dollars, while the
salaries paid the officers, teachers, and jani
tors aggregate seventy-five thousand dollars
per annum. There are ninety -five public
school teachers, eight transition teachers,
eleven kindergarten directors, with an equal
number of paid assistants, and a music mas
ter, the whole staff, including the Inspector,
making a total of one hundred and twenty-
seven. The number of pupils on the roll is
5,325, with an average daily attendance of
4,636. The Collegiate Institute, building and
site, is valued at $75,000 ; the salaries of teach
ers, janitors, etc., entail an annual expenditure
of $20,000, while the value of the apparatus,
library, etc., is placed at $4,000. The number
of pupils on the roll is 693, and the average
daily attendance 633. The larger percentage
of attendance at the Institute — which was
founded in 1877 — is readily explained by the
fact that those who go do so solely for the
advantages to be gained, and includes none
who are compulsorily pupils. This institution
has reached a high state of excellence under
Principal Merchant. Among the people of
London there is a difference of opinion as to
the Collegiate Institute — not as to its merits
as a seat of learning, but as to whether it
should be free or self-sustaining by means of
fees. The question in its baldness is, merely,
How far should the state go in providing free
education ? Thus it is not a matter of princi
ple — only of degree. It is proper that the
point should be stated, but it is not to be
decided, not even debated, here. Mr. A. S.
Abbott acted as secretary of the School Board
from the time of his appointment as city clerk
till 1893, when he was succeeded by the pres
ent incumbent, Mr. R. M. McElheran. In
addition to the Public Schools, there are four
Separate Schools, under the direction of the
Roman Catholic authorities. These fit pupils
for the Collegiate Institute course.
It is worthy of record that the first kinder
garten school west of Toronto was established
in what is now Ward 6 of the city of London.
It was then, however, still a rural school sec
tion, and the school was the pioneer kinder
garten in rural sections. The trustees at that
time were Mi*. J. S. Dewar, afterwards chair
man of the city Board of Education ; Mr. R.
M. McElheran, at present secretary of the
Board of Education, and Mr. Frank Harding.
There was considerable opposition in the
section to the establishment of the school,

and the inner history of the whole affair
would afford entertaining reading matter.
But that is another story, and may be told at
some future time.
There is also a boarding and day school for
girls at the convent of the Sacred Heart. It
is open to all denominations, but does not
come within the category of free schools.
This applies to several other schools, colleges
and academies, which are based on proprie
tary or commercial considerations.
Huron College is a theological institution
in connection with the Episcopal Church. It
was founded in 1863, and is now in affiliation
with the Western University, Avhich was
established in 1878, and by its charter is
empowered to grant degrees in arts, divin
ity and medicine. The Medical College was
founded in 1881, and seven years later the
school at the corner of York, and Waterloo
streets was erected. The London Law School
is in its infancy, but the arts department of
the Western University, Avhich was formally
opened in 1895, Avill be an aid to those Avho
intend taking up the study of the law. In
the Western University there were registered
for 1895 sixty students in arts, ninety in
medicine and twenty-five in theology.
Speaking of the earlier educational insti
tutions of London, the old Grammar School,
for years under the charge of Rev. Benj.
Bayly, should not be omitted. From its halis
were turned out matriculants who have since
achieved high place — not alone locally, but
in the eye of the country. Professional and
commercial men who have risen to the top —
jurists who ornament the bench — men in
every walk of life — recall with affection
their alma mater, the old Grammar School.
A pretty ceremony has of late years been
introduced in connection with the celebration
of Confederation Day, 1st July. It is known as
"The Hoisting of the Flag," and consists of the
school children assembling on the park, and
there, after some simple ceremonies, the hal
yards are grasped by the scholars and the
Union Jack is, amid the cheers of the multi
tude, run up to the peak of the staff. There
is something more than sentimentality in
this, though that of itself is not a thing to
be sneered at. The children are taught that
patriotism is not a mere abstraction. They
learn to love the flag — not the piece of bun
ting. That is nothing save for what it typifies.
Children are taught that under the protection
of that flag no nation on earth dares do them
injustice. The whole resources of the most
powerful empire in the Avorld are behind that
flag and Avill be called forth at a minute's

54

CITY OF LONDON.

notice to redress any wrong done to the
humblest subject who owes allegiance to the
grand old Union Jack. On sea or on land, in
lonely forest or teeming city, a Briton must
have a fair trial and even justice, or Britain's
cannons and Britain's swords, backed by the
finest strains of British blood and all of
Britain's treasure, will know the reason why.
That is Avhy we love the flag and why the
children are taught its glories. The mean
and powerful, rich and poor, all stand on
equal ground when they inA-oke the protec
tion of the flag which girdles the earth and
proclaims all beneath it as free men. We
have our distinctive national societies. The
Sons of St. George, St. Patrick and St. An
drew all foregather at their respective camp-
fires, but at the ral
lying cry the Celt
and the Gael, the
Saxon and the
Norman, all cluster
under the old flag
and sustain it
shoulder to shoul
der.* The Western
School of Art,
which is under
Government aus
pices, was opened
in 1877, and has
proven a great aid
and incentive to
the study and
practice of art.
Mr. J. H. Griffith,
who has been con
nected with the
school since the
opening,

is in

OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL, KING STREET

*Let me here quote a few sentences culled from
a notable paper written by General Harrison, till re
cently the only living ex -President of the United
States: "There is a love in English hearts, and a
respect in all hearts, for the good and venerable woman
who for so long has been Queen of England, born of
her personal virtues ; but she is loved bv Englishmen 
more for what she personifies — the government and Brown, S. McBride, J. Siddons James Smith
the glory of England. She is always for the State, R. Rm*H W™ M.I'l. . _™T n * J^T.8 .f^
never for a party — party management is left to the
Ministry. * * * Patriotism should be cultivated —
should, m every home, be communicated to the chil-

charge. Many talented artists haA*e been
graduated, and the school is doing a good
work. It may be rather farfetched to go back to
village days to find the germ of the Public
Library of the present day. Reference has
been made to a reading room that existed in
1840. In the following year the Mechanics'
Institute was established, with the following
officers : Elijah Leonard, president ; Henry
Dalton, 1st vice-president ; Simeon Morrill,
2nd vice - president ; E. P. Ellis, treasurer ;
James Dall, recording secretary ; John F. J.
Harris, corresponding secretary ; Wm. Mc
Bride, librarian. The Institute was not in
corporated till eleven years later (in 1852),
when it had its quarters in a building on the
court-house square.
This was after
wards removed to
Talbot street,
where it stood for
several years — in
fact, the rear por
tion is still stand
ing. It is used now
as a factory, and
faces Queen's ave
nue. The Institute
maintained a nom
inal existence, with
occasional spurts
of vitality, for
about twenty
years, when in
1870 a fresh lease
of life was taken,
under the follow
ing officers : Presi
dent, F. Westlake;
1st vice - president,
R. Lewis; 2nd vice-
president, T. F. McMullen; corresponding
secretary, H. A. Baxter; recording secre
tary, M. D. Dawson ; treasurer, Adam Begg ;
managers, Isaac Waterman, T. Brown, J. R.
Peel, A. J. G. Henderson, W. Skinner, H. I.

! . ¦ 11 U

a LJnnnjl.niiij

¦ j j j 1 1 ; ' i j ;
_. '_-___' 

^S^M11™

dren, not casually, but by plan and of forethought
For too long our children got it as they did the mea
sles -caught it. * * * In the home, 'and before the
school days come, the feelings should be kindled and
sentiment awakened. Do not be ashamed to love the
flag or to confess your love of it. Make much of it —
tell its history — sing of it. It now floats over our
schools, and it ought to hang from the windows of
all our homes on all public davs. Every man should
uncover when the flag is borne by in tlie parade, and
every one should rise when a national air is given at
a concert or public meeting."

R. Reid, Wm. Noble and George Anderson.
The old library, containing fifteen hundred
volumes, was reopened and additions made.
The Institute so flourished for a time tha*Ua
new site and more pretentious building were
decided upon. As a result the cornerstone of
the structure on Dundas street now occupied
as Conservative Club rooms was laid in 1876,
the officers of the Institute being then as
follows: President, Col. Walker; 1st vice-
president, T. H. Tracey; 2nd vice-president,
Thomas Green ; recording secretary, J. O'Con-

CITY OF LONDON.

55

nor ; corresponding secretary, Alf. Robinson ;
treasurer, W. W. Fitzgerald ; directors, R.
Lewis, Alex.
Harvey, B. W.
Greer, S. Mum
mery, A. J. G.
Henderson, W.
Fairbairn, Dr.
J. R. Flock, J.
Moses, W. Lewis
and W.J. Smart.
The Mercantile
Library Associa
tion was organ
ized in 1852, but
does not appear
to have lived
long into the
sixth decade of
the century. Among those whose names have
been preserved as leading spirits in it were
David Glass, Henry Long, L. LaAvrason, Chas.

F. AV. MERCHANT, M.A.,
Principal Collegiate Institute.

Ramsay, M. W. Cummings, Joseph Atkinson,
C. D. Holmes, J. C. Brown, G. Gordon, Jr.,
James Egan and Charles Crookall. The es
tablishment of the Public Library did away
with any necessity that ever existed for the
Mechanics' Institute, and the latter was
merged in the former in 1894, the Library
being opened to the public the following year,
with R. J. Blackwell as librarian and Misses
Gray and McLaughlin assistants. The Board
of Directors at the opening was made up of
R. Reid, chairman ; H. Macklin, T. W. Keene,
Joseph Marks, E. R. Cameron, J. Egan, H. R.
Dignan and Talbot Macbeth, the latter hav
ing replaced Geo. A. Burrell on the original
Board. The Library building is one of the
few public structures that was built within
the first estimate.
The Church — using that term in its broad
est sense to include all denominations — is a
decided factor in education. How far it should
be so, if at all, is kept an open question here.

THE LONDON COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE.

__.

OLD UNION SCHOOL.

CITY OF LONDON.

57

MODEL SCHOOL — SIMCOE STREET.

That it is so is the fact, and therefore it is
fitting to couple in one chapter the schools
and the churches. It is, moreover, a typo
graphical convenience and a coherent ar
rangement of subjects — not an expression
of opinion as to the degree of affinity that
should exist between the tAvo.
London's church history began early in
1830, but there is no clear record as to when
the first house of worship was erected in the
place. In 1833 a church was built by the
Methodist body, on the west side of Ridout
street, north of Carling. The structure Avas
of the material known as " roughcast." Lon
don at that time was merely a preaching-
station, and had therefore no settled pastor,
but the names of Rev. Messrs. Stoney and
Newberry have been preserved as among the
pioneer preachers. Six years later the con
gregation had grown so that a more commo
dious place of worship was needed, and a site
was selected at the south-east corner of King
and Talbot streets, where a frame building-
was erected. It is recorded that the first piece
of ornamental plastering done in London was

in connection with this building, Henry Roots
being the workman. This church Avas only
used for a couple of years, and in 1841 a third
one was erected on the east side of Richmond
street, south of §
Dundas. It Avas |
continued in use |
for ten years, 2
and was then de- i
voted to com- |
mercial purposes; I
being burned in
1870. Early in
the fifties the
division in the
Methodist body
occurred, and the
historic "North
Street Church"
came into exist
ence, under the
pastorate of ReAr.
succeeded Rev. Dr

R. M. GRAHAM,
Principal Model School.

Wm. Pollard, he having
Evans. The lot was pur
chased from Anthony Pegler for £700. As
this is being written a block of residences

58

CITY OF LONDON.

is being erected thereon. After the fire it
was purchased from the trustees by Mr.
Kingsmill, the present proprietor. The
board of trustees at the first consisted
of William Glass, George Tyas, John
Elson, S. Peters, S. McBride and S. Screaton.
The contract was let the following year,
and in 1854 the church was dedicated. It
is noteworthy that in all this time there
have been but two board secretaries. Wm.
McBride held the office till 1874, and A.
B. Powell ever since that date. In 1873 an

be found in the Province. It is a circumstance
worthy of record that Mr. S. McBride, who
placed in position the weather vane on the
spire of the first church in 1854, performed
the same service on the new church in 1896 —
forty-two years afterwards. The old North
Street Church has frequently been called the
parent church of London, and it lived long
enough to see a numerous and successful
progeny spring up around it. At the time of
its erection the old church was computed to
hold more people than any other building in

addition known as Wesley Hall was built, and
in 1880 great improvements were made, in
cluding the erection of an organ at a cost of
$9,000. The church pursued its prosperous
course till early in 1895, when it was destroyed
by fire, as was also in a few days afterwards
the Dundas Street Centre Methodist Church.
The latter congregation resolved to rebuild
on the old site, but the former removed to
the corner of Dufferin avenue and Wellington
street. Both of the neAv edifices are on a
grander scale than their predecessors, and
are as fine specimens of architecture as may

London. For this reason it was selected in
1865 as the place for holding memorial serv
ices on the occasion of the assassination of
President Lincoln. G. W. Moncrieff delivered
the oration of the day, the church being
vested in "the trappings and suits of woe,"
city bells were tolled, stores closed, and the
occasion one of universal sorrow, though the
town was full of secession sympathizers. But
this was merely an incident in, not a part of,
the church's history. Space does not permit
a tracing in detail, but it will awaken pleas
ant recollections for the older readers to

60

CITY OF LONDON.

recall the names of some of the pastors of the
pioneer church in London. We find in the
list those of Carroll, Evans, Pollard, Wilkin
son, Douse, Cooney, Sanderson, Jones, Potts,
Bishop, Hunter, Elliott, Briggs, Jeffers, Han-
non, Graham, Philp, Gaetz,
Treleaven, Sutherland, Scott,
Boyd, Annis, Daniels, and
many others whose names
are everywhere familiar in
Canadian Methodist history.
It is sufficient to say that
the progress of Methodism
has been not only rapid but
substantial, and that there
are to-day within the corpo
rate limits no less than seven
churches, all of a high order
architecturally and attesting
in solid brick and stone the
prosperity of the Methodist
body. These are : The First
Methodist (rebuilt Queen's
Avenue, or old North Street),
Dundas Centre (corner Dun
das and Maitland), The Cen
tennial (Dundas Street east),
Wellington Street (corner
Wellington and Grey), Col-

parts of the city; and a colored congregation
of Methodist Episcopalians, who have a fine
brick church on Grey street, east of Colborne.
It dates back to the early days of 1860, when
the church was on Thames street, between

borne Street (corner Colborne and Piccadilly)
King Street (between Clarence and Wel
lington), and London South (corner Askin
and Teresa). There are also several mis
sions, yet to grow into churches, in various

Bathurst and Horton. Apro
pos of this, it may be men
tioned that a convention of
colored refugees from slav
ery was held at London in
April, 1853, those present be
ing mainly residents of the
place and of the Wilberforce
settlement near Lucan. This
had been established by the
Quakers as a refuge for run
away slaves. The last sur
vivor, Mrs. Bell, died in 1878,
over' one hundred years of
age. The colored population
of London at the time of the
convention numbered 276,
and they owned real estate
assessed at $13,504 — a con
siderably higher average
than for the white men of
the period. In the Septem
ber previous an a.nti-slavery
society had been started,
when Rev. S. R. Ward, a colored man, vis
ited London and preached in the Methodist
New Connexion Church. The officers of the
society were : President, Rev. Wm. McClure;
secretary-treasurer, Rev. R. Boyd; directors,

CITY OF LONDON.

61

Revs. John Scott and W. F.. Clarke, Drs.
Salter and Wanless, and Messrs. John Fraser,
Wm. Rowland and A. B. Jones. The "Fugitive
Chapel " (still standing as a dwelling house on
Thames street) was erected, and London be
came one of the terminii of Avhat was known
in slavery days as the "Underground Rail
way." Incidentally, it may be mentioned that
in the summer of 1858 John Brown, the apos
tle of abolition, visited London, and passed
his time here and in ¦
Chatham while drafting I
the Constitution of his |
proposed Provisional
Government of the
United States. He re
ceived warning that
his whereabouts was
known and returned
to Kansas. His upris
ing at Harper's Ferry
and subsequent death
on the scaffold are mat
ters of history. Several
of his relatives still re- I
side here.
Anglican traditions ante
date those of Methodism, go
ing back to 1827, but it Avas
two years later before a
clergyman Avas placed regu
larly on the district, which
was called " St. Paul's." He
was the Rev. E. N. Boswell,
and remained about three
years, being succeeded in
1832 by Rev. Benj. Cronyn,
who came hither from Ire
land. There was no regular
place of worship, however,
and services were conducted
in the old Grammar School,
on the court-house square.
The first St. Paul's Church, a
frame structure, was erected
in 1834 on the corner where
the Customs House noAv
stands. It was destroyed by fire, after
ten years of service, on Ash Wednesday,
Ash Wednesday, 1846, its
dedicated to public worship.
was also of frame, and is
It is on the old Kent estate,
m London Lane, and has for years been
used for residential purposes. Among the
leading members of the congregation at that
time were Judge H. Allen, H. G. Allen, J. B.
Allen, J. B. Askin, H. C. R. Becher. H. Chis-
holm, John Givens, G. J. Goodhue, L. Lawra

son, C. Monsarrat, W. Horton, John Harris,
W. W, Street, Freeman Talbot, John Wilson
and C. S. Gzowski. The pioneer, L. Lawrason,
had died, however, before this date, and his
grave, with that of his wife, are two of the
half dozen or so now remaining in St. Paul's
yard. The tombstones give the date of death
as 1830. When it was decided that the. frame
building should be replaced by a brick edifice,
the bricks required were made from clay dug
on the premises
| and burned on the
site of the church.
The town council
of a subsequent
date refused to per
mit a brickyard to
be established on
"North street, ad
joining the church
yard." For what
reason is not stated,
nor is there any
thing to show
whether reference
was made to St.
Paul's church yard

1844, and on
successor was
This building
still standing.

or to the cemetery which then Avas located at
the Avestern end of North street, overlooking
the river. The cornerstone of the new edifice
was laid in June, 1844, by Bishop Strachan;
the only Masonic lodge in the place, St. John's
Lodge, 209 (now 209a), taking part in the
ceremonies. Soon after the erection of the
church a chime of bells, the first in Western
Canada, Avas added, and still remains. Within
the past few years St. Paul's has been greatly
improved and now ranks as one of the finest
ecclesiastical structures in the Dominion. The

62

CITY OF LONDON.

old Chapter House on Piccadilly street being
disposed of, it was determined to " restore "
St. Paul's and to add to it an extension on the
north which should serve as
diocesan offices and chapter
house. The Diocese of Huron,
with London as the See
city, was created in 1857,
and Rev. Dr. Cronyn
became the first bish
op. Under his
episcopacy the
diocese flour
ished, till in
1871 Rev. Dr.
Hellmuth Avas

and still holds the office. Among the names
of those who are or have been connected with
St. Paul's in a clerical capacity we find Canon
Innes (Dean of Huron), Dr.
Bayly, H. H. O'Neil, Hay
ward, John McLean (after
wards Bishop of Sas
katchewan), W. Rains
ford, G. J. Lowe,
Starr, S. B. Kellogg,
J. G. Baylis. J.
G e m 1 e y, A .
Brown, Rich'd
Hicks, Can
on Dann and

appointed Coad j utor
Bishop. He became
bishop on the death
of Bishop Cronyn in the same year, and. held
the position till 1884, when he resigned to
make his residence in England, having re
ceived an appointment as Suffragan Bisliop.
In that year the present incumbent, Right
Rev. Maurice Baldwin, Avho had been a
former rector, was chosen Bishop of Huron

others. St. Paul's fur
nishes an example of
long continuance in
office, A.'G. Smyth having been vestry clerk
since 1859. Former clerks had been Wilson
Mills and J. C. Meredith. Canon Innes recent
ly celebrated, his twenty-fifth year of con
nection with St. Paul's, and the event was
fittingly recognized by the congregation by
the presentation of a congratulatory address

CITY OF LONDON.

63

and a substantial purse of gold. Many
churches have been erected as offshoots of
St. Paul's. Among these are Christ Church,
corner Wellington and Hill streets, 1863 ;
Memorial Church (erected
by the sons of the late
Bishop Cronyn), corner
William street and Queen's
avenue, 1872 ; St. George's,
London West, 1874; St.
James' (of which Archdea
con Davis has been in
pastoral charge since the
opening), Askin street,
1875; St. Matthew's, Lon
don East, 1882, and St.
John's, corner Wellington
and St. James' streets,1888.
The dates of erection of
these various churches give
a clear idea of the steady
growth of the Anglican
communion in London.
The Presbyterian body first appears as a
regular congregation, with a specified pastor,
in 1832. The date of the erection of the first
church is not clear, but it was about this time.
It was a frame building on York ' street, in
rear of where the
Tecumseh House - / .{ --„, 
now stands, and
there services
were held till 1859
when the church
was burnt. The
following year it
was reerected of
brick on the pres
ent site, corner of
Park and Dufferin
avenues, and here
in 1872 the first
organ was heard
in a Presbyterian
church in London.
In 1894 it was
again remodeled
and rebuilt, and
is now one of the
handsomest build
ings in London.
While the official
title has always
been "The First
Presbyterian," for
years it was popu
larly known as "Proudfoot's Church,
first pastor having been Rev. W. Proud-
foot, who was succeeded by his son, Rev. Dr.
Proudfoot, in 1851, who held the office till

HOLY ANGELS SEPARATE SCHOOL.

SEPARATE SCHOOL, PARK AVENUE

the

increasing infirmities necessitated his retire
ment in 1890. He was followed by Rev. Mr.
Clarke, the present pastor. The first meeting
of the Presbytery of London took place in
this church, and it will be
of interest to recall the
names of those who took
part. They were Revs. Dr.
Proudfoot, J. Rennie, M.
Fraser, J. K. Wright, Geo.
Cuthbertson (Sarnia Pres
bytery), A. Henderson, J.
M. Munro, A. Beamer, J.
Wells (Sarnia Presbytery),
F. Ballantyne, M. A., L.
Cameron, N. McKinnon, K.
McDonald, W. A. Suther
land, John M. Morris, D. B.
Whimster, Hugh Camer
on, J. Johnson, D. Stewart,
D. McGillivray, J. Stewart,
D. Mann and Geo. Suther
land. The elders at that
time were James Shields, A. Sutherland,
Thos. Gordon, William Brown, Adam Mur
ray, James Bell, D. Turner, A. McMillan, D.
K. McKenzie, James Scott, D. McNair, Neil
Munro and James Douglas. Rev. John Scott,
who was the first
pastor of St. An-
drew's Church,
and who held that
position for exact
ly a quarter of a
century, from 1850
to 1875, prepared
in 1868 a history
of that church.
Therein he says
that up till 1833
the Presbyterians
of London regard
ed themselves as
belonging to the
Church of Scot
land. In that year
they formed a dis
tinct society, and
heard the gospel
expounded by
missionaries sent
from England, Ire
land and Scotland,
as well as neigh
boring students
and ministers, till the year of Mr. Scott's in
duction. In 1842 a lot for church and ceme
tery purposes was obtained from the Govern
ment — the present .church and parsonage site,

64

CITY OF LONDON.

corner of Queen's avenue and Waterloo street
— and here a frame building 45 x 60 feet was
erected and opened in 1843, Revs. Donald
Mackenzie, Duncan McMillan and Robert

£__¦_*¦

A^ ""*"¦'

s U _**
. . r, !.
_* r" f9'1 $ r^
Iiii s i.|1 la

HURON COLLEGE.
Lindsay officiating. A fortnight later the
congregation was formally organized by the
election of Alex. Ross, John Mitchie, William
Clarke, James McLaren and Andrew Mc
Cormick as elders, and the first communion
service was held early in the winter of the
same year, Revs. Mackenzie and McMillan
officiating. It may interest the latter-day
reader to know that this edifice is still stand
ing, though on a site some four miles distant.
It is the refreshment room at Springbank.
On its sale in 1868, to make way for the
present structure, it was taken apart and
reerected down the river as a woolen mill,
for which purpose it was used till the city
acquired the property. The present St,
Andrew's Church was erected at a cost of
$30,000. This sum the congregation soon paid
and collections were abolished. The list of
the principal contributors to the building
reads like a connecting link between the past
generation and the present. Those who gave
$100 and upwards were : John Birrell, Wm.
Begg, Alex. Campbell, Andrew Chisholm,
John Campbell, David Bogue, John M. Burns,
Thos. Browne, W. H. Birrell, Ewan Cameron,
John Cousins, Wm. Clark, Duncan Campbell,
James Durand, R. S. T. Davidson, David
Denham, Wm. Durand, John Elliott, J. H.
Fraser, William Gordon, G. M. Gunn, Alex.
Gauld, James Glen, Alex. Graham, A. J. G.
Henderson, W. Kent, Daniel Lester, Mrs.
Lyle, — Lunn, Mrs. Mitchie, R. S. Murray,
J. G. Mcintosh, Alexander Mcintosh, Joseph
McKay and Bro., Thomas McCracken, John
Ross, Edward Rowland, Warren Rock, A. M.

Ross, Hugh Stevenson, John Stewart, Wm.
Stephenson and Co., and Rev. John Scott.
In the latter days of Rev. Mr. Scott's pastor
ate dissensions arose in the congregation
over the question
of an organ in the
church, he being
opposed to instru
mental music in
worship. The pro-
organists eventual
ly carried the day,
and this, with ad
vancing years, led
to Mr. Scott's retire
ment. His death
occurred at Hamil-
ton in 1895. He
was succeeded by
Rev. J. A. Murray,
who officiated as
pastor till his death
in 1894, when Rev.
Mr. Johnston, the present incumbent, was
called. The King Street Presbyterian Church was
established in 1876, when the growth of

MEDICAL SCHOOL.

London East warranted the erection of a
Presbyterian church in the locality. Rev. Mr.
Wright was the first pastor, but afterwards
resolving to devote his life to mission work,

CITY OF LONDON.

65

Rev. W. M. Roger was called to the pastorate,
and remained until September, 1896, when
Rev. Thomas Wilson succeeded him.
St. James' Presbyterian Church has seen
troublous times. The land on which it stands,
the southern portion of the gore formed by
the junction of Richmond street and Park
avenue, was granted by the Crown in 1859,
to induce the congregation to abandon their
claim to the site
of St. Andrew's.
Rev. Francis
Nichol had been
located here a
year previously,
and he worked
up the congre
gation to under
take the erec-

THE BT. EEV. BENJAMIN CRONYN, LL.D.,
Bishop of Huron, 1857-1871.
tion of the building. The
church was opened in 1861,
the original board of trus
tees consisting of the pas
tor, George Macbeth, Alex.
McArthur, James Dunbar,
William Chalmers, James
Cowan, Duncan Mackenzie
and John Mackenzie.
Among those whose names
appeared as prominent members and ad
herents of the church at that time were
Judge Daniels, William Muir, Robinson
Orr, Daniel Macfie and Andrew Cleghorn.
Rev. Mr. Nichol gave place as pastor to
Rev. Mr. Camelon about 1868, and affairs
ran along more or less smoothly till 1875,
Rev. Mr. Camelon being still the pastor,
when the "Auld Kirk" troubles arose over
opposition to the union of the Presbyterian
churches, the result of which was a division of
the congregation and a lawsuit for the prop-

Knox Presbyterian Church, corner of
Bruce street and Wortley Road, has had an
uneventful career of prosperity. Its establish
ment was first mooted in 1882, as a natural
result of the growth of the place, and two
years later the church became an accom
plished fact. The most interesting fact in
connection with it has been the steady growth
of the congregation, so that in the first decade
of its history it became necessary to greatly
enlarge it. Rev. Jas. Ballantyne was the first
pastor, and remained such till 1894, when he
received a call to Ottawa, and was succeeded
by Rev. Mr. Stewart, the present incumbent.
We must assume 1834 to have been the
year that marked the erection of the first
Roman Catholic Church in London. The dedi
cation took place in that year, and as the
church was built of logs, with the earth as
flooring, no great length of
time was needed for its con
struction, and the prelimi
nary work of the architect
was nothing. Father Down
ie, then stationed at St.
Thomas, was the officiating
clergyman. In the early
days there were no clergy
men in London, though serv-

THE KT..REV. I. HELLMUTH, D.D., D.C.L.
Bishop of Huron, 1871-1884.

ices were fre
quently held
in the houses
of the leading
Catholics, who
sent word to
those of the
surrounding
country when
a visit from a
priest was ex
pected. Among the names of the pioneer
erty.- These matters can be barely referred to Catholics are many that have been trans

THE RT. REV. MAURICE S. BALDWIN, D.
Bishop of Huron.

here, and it is sufficient to say that the dissi
dents worshipped for some time in the old
Congregational Church on King street, Rev.
R. Burnett being pastor, and finally dissolved
as a body. St. James' was for some years un
der the pastorate of Rev. Mr. McGillivray, but
since 1890 Rev. Mr. Tailing has been in charge.

mitted to this day, among them being Garret
Farrell, Patrick Smith, Dennis O'Brien,
Capt. McLoughlin, A. McCausland, the Red
monds, John Cruickshank, James Wilson,
O'Byrne, P. McLoughlan, John Wright, John
Walsh, O'Flynn, Flood, M. Kiely, Peter
McCann, John Orange, Peter Kennedy, Dr.

66 Anderson, J. Martin, James Reid, P. Burke,
E. Burke, John Clegg, W. Darby, J. O Brien,
the Bruces, Andersons, Milnes, Johnstons
Dignam, Scanlan, P. Tierney, Charles and
Matthew Colovin, E. Hillen, John M. Keary,
Wm Dalton, John Walsh, Richard Dmahan,
P Cleary, Corbett, H. O'Brien, McLean, and
many others. The first church was built with

CITY OF LONDON.

funds obtained from the sale of a collection c
farm produce. It was located on the soutl
west corner of Richmond and Maple street
the surrounding land being used as a cenn
tery Up till 1850 there were not more tha
two hundred Catholics, exclusive of tt
military, in London, but the following ye£
saw a rapid increase, and then was begun tt
erection of the old Cathedral on the nortl
east corner of the same streets. In the meai
time the log structure had been destroye

Mcnod^ Cm<^

4 MM

^*e-"S"c*.

M

68

CITY OF LONDON.

by fire, and mass was celebrated for a time
in the town hall, on the corner of King
and Talbot streets, and afterwards in the old
building on King street that was at various
periods in its life a Universalist, a Catholic,
a Congregational, a Presbyterian church, and
finally a Salvation Army barracks. Though
best known to the present generation as " the
old Congregational Church," it would seem
more deserving of the title of "Universalist"
— speaking literally, not theologically. It was
burned a few years ago. The old Catholic
Cathedral continued in service for thirty-five
years, being finally pulled down in 1885, on
the opening of the present Cathedral. The
cost of the old building was £5,000, an enor
mous sum in those days, while that of the
present structure completed will not fall short
of five times that amount. The first appoint
ment of a priest for London seems to have
been in 1849. Father Kirwan, more com
monly called " Dean," was the appointee, and
he remained till 1856. The diocese of London
was created in this year, the Rev. Peter
Adolphus Pinsonneault, priest of the Society
of St. Sulpice, Montreal, being named as the
first bishop. Shortly after his installation
he determined to make his residence at
Sandwich, and in 1859 he procured a pon
tifical brief, which not only authorized the
change of residence, but altered the name of
the diocese from London to Sandwich. In 1857
Father Bruyere, of Toronto, was made Vicar-
General of the diocese, and removed to Sand
wich in i860. In 1868 Right Rev. Dr. Walsh,
having succeeded Bishop Pinsonneault, re
moved the Episcopal See from Sandwich to
London, and in the following year secured
from the Propaganda a decree making Lon
don once more the Episcopal See of the dio
cese, which was renamed London. In 1876
Bishop Walsh paid a visit to Rome, and on
his return received a hearty welcome. From
a speech he made on that occasion a few
sentences may be culled, as they contain in a
nutshell the history of the diocese up till that
time. He said :
" Ten years ago this diocese found itself encumbered
by an enormous debt which weighed upon it like a
millstone, crushing its energies, destroying its credit,
and rendering church progress a moral impossibility.
Now every farthing of this debt has been liquidated,
without speaking of $6,000 actually paid towards the
support of the former bishop of this diocese. Twenty-
eight new churches have been raised to the glory of
God and for the purposes of religion. All these edifices,
with few exceptions, are of brick and stone, and many
of them are splendid and costly edifices. Besides, five
churches have been greatly enlarged and improved.
Seventeen commodious presbyteries have been built for
the accommodation. of the parochial clergy. An epis
copal residence, second to none in the Province, has
been constructed and not a cent of debt has been left

upon it. Three convents have been built. Mount Hope
has been purchased and paid for, and a splendid new
orphanage has been erected on it, and besides a hand
some new college has been built by the self-sacrificing
zeal of the Basilian Fathers. In fine, more than a
quarter of a million dollars has been actually expended
within the last nine years."
The first sod for the new (present) Cathe
dral was turned in 1880, the cornerstone laid
the following year, and in 1885 it was opened
for public worship. In the meantime Bishop
Walsh had been raised to the dignity of
Archbishop of the Province, and on April 19,
1885, he bade farewell to the congregation in
old St. Peter's, which was shortly afterwards
torn down. Early in the '70's a mission church,
known as St. Mary's, was established on Hill
street, and is still continued. Bishop Walsh
was succeeded in the episcopacy by Bishop
O'Connor, and the Catholic clergy of London
(city — not diocese) now are :
Bishop — Right Rev. Denis O'Connor, D. D.
Bishop's Council — Dean Murphy, Dean
Wagner ; Revs. Joseph Bayard, E. B. Kilroy,
D. D.; D. Cushing, C. S. B.
St. Peter's Cathedral — Revs. M. J. Tiernan,
Thomas Noonan, N. Gahan, J. V. Tobin.
St. Mary's Church — Rev. M. McCormick.
The first services of the Baptist Church in
London were held about 1844, the place of
meeting being the old Mechanics' Institute,
then situated on the court-house square. Tavo
years later the straggling congregation was
organized into a regular church, having nine
members, the names of all of whom have been
preserved. They were Wm. Wakeling, J. H.
Haines, Lieut. Allright, James Hitchens, with
the wives of these four gentlemen, and Mrs.
Henry Groves. The scene of services was
then transferred to the Methodist Chapel on
the corner of King and Talbot streets, Rev.
Jas. Inglis being the first pastor. Four years
later the congregation took possession of
their own church, on the corner of York and
Talbot streets, where they worshipped for
thirty-one years, or till the end of 1881. In
1882 the present handsome edifice on Talbot
street, between Maple and Kent, was dedi
cated. The successors of Mr. Inglis in the
pastorate were Robt. Boyd (five years), Charles
Campbell (one and one-half years), W. Ailing-
ton (four years), Thos. Ure (three years),
Henry Watts (two years), Dr. James Cooper
(fourteen years), Jas. B. Montgomery (co-pas
tor for two years), A. Grant (five and one-half
years), W. H. Porter, who assumed the pastor
ate in 1885 and continued for six years, till the
appointment of the present pastor, Rev. Ira
Smith. The Adelaide Street Baptist Church,
on the corner of King, is an offshoot of the
parent body, having developed from a mission

am*0**
flf-rmoist CmMil.

H

. ^v

Mi

W\*ki\ *

kgtl|

m

¦_________¦

70

CITY OF LONDON.

started about twenty years ago. In 1877 it
branched out as a regular congregation, Avith
exactly fifty more members than comprised
the older body On its organization in 1846.
The pulpit was supplied from York Street
Church till 1878, Avhen Rev. P. A. McEwen was
ordained as the first regular pastor. After
two years of service he was succeeded by ReA^.
Joseph Firth, who gave place three years
later to Rev. Thos. S. Johnston, under whose
pastorate was built the present handsome
brick church on the corner of Adelaide and
King streets. The former church was a frame
structure on the opposite corner ; it was
transformed into a skating rink and after-

School. The present church edifice occupies
a central position on Dundas street, between
Colborne and Waterloo, and is architecturally
a fine structure. The first regular Congrega
tional Church was built in 1840 about where
the Free Press office noAV stands, a few years
later a move being made to their historical
site on King street, the present church being
dedicated and opened in 1876, the cornerstone
having been laid by Mayor Cronyn the pre
vious year. Rev. R. W. Wallace A\ras' then
the pastor, having succeeded the Rev. J. A. R.
Dickson in 1874. Mr. Wallace resigned in
1881, and was succeeded by Rev. H. D. Hunter.
Since Mr. Hunter's term the pulpit had no

wards burnt. Mr. Johnston was succeeded by
Rev. Messrs. Speller and Mihell, but is again
in pastoral charge, haAdng returned in 1895.
Baptist missions are maintained dn the ex
treme northern and southern ends of the city;
and since early days there has been a con
gregation of colored Baptists Avorshipping in
a small frame church on Horton street,
west of Wellington. As this is being writ
ten, a frame Baptist church in Ward 6 —
originally a Bible Christian church — is be
ing replaced by a fine brick structure.
The Congregational body have held serv
ices in London since 1837, though at that time
they had no regular place of Avorship, Rev.
W. F. Clarke preaching in the old Grammar

settled occupant till recently, when Rev. Mr.
Pedley Avas called. Dr. Wild officiated for
a time, and Rev. Principal Austin, of St.
Thomas, was a frequent " supply." Among
the pioneer pastors were Rev. Messrs. Ebbs,
John Durrant, W. F. Clarke, Jr., Boyd, and
C. Pr Watson.
In addition to the various denominations
spoken of, London has a congregation of
Hebrews. They have no regular synagogue,
however, but set up their altar as circum
stances dictate. The Latter Day Saints have
a place of worship on Maitland street, be
tween King and York. They differ from the
Utah Mormons in that they eschew polyga
my, Avhich they claim is not sanctioned by

CITY OF LONDON.

71

.FROM ARCHITECT'S PLANS J

ST. PETERS CATHEDRAL.

the Book of Mormon. About 1881 the Sal
vation Army made their appearance in Lon
don. At first they were reviled, and some
were imprisoned, technically because they
refused to obey the police and "move on."
This savored of persecution, though in real
ity it was the strict letter of the law, and
made friends for the Army of many who
would have been otherwise indifferent as to

their operations. They have progressed till
now they own a valuable "barracks" on Clar
ence street — the old New Connexion Church
rejuvenated — and maintain what is called a
Workingmen's Hotel and Rescue Shelter.
They have converted some from evil courses,
and made good citizens of some who were
regarded as irreclaimable. There is a differ
ence of opinion as to the desirability of their

72

CITY OF LONDON.

methods, and also as to the value of their
work from the standpoint of a political econo
mist. But that is beyond the province of a
mere recorder of events.
The Young Men's Christian Association,
whose building, recently completed on Wel
lington street, adjoining the Public Library,

rooms was procured in the Oddfellows' Block,
and the Association engaged its first per
manent secretary, the late W. J. Freeland.
In 1878, T. McCormick being the president,
the Association became free from debt and
purchased the old New Connexion Church on
Clarence street, refitting the building and

SACRED HEART CONVENT.

MOUNT HOPE ORPHANAGE.

forms one of the architectural beauties of
London, had a modest beginning in 1856.
It languished, however, after a few years, and
at length ceased to exist till 1873, when it
was resuscitated. For two years rooms were
occupied upstairs in the building adjoining
the Free Press office, but in 1875 a suite of

calling it Victoria Hall. This was occupied
till ,1893, when it was sold to the Salvation
Army and the present site purchased. The
neAv hall was dedicated early in the present
year. The first sod was turned by President
W. R. Hobbs on October 9th, 1895.

Chapter III.

COMMERCIAL METROPOLIS
OF WESTERN ONTARIO.

"Nor is my whole estate
Upon the fortune of the present year."
— Antonio: "Merchant of Venice."
'OMMERCE follows the flag." This is the boast
of a Briton, though it gives some point
to the flippant sneer of the French that
Britons are "a nation of shopkeepers."
Were it pertinent, it might be easy to
prove that while Britons are the com
mercial masters of the world, French experience has
shoAvn them to be something more. But this is a record.
The writer is not trying to prove anything. He giA'es the
facts at hand, but makes no deductions. No expression
of opinion is therefore to be drawn — in a politico-economic
sense — from the statement that one of the first recorded
commercial transactions of London was in the nature of a
bonus to an "infant industry," to borrow a phrase
from the politicians. A blacksmith's shop is gen
erally regarded as the first industrial need of a
new settlement, but such an establishment did
not flourish in the early days. In less than a
year after the first settlement a shop had been
established and abandoned, and Dennis O'Brien
took possession of the vacated smithy and fitted
it up as a general store. The fittings were not elaborate. They
consisted of two barrels upended, with a plank laid across for a
counter. They served the purpose, however. In those days there
were no "millinery openings," no "bargain days," and no "selling
below cost." People bought only what they absolutely needed, and

AVM. GRAY,
Pies. W. O. Commercial
Travellers' Association.

74

CITY OF LONDON.

POST OFFICE.
very little of that. But the removal of the
blacksmith's shop was an industrial calamity,
and Avas recognized by the people as such.
Consequently, in the same year (1827) Samuel
Laughton Avas given a grant of a lot on
Bathurst street, near the present Grand Trunk
Station, on condition that he would erect
and maintain a blacksmith's shop. Here is
a repetition of history. In the year of . 
our Lord 1897 we give $100,000 for the
reestablishment of the car Avorks. The
principle — let theoretical political econo
mists call it good or bad — is precisely
the same. It is worth noting that the
population at the time of the first bonus
consisted of thirty-three families, with a
total of one hundred and thirty-three
souls. Placing the value of the lot at
£8,* Avhich is the minimum, the bonus
amounted to within a fraction of $1 per
family. The latter-day grant may be
roughly stated at about equal to twelve
or thirteen times that amount. Thus it
appears on paper, and we are told that
"figures never lie." There is, however,
a gross fallacy in the proposition as
stated — though it seems fair on the sur
face — and it may sharpen the wits of
some of the younger readers to discover
wherein it lies. Its introduction is mere
ly a diversion — not an argument. The

commercial development of the first four
teen years went on apace, but there is
nothing but tradition concerning it till the
incorporation of the village in 1840. We
know that the market grew,f with the
intersection of Dundas and Ridout streets
as the "rial to" of the day. At the date of
incorporation, among the general store
keepers we find the names of Smith, Mathie-
son, Moore & Co., G. J. Goodhue, L. Lawra
son, John Jennings, Kerr & Armstrong,
Douglass & Warren, Glennon & Co., Angus
& Birrell, J. H. Joyce, and John Claris. L.
Perrin carried on business as general grocer
and baker ; Lyman, Moore & Co. and J.
Salter were the druggists. Dennis O'Brien
owned the Blackfriars mills, which were
erected about six years before the incorpo
ration of the village, and they were said to
be "near the center of the town." Prior to
that there had been a mill owned by one
Waters, at the point where Carling's creel-
enters the river. Power was obtained from
the creek by means of a flume and over
shot wheel. This point was a favorite mili
tary bathing spot, and many lives Avere lost
owing to the cold springs which abounded.
t Our map drawn in 1840 gives the location of the
market square in the north-eastern part of the city.
There is nothing to show, however, that this was
ever more than a proposed market. It subsequently
became the Potter's Field.

* This figure is given, as it was the cost of
the patent. As a matter of fact, Laughton
afterwards sold the lot for $10 worth of iron.
He ironed the first wagon for use in London
Township.

CUSTOMS HOUSE.

CITY OF LONDON.

75

John Talbot and Schram & Groves were
auctioneers and commission men. The law
yers were W. Horton, H. C. R. Becher, and
Frederick Cleverly. Alex. Hamilton was the
barber, Simeon Morrill the tanner, Yale &
Walters and S. Condon the tinsmiths, R.
Mootry and J. Wells the tailors, S. Peters
and Henry Learning the butchers, U. C. Lee
and Wm. Lee the proprietors of the Robin
son Hall and Mansion House, respectively.
John Norval kept a bookstore " over J. Gar
rison's store." Cash was scarce in those
days, one firm announcing that it would
receive "pork and wheat in payment of
debts and
in exchange
for goods —
part cash
for good
pork," while
another of-
f e r e d to
"pay one
dollar per
bushel, in
goods, for
good wheat."
Some, years
ago the Avrit-
e r heard
a pioneer
shoemaker
tell a story
that sound
ed apocry
phal, but in
the light
of these
announc e -
ments may
be true. The
shoemaker
was seated '
in his shop
one day
when there entered a stalwart
who asked if he did not wish to
The shoemaker replied that he
bargain was struck. Then the
picked out several pairs of
family. The two chatted on
when the Scotchman said he
and asked for the pay for his pig.

COURT HOUSE.

Scotchman buy a pig.
did and a
Scotchman
shoes for his
till nightfall,
must be going
his pig. "Why,"
replied the shoemaker, "the shoes you haye
taken more than balance the price of the pig
— you are in my debt." "Hech, mon," retorted
the canny Scotchman, " dinna ye ken that
pork's caush. " The subtle humor of the
speech and situation did not seem to strike

the Scotchman — there was no surgeon near
at hand. The first financial transaction of which
there is any record goes to show the price
of money, and eases the astonishment we
feel on hearing that in the early days a
common barter was a bushel of wheat for
a yard of "factory" (unbleached) cotton. In
1830 the banking business was done at Ham
ilton, and the charges on a protested draft
in that year amounted to within a fraction
of 39 per cent, of the face of the bill.
The draft Avas made for £100, and the
charges were made up as follows : Damages,
£20; 4 per
cent, at New
York on
£120, £5 6s.
8d.; postage,
5s. 6cL: total,
£38 18s. 9d.
Early in the
decade 1830-
'40, the Bank
of Upper
Canada es
tablished a
branch here,
Mr. James
Hami lt on
being the
manager till
the failure
of the bank
in the '60's.
Later on the
C o mm e r -
cial and the
Gore Banks
foundedbranches in London,
and the sys
tem of bar
ter that for
merly prevailed gradually went out of exist
ence, though the " order " plan of paying
wages lingered on till who shall say it finally
disappeared? At one time, indeed, the city
issued scrip of its own. With this, city
work was paid for, the scrip being receiv
able in return for taxes, market fees, li
censes, or any civic impost, and so acquired
general circulation locally, and answered all
requirements till remittances or acceptance
of drafts became necessary. It covers all
that is required to say that since the first
establishment of banks here the financial
facilities of London haA*e kept pace with the

76

CITY OF LONDON.

commercial requirements. At the present
time the banks represented in London are
as follows: Bank of Commerce, David
B. Dewar, manager ; Bank of Toronto;
John Pringle, manager; Molsons Bank,
P. W. D. Broderick, manager ; Merchants
Bank of Canada, A. St. L. Mackin
tosh, manager; Bank of Montreal, A.
H. Beddome, manager ; and Bank of
British North America, R. Inglis, man
ager ; all occupying buildings that add
greatly to London's beauty and value archi
tecturally. The Federal Bank had a branch
here from
1874 to 1882,
and to it we
are indebt
ed for the
hand some
b u i 1 d i n g
now occu
pied by the
Bank of
Commerce.The Bank
of London
had a brief
career of
about a year
in 1886-7,
when it was
wound up.
A series of
legal and
financial
complica tions fol
lowed, and
the man
ager, Henry
Taylor, was
confined in
jail for a
year, not
under con
viction, but by virtue of capias proceedings.
A settlement was finally effected, and Taylor
died shortly afterwards. The failure of the
Bank of London involved the affairs of one of
the investment associations, and the result
was the ruin of several who were regarded as
among the wealthiest of London's citizens.
The inside history of the whole affair has
never been written, and probably never will
be, as the principal actors are dead or widely
scattered, but the general theory is that un
wise investments in the Northwest was the
primary cause of the failures, coupled with 
to put it so— injudicious financial methods.
One effect of this was to seriously cripple,

CITY HALL.

and in some cases suspend, the operations of
industrial establishments, while the indirect
effect was much more far-reaching. The
greater part of the damage done was to those
not engaged in commercial or industrial pur
suits, but who had invested their all — or
nearly so — in the concerns directly affected,
with a view of having a permanent income
from the proceeds of the investment. The
business of London, however, was on a
sound basis, and the disaster was conse
quently felt more individually than collect
ively. In addition to its banking institu
tions, Lon
don pos
sesses seven
savings and
loan socie
ties, the sub
scribed capi
tal of which
may be set
d o av n in
round num
bers at a-
bout eight
million dol
lars, more
than half of
that amount
being paid
up. Below
are the
names of
the socie
ties : Huron
& Erie Loan
and Savings
C ompany,
George A.
Somerville,manager ;
Ontario
Loan and
Debenture
Company, William F. Bullen, manager;
Dominion Savings and Investment Society,
Nathaniel Mills, manager; Agricultural
Savings and Loan Company, C. P- Butler,
manager ; Canadian Savings and Loan
Company, Robert Fox, manager; London
Loan Company of Canada, Malcolm J. Kent,
manager; People's Building and Loan
Association, William Spittal, sec- treasurer.
Without going into the details of the finan
cial standing of these or any of them, it
may be said in a general way that the loan
societies have done a great deal in building
up the city and surrounding country, and

CITY OF LONDON.

77

i
•\ IA gl -

First Chairman Public Library
Board.
have been the means of
securing the investment
of a large amount of for
eign capital amongst us.
The earliest gazetteer of Upper Canada
to Avhich access can be had — probably the
first eA'er issued — makes the statement that
" the commercial affairs of London are regu
lated by a Board of Trade." The statement
contains an element of naivete, not to say
simplicity, but in a measure it was and is

PUBLIC LIBRARY.
true. Not true, of course, in its entirety —
that would be absurd. But it is true to the
extent that all efforts made to improve the
commercial status of London haA'e had the
unqualified support of the Board of Trade,
which in many cases mooted projects leading
to that beneficial end. Organized in 1857,
its constitution declared the Board of
Trade to have for its object "the pro
motion of just and equitable princi
ples, the correction of abuses in trade,

* rVffV BE E
f£FEF n r
ifjft

E In ti

YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION BUILDING.

T-T ;r-

AV . R . HOBBS,
President Y. M. ( . A.

and the protection of the rights and
the ndA'aiicement of the interests of
the country generally." The first offi
cers of the Board, with the possible

78

CITY OF LONDON.

exception of one, have all been taken by much enthusiasm either way. Matters of
death. They were : Adam Hope, president ; more direct concern excited greater interest,
Lionel Ridout, vice-president ; J. C. Macklin, such as the rules regulating the market and
secretary ; J. I. McKenzie, John Birrell, H. providing for the proper packing, inspect-

LONDON GENERAL HOSPITAL.

Chisholm, C. D. Shaw, Walter Simson, Chas.
J. Hope, T. H. Buckley, G. M. Gunn, James
Coyne, D. Farrar, E. Leonard, Charles Hunt
and Joseph Anderson. The Board signalized
its organization by grappling with the bank
ruptcy and usury laws, then before the Leg
islature. It desired to advance the legal
rate of interest from six to seven per cent.,
taking the ground that stringent usury laAVs
were evaded and had a tendency to keep
out the foreign capital
necessary to the devel
opment of the country.
The Board also held
that imprisonment for
debt should be abol
ished, and as early as
1858 debated the ques
tion of Protection a's.
Free Trade. Some mem
bers held that a protect
ive duty should be lev
ied upon manufactured
goods equal to that
imposed by the United
States. This, however,
Avas a speculatiA'e rather
than a practical ques
tion in those days, and
does not seem from the
records to have evoked

ing and branding of butter. In 1862 we
find the Board taking up seriously the ques
tion of the circulation of American silver,
which had then become a nuisance, and the
subject formed a perennial source of dis
cussion for sixteen years. The Board early
recognized or anticipated the postal needs
of the section, and in 1864 petitioned for
a British mail bag direct to and from this
city, which point was gained twenty -six

llirni iitff

.:***'

ST. JOSEPHS HOSPITAL.

CITY OF LONDON.

79

years later. In 1864 also the Board began
an agitation for the abolition of market
fees, and it is entitled to whatever credit
is due for first bringing up this subject in
a public way. The fees were
finally abolished in 1882, the
county council in return throw
ing off the tolls on all the roads
in the county save the Proof
Line, which is the property of
a joint stock company, and a
short stretch of a proprietary
road near the village of Nairn.
The reciprocity treaty Avith the
United States received a good
deal of attention for a period
covering several years, but it was
finally dropped by the Board
coming to the conclusion that
any proposals for a renewal
should come from the country
that had abrogated the treaty.
To touch upon all the minor
matters in which the Board of
Trade has played a judicious
part in the interests of London
would be to exceed the space at command,
but a few of the more important matters
may be briefly referred to. The chief of
these is the support which the Board has
always given to every movement towards
developing London into the great railway
center it is to-day — for be it -known that
London has more trains arriving and de
parting daily than any other city in Can
ada. The Board was foremost in the field
in the matter of the London, Huron and
Bruce Railway, raising a personal subscrip

tion for preliminary expenses. It also peti
tioned the Council for aid, and held several
meetings devoted to this object. The Board
took an active part in first gaining ad-

4 id

3

AGED PEOPLES HOME.

PROTESTANT ORPHANS HOME.
mittance to the city for the Canada South
ern (Michigan Central), and used strenuous
endeavors to have the Credit Valley extend
ed to London — a result that was achieved
later on, when the Canadian Pacific Rail
way reached here — and it was in a great
measure due to the efforts of the Board
that the latter road selected London as one
of its divisional headquarters. The Board
opposed the amalgamation of the Grand
Trunk and Great Western. In 1867 the
Board publicly called attention to the fact
that the chemical
""  ¦'?.'-' ;: ] works in this city
was the only one in
British America, and
also, while discuss
ing the question of
oil inspection, point
ed out that Cana
dian oil was not so
explosive as that re
fined across the bor
der. In 1868 the
Board recommend
ed the issuance of a
license to a pork-
packing house in the
city. It favored the
inspection of hides
and leather, urged
the repeal of the
Stamp Act, advo
cated the removal of

80

CITY OF LONDON.

canal tolls, and suggested the appointment of unsuccessfully, that all property should be
a dry goods appraiser for this customs dis- assessed at its real value, and that nothing
trict During the oil excitement period the should be exempt save buildings used for
Board interested itself in obtaining such places of public worship and for no other
train privileges as would allow oil opera- purpose. In regard to the electric railway,
tors to spend their days in Bothwell and the Board in 1894 took steps looking to-
their nights in London. The Western Fair wards breaking the deadlock that existed
has ever found a staunch friend in the between the city and the company, and m

in
Board of Trade, which has also exerted
itself beneficially in municipal affairs, nota
bly in connection with the building of the
car shops, the establishment of the water
works and other enterprises of moment. A
matter of national concern arose in 1875,
as it has since, and the Board then took
strong ground against
allowing Americans to
sell tea duty free in
Canada, as tending to
discourage direct trade
between Canada and
the countries of
growth. By the way,
it may not be gener
ally known that in the
early days of London
tea was considered a
luxury, even for the
well-to-do. Many of
the older settlers were
in the habit of drink
ing what they called
" Plains Tea," made
from a shrub that grew
on the hillside north of
North street. It was
of the willow family
(Salix herbaceaj and
was more or less com
mon on the banks of
what was Devinney's
tail-race, even in the
past quarter of a cen
tury. A somewhat similar plant is used
in lieu of tea in some portions of India,
and it is said makes a very palatable
beverage.' A municipal change generally
conceded to be a reform — the collection of
taxes by instalments, and earlier in the
year — was also initiated by the Board of
Trade. Among its other municipal recom
mendations were the abolition of wards, a
reduction of the number of aldermen and

,r,*%

various minor matters it has shown itself
alert to the commercial and municipal needs
of London. A cognate organization, the
Chamber of Commerce, was organized early
in the '70's, and later the Merchants' and
Manufacturers' Exchange, but in 1881 all
these bodies coalesced under the old name
of the Board of Trade.
Reference was made
in the preceding para
graph to the days of
the oil boom in West
ern Ontario. It was
believed by many that
the oil so freely pumped
at Bothwell continued
its underground course
to London, and several
derricks were put up
and wells put down to
test the truth of the
theory. One of these
derricks still stands at
the foot of Dundas
street, where the
White Sulphur Springs
weie struck while bor
ing for oil and have
flowed continu ously
ever since. It soon be
came apparent that oil
was not to be had, and
the borings were grad
ually abandoned,
though in some cases
the derricks remained till they fell to pieces
of their own accord or were torn apart for
fuel. In this connection, in 1865, an oily
sharper named Hicks undertook a confidence
game. He proposed to sink a well at the
foot of the spur which forms the north
east angle of the boundary of what is noAV
Woodland cemetery, then a farm. He had
interested a number of sanguine local capi
talists, a derrick was erected and boring
school trustees, and the election of women indulged in, till suddenly it was announced
to the School Board. A more successful mat- that oil had been struck. Sure enough,
ter was its petition in 1890 to the Ontario there it was, oozing from the hole and
Government to increase the jurisdiction of floating down the rivulet to the river. The
the division courts, since acted upon. The excitement that ensued caused ordinarily
Board also recommended in 1875, but so far well-balanced heads to become unhinged,

POLICE COURT-HOUSE AND STATION

CITY OF LONDON.

81

and the wildest dreams of wealth were in- as far west as Komoka, and the records
uulged m. Ihe "castles m Spain" that were show the sale of land on Dundas street,
erected would have kept busy a battalion between Wellington and Waterloo, at $100
oi architects. Farmers in the neighborhood per foot. "Hamilton's Bush," at the corner
refused "fabu- of Ridout street south and Grand Avenue,
lous offers for was disposed of at an extravagant figure,
bonding privi- though it stood as a bush for well on to
leges, and the a generation afterwards. The late N. Reid
"Col. Sellers" purchased a block of land near Adelaide
of the day could street, and after paying taxes thereon for
scarcely find thirty years sold it for the price he had
enough figures originally paid. The boom did not last
in the multipli- long, however, and those who had not the
cation table to foresight — or the luck, as the case may
calculate the be — to sell were for years weighted down
millions that with their real estate holdings, and fully
were to be realized what it is to be " land poor."
made. But sic Shortly afterwards came the commercial
depression which spread all over
the country at the close of the
Crimean war, and the year 1857
saw the beginning of troublous
times for all in the commercial
world, and many were com
pelled to go under in the
almost universal wreck. Lon
don's natural position, however,
stood her in good stead, and '
she faster than many other
less fortunately-placed centers
rallied from the shock and
found herself once more on a
sound commercial basis. It Was
at this time that the Corpora
tion issued the scrip previously

THE LATE COL. TALBOT.

THE LATE COL. BURWELL,

transit gloria olea ! It all
faded into nothingness,
and was as though it had
never been, when it was
discovered by some Paul
Pry that the oil found its
way from a cask that had
been cached in the hill
side by the wily Hicks,
who left the city with no
ceremony and very little cash.
The oil trade, however,
did a great deal in develop
ing London, and in 1870
there were no less than a
dozen refineries. The busi
ness, however, gradually
became concentrated in the
cerns, and many of the refineries went
out of existence. The refining still car
ried on in London, with its attendant helped to tide
coopering, teaming, freighting, etc., forms over the diffi-
a considerable factor in the industrial culty. Were
operations of the city. The premises of this work a
the Imperial Oil Co. and of Mr. J. R. Min- treatise on
hinnick are mammoth concerns, and their political econ-
trade serves to make London known all omy, this in-
over the Dominion. cident in civic
London also had its land "boom," though history might
the word then had not the significance be elaborated
which modern acceptance of a slang phrase to prove the
justifies. It occurred in 1851, and many lots soundness of
were then sold at figures which they would what our Am-
not command to-day if forced upon the erican cous-
market. Suburban lots were surveyed nearly ins call " fiat

larger

con-

referred to,
and av h i e h
materially

THE LATE JUDGE WILSON.

82

CITY OF LONDON.

money." As it is not such a treatise, but
merely a record of fact, the matter may be
dismissed with the observation that such use
of the incident might, and likely would, prove
a tAvo-edged sword in the hands of an unskill
ful debater. To give a clearer idea of the
inflation that prevailed, it may be pertinent
to look at the assessed value of the place
about this period. Premising that the as-

In other words, not to be too particular
about the fractions, in four years there had
been an increase of nearly one hundred per
cent., yet in five years the increase was less
than three per cent. It is no matter for
wonder that fortunes were lost in the
depreciation. The idea of railways to connect London
with the outside world was taken up long —

CENTRAL FIRE HALL.

sessed value in 1836, ten years after the first
settlement, was $34,380, let us jump to 1853,
when the assessed value was $146,020. This
may be taken as being as nearly correct as
assessments generally are. The following
year it had raised to $228,160, and it kept
on an ascending scale till 1858, when, hav
ing nearly doubled in four years, it reached
$426,966. Then came the collapse, the fol
lowing year making a reduction to $234,976.

at least nineteen years — before the whistle
of the locomotive was heard within our
limits. In 1834 an act of incorporation was
secured for the London and Gore Railroad,
the project being to connect with Burling
ton Bay on the one side and Lake Huron
on the other. This charter was allowed to
lapse, however, but it was revived eleven
years later, in 1845, the name being changed
to that of the Great Western Railroad

CITY OF LONDON.

83

Company. The London and Port Sarnia Rail
road Company was chartered in 1853, when
the Great Western was opened, the road to
be built from the foot of the lake to in
tersect the Great Western at or near Lon
don. This is now well known locally as
"the Sarnia branch," forming part of the
trunk line between the east and west. In
1857 the London and Lake Huron Railroad
Company was chartered. It was to build
from London to a point at or near Port
Frank,' but the project never reached

V

^3-
r->&Y:

St. Thomas, Middlesex, and Elgin having
held aloof when it was supposed they
would have aided, it became necessary three
years later for London to again step to the
front, which she did to the extent of £28,000
in debentures and £5,000 in cash, and the
following year a further sum of £30,000
was granted. On October 2, 1856, the road
was opened. The history of the road was
commonplace and uneventful till 1872, when
the need of repairs to the roadbed and of

NO. 2 FIRE STATION.
fruition. The first public record in connec
tion With the London and Port Stanley
Railroad appears in the Council Proceedings
of 1853, when at the first meeting in Janu
ary Murray Anderson moved, seconded by
John Carling, that the Mayor, Edward
Adams, call a meeting of the citizens to
consider the project. The meeting was fa
vorable, and as a result the company was
incorporated in May, and in the following
August the Corporation decided to take
stock in the road to the extent of £25,000.

NO. 3 FIRE STATION.
additions to the rolling stock became so
apparent that something had to be done,
and in that year the road was leased to
the Great Western for a period of twenty
years. This course had been mooted five
years previously, in 1867, when the returns
showed that the earnings of the road for
the year had been $42,759.91, an increase
for the year of $3,651.66. The Michigan
Central Railroad was given running powers
over the road north of St. Thomas in 1886,
and still retains this privilege. On the lapse,

84

CITY OF LONDON.

by effluxion of time, of the lease to the
Great Western it was not reneAvecl, and
after a good deal of negotiation, during
which London bought the interest of St.
Thomas in the road, the lease passed into
the hands of the Lake Erie and Detroit
River Railroad, which now operates it. Of
the original incorporators of the company
but three are alive — E. J. Parke, Murray
Anderson and Freeman Talbot. The latter
may indeed be dead, but there is no record of
it at hand; he removed many years ago to
Minnesota. The others were G. W. Boggs,
W. D. Hale, G. R. Williams, Robert Thom
son, Wm. H. Higman, J. M. Batt, Boyce

that line. The road was opened in 1875,
and in the following year was amalgamated
with the Great Western system. London was
connected with the Grand Trunk in the
building of that road westward from To
ronto, in 1859, but the London branch was
Avhat is known in railroad parlance as a
"stub line," running from the main line at
Stratford. The first Grand Trunk depot was
located on the south-eastern outskirts of
the city. It was an old frame shed, used
alike for freight and passengers, /but soon
gave place to a brick structure which is still
standing and used as a mercantile ware
house. The location was inconvenient, how-

___^ ¦ **_L^

JUDGE EDWARD ELLIOTT.

JUDGE WILLIAM ELLIOT.

THE LATE JUDGE DAVIS.

Thomson, LaAvrence Lawrason, Lionel Rid
out, S. S. Pomeroy, Elijah Leonard, Wm.
Smith, S. Morrill, E. W. Hyman, Thomas
C. Dixon, Alex, Anderson, Thomas Carling,
Edward Adams, Samuel Peters, John H.
Labatt, Wm. Barker, Daniel Harvey, Mur
doch McKenzie, Crowell Willson and- Cyre-
nius D. Hall. It is not generally known
that, barring a few short lines without pas
senger traffic, which operate between mines
and the seaboard, the proportion of earn
ings to working expenses, and the earnings
per train mile, are greater on the Port
Stanley than on any other railroad in Can
ada. In 1870 the project of the London,
Huron and Bruce Railroad was first pub
licly mooted, and in 1871 the citizens voted
for a by-law giving a bonus of $100,000 to

ever, and the passenger station was re
moved to an old wooden shed at the junc
tion of Bathurst and Burwell streets with
the Hamilton Road. This was destroyed by
fire in 1872, and was replaced by a neat
brick structure, subsequently abandoned on
the amalgamation of the Grand Trunk with
the Great Western. This fusion took place
in 1882, and London then became the cen
tral point of a railway system radiating to
the four cardinal points of the compass,
and for all practical purposes to the whole
thirty-two points. In 1887 the Canadian
Pacific Railroad entered London, and thus
gaA'e us a direct line on Canadian soil to the
whole Northwestern Provinces and Territo
ries and to the Pacific Ocean, in addition
to furnishing a competitive route to many

CITY OF LONDON.

85

woKmm

RESIDENCE OP VEESCHOYLE CRONYN.

points in Ontario, the
Eastern and Western
States and the sea
board. So much for
the rise and progress
of railroad facilities
in London, which is
the most advanta
geously situated, so
far as railways are
concerned, of any city
in Canada. As before
said, more trains ar
rive at and depart
from London daily
than from any other
point in the Domin
ion. This general
description should be
supplemented by a
glance at the map

RESIDENCE OF JOHN LABATT.

RESIDENCE OT C. W. LEONARD.
given on another
page, whereby there
may be obtained a
better knowledge of
London's peculiarly
fortunate situation as
a railway center. It
will be *seen that the
Avhole area of the
most fertile portion of
Ontario is tributary
to this city as its com
mercial and manu
facturing metropolis.
It may be broadly
stated that London
has never been with
out a public market
place. Almost coin
cident with the first
settlement a frame
building was erected
on the court-house square for market pur
poses. It was shortly afterwards removed
to the present site, but this did not prove

RESIDENCE OF F. E. LEONARD.

RESIDENCE OF T. H. CARLING.

86

CITY OF LONDON.

satisfactory, and it was again shifted to
what Avas the extreme south-eastern portion
of the village, on Wellington street. Here,
again, dissatisfaction arose, and the market
Avas moved to the site of the present Grand
Trunk station, from whence it was finally
taken and placed on the present Market
Square. This was in 1853, when a lot was
purchased on Dundas street, from L. Lawra
son, for an entrance. For this land £25 per
foot Avas paid. This is the present Market
Lane, but it may not be generally known
that four feet of this lane is private prop
erty, and it is closed up periodically for a
feAv hours so that the title shall not lapse
by prescription. It was also resolved to go
on with the toAvn hall, but a bitter fight

dollars. In 1843 also we find the first record
of what was afterwards quite common till
the fees were abolished — a man before the
Magistrate for failing to pay the market
fees. His name was Wm. Cahill, and he
was ordered to pay the fee of two shillings
and a fine and costs amounting to thirteen
shillings and ninepence. In the same year
John Schofield purchased a pig which had
not been taken into the public square, and
for this act against the public weal he was
condemned to pay a fine of ten shillings
and eight shillings costs. The first record
of market prices, beyond the offering of
one dollar in goods for a bushel of wheat,
appears in 1850, when Ave find the follow
ing : Fall wheat, 3s. 5cl. per fifty pounds

ROAV OF COTTAGES ON AVATERLOO STREET NORTH.

arose as to whether it should face on Rich
mond street or the Market Square. The
form of the original building would suggest
that a compromise was reached, so that
either side might be called the "front." The
total amount of the various contracts for
this building was £7,501 10s. 3d.; but who
shall compute its total cost as it stands
to-day? Market fees were an institution
from the first, but the first record of the
privilege of collection being sold appears in
1843, when Maurice Baker paid £169 17s.
The following year Alex. S. Armstrong paid
£251— an odd figure, probably based on a
belief that the generally accepted value of
the privilege was about an even thousand

(within a couple of cents of a dollar per
bushel); spring wheat, 2s. 9d. (79 cents per
bushel); oats, Is. 3d. per bush.; timothy seed,
7s. 6d. per bush.; hay, 55s.; straw, 25s.; flour,
7s. 6d. per cwt.; potatoes, ls. 10£d. per
bush.; apples, 2s. 6d.; pork, 20s. per cwt.;
beef, 2d. per lb.; mutton, 2d.; butter (salt
and fresh), 7*d. per lb.; eggs, 7|d. per doz.;
geese, each, Is.; fowls, 7|d. per pair; tur
keys, 2s. 6d. The month was February, and
the outside prices are quoted. The figures,
however, are of interest only as a reminis
cence — - they point no moral. The conditions
of life in this locality were then so utterly
different from now that comparisons on
such a basis Avould be not, as the song says,

CITY OF LONDON.

87

cruel, but altogether absurd. About the called the first generation of its commercial
period spoken of a second generation of men. It will be noticed that the growth
business men began to appear on the scene, was most marked in the mercantile, hotel-
Dennis O Brien, the pioneer, had just retired, keeping and professional lines, while an

and it is interesting to note who were the observer of to-day would say that the most
leading commercial spirits of that day, marked characteristic of London is its manu-
showing as it does the progress that had facturing population. At this point pardon a
been made in London during what may be digression, which is more or less pertinent.

88 CITY OF LONDON.
It is a noteworthy fact that, while other related of Dennis O'Brien that he ascribed
industries haA'e flourished, distilleries have his commercial ; downfall to his distillery.
neA'er gained a permanent foothold in Lon- Some might regard this as pointing a signifi-

THE AVATERWORKS AND SPRINGBANK PARK.
don. At one time or another there have cant moral; others might quote the success
been four, but none exists to-day, nor has of distilleries elsewhere, and hint thaTtfie
there been one for over a generation. It is failures in London were in some measure

CITY OF LONDON.

89

due to the number of illicit or "moonshine"
stills in operation in this neighborhood.
That, however, is beside the question ; the
fact remains. But to return to the busi-

Breirers — Wm.. Carling, John Dimond,
Eceles & Labatt.
Builders — Thomas Code, J.Elliott, Green
& Bros., Geo. Watson, Winson & Screaton.
Banks — Bank of Montreal (John Fraser,

SPRINGBANK, LOOKING NORTH-WEST, AND MAYOR LITTLE'S SUMMER RESIDENCE.

_« ,_-.«. 1850. It ™ - up aS foUow, =r) ^ ol ^= " ^|
S==n"S„°L, .. «___-, X —* ^e., Gore B»_ (W. W.
M. Graham, Robert Keid.

90

CITY OF LONDON.

Chandler — Henry Dalton.
Cabinetmakers — E. P. Ellis, J. B. Merrill,
Mountjoy & Sons, W. Till.
Carriage Builders — M. Holmes, A. Lawrie,
Plummer & Pacey.
Commission Merchant — Wilson Mills.
Dry Goods Merchants — Adair & Thomp
son, MattheAv Collovier, B. Cox & Co., Wm.
Gordon, G. M. Gunn, Daniel Macfie, Francis
McGill, Geo. G. Magee, Matt. McGill, J. G.

\

_3-
P

THE LATE E. W. HYMAN,
First Water Commis
sioner, 1878.

J. R. MINHINNICK,
Water Commis
sioner, 1878.

General Merchants — Hope, Birrell & Co.,
Lawrason & Chisholm, J. C. Macklin.
Hotels — Wm. Balkwill, W. Barker, J. M.
Bennett, W. B. Lee, John Smyth, S. Smith,
David Thompson, and the following, person
ally kept by the persons whose names they
bear : Matthews' Hotel, McDowell's Hotel,
Macfie's Hotel, Robertson's Hotel, Strong's
Hotel, and Robert Summers' Hotel.
Hatters — Thomas C. Dixon, E. Raymond.

AVM. ROBINSON,
Engineer, 1878.

EX-ALD. JAS. EGAN,
Chairman No. 3 on passage
of Waterworks By-law.

J. C. JUDD, R. K. COAVAN,
Water Commissioner, 1897. Water Commissioner, 1897.
Mcintosh & Co., R. S. Murray & Co., John
Phillips, John Raymond, Tyas & WTilliams.
Druggists — B. A. Mitchell, John Salter,
John Williams.
Distillers — Wm. Moore, Samuel Peters.
Founders — M. Anderson, Jackson &
Elliott, E. Leonard.
Grocers — E. Adams, T. H. Buckley, Wm.
Glass, Hugh Macfie, D. Murphy, A. Paull,
Hugh Rose, Frank Smith, A. & G. Smyth,
Robert Wilson.

J. M. MOORE,
Engineer, 1897.

O. ELL AVOOD,
Secretary, 1897.

Hardware — L. Ridout.
Insurance — W. H. Childs, J. Franklin, H.
Lambkin, Alex. Macdonald, S. S. Pomeroy.
Livery — J. Coote, John Jennings, W. T.
Kiely. Lairi/ers — Henry Becher, R . Becher,
James Daniels, Wm. Horton, E. Jones Parke,
Thomas Scatcherd, J. F. Saxon, J. Shanly,
D. M. Thompson, John Wilson, Counsellor
Hughes. Miller — Roger Smith.

CITY OF LONDON.

91

Printers and Publishers — W. Sutherland
(Free Press), Lemon & Hart (Times), H. T.
Newcombe. Physicians — A. Anderson, David Farrow,
Henry Going, A. McKenzie, Charles G. Moore,.
George Southwick, Thomas Phillips.
Sash Factory — Wm. Bissell.
Saddlers — Robert Darch, Robert Fennell,
Joseph Gibbins, W. King, D. 0. Marsh.
Tailors — J. Glen, W. Hall, P. McKithick,
Stewart Bros., E. Yealland.
Tanners — E. W. Hyman, Simeon Morrill.
Tinsmiths — John Jarmain, S. McBride.
Watchmakers — Henry Davis, R. J. Jean-
neret, Wm. Dewey.
[Note. — This list is doubtless incomplete.

occurred, and for many years it formed an
epoch in London's history. The place had
then been incorporated as a village for five
years, but, like many if not all of the vil
lages even of the present day, the facilities
for battling with fire were of the crudest
description. The first volunteer fire brigade
had been organized three years previously,
but it was merely a bucket affair, a by-law
compelling every householder to keep a
leathern bucket, painted ' black, in a con
venient spot for use in case it should be
required. This answered all purposes till
the first great fire, when the late Hon. G.
J. Goodhue purchased a "fire engine," a
machine that in these latter days would

bird's-eye view of grand trunk CAR SHOPS.

I found it originally very much so, and have
added several names obtained from various
sources, besides correcting a good deal of
misspelling of names in the list as I found it.]
This may be described as the period of
the Renaissance in London. A short time
before, in 1844-45, the place had been rav
aged by two destructive fires which prac
tically wiped out the whole business section,;-"
so that building operations had, as it were,
to be begun de novo. The first fire occurred
in October, 1844, and destroyed the whole
of the block bounded by Dundas, North,
Talbot and Ridout streets. Six months
later, in April, 1845, the second great fire

be graded somewhat higher than a water
ing can, but lower than a lawn sprinkler.
It was worked for a feAv ndnutes in the
second conflagration, when the spread of
the flames caused it to be abandoned and
it shared in the general destruction. The
fire originated in the Robinson Hall, on the
south-east corner of Dundas and Ridout
streets, and in a great deal less time than
it has taken to compile these facts some
three hundred buildings of various styles of
architecture, but all of wood, were turned
to ashes. The burnt district extended from
Dundas street to the river, Ridout and Tal
bot streets being the western and eastern

92

CITY OF LONDON.

boundaries respectively.
Within this area but one
house was left standing, the
Balkwill House, kept by Mr.
John Balkwill, the Presi
dent of the village. It stood
on the site of the present
City Hotel. While this fire
in its full extent Avas prob
ably never foreseen, it is
curious to read of the pre
cautions prior to it to pre
vent any fire. Two years
previous Alex. Lowrie, a
carriagemaker, had been
fined 9s. 9d. for starting a
fire on Talbot street to set
a wagon tire, and in the
same year John Gray, he
haA'ing re
ceived a box
of lucifer
matches, was ordered
by the vil
lage board
to remove it
to a distant
outhouse,
as it was
considered dangerous
to allow the
box to be
kept in a
store. There
was also a
clause in
the village
by-laws pro
viding for a penalty should
the water tanks be opened
except in case of fire, and the
records show that it AA'as an
offense against the majesty
of the law, punishable by a
fine, to permit a chimney to
catch fire. There have since
been fires in London of
great magnitude, considered
commercially, but none that
can be spoken of as a calami
ty entailing suffering and
personal hardship of so uni
versal a character on the
people of the section. Both
in kind and degree, it was,
proportioned to population
and wealth, a greater calami
ty to London than was the

VERSCHOYLE CRONYN,
Oldest native-born within city limits.

E. JONES PARKE,
Police Magistrate.

JUDGE DAVID
Town Clerk,

A. S. ABBOTT,
Ex-City Clerk.

great fire of 1871 to Chicago.
In 1854 the commerce of
London had reached such
proportions as to justify the
creation of a customs dis
trict, with headquarters here.
Dr. Hiram Lee was the first
collector, holding the office
for two years, when he
gave place to his brother-
in-law, J. B. Strathy, Avho
continued in office till 1878,
when Robert Reid, the pres
ent collector, was appointed.
At the beginning the ground
floor of the store opposite
the Market Lane was large
enough to accommodate the
business. But only for a
short time,
when a re
moval was
made to the
buildings opposite the
City Hall,
thence to
the Albi'on
Block, where
the Customs
House re
mained till
1872, when
a portion of
the present
building, the
construction o f wh ich
began two
years previ
ously, was occupied. As
showing the growth of Lon
don commercially, a few
figures gleaned from customs
returns are given, but the
intelligent reader will know
that, while the figures are
correct, the conclusion
reached therefrom can only
be approximate. The vary
ing rates of duties, and fluctu
ations in periods of imports
and release of goods fr on-
bond, will cause variations
in the amount of duties col
lected without being an
accurate reflex of the
amount of trade done in
the district in any certain
specified time. In the first.

JOHN HUGHES,
London, 1840.

CO<_-

OP
o
1-3
o
Hh- 1
Q

,>r.M.GART5H0R£'/Ke-%,

THE M'CLARY MANUFACTURING COMPANY (LIMITED).

94

CITY OF LONDON.

year the imports at the port of London were
to the value of £232,552, while the exports
were £77,973. The following year the im
ports increased to £293,998, and the exports
decreased to £75,433. These figures prove
the increased purchasing capacity of the
people, but lit
tle beyond that.
Coming to more
recent times,
the receipts for
customs duties
in 1871 were
$233,126. The
following year
there was an
increase of
about $30,000
in the duties
collected, while
in 1873 the sum
decreased -. to
$214,970. This
Avas raised to
$304,888 in 1874,
and from that
period increases
were the order
of each year
save one (1880)
till 1881, when
the figures had
reached $541,-
724. Since that
period the a-
mount of duties
collected each
year has hov
ered around
the half -million
mark, ranging
from $581,697
in 1887 (the
highest) to
$447,000 in 1895
(the lowest).
As before said,
these figures
give but an ap
proximate idea
of the volume
of trade. To
make them ac
curate would
involve an a-
nalysis of all the varying rates of duty in the
meantime, and even then the entries in an
ticipation of tariff changes would form a
factor in the calculation, so that mathe-

CONSTRUCTION OF ST. RY., COR. DUNDAS AND RICHMOND STS

INAUGURATION OF THE TROLLEY IN LONDON, 1895

ma tical accuracy is as much out of the
question as it is unnecessary. The figures,
however, are fairly indicative of London's
growth commercially, and as such they will
stand. As bearing upon the industrial interests,
the inland rev
enue returns
are in some
directions bet
ter indices of
prosperity than
the customs col-
lections. Pre
mising that the
whole internal
revenue collec-
tions of the
Province are
in about ttwa.
proportion of
two and one-
sixth dollars to
each unit of tho
population, the
collections in
London may bo
said to be about
eleven dollars
to each unit.
These figures
are in the
rough, and of
course do not
show a rela
tively heavier
tax on London
ers. They show
rather that in
the excise dis
trict of London
man uf acturing
is carried on
for consump
tion outside of
the district ;
in other words,
London is a
m a nuf acturing
center. This
proof is not
absolute, as
goods may be
made elsewhere
and excised in
London, but in such case the proof is that
London is a distributing point. The total
amount of accrued revenue from excise in
London in 1894 was $349,865.98, made up

CITY OF LONDON.

95

as follows : Spirits, $81,073.21 ; malt liquor,
$300.00; malt, $61,498.20; tobacco, $66,612.93;
cigars, $128,143.32; petroleum, inspection fees,
$11,855.72; other re
ceipts, $382.60; bal
ance from last year,
$1,179.00. There is no other
city in Ontario that
manufactures as many
cigars as London, and
only one city in the
Dominion Avhere more
are manufactured. In
1895 the cigarmakers
of London used 350,-
192 pounds of raw
leaf, from which they
manufactured 21,279,-
875 cigars.
London is rightly
the headquarters of
the Western Ontario
Commercial Travellers'
Association, and some
idea of the magnitude
of London's wholesale
concerns may be form
ed from the fact that
this organization num
bers in the neighbor
hood of five hundred
members.They cover
c o m m er-
cially the
av h o 1 e of
Western Ontario,
while those
in many
lines travel
from the
Maritime Provinces on the At
lantic to
British Col
umbia on
the Pacific.
¦The Asso
ciation was
formed in
1876,and in
corporated
four years
later. The
present secretary, Alf. Robinson, has held
office for fourteen years. The Association
has an insurance scheme for death, acci

dent and sickness, and is a
organization financially,

flourishin

g

It

goes without

LONDON STREET RAILAVAA' POWER HOUSE.

MOONLIGHT EXCURSION CAR. — LONDON STREET RAILWAY COMPANY

saying that London's
commercial supremacy,
while the result in a
large degree of the ex
cellent railroad system
of which it is the hub,
arises mainly in the
first place from the
agricultural richness
of the country sur
rounding it. Middlesex
is one of the most
favored counties in
Ontario, and it is sur
rounded by counties of
so like a nature that
tho Western Peninsula
forms a more fertile
tract, Avith more diver
sified productions, than
exists anywhere else
under the sun. This is
not rhodomontade. It
is the cold fact, the
literal truth. Draw a
line northward from
the Niagara River to
the Georgian Bay, and
westward of that line
in Ontario will be
found an
area the
equal of
which, for
fertilityand diver
sity of pro-
duction,
is to be
found no
where else
on earth.
Speaking
more par
ticularly of ,
our own
local dis
trict, this is
a section
not alone
noted for
its roots,
fruits, cere
als, and live
stock, but
here is brought to perfection the process
known as " mixed farming," special atten
tion being paid to the dairy industry.

' ! *3L ®-; . *•.. -V Lite i /

X
o

Ph6*
opq
A
£*M
oH
"co OOD
=3 A«
¦*.o

CITY OF LONDON.

97

Of all the counties in the fertile section lence. From every point of view, the devel-
AVest of Toronto, Middlesex stands second opment of the cheese and butter trade has
both m the number of its cheese factories been of benefit to the district, and, keeping
and of its creameries. In the production in view London's position with regard to
shipping facilities, it cannot fail to be seen

that advance along this line means progress
for London.
The production of oil and salt is carried
on to a large extent in the district, while
the fishery interests on the north and south
are considerable, and lumbering is a feature
of the section known as the Ontario pen
insula. The vineyard region has been high
ly developed, and all semi-tropical fruits are
raised in abundance. Tobacco culture may
be said to be in its infancy, as it is only of
recent years that its cultivation on a sys
tematic and extensive scale has been carried
on, though the refugee negroes from the
South raised more or less of it ever since
their landing in this section. The raising of
tobacco was carried on in what is now a
portion of London, but was then the town
ship of Westminster, wliile the American
Avar was in progress. The plant was raised,
hoAvever, for home consumption, and not
for commercial purposes. The fact is
worthy of note mainly as an indication of

THE LATE SHERIFF AVM. GLASS.
of wool it is sixth, some of the more hilly
counties outranking in this particular, and
it is third in the raising of cattle. It stands
easily first in the number of horses, while
it is far and away ahead of all others in
the lines of poultry and bees. The State
of Michigan, though in the same latitude, is
not so highly favored, for horses have to be
imported from this section to prevent de
terioration of the stock there. This is not
generally known, nor is the still more en
viable fact that the race horses of the fa
mous " blue grass " region in Kentucky are
constantly maintained by the importation
of sires and dams from the country sur
rounding London. But a word with special
reference to the dairy industry. The busi
ness was begun some years ago in a modest
way, but its development has been system
atic, and has reached enormous proportions.
Able and scientific instructors, sent out at
the instance of the Government, have had
apt and intelligent pupils, and there is now
no quarter of the universe from whence our
cheesemakers fear competition, so far as the
quality of their product is concerned. The
cheese has not only reached a high degree
of perfection, but it is of uniform excel-

SHERIFF CAMERON.
the nature of the soil in the immediate
vicinity. The productiveness of the surrounding
country naturally enough suggested an ex
hibition to the pioneers, and those of us

CITY OF LONDON.

«
HA A

A
•0
A
o ¦¦_

CITY OF LONDON.

99

who visit the Western Fair of to-day have
much reason to heed Avell the advice of old,
"Despise not the day of small things," as
we consider the development of this insti
tution from its beginning. While London
was yet a hamlet an agricultural associa
tion had sprung up in the surrounding
country, and its first exhibitions were held
on the court-house square. The date of the
first is not ascertainable, but certain cir
cumstances render it probable that it was
about 1834, before London had yet attained
the dignity of a village. The Horticultural

selected near Adelaide street. This soon
became unsatisfactory for some reason — it
could not have been lack of room — and
another shift was made, the site being
transferred to the north end of Talbot
street. Here a magnificent building — for
those days — was erected, and here Avas held
the first Provincial Fair in 1854. The build
ing is still standing. Lord Elgin came from
Quebec to formally open the Fair and
proved an immense drawing card. Tradi
tion says that thirty thousand people were
present on the principal day of the Fair.

WINNERS INTERNATIONAL BASEBALL TROPHY, 1877.
J. Knowdell. J. Hornung. W. Spence. E. Somerville.
P. Goldsmith. R. Southam. Phil. Powers. M. Dinnen. Herman Doescher.

and Mechanical Association of the town of
London was not organized till sixteen years
later, in 1852, the first officers being :
President, Marcus Holmes; vice-presidents,
Geo. W. Harper and John Wanless; secre
tary, J. C. Meredith; treasurer, John Brown;
directors, James Daniells, L. Lawrason, Wm.
Rowland, A. Lowrie, Wm. Ross, Elijah
Leonard and Joseph Anderson. The Fair
of the earlier period seems to have grown
apace and flourished, and the square be
coming too small for its accommodation, a
move was made eastward, a site being

It is a thankless task to upset a cheerful
tradition, but if thirty thousand people
were ever on that lot at ' one time a pile
driver must have been used to get them
in place. However, making all allowance
for the elasticity of figures under such cir
cumstances, there was a very large attend
ance. When the Provincial Fair returned
in 1861 new grounds had been acquired, the
Crystal Palace, the pride of those days,
standing at the junction of Wellington
street and Central avenue. How the lands
came to be the property of the city is an

100

CITY OF LONDON.

Henry Dreaney.
E. N. Hunt. '
Edward Parnell, Jr.

HIS AVORSHIP THE MAYOR AND

AV. H. AVinnett.
J. AV. Little, Mayor 1895-96-97.
R. W. Bennett.

Robt. A. Carrothers
Stephen O'Meara.
F. G. Rumball.

CITY OF LONDON.

101

G. W. Olmstead.
Chas. Taylor.
Joseph Johnston.

ALDERMEN FOR 1897.
Sam. E. Stevely.
Neil Cooper.
Wm. Geary.
Hugh M. Douglass.

John Nutkins.
John Turner.
J. W. McCallum.

102

CITY OF LONDON.

interesting tale, not generally known. They
were part of the ordnance lands, and Mr.
John Carling, as city member, tried to pur
chase them from the Government for the city.
Mr. Vankoughnet, Commissioner of Crown

THE EMPIRE OIL COMPANY.
Lands, refused to sell, but of
fered to make an exchange.
The city owned a plot of
about twenty-four acres on
the Hamilton Road, at the
south-west corner of the road
leading to the MeadoAV Lily
Mills, and this was offered to
the Government in exchange.
The report of the valuator,
Mr. Emery, father of the pres
ent Mr. A. S. Emery, was not
such as to cause the Government
official to close the deal, and
the matter laid in abeyance.
In the course of time Mr. Van
koughnet died, and on the re
moval of the seat of govern
ment from Quebec, Mr. Coffin
brought the matter to the attention of Mr.
Carling, asking if it could not be closed.
That gentleman communicated with the
city authorities, with the result that Lon

don acquired the land at Mr. Emery's valu
ation. It proved a lucky transaction in
more ways than one. The Fair held on
these grounds proved such a success that
the promoters felt that no pent-up London
contained their powers. In
1867 the idea of a Western
Fair, to which the whole
peninsula should be tributary,
was broached. The East Mid
dlesex Agricultural Society
and the City Horticultural
Society fell in eagerly with
the plan, and it was carried
into effect the following year.
Just exactly who mooted the
project cannot definitely be
stated. The suggestion was
made casually in the course
of a conversation between
John Campbell, J. M. Cousins
and W. Y. Brunton, as they
stood in a group on the
grounds watching the surg
ing crowd. The idea was
quickly seized, with what
result we knoAV. The record
of the Fair is
one of con
tinued suc
cess, though
all has not
been plain
sailing. In
1874 the City

LONDON ELECTRIC LIGHT WORKS.
Council resolved to sell the Fair grounds,
but afterwards rescinded the motion. The
agitation for the sale was continued, how
ever, and the question being left to the

CITY OF LONDON.

103

MEMBERS AND EX-MEMBERS OF . PARLIAMENT AND LEGISLATURE.

The Late Col. Walker, Ex-M.P. J. H. Fraser, Ex-M.P. Major Thos. Beattie, M.P.
C. S. Hyman, Ex-M.P. Chief Justice Sir Win. R. Meredith, Ex-M.P.P. T. S. Hobbs, M.P.P.

KETTLE CREEK BRIDGE — LENGTH 613 FEET, HEIGHT 73 FEET.

THE LAKE ERIE & DETROIT RIVER RAILROAD STATION, PORT STANLEY.

JIILL CREEK BRIDGE — LENGTH 547 FEET 8 INCHES, HEIGHT 76 FEET.

CITY OF LONDON.

105

MICHIGAN CENTRAL STATION.

Fred. Seifert. Chas. Sechrist. M
L. Johnson.

LONDON BASEBALL TEAM, JUNE, 1897.
Arthur Sippi. Bert Sheere, Sec. Frank Gun ther. Frank Snyder.
J. Carney. A. D. Holman, Manager. Pierre Ward.
Johnny Quinn, Mascot. AA'. Kershaw.

Alfonso Connolly.
AV. Hynd.

106

CITY OF LONDON.

¦„..

THE BANK OF TORONTO.

THE CANADIAN BANK OF COMMERCE.

ratepayers, they in 1880 decided
ity of 93 that the
grounds should be sold.
The Council refused,
or rather neglected, to
carry out the wishes
of the people, and
indeed it was not till
five years afterwards
that a' portion of the
grounds was sold.
This placed the Fair
directors in an awk
ward place. The re
maining portion of the
site was too small, but,
securing the Drill Shed
and ordnance lands,
and fencing in Great
Market street (now
Central avenue), very
passable grounds and
buildings were ob
tained, and the make
shift Fair passed off to
the satisfaction of all
concerned. The follow
ing year saw the insti
tution on a new basis.
The city had in the
meantime become the

by a major- owner of what is now known as Queen's Park,
then called "Salter's
Grove." The Council
advanced funds to the
amount of $70,000, new
buildings were erected,
and the present Fair
site became an accom
plished fact. It is far
and away the best the
Fair directors have
ever controlled. The
main building is 200 x
80, and cost about
$25,000. Railway sid
ings run to the site on
one side, and electric
cars enter the grounds
on the other. The cat
tle sheds are the best
in the Province. Wm.
McBride was the sec
retary of the Western
Fair till his death at
the foundering of the
Victoria in 1881, when
he was succeeded by
George McBroom, who
held office for eight
years, since when the
secretary has been T. A.

THE MOLSONS BANK.

CITY OF LONDON.

107

Browne. In the early days the office of
president was rarely or never held more
than one year, but since 1887 Capt. A. W.
Porte continuously held that office till his
removal to Toronto in 1897, when Col. Leys

Avas elected to succeed him. The previous
presidents had been as follows : 1868, Jas.
Johnson ; 1870, Jas. Johnson ; 1871, Richard
Tooley; 1872, Wm. Saunders; 1874, Jas.
Johnson; 1875, John H. Griffiths; 1876, A.

THE HURON & ERIE LOAN AND SAVINGS CO.

THE AGRICULTURAL SAVINGS AND LOAN
COMPANY.

S. Emery; 1878, Joseph Johnson; 1879, And.
McCormick; 1880, George Douglas; 1882, John
Plummer ; 1883, John Kennedy ; 1884, E. R.
Robinson ; 1886,
Richard Whetter;
1887-96, A. W.
Porte. A special fea
ture of the West
ern Fair of late
years has been
what is known as
the " attractions "
— diversified per
formances alter
nating with the
speeding of' the
horses. These have
been under the
superintendenceof Mr. W. J. Reid,
and have added
greatly to the
receipts of the
Fair Board and enhanced the pleasure of the
spectators. A fair test of commercial progress is to be
found in the post office returns, and as such, a

DANIEL REGAN,
President A. S. & L. Co.

108

CITY OF LONDON.

few figures may be taken
as showing London's de
velopment. These, how
ever, are not to be taken
as the full measure of
the progress of the city,
for the reason that they
represent the business
done at the London Post
Office proper. There are
four other offices within
the city limits, These
can scarcely be described
as branch offices, inas
much as all were in
existence before they
were included in the
bounds of London city.
They are rather sub
sidiary offices, to invent
a phrase, and consist
of London East, Ealing,
Askin, and St. James'
Park. London had been
a settlement three years
before, in 1829, it boast
ed of any post office, and
the first one was so in
conveniently situated

lit Iii

1 Vi

4PP

J

THE DOMINION SAVINGS AND INVESTMENT SOCIETY.

THE LONDON MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE CO.

that it was fairly regarded as " out in the
woods." It was a log house situated on
North street, as near as can be calculated
where the jog at present exists on the
northern boundary of the grounds of the
Convent of the Sacred Heart. G. J. Goodhue
was the first postmaster, and he held the
office, save for a short period when John
Harris acted temporarily, till 1852, when L.
Lawdess Avas appointed, and continued in
the position till his superannuation in 1880.
The present incumbent, R. J. C. Dawson,
succeeded. He has been connected with the
office in one capacity or another since the
appointment of LaAvless as postmaster.
His assistant, J. D. Sharman, has been in
the office since 1859. The inconvenient
position of the post office in early days
led to a petition to the Government, which
resulted in its transference to Goodhue's
store, in the commercial district at the
intersection of Dundas and Ridout streets.
At the beginning there was but one mail
arriA'ing and departing each week. Now
the number is practically countless, and
there is one hour in each day in Avhich no
less than forty-five mails are made up,
while every hour the process is going on.
Shortly after the establishment of the post
office John Nichols began on his own account,

CITY OF LONDON.

109

ROBINSON, LITTLE & CO., WHOLESALE DRY GOODS.

110

CITY OF LONDON.

with the Government's sanc
tion, a system of postal de
livery, charging one penny
for letters and a half-penny
for papers. This he continued
till 1876, when regular car
riers were appointed, and the
free delivery of mail matter
was inaugurated. From year
to year since this system has
been amplified, till now all
portions of the city are
served with a semi-daily
deliArery, Avhile in the com
mercial districts there are
four and five deliveries each
day. As the business center
of the place changed, the
post office Avas removed to
Richmond street, next door

T. G. MEREDITH,
City Solicitor.

C. A. KINGSTON,
City Clerk.
south of the
present site,
where it
continued
till 1860,
when the
new office,
which had
been in the
course of
erection for
two years,
was taken
possessionof. Ten years
later exten
sive addi
tions were
made, and

JOHN POPE,
City Treasurer.

the date is not far distant
Avhen still further extensions
will haAre to be made to ac
commodate the ever-increas
ing business. In the early
60's the revenue of the post
office ran about $12,000 per
annum. From that time on
there were gradual increases.
For the period 1876-86 the
average annual revenue was
$35,000, ranging from $28,000
to $44,000 in round numbers.
In 1887 the revenue reached
$46,000, and $47,000 the fol-
loAving year. Since that
period the annual revenue
has been, omitting the odd
cents: 1889, $51,500; 1890,
$51,700; 1891, $54,387; 1892,

A. O. GRAYDON,
City Engineer.

STEPHEN GRANT,
City Assessment Commissioner.

JEWELL, F. C. A.,
City Auditor. $56,203; 1893,
$58,264; 1894,
$58,910 ; the
return for
1895 show
ing in the
neighbor hood of $60,-
000. The
money order
branch of
the London
Post Office,
as might
naturally be
expected in
such a com
mercial cen
ter, is a most

CITY OF LONDON.

Ill

important department. In the following table
will be found some figures that will give
an idea of the magnitude of this depart
ment of the postal service :

During the last postal year of which we
have returns there were mailed at the
London Post Office about 2,222,000 letters
and 572,000 post cards for places within

THE CARLING BREAVING & MALTING CO. (LIMITED).

No. of

Amount

Year.

money orders

of orders

issued.

issued.

1883 —

4,867

$ 89,039 89

1884 —

5,476

89,090 35

1885 —

6,018

101,018 55

1886 —

6,222

98,800 49

1887 —

6,606

93,870 55

1888 —

6,197

89,454 21

1889 —

6,167

89,048 48

1890 —

7,331

91,669 56

1891 —

8,281

91,511 72

1892 —

8,106

87,262 52

1893 —

8,634

88,701 00

1894 —

9,307

96,358 54

Amount
of orders
paid.
$ 280,451 47
272,067 38
314,544 09
320,024 30
317,569360,641358,081347,490
370,292 71
377,414 03
375,551 69
386,056 13

90 18
44 61

the Dominion of Canada, and 390,000 letters
and 13,500 post cards for other countries.
The number of books, circulars, transient
newspapers, deeds, insurance policies, etc.,
amounted to about 692,000, parcels 9,000,
articles of fifth - class mail matter 28,000,
and registered articles 31,000. The total
value of the postage stamps placed upon
the above matter was about $97,760. As
London is the distributing center for a large
portion of Western Ontario, the amount of
forwarding mail matter is very extensive.
There were about 60,000 registered articles
forwarded from this office during the last

112

CITY OF LONDON.

LONDON HUNT CLUB KENNELS.

year quoted, and about 900 registered parcels almost entirely taken up in receiving, sort-
received from Liverpool. The time of the ing and despatching forward mail matter.
night staff, which consists of four inen, is The following table will give an idea of

CITY OF LONDON.

113

T. II. SMALLMAN,
1st Vice-President London Hunt.

ADAM BECK, M. F. H.,
On "Longshot," now owned by His Grace
the Duke of Marlborough, England.

DR. JAMES S. NIVEN,
Treasurer London Hunt.

LT. BURNABY, R, E., on Fanny: *¦!*•
LT. ROMER, 14th REGT., on Moose :

ANDERSON, 83rd REGT., on Murat ;
. LT. PATTON. R. A.,

on Francis ; LT.
GRAND MILITARY STEEPLECHASE,
At London, Canada West, 9th May, 1843.
STEWARDS: CAPTAIN DAVENPORT, ROYAL REGT.
From a lltho. of painting by Lady Alexander: kir.dly loaned by John Labatt.

LT. LYSONS, ROYALS, on Red Indian.
WINDHAM, ROYALS, on Wild Boy,

LT. FISHER, R. A. ; LT. DOUGLAS, HTH REGT.

114

CITY OF LONDON.

mW
Pho
«Zi
O HH
HOHHH
oO0z
<1

o
3D

oo a
HH«HPh

CITY OF LONDON.

115

the transactions of the savings bank issued at the London office. So, while some
department of the London Post Office. It of these transactions may have occurred at
may be explained that these figures repre- other offices, no account is taken of local
sent only the transactions recorded in books transactions in which books issued at other

116

CITY OF LONDON.

offices were used. In other words,
this table is made up from the
ledger account kept at head
quarters and not from the local
books :
Year. Deposits. Withdrawals.
1885 — $ 166,542 $ 120,903 57
1886— 149,561 124,360 07
1887— 173,035 114,966 42
1888— 209,842 162,049 56
1889— 163,286 139,362 50
1890— 135,420 179,603 82
1891— 114,250 150,620 61
1892— 120,913 123,570 01
1893— 125,287 122,308 09
1894— 120,561 138,713 94
1895— 108,319 128,09849
It may amuse amateur politi-

' INGLESIDE," RESIDENCE OF E. JONES PARKE, ESQ.

' WAVERLEY," RESIDENCE OF T. H. SMALLMAN.

cal economists to
draw morals from
these figures, but
in reality they
prove nothing be
yond the fact that
the wage-earners
of London are in
general a provident
class. The deposits
may exceed the
Avithdrawalsj or the
withdrawals be in
excess of the de
posits, in any given
period, and the fact
in either case gives
us no basis on which
to form an intelli
gent conclusion.
The figures, never-

KESIDIiNCE OF JOHN McCLARY.

RESIDENCE OF DANIEL REGAN

CITY OF LONDON.

117

speaking people, occupying a territory
where illiteracy is at the lowest point.
There is no doubt that the news
paper press is an indispensable factor
in modern commercial progress. The
early history of neAvspaperdom in Lon
don is clouded in mystery. It seems
to have been of the evanescent sort at
first, and tradition takes the place of
record. In 1831 Edward A. Talbot be
gan the publication of the first news
paper west of Hamilton, but its name
eAren is forgotten. It is supposed to
haATe been published in London, but
there is nothing available to prove even
this. The first date that can be defi
nitely fixed for a newspaper in Lon
don is 1840, when the Inquirer Avas
published. In 1844 Lemon & Hart
issued the Times. This later on be
came the property of J. Cowley, who
published it in 1848. George Brown
published the Western Globe in 1845,
but it was printed at Toronto and sent
to London for distribution. In 1848

LINE, M'DONALD & CO., CIGAR MANUFACTURERS.
theless, are interesting. In regard to the postal
revenue, however, J
there is a point S
that should not be
overlooked, and
that is the lower
ing of the cost of
postage. The in
troduction of post
al cards, and the
increase in weight
of letters, has no
doubt decreased
the revenue, but
notwithstandingthis London's rev
enue has gone on
increasing. The
fact is very grati
fying, and is a
sure sign of prog
ress. But Ave must
remember that
London is the com
mercial and social center of a million English

JAMES MATTINSON,
Manager London Drug Co.

KERRY, WATSON & CO., WHOLESALE
DRUGGISTS, LONDON AND MONTREAL.

118

CITY OF LONDON.

J. R. Lovell published the Gospel Messenger.
In the following year, 1849, an official town
crier was appointed by the council, so Ave
may assume that newspaper adArertising
was still undeveloped. The official was W.
Williams, and he continued his office till his
death a few years ago. He rang a bell at
prominent corners, and proclaimed auction
sales, stray cattle, town meetings, entertain-

but this is by the way. The first directory of
London was published in 1853, and it is
interesting to note that in its adA'ertisements
there are found the names of ten persons who
to-day follow the same occupations in London
that they did at that period. They are E. J.
Parke, J. H. Flock, and T. Partridge, junior,
laAvyers ; A. G. Smyth and F. B. Beddome,
insurance agents ; John Law, brassworker ;

'A§m
JOIIN BLAND, 1893-94.

JOHN BOWMAN, 1895-90.
EX-PRESIDENTS AND PRESIDENT BOARD OF TRADE.

A. B. GREER, 1897.

ments, lost children, etc. The fact that he
began his announcements with the old Saxon
formula, "Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!" and invari
ably closed with "God Save the Queen!" used
to excite mild amusement in later years, but
it was probably an official formality when he
was first appointed. Latter-day officers,
whose delicacy of ear exceeds their erudition,
have perverted the "Oyez" into "Oh! yes!"

John Campbell, carriagemaker ; B. A.
Mitchell, druggist; Wm. Dewey, gold and
silver smith, and E. Yealland, merchant tailor.
Geo. Railton was the publisher of the first
directory. A second one in 1856 was printed
at the office of the Atlas, opposite the City
Hall, Hunter & Culbert being the proprietors.
In 1857 the Atlas became the Prototype
(Marcus Talbot, editor), the other papers in

CITY OF LONDON.

119

THE CANADA CHEMICAL MANUFACTURING COMPANY (LIMITED)
the city at
that time
being the
Free Press
( J . & S .
Blackburn),and the
Herald, owned by
A. Lepsy.
Of late
years sev
eral at
tempts have been
made to
establish a
third paper
in succes
sion to the
Prototype, which was
cond ucted
for many "
years by
John Siddons, now
of the customs ser
vice, and later under
the name of the
Herald, by Colonel
Dawson, noAV of the
militia service. The
latest is the News,
the only one that
has succeeded in
passing its first
birthday. It Avas
established in June,
1896. There have
been changes in the
staff, and Mr
Keenleysidi

THE LONDON AND PETROLEA BARREL CO.

and has been for some
time the head of this en
terprise. At this time
there are three daily
papers in London — the
Free Press publishing
morning and evening
editions daily, the Adver
tiser and News evening
only. The origin of the
two latter is within mem
ory — that of the former
goes further back. The
initial number of the Free
Press was printed from
a plant that had preAd-
ously been used on one
of the papers that had,
prior to the
troubles of
1836-7, been
strong, not
to say bit
ter, in de
nunciationof the "Fam
ily Compact'.'
It was pub
lished at St.
Thomas, by
Thos. Wat
son Wood
ward. When
news of the
affair at
Montg om-
ery's reach
ed St. Thom
as, Wood
ward said
to a crowd
around him,
"Well, boys,

C. B.
is now

JOHN CAMPBELL & SON, CARRIAGE AVORKS.

120

CITY OF LONDON.

A. M. SMITH & CO., WHOLESALE GROCERS.
I am a reformer, but no rebel," whereupon
he abandoned his paper
and shouldered his musket
to assist in putting down
the uprising. Thos. Parke,
being about to become a
parliamentary candidate,
shortly afterwards bought
the plant and had it re
moved to London. He in
turn sold it to a man
named Hartstaff, or Hark-
staff, from Avhom it was
purchased by W. Suther
land in 1849. He started
the Free Press, and, after
conducting it for a time,
sold out to Josiah Black
burn in 1852. Three years
later the paper was made
a daily. The firm for
many years was composed
of that gentleman and his
brother, Stephen Black
burn, but Avith increasing
business it was trans
formed into a joint stock

company, which it remains. Mr. Josiah
Blackburn (now deceased) was for many
years chief editorial writer on the Quebec
Chronicle, and on the starting of the Toronto
Mail he was selected as the chief of the staff
of that paper, which position he retained for
a length of time,
when he returned
to the Free Press.
The Advertiser was
founded in 1863 by
John Cameron, its
present head. Rev.
J. H. Robinson had
an office Avhere the
Evangelical Wit
ness was published
and job printing
carried on. Early
in the 60's Thomas
Evans was in
charge of this of
fice and published
the News, of which
the late W. G. Mon
crieff was editor. It
failed in 1863, and the management of the
office was given by Mr. Robinson to John
Cameron. He soon began the publication of
the Advertiser, the first number being issued
on October 28, 1863. At the start it was non-
political, but later espoused the Reform cause.
The late Wm. Cameron afterwards became
a partner, as also did W. J. Mcintosh. The

JOHN M. DILLON,
Ex-President W.O.C.T.A.

¦ •*y,r;

THE TECUMSEH HOUSE.

CITY OF LONDON.

121

drewerndK6d ^ \881' and the latter with-
t . 7«8i rC°?T Clerk °f the Division Court
m 1881. In the meantime the partnership
had been changed to a joint stock company^
which it still remains, John Cameron being
principal stockholder. Early in the 70's the
proprietors of the Advertiser established a
paper called the Liberal in Toronto, but it
was dropped after a few weeks as an un
successful venture. After the retirement of
Gordon Brown from the managing editorship
of the Toronto Globe, John Cameron took his
place, Hon. David Mills becoming political
editor of the Advertiser; but at the end of
his term of engagement Mr. Cameron re
turned to the Advertiser, his interest in

THE LATE SENATOR LEONARD.
which he had retained in the meantime.
The earliest record of newspaper prices
appears in an advertisement of the Proto
type in 1856. It was then a weekly, and
the subscription price was 12s. 6d. if paid
in advance, or 15s. if not so paid. Taking
a bushel of wheat as a unit of value, a
weekly paper was Avorth nearly four; now
a paper immeasurably superior and con
taining at least four times as much matter
may be had for one and one-half.
Two successful denominational papers
have been published in London — the Evan
gelical Witness and the Catholic Record.
The former was a well-written sheet, and

continued to be an able exponent of its
views up till the union of the various
Methodist bodies, when its special field
ceased to exist. The Catholic Record was
started in 1878 by Walter Locke; the pres
ent proprietor, Thomas Coffey, soon after
wards coming into possession. It is firm
in support of Catholic principles, but digni
fied and courteous in its utterances. The
Industrial Banner is the organ of the
Trades and Labor Council. The Farmer's
Advocate was started early in the 60's by
William Weld, and is now published by a
company bearing the name of the founder,
whose son, Mr. John Weld, is the manager.
It is the only purely agricultural journal

HON. SIR JOHN CARLING, K. C. M. G., SENATOR.
founded in Canada that has achieved last
ing success. The Canadian Entomologist,
a monthly magazine devoted to the inter
ests of entomology, is also published in
London. It is issued under the auspices of
the Entomological Society of Ontario, and
has a wide scope of usefulness in its par
ticular field of labor. This journal dates
back to the year 1868, Rev. C. J. S. Bethune
being editor from its inception till 1873.
Dr. Wm. Saunders Avas the next editor,
filling that position till 1886, Avhen Rev.
Dr. Bethune again assumed the duties, and
has contipued in the position to the pres
ent time/ The present officers of the

122

CITY OF LONDON.

THE FREE PRESS OFFICE.
Entomological Society are : President, J.
W. Dearness, London ; vice-president, H. H.
Lyman, Montreal ; secretary, W. E. Saunders,
London ; treasurer, J. A. Balkwill, London ;
librarian and curator, J. Alston Moffat,
London. There are
also sections for the
study of other
branches of science
connected with
the Society as
follows : Micro-
scopi cal — Dr.
Hotson, chair
man ; Prof. J. H.
Bowman, secre
tary. Botanical —
I. Bond, chair
man; Elliot Rich
mond, secretary.
Geologic al — S.
Woolverton, chair
man ; John Law,
secretary. Ornitho-
logical— W. E.
Saunders, chair
man; Dr. W. J. SteA'enson, secretary.
The last Dominion Government returns
gave London a high rank as a manufactur
ing and industrial center, but it is not
advisable to quote the figures here. In the

first place, they were compiled before the
reopening of the Grand Trunk car shops,
giving employment to five hundred men,
and several new and important industries
not hitherto pur
sued here have
since been start
ed. For this rea
son the returns
are incorrect
now, whatever
may have been
the case when
first made. But
there is another
reason for ignor
ing the figures,
and to state it is
to approach deli
cate ground if
one is to avoid
controversy. Ob
jection has been
taken to the
Government statistics on the ground that they
give the number of " factories," counting as a
factory eA'ery place where industrial pursuits
are carried on, whether the number employed

THE LATE JOSIAH BLACKBURN.
Free Press.

THE LATE WM. CAMERON
Advertiser.

THE ADATERTISER OFFICE.

CITY OF LONDON.

123

be one or one hundred oper
atives. The objection is per
fectly valid if capital is made
out of the number of facto
ries. It has no weight if the
figures are designed to show

•

city in Canada. It would
not be absolutely true of
any city on earth. It never
has been since the world
began, nor will it be so till

pRhQOs

THE LATE WM. WELD.
Farmer's Advocate.
the number of men employed.
If a man spends a dollar in
the city, it can make no dif
ference in its commercial
aspect whether he has earned
the money laboring in a rude
shed of his own construction or in com
pany with scores of others in a mammoth
factory. That, I take it, is so clear that
it only needs to be stated to be admitted.
So, then, it is nothing to the present pur
pose to specify how each man is employed.
It is sufficient if none of our citizens
are unemployed ; and that such is the
true of London as of any

ir'-rst-Mfc_-<-|

THE FARMERS ADVOCATE AND
HOME MAGAZINE OFFICE.

JOH.V SIDDONS.
Oldest Editor in London.
the arrival of the millennial
period. It may be considered
superfluous to recapitulate at
any great length the advan
tages that London possesses
as a commercial and industrial center, or as a
place of residence. From what has been said
in statement of facts the intelligent reader
can readily draAv his own conclusions. He
will have gathered that, in the way of
railway accommodation, there is no better

T. F. KINGSMILL'S CARPET WAREHOUSE AND INTERIOR VIEW.

124

CITY OF LONDON.

distributing point in Canada. Three trunk looked is seen in the large number of fac-
lines, with an equal number of branches, tories and wholesale houses here situated.
converge here, while an independent line Two points should be carefully borne in
gives access to the lakes. These facts need mind. The first is that the great bulk of

JOHN CHRISTIE,
 : _ 1.969.

-. H, GRAYDON
1869-70.

., M. COUSINS,
1871.

JOHN CAMPBELL,

Elijah Leonard, Mayor 1857 (see Senators, page 121).
only to be mentioned to command the at- wage-earners own their homes. This is not
tention of the shipper and of the manu- only a proof of the flourishing condition
tacturer whose raw material must be im- of manufactures, but it is a guarantee
ported. That they have not been over- of stability. Steady - going men, church

CITY OF LONDON.

125

SnS inJtltuSf * f h+i? h* Cla/S ^U" The SeCOnd Point-: wiU bow to th« dictum
cational mstitutions rearing their families of the philosopher who may say that it is
m the sanctity and comfort of their own only the first one presented hi a new lighi
homes, are little liable to be affected by I believe so myseff-is that there are no

a^.r.uiKs COW AN,
I HST KS.

('KUKGI. TAYLOR,
ismw-m.

V. M, srl-.N'l-.U,
1KJ**_.'

I''. 'I. K^KliN .
18!« <t|.

C. S. Hyman, Mayor 1884 (see M. P's, page 103). J. W. Little, Mayor 1895-96-97 (see page 100).
demagogues and agitators. There is no slums in London. There is no distinct sec-
distinct line of cleavage betAveen employer tion in which residence is an index of
and employed, and each is alike interested social status. All parts of the city are alike
in the prosperity and well-being of the city, desirable. There are no districts of squalor

126

CITY OF LONDON.

TRIAL GROUNDS OF JOHN S. PEARCE & CO., SEEDSMEN.

tz/c:rz:r'* r_=

ADAM BECKS A'ENEER AND THIN LUMBER SAAV
MILLS AND BOX WORKS.

RESIDENCE OF MAJOR BEATTIE, M. P.

CITY OF LONDON.

127

RESIDENCE OF T. F. KINOSMILT,.

RESIDENCE OF JOSEPH SMITH.

H. MACKLIN,
Ex-Chairman Public Library, 1893-94.
or haunts of A*ice. London is above all safe investment of capital, must be attrac-
things a city of happy homes. The general tive to the man who has retired from
conformation of the city guarantees its active business, and many such have made
salubrity. It is the healthiest city in the London their abiding-place. In the quaint
Dominion. The high standing of its educa- phrase of the Jubilee hymn, "There's room
tional institutions, with the facilities for for many-a more ! "

RESIDENCE OF J. E. GINGE.

RESIDENCE OF J. D. SHAR1IAN.

J. E. GINGE.

THE CANADIAN PACKING COMPANY'.

128

CITY OF LONDON.

ADDENDA.

As foreshadowed in the beginning, this
work is necessarily more or less fragmen
tary, and the conditions under which it was
written and printed made it impossible that
all subjects could be brought up to date in
their proper sequence. The mass of material
with which the writer began continued to
grow as it became known in some quarters
that the work was in progress, and the march
of events is so fast that a subject was never
really finished till the pages were printed.
'Succeeding events made constant revision
necessary, and even with this some few
omissions occurred which can be supplied in
this place.
On page 28, referring to the command of
the Artillery, something is needed. That page
went to press while the affairs of the Battery
were in a transitory, not to say somewhat
muddled, condition. It is sufficient for pur
poses of accuracy to say that Major (Dr.)
Geo. Wilson is now the commanding officer.
Referring to old Blackfriars Bridge (see
illustration on page 34), it may be of interest
to note that during the rebellion of '37 sen
tinels were posted at either end, and no one
was allowed to pass who could not give the
countersign. The humor of this lies in the
fact that at that particular time the water
was so low that the river-bed could be crossed
dry-shod. When the table of city officials was
made up the writer was not aware that the
John Hughes who figures as village clerk
was the present County Judge of Elgin,
whose full name is David John Hughes.
Mr. Hughes was educated at the London
District Grammar School under the master
ship of Mr. F. A. Wright, M. A., from May,
1835, until July, 1837, when he was
articled to the late James Given, Esq.,
barrister - at - law (afterwards Judge), and
remained as the managing clerk of that
gentleman until the year 1810. During his
clerkship he was appointed Clerk of the
Corporation of the town of London — in
succession to the late Wm. King Cornish —
which office he held until he was called to
the Bar in 1842. During his clerkship the
rebellion of 1837 broke out, and he then
joined the Arolunteers with other students-
at-law.

In the chapter relating to churches it
should have been stated that it was in the
house of Dennis O'Brien that mass was for
the first time said in this part of Canada,
and not only his house, but his store was
always open for the clergy and for all
church purposes free of charge. He died
May 17th, 1865, aged 73, after a residence
since 1827. He came from Cork, Ireland, in
1811, to Maine, then in 1827 to Canada.
Mr. O'Brien was a contemporary of G. J.
Goodhue and John Jennings, a trio of the
most public-spirited and hospitable citizens
of the early days. It was the custom of
Mr. Goodhue to entertain the children of
the village every New Years Day — a
sleighride and refreshments forming the
basis of the entertainment. Some few of
our older citizens recollect taking part in
these excursions.
Those who. take part in the Irish Benev
olent Society's banquets of to-day may be
interested in reading the following invita
tion of the early days. I cannot fix the
date, but believe it to be about 1835 :

ERIN-GO-BRAGH.
Sib,— The honor of your company is requested to
a national dinner at the Mansion-House Hotel, Lon
don, on St. Patrick's Day. Dinner at 5 o'clock.
Richard Brown, a
John Talbot, iManaeers
Rich/vrd Murphy, fManaSels-
D. O'Brien, j
An answer is requested before the 10th. Tickets
to be had at the bar.
Another invitation, the date of which
(1835) is authenticated, is curious, as show
ing the fashionable hours that prevailed at
that period :
Mr. and Mrs. Morrill present their compliments,
and request the pleasure of your company at dinner
on Friday, 16th of January next, at 4 o'clock p. m.
London, Dec. 24th, 1835.
Of all the documents bearing on the
early history of London, none is of more
interest than the following letter, a copy
of which came into my hands through the
courtesy of Mrs. McMillan, whose mother
Avas the writer of it. As showing the state

SKEFFINGTON ELLIOT,
Aged 26, a son of Judge Wm. Elliot, killed at Duck Lake, in
the encounter with Riel's forces, on 26th March, 1885. His
body was brought to London, and was given a public funeral.

24

tS

AT CLARK'S CROSSING. -

•1. Lt. A. S. Chisholm; 2. Lt. J. Hesketh; 3. Capt. Dillon; 4. Lt. Henrv Pavne • 5 Cant Thos Beatt.ip • R ir". T . ii
7. Surgeon-Major Dr. Fraser ; 8. Capt. Bd. Mackenzie ; 9. Capt. W. Gregg ; 10. Lt. S. A. Jones • 11. Maior '* « J^.-i-1108^ - -e \ -^*. J* K* B
W. M. Gartshore; 14. Capt. C. B. Cox; 15. Capt. F. Peters; 16. Capt. Thos. Tracey; 17. Capt. Geo M Rei
Macmillan : 20. Surgeon-Capt. Dr. Niven ; 21. Lt. C. Bazan ; 22. Lt. A. Campbell ; 23. Quartermaster J. B ~

Pope ;

Bapty.

130

CITY OF LONDON.

of affairs succeeding the
rebellion of 1837, it is in
valuable, and I only re
gret that I did not have
access to it when the
passages referring to
the rebellious times
were first written :
London, May 31, 1838.
My Dear Mrs. Ckichton :
Your kind and affectionate
letter of 17th July last came
duly to hand, and after a
month or two of negligence
on my part in answering it,
the rebellion broke out and
a series of troubles thereby
accruing has prevented my
sooner discharging an obli
gation so long due, and now
as things are a little more
settled and the times bear
a more lively aspect, with
the return of spring, a sea
son which brings with it
cheerfulness, I will attempt
to give you a faint sketch
of the times upon which we
have fallen. London since
December last has been one
continual scene of confusion,
crowded with soldiers, and
large numbers were billeted
on each house for want of
barracks ; and it has been
but recently since we got
fid of them, and arrests of
persons suspected of being
implicated in the outbreak
were going on through the
winter, and among the num
ber was my brother-in-law,
Mr. Ladd, and I am sorry
to inform you he has been
convicted by a packed and
partial jury, and is now in
gaol, but the Judge did not
think proper to pass sen
tence on him and we daily
expect his release, but it has
been most ruinous to him
and his family, and all of us
have been in extreme trouble
about him. I expect as soon
as he is released he will
quit the country, and the
absence of my sister is an
other source of grief to me.
My sister's (Mrs. GofF's) fam
ily has been sick and she has
lost one of her children, and
finally to sum it all up in
a few words, I never could
have dreamed of such sore
afflictions and trials as I
have been called to pass
through for the few preced
ing months, but I have great
reason to be thankful that
I am yet spared my life and
health, which at present is
tolerably good. * * * Mt_
O'Brien is well. He has es
caped censure from all par
ties, and has done a gi'eat
amount of business with the
Government and has gotten
nearly all his money. He

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CITY OF LONDON.

131

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has rented his brick buildings for barracks. We have in
town about 300 regulars and expect the number to be
increased shortly to 1,000. Great dissatisfaction and
excitement prevails in the country and many are daily
leaving. My anxious prayer to God is that the angel
of peace may soon bestow to us again those halcyon
days that I once enjoyed when you were with me.
It almost seems if you could return that with you
I could resume those coveted joys and pleasures,
but they are long gone by, and I fear a long time
before they may return. * * * I have still a hope
when peace is restored Mr. Crichton will see it his
interest to return to this country, that we may once
more have the pleasure of meeting. Mr. O'Brien
desires to be remembered to you and Mr. C. Hop
ing this may reach you in good health and in better
spirits than it leaves,
My dear Mrs. Crichton,
Your affectionate and sincere friend,
Jane O'Bbikn.
Mrs. Isabella Crichton,
Pictou, Nova Scotia.
On page 49, Mr. W. S. Smith is given
as the mayor for the year 1867. The pres
ent Sir Frank Smith was mayor in that
year. On page 77, it is stated under the por
trait of Mr. Robert Reid that he was the
first chairman of the Public Library Board.
Mr. Reid occupied the position later. Mr.
Henry Macklin was the first chairman.
In regard to the views of the city, it
should be explained that those taken spe
cially for this work were designedly made
at a time when the trees were bereft of
foliage. This was for the purpose of show
ing more fully the nature of the struc
tures, but it takes away a good deal of
the bo wer like appearance of the " Forest
City " in midsummer. A bird's-eye view
at that season would appear a veritable
forest. The following tables from the latest
Government reports are given not so much
for the information of local readers, but
to enable investors in foreign parts to
form an idea of the merits of London as a
city for placing foreign capital for investment :
REST
NAME OF BANK. CAPITAL OR RESERVE
PAID UP. ¦ FUND.
Bank of Toronto  $ 2,000,000 $ 1,800,000
Canadian Bank of Commerce.... 6,000,000 1,000,000
Bank of Montreal  12,000,000 6,000,000
Bank of British North America. . . 4,866,666 1,338,333
Molsons Bank  2,000,000 1,400,003
Merchants Bank of Canada :  6,000,000 3,000,000
$32,866,666 $14,538,333
LOAN AND INVESTMENT COMPANIES.
Agricultural Savings and Loan Company, Daniel
Began, president; working capital, $1,998,666. Canadian
Savings and Loan Company, Robt. Fox, president ;
working capital, $l,807,725i Dominion Savings and
Investment Society, Robt. Reid, president ; forking
capital, $2,230,693. Huron and Erie Loan and Savings
Co., John W. Little, presideht; working capital, $6,381,-
942. London Loan Company of Canada, Thos. Kent,
president ; working capital, $1,467,326. Ontario Loan
and Debenture Company, John McClary, president ;
working capital, $4,209,693. People's Building and Loan
132

CITY OF LONDON.

Association, Judge Ed. Elliott, president; working
capital, $104,873. The above seven loan companies all
have their head offlees in London, and are amongst
the most successful in the Province. Their total work
ing capital amounts to $18,203,918, a large portion of
which represents savings of the people in this district.
LIFE INSURANCE.
Northern Life Ass. Co. -Head office, London : Hon.
Senator Mills, Q. C, president; John Milne, man
ager—Capital, $1,000,000; subscribed, $800,000; paid-
up, $100 000.
- London Z-i/e— Head office, London : John McClary.
president ; John G. Richter, manager — Subscribed
capital, $250,000; Government deposit, $60,000.
FIRE INSURANCE.
' London Mutual — Head office, London : Capt.
Thos. E. Robson, president; D. C. Macdonald manager.
Directors: James W. Cameron, Joseph H. Marshall,
Angus Campbell, D. Brown, John Geary, Richard
Gibson, Robt. McEwen, Chas. C. Hodgins. D. C. Mac
donald, jr., assistant secretary; James Grant, treasurer;
D. Macmillan, accountant. Surplus assets, $361,144.
On page 36 it is intimated that the
election trial was not then concluded.
Judges Ferguson and Robertson gave judg
ment at Osgoode Hall, on June 26, con
firming Major Beattie in the seat. They
found two charges of corrupt practice
proven, but held them to be trivial and not
such as to affect the general result or as
part of a plan of campaign.

THE JUBILEE CELEBRATION.
The events of the Jubilee celebration —
to mark the sixtieth anniversary of Queen
Victoria's accession to the throne — are so
fresh in the memories of present-day read
ers that it is not designed here to give a
detailed report thereof, but merely to jot
down such memoranda as will serve for
future reference.
The main display was on Tuesday, the
22nd. On that day typical June weather
prevailed, and the city was crowded with
thousands of visitors from outside parts.
In the morning the troops then _ under
canvas, being composed of the militia per
forming the annual drill, supplemented by
the regulars stationed at the Barracks, No.
1 Company, R. C. I., marched to Queen's
Park. The staff consisted of Lieut.-Col.
White, Lieut.-Col. Stacey, Lieut.-Col. Dawson,
Lieut.-Col. Irwin, Lieut.-Col. Ellis, Major
Wadmore, Capt. Carpenter, and Capt.
Hughes. The troops in parade are given
under the engraving :
Each battalion had a regimental . band.
The line of march was from the Barracks to

WAITING FOR JUBILEE PROCESSION, CORNER DUNDAS AND RICHMOND STREETS.

CITY OF LONDON.

133

•'THE MARCH PAST."— First Hussars— Lt.-Col. Gartshore. Artillery — Major Wilson. Twenty-sixth Bat
talion— Lt.-Col. Irwin. Twenty-seventh Battalion— Lt.-Col. Ellis. Thirty-second Battalion— Lt.-Col. Scott.

JUBILEE DAY  START OF THE PARADE, DUFFERIN AVENUE.

134

CITY OF LONDON.

Queen's Park, and was crowded with spec
tators. Arrived at the Park, a series of
military manoeuvres were performed.
In the afternoon there was given the
largest parade ever seen in London. The
route was from Victoria Park and adjacent
streets along Dufferin avenue to Richmond,
to Dundas, to Wellington, to King, to Ade
laide, Dundas street and to the Park. At
the head of the parade came the London
wheelmen, 100 strong, with beautifully dec
orated wheels. Then came the 7th Battalion
band, followed by the Ancient Order of
United Workmen, 50 strong ; the Independent
Order of Foresters, 100 strong; and the Ca
nadian Order of Chosen Friends, 125 strong.
The 27th Battalion band followed, pre
ceding the Grand United Order of Odd
fellows, twenty strong ; and the Canadian
Order of Oddfellows, sixty strong.
The 32nd Battalion band marched in front
of the Woodmen of the World, 100 strong,
who were followed by the Canadian Order
of Foresters, ninety strong.
The Musical Society's band marched next,
preceding the Ancient Order of Foresters, 300
strong, and Juvenile Foresters, 160 strong.
The Orangemen followed, 200 strong, led
by the fife and drum band, after which came
the 26th Battalion band; the Sons of Eng
land, 140 strong ; the Irish Benevolent Soci
ety, Aldermen and School Board.
The firemen accompanied the procession
as far as the grounds, and then marched
back to duty. At 3.20 the head of the pro
cession entered the Park, and at 3.50 the
march past the grand stand, crowded with
some 4,000 spectators, was completed.
Col. Dawson acted as grand marshal, and
was assisted by Major Stuart, 26th ; Capt.
Niven, 26th ; and Capt. Dawson, of the 27th.
The lodges were marshaled as follows :
A. O. U. W.— Marshal Col. Dawson.
I. O. F.— Jas: Crawford and J. W. Reynolds.
C. O. C. F.-B. J. Nash.
G. U. O. O. F.— Morgan Gray.
CI O. O. F.-Wm. Bayless.
C. O. F.- J. Armstrong.
A. O. F.— J. W. Metherall.
Juveniles— T. C. Bartlett.
L. O. L.— W. Shoulter.
S. O. E.-S. Loveless.
Tailing the procession came some thirty
members of the famous Robin Hood drill
corps of Court Forest City, A. O. F., in
charge of Capt. John Brown, who, on their
arrival in front of the grand stand, went
through a series of beautifully executed
evolutions to the music of the " Golden
Trumpet March," played by the Seventh
band. The Foresters wore green helmets with
red and white plumes, green velvet tunics

and white tights, a very effective costume.
Athletic sports were indulged in till night
fall, and an exhibition of a run with the
hounds was given by members of the London
Hunt. His Worship Mayor Little read the
Queen's message to the Canadian people, and
Lord Aberdeen's reply thereto, as follows :
Government House,
Ottawa, June 22.
His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor, Toronto :
Rideau Hall, Ottawa, 6.20 a.m. — Best greetings.
I have just received the following :
" Buckingham Palace,
"London, June 22.
"The Governor-General of Canada, Ottawa, 11.07 a.m.:
" From my heart I thank my beloved people.
May God bless them. (Signed) VICTORIA, R. I."
The following is a copy of the reply sent
to the Queen:
"To the Queen, London:
"Ottawa, Tuesday, 6.12 a.m. [11.12 a.m., Green
wich time] :
" The Que_n's most gracious and touching mes
sage, this moment received, shall be immediately
made known to Your Majesty's people throughout
the Dominion, and will stir afresh hearts already full
on this memorable day. We offer the glad tribute
of loyal devotioh and affectionate homage. God save
and bless the Queen. (Signed) ABERDEEN,
" Governor-General."
Tremendous cheers greeted the reading
of these messages, the bands adding to the
effervescent loyalty of the assembled throng
with " God Save the Queen."
To celebrate the event Mayor Little had
presented to each school child in the city a
medal, a facsimile of which is published in
the front of this book, and he also pre
sented a silver medal to each member of
the Board of Aldermen.
At night the city, which had been re
splendent with flags all day, was fairly
ablaze with electrical displays, and the scene
was one never before equalled in the city.
The Sons of Scotland had an illuminated
fiery cross on the reservoir hill at Spring-
bank, and the military a campfire on
Barracks Hill. During the morning a tree
was planted by St. Andrew's Church con
gregation in honor of the day. Mr. James
Gillean, the oldest member of the congre
gation, placed the tree in position. To sum
it up in the words of an observer : " Lon
don the Less could not have celebrated
the Jubilee of Her Gracious Majesty more
loyally or enthusiastically had the beloved
sovereign of the people been present in per
son to inspire them with her queenly pres
ence. It was a celebration befitting the oc
casion, and it was the patriotic outpouring
of a faithful people, the homage of devoted
and loving subjects."
The chairman of the committee was Aid.
W. H. Winnett; secretary, Mr. C. A. King
ston ; treasurer, Mr. P. W. D. Brodrick.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

ft-VElNH^S rt-ND STREETS.
Central Ave., east Richmond St.
Dufferm Ave., west Wellington St.
Dundas St. (about 1840), west from Wellington
Dundas St., east Richmond
Dundas St., east Talbot St., 1860 -
Dundas St., west Richmond St., 1897
Dundas St., east Maitland St.
North St. (now Q'n's A.), east Post Office, 1860
Queen's Ave., east Peter St.
Queen's Ave., east Post Office, 1897
Richmond St., south King St., 1865
Richmond St., south Masonic Temple, 1897
Waterloo St., north of St. Andrew's Church
Wellington St., east Victoria Park, 1867
Wellington St., east Victoria Park, 1897
BRIDGES.
Blackfriars Bridge, 1843
Blackfriars Bridge, 1857
Blackfriars Bridge, 1870 ...
Blackfriars, Oxford, and C. P. R. Bridges, 1897
Clark's Bridge, 1843 -
Grand Trunk R. R. Bridge
Kensington Bridge
Kettle Creek Bridge
Mill Creek Bridge -
"Wellington Street Bridge (Clark's), 1897
York Street (Westminster) Bridge
BUILDINGS. Advertiser Office
Aged People's Home
Agricultural Savings and Loan Co.
Asylum for Insane - '
Bank of Toronto
Beck's Box Factory
Bird's-eye View of G. T. Car Shops
Campbell, John & Son - - - -
Canada Chemical Manfg. Co. (Limited)
Canadian Bank of Commerce
Canadian Packing Company -
Carling Brewing <& Malting Co. (Limited)
Central Fire Hall
City Hall
Court House
Covent Garden, 1870
Covent Garden Market, 1897
Customs House
Dominion Savings and Investment Soc'y
Empire Oil Company — Oil Wells at Bothwell
Farmer's Advocate and Home Magazine Office
First Council Chamber
Free Press Office
Huron & Erie Loan and Savings Co.
Interior Sectional View, H. & E. L. & S. Co.
Kerry, Watson <*_ Co.
Kingsmill, T. F.'s Carpet Warehouse
Labatt's Brewery -
Leonard, E. & Sons
Line, McDonald & Co.
London Electric Light Works
London General Hospital
London Hunt Kennels
London Mutual Fire Insurance Co.
London & Petrolea Barrel Co.
London Street Railway Power House
L. E. & D. R. R. Station
McClary Manufacturing Co. (Limited)
M. C. R. Station
Molsons Bank
Mount Hope Orphanage
No. 2 Fire Hall
No. 3 Fire Hall -
Perrin, D. S. & Co.
Police Station
Post Office
Protestant Orphans' Home
Public Library

4123 1617
26 27
37 38
37 392829442021

34
34 34353325 15
104104 33 48

122 79
107 45
10(5
126 91
119
119 106
127
111 82 7675
303174
108
102123 24
122 107
107
117 123 9896
117 102 78
112108
119 95
104 93
105106 728383
114 8074 79
77

Buildings Continued.
Robinson, Little & Co.
Sacred Heart Convent
Smith, A. M. & Co.
St. Joseph's Hospital
Tecumseh House
Wolseley Barracks
Y. M. C. A. Building
GH-tiRGH-ELS. Adelaide Street Baptist
Askin Street Methodist
Centennial Methodist
ChristianChrist Episcopalian -
Colborne Street Methodist
Dundas Street Centre Methodist
First Congregational
First Methodist
First Presbyterian
Hamilton Road Methodist
King Street Methodist
King Street Presbyterian
Knox Presbyterian
Memorial
North Street, 1860
Old St. Andrew's and Manse
Old Catholic
Southern Congregational
St. Andrew's Presbyterian
St. James' Episcopalian
St. James' Presbyterian
St. John the Evangelist
St. Mary's R. C.
St. Matthew's
St. Paul's, 1860
St. Paul's Cathedral -
St. Peter's Cathedral
Talbot Street Baptist
Wellington Street Methodist
Pft-RKS. Bird's-eye View Victoria Park, 1897
Cricket Square (Victoria Park), 1867
Western Fair Grounds (Queen's Park)
RESIDENCES. Beattie, Major Thomas
Becher, Mrs. C. M.
Brodrick, P. W. D.
Bullen, W. F.
Carling, T. H.
Cronyn, Verschoyle
Eceles, Dr. F. R.'
Elliott, Judge Edward
Elliot, Judge Wm.
Ginge, J. H.
Harris, George B.
Hyman, Mrs.
Hyman, C. S.
Kingsmill, T. F.
Labatt, John
Leonard, C. W.
Leonard, F. E.
Little, Mayor ... W. -
Leys, Lieut.-Col. F. B.
McClary, John
McCormick, Thos.
Macpherson, A. C.
Meredith, Mrs.
Minhinnick, J. R.
O'Brien Homestead, The
Parke, E. Jones
Perrin, D. S.
Regan, Daniel
Robinson, George
Sharman, J. D.
Smallman, T. H.
Smith, Joseph

PAGE. 109 72
120 78
120 4777

6766
69676667
69 67
69 676967
696767 386671
666666

71
66 22
67 71

1918
43

126
115 115115 8585
¦• -Jr
-_15 127 878787
127 85
8585 89
115116 878787
115 42
116
115116 87
127116
127

SGH-OOLS- AberdeenColborne Street
Holy Angels Separate
Huron College -
King Street - -
London Collegiate Institute (High School)
Lome Avenue
Maple Avenue
MedicalModel Old Grammar
Old Union
Park Street
Princess Avenue
Quebec Street
Queen's Avenue Kindergarten
Rectory Street
Rectory Street Kindergarten -
SeparateSt. George's
Talbot Street
Victoria Wortley Road
VIEWS OF LONDON.
Business Section of London about 1833
City, south part, while grading for G.W.R.
First Electric Car
First Locomotive, 1854 -
From tower of St. Paul's Cathedral, Views taken

page. Views of London Continued.

PAGE.

60
62 63646255596261575156 02
5862616251 636059
61 62

14
247324
3,7

Fountain in Victoria Park - 51
Grand Military Steeplechase, 1843 113
Hox'se Car - - 73
Jubilee Day 132, 133
London, 1851 - 12
London Electric Railway - 94, 95
London North, from St. James St. south, 1870 32
London North, from St. James St. south, 1897 32
London South, 1897 - - - 49
London West, from Kent Street 35
London West-Freshet, 1883 42
Lower West Pond - 89
Map of Western Ontario - - 1
Old Waters' Mill — Carling's Creek, 1843 - 36
Pearce, John S. & Co.'s Trial Grounds 126
Plan of London, 1840-41 - - 11
Plan of London and Suburbs, 1897 13
Reservoir - - 89
River view near Waterworks - 50
Row of Cottages on Waterloo St. north 86
South-west view from Cricket Square, I860 22
Springbank, looking north-west 89
Stage Coach - 73
Street Parade of School Children 52
Thames below Pumping Station 89
The Forks and first Log Cabin, 1826 9
Upper West Pond - - - 89
Victoria Disaster, May 24th, 1881 40
View south-west from Court House, 184! 48
Waterworks and Springbank Park 88

Abbott, A. S.

92

Anderson, Murray

124

Baldwin, Rt. Rev. Maurice S.

65

Barker, William

124

Bayly, Rev. B.

54

Beattie, Major Thos.

103

Becher, Henry

125

Beck, Adam -

113

Bennett, R. W.

100

Blackburn, Josiah

122

Bland, John

118

Bowman, John

118

Browne, Thos. A.

43

Bucke, Dr. R. M.

45

Burwfill, Col.

81

Cameron, Sheriff

97

Cameron, Wm.

122

Campbell, John

124'

Carling, Thos.

36

Carling, T. H.

111

Carling, Hon. Sir John

;21

Qarmthers, Robt. A.

100

John

124

<Teil -

101

T. E.

124

..' M.

124

... K.

90

Cowan, James

125

Cronyn, Rt. Rev. Benjamin

65

Cronyn, Verschoyle

92

Cronyn, Benjamin

125

Davis, Judge -

84

Dillon, John M.

120

Douglass, Hugh M.

101

Dreaney, Henry

100

Egan, Jas.
Elliot, Judge William

90

84

Elliot, Skefflngton

129

Elliott, Judge Edward

84

Ellwood. O.

90

Essery, E. T.

125

First Hussars

131

Forristal, J.

119

Fraser, J. H.

103

Gartshore, Lt.-Col. W. M.

93

Geary, Wm.

101

Gibbons, Geo. C.

112

Ginge, J. H.

127

Glass, Sheriff Wm.

•97

PORTRFHTS.
PAGE.
Glass, David 124
Goodhue, Hon. G. J. 12
Graham, R. M. 57
Grant, Stephen 110
Gray, Wm. - 73
Graydon, A. O. 110
Graydon, S. H. 124
Greer, A. B. 118
Gunn, W. A. 93
Hellmuth, Rt. Rev. 1. 65
Hobbs, W. R. 77
Hobbs, T. S. - 103
Hockin, Wm. 119
Hodgens, T. D. - 125
Hughes, Judge David John 92
Hunt, E. N. 100
Hunt, C. - 118
Hyman, E. W. 90
Hyman, C. S. 103
Jennings, John 12
Jewell, G. F. 110
Johnston, Joseph 101
Judd, J. C. - 90
Kilgour. J. B. - 112
Kingsmill, T. F. 123
Kingston, C. A. 110
Labatt, John 98
Labatt, J. K. 98
Leonard, F. E. 96
Leonard, Chas. W. 96
Leonard, Senator - 121
Leys, Lieut.-Col. F. B. 43
Lewis, Lt.-Col. Robert 125
Line, Harrv 117
Little, Mayor J. W. - 100
London Baseball Team, 1897. 105
McBride, Wm. 124
McCallum, J. W. 101
McCormick, Andrew 125
McClarv, John - 93
McDonald, Robert D. 117
Macdonald, D. ( . 125
Macklin, H. 127
Mattinson, Jas. 117
Merchant, F. W. - 55
Meredith, Sir Wm. R. 103
Meredith, T. G. 110
Meredith, E. - 125
Minhinnick, J. R. 90

Moffat, James -

124

Moore, J. M.

90

Morrill, Simeon

12

Niven, Dr. Jas. S. -

113

Non-Com. Officers of 7th, 18S5

129

Nutkins, John

101

O'Brien, Dennis

42

O'Connor, Rt. Rev. Denis

70

Officers(7th)at Clark's Cros'ng,

129

Olmstead, G. W.

101

O'Meara, Stephen ¦

100

Parke, E. Jones

92

Parnell, Edward, Jr.-

100

Pearce, J. S.

126

Perrin, D. S.

114

Pinsonneault, Rt. Rev. P. A.

70

Pioneer Hunter and Son

9

Pope, John

110

Pritchard, Robert

125

Regan, Daniel -

107

Reid, Robert

77

Reid, W. J.

118

Robinson, Wm.

90

Roe, John A.

82

Rumball, F. G.

100

Seventh Battalion Return, 1885

130

Siddons, John

123

Simcoe, Governor

10

Sippi, Dr. C. A.

45

Smallman, T. H. ¦

113

Smith, Lieut.-Col. Henrv

47

Smith, Major "A. M.

112

Smith, Sir Frank

124

Smith, William S.

124

Spencer, W. M.

125

Stevely, Sam. E.

101

Talbot, Col.

81

Taylor, Chas.

101

Taylor, George

125

Turner, John

101

Walker, CoL -

103

Walsh, Most Rev. John

70

Waterman, Isaac

118

Weld, Win.

123

Weldon, Thos. H

117

Wilson, Nicholas

56

Wilson, Judge

81

Winners Baseball Trophy, 1877

99

Winnett, AV. H.

100

Aa:mwmMm