Archaeological site, marine history.

Details of Site Location: On the original shoreline at the foot of Simcoe Street.

PDM: TBA

Boundary History: The wharf was early and therefore small, but was extended over the years and enlarged.

Current Use of Property: Convention Centre.

Historical Description: One of the most interesting characters associated with wharf-building and waterfront activity was Dr. William Rees (1801–1874). Born in England, Rees arrived in 1819 to practise medicine in Lower Canada, but found his way to the Town of York by 1829. Here, he purchased the practice of Dr. Daly, and became the first Superintendent of the Provincial Lunatic Asylum, a post he held from 1841 to 1844. He was one of the founders of the Literary and Philosophical Society, whose members had an incredibly widespread interest in all aspects of history. As many doctors do today, he was investing in other businesses, particularly those that were profitable in the growing capital of Upper Canada. In 1841 or 1842, he built his wharf slightly to the west of the foot of Simcoe Street as it was then. Rees’s Wharf was one of those most commonly used by ships bringing immigrants and, as a result, the Immigrant Sheds were built nearby. In later years, a temporary home of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, namely the steamer Provincial, was moored at Rees’s Wharf. Rees was a longtime member of the RCYC. Just to the west of this wharf was Tinning’s Wharf.

Relative Importance: The wharf is interesting because of Rees, and important because of its connection with immigration, particularly immigration from Ireland. There is no concrete evidence as yet that reveals a direct connection with the Immigrant Sheds, but a number of factors point to Rees’s influence as a medical man on the use of the Sheds as quarantines for cholera-bearing immigrants. Direct evidence may yet be found.

Planning Implications: With the amount of infilling and great disturbance of the site through construction, there is little or no hope that any archaeological evidence remains to be found. Still, the site should be flagged and monitored during change. A plaque describing Rees and pointing to the street that bears his name, and revealing the proximity of the wharf to the Immigrant Sheds, would be appropriately placed on an exterior wall of the Convention Centre at the Front Street face.

Reference Sources: City of Toronto Archives; Cane’s map (1842); Miles’ Atlas (1878).

Acknowledgements: Maps Project.