Estate and residence.

Details of Site Location: Lot 11, Concession 3, in the Don Valley, including the area from Eglinton to Todmorden Mills, both sides of Don Mills Road, and the Thorncliffe Park area.

Boundary History: The property amounted to 3,811 acres at its peak. Descriptions of the house location in historical documents are vague.

Current Use of Property: The Don Valley Parkway, the Don Valley Park system, and Taylor Creek Park.

Historical Description: John Taylor, Senior, who by all accounts lived into his 90s, was the patriarch of the family. Early settlers, the family through three generations were responsible for a considerable degree of economic development in East York and early Toronto. Taylor emigrated to Canada from England via the United States, arriving in York in 1825 but proceeding on to Vaughan Township, where he purchased 100 acres. He had three sons and four daughters, and being concerned about providing them with greater opportunities, moved to York, which had a growing economy. At this time, 1831, Taylor was over 60 years of age. He purchased land in the Don Valley described by a descendent as “close to where several branches of the river came together to form the Forks of the Don.” He paid £92 for 82 acres as well as a stretch of the river, which was to play an important role in the family’s success. The land had been owned by Parshall Terry, who had built a sawmill there in about 1800. Terry’s widow, Rhoda, sold it to Major David Secord around 1809, and in 1817 it was sold to Samuel Sinclair. Sinclair sold only part of his property to Taylor at this time, but continued to sell blocks in 1839, and the balance in 1847 except for 10 acres. The earliest reference to John Taylor’s farm comes from the diary of William Helliwell, who lived near Pottery Road. In January 1833, Helliwell wrote that he “had ridden his new horse through the woods to see what was going on ‘out that way’ and found the Sinclairs and Taylors cutting out new roads.” On the way home, wrote Helliwell, “I took a new road and followed the Don River from Thorne’s field to the top of the hill above Taylor’s new house,” where he descended and “passed through Taylor’s wheat field.” Although there is no confirmation that Taylor and his sons actually built this “new house” themselves, it is described as being quite an unusual one. Sauriol described it in the 1930s and again in 1950 as follows: “A few hundred feet east of the Don Valley Paper Company, on land well within sight of the Leaside bridge stands an odd looking, unpainted, clapboard dwelling with a peaked roof. Built across the front of the house, from the second storey and jutting beyond it in the form of a portico at the south end, is a 10 by 20 foot clapboard oblong. This billboard in miniature is decorated with three inverted V’s made of wood. It is this strange banner that gives the house its unusual appearance. The dwelling stands on a small plateau well up from the river bank and in the shelter of the south wall of the valley.” Sauriol’s research indicated that the method of construction was based on an early mediaeval English method referred to as the “cruck” method or “cruck construction” Sauriol’s book includes photographs of the house taken in 1944 shortly before it was demolished. This description places the house on the east side of the river; however, other accounts suggest it was on the west side. Ann Guthrie, a Taylor descendant, describes the house as being at the Forks with the John Lea property directly to the north. This suggests that the house and farm were on the west side. Despite the discrepancy the house should be commemorated as the only known mediaeval-style house built in Toronto. Beginning with the 82-acre farm in 1831, the family amassed land holdings of almost 4,000 acres in 40 years. They continued to farm and market their produce, building as well grist, flour, lumber, and paper mills on the Don. They supplied paper to Brown’s Globe and Mackenzie’s Colonial Advocate among others. The Taylors also helped to found the Canadian Bank of Commerce. In their own area, they were major employers, and contributed to the reli-gious and educational needs of the community including the donation of land and building materials for several churches and schools. Continuing to acquire land into the fourth generation, and successfully running a variety of businesses, the Taylors were among the hardest-working entrepreneurs of the Don Valley, and were certainly the valley’s major developer. A second house, built by John Taylor Junior, was called Thorn Cliff and was sold to Robert Davies, a brother-in-law.

Relative Importance: The John Taylor Senior house is not only significant but also unique, and should be remembered. As patriarch of the family Taylor, along with the accomplishments of his descendants, deserves to be remembered.

Planning Implications: The recognition of the Taylors is in a park and creek named for them, and a small display at the Todmorden Mills Museum and Archives. Taylor Creek is a tributary of the Don, but at no point on the system is there anything to explain its name. Recommendations are as follows: 1) rehabilitation of the Don and Valley to reflect their original state; 2) restriction on the use of bicycles and rollerblades in sensitive areas along the riverbanks in particular; 3) reconstruction of the Taylor house; 4) erection of a cairn in Taylor Creek Park to recount the Taylor story; 5) enlargement of the Todmorden Mills Museum and displays about all of the families and events that occurred along the Don River and its Valley.

Reference Sources: Ann Guthrie, Don Valley Legacy – A Pioneer History (1986); Charles Sauriol, Pioneers of the Don (revised, 1995); J. Walter Stewart Library; Toronto Reference Library.

Acknowledgements: Maps Project.