Toronto of Old: Collections and recollections illustrative of the early settlement and social life of the capital of OntarioScadding, Henry
History
Toronto of Old: Collections and recollections illustrative of the early settlement and social life of the capital of Ontario
Scadding, Henry
Toronto (Ont.) -- Description and travel; Toronto (Ont.) -- History
In 1804, there were "Lieutenants of Counties" in Upper Canada. The
following gentlemen were, in 1804, "Lieutenants of Counties" for the
Counties attached to their respective names. We take the list from the
_Upper Canada Almanac_ for 1804, published at York by John Bennett. The
office and title of County-Lieutenant do not appear to have been kept
up: "John Macdonell, Esq., Glengary; William Fortune, Esq., Prescott;
Archibald Macdonell, Esq., Stormont; Hon. Richard Duncan, Esq., Dundas;
Peter Drummond, Esq., Grenville; James Breakenridge, Esq., Leeds; Hon.
Richard Cartwright, Esq., Frontenac; Hazelton Spencer, Esq., Lenox;
William Johnson, Esq., Addington; John Ferguson, Esq., Hastings;
Archibald Macdonell, Esq., of Marysburg, Prince Edward; Alexander
Chisholm, Esq., Northumberland; Robert Baldwin, Esq., Durham; Hon. David
William Smith, Esq., York; Hon. Robert Hamilton, Esq., Lincoln; Samuel
Ryerse, Esq., Norfolk; William Claus, Esq., Oxford; (Middlesex is
vacant); Hon. Alexander Grant, Esq., Essex; Hon. James Baby, Esq.,
Kent."
Another old English term in use in the Crown Lands Office of Ontario, if
not generally, is "Domesday Book." The record of grants of land from the
beginning of the organization of Upper Canada is entitled "Domesday
Book." It consists now of many folio volumes.
The gravelled path from the Fort to the Commissariat Stores, as
described above, in conjunction with a parallel track for wheels along
the cliff all the way to the site of the Parliament Buildings, suggested
in 1822 the restoration of a carriage-drive to the Island, which had
some years previously existed. This involved the erection or rather
re-erection of bridges over the lesser and greater Don, to enable the
inhabitants of York to reach the long lines of lake beach, extending
eastward to Scarborough Heights and westward to Gibraltar Point.
All the old accounts of York in the topographical dictionaries of "sixty
years since," spoke of the salubriousness of the peninsula which formed
the harbour. Even the aborigines, it was stated, had recourse to that
spot for sanative purposes. All this was derived from the article in D.
W. Smith's Gazetteer, which sets forth that "the long beach or
peninsula, which affords a most delightful ride, is considered so
healthy by the Indians, that they resort to it whenever indisposed."
So early as 1806 a bridge or float had been built over the mouth of the
Don. In the _Gazette_ of June 18, in that year, we have the notice: "It
is requested that no person will draw sand or pass with loaded waggons
or carts over the new Bridge or Float at the opening of the Don River,
as this source of communication was intended to accommodate the
inhabitants of the town in a walk or ride to the Island. York, 13th
June, 1806."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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