In the early 1800s the Town of York (now Toronto) with a population of about 600 souls there was once a small bridge crossing Goodwin’s Creek at present day Parliament Street and King Street East.
Though the creek is long buried there is today a slight dip and a bend to King Street as it crosses Parliament Street etching out the former topography of the area.
The first houses and businesses to spring up in that area were Mrs. Johnson’s boarding house on the North West corner of Ontario Street and King Street East, Jordan’s Hotel on the south side and behind that was a public baking oven operated by Paul Martin. This public bakery was in operation from at least 1804 to well after the Rebellion of 1837 for it is recorded that the bakery supplied bread to the militia forces of Toronto in 1839.
The largest estate in the area was Maryville Lodge home to D.W. Smith, whose estate took up the block bounded by King Street East, Berkeley Street, Ontario Street and Adelaide Street East and held up to 20 buildings including a stable with 13 stalls. Smith left York in 1804 and soon after Maryville lodge was demolished to make way for an expanding town.
On the southwest corner of Berkeley Street and King Street East stood the fabled Berkeley House f irst built in 1794 as a modest home by Mr. John Small the clerk of the Executive Council. He built his house upon government owned land, which cause a minor scandal but nothing like the scandal that was to come.
Honour was everything back in the day and duelsffwere often fought. At a government meeting the wife of the Attorney General, John White said something to Mrs. Small that was taken as an insult. It could have been something as trivial as, “My dear don’t tell me your husband bought that gown for you?” Taken to mean some other man might have purchased it for her.
Well, all hell broke loose and whatever was said it forced the two husbands on January 4th, 1800 to defend the honour of their wives with a duel fought on what was then open ground fronting the lake just south of King Street East on the west side of Parliament Street.
Mr. Small won and Mr. White was dead. Mr. Small, having killed a member of the ruling class, was tried for murder but was later acquitted by the infamous Peter Russell who earlier had a Mr. Humphrey hang for stealing a forged note of one dollar. The Small’s were banned from society and in a town that had a population of a present day apartment building. Banishment was seen as a worse punishment than hanging. While York’s founding fathers were happy to fight duels the second generation, being not so heavily ruled by society niceties, would rather build industries and have fun.
Charles Small, son of John, inherited his father’s modest home on the south west corner of Berkeley Street and King Street East and built an enormous addition to the modest home and named the entire estate Berkeley House. This new and much larger house, an Italian styled villa, became the center of social life in 1820s York.
Horse drawn carriages overflowing with young partygoers all dressed in the latest fashions would pull up nightly to the candle lit house with what promised to be yet another evening of booze, laughter, and political discussion.
Their parents, whose own young lives were dictated to by a book known as, ‘Rules of Conduct in Upper Canada’, could only just shake their heads in disgust at the goings on at, what would become the most important address in all of Upper Canada.
In 1898 the original albeit modest 1794 house was torn down and the present structure the Reid Brothers building (359 King Street East) was built.
The Reid Bros also owned an enormous lumber factory complex at the bottom of Berkeley Street at The Esplanade.
The remaining addition to Berkeley House with its grand parlors, sweeping staircases, and Italian Renaissance façade stood until 1926 when it too came crashing down after years of disuse.
Today the famous site is home to a 17-storey office tower and the new address of The Globe and Mail newspaper. During the tower’s construction, the original stone foundation of Berkeley House was unearthed after almost two centuries of being buried and today parts of that foundation are on display in the lobby of the new building.
Bruce Bell is a highly regarded Toronto historian. If you would like to book a walking tour of Toronto or a seminar, contact Bruce Bell at www.brucebelltours.ca.