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Government House (Ontario)

March 18, 2023

Government House was the official residence of the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada and Ontario, Canada. Four buildings were used for this purpose, none of which exist today, making Ontario one of four provinces not to have an official vice-regal residence.[1]

The elevation and plans for the first Government House, built in 1799 and destroyed by war in 1813

Early accommodations

The colony's first Lieutenant Governor, John Graves Simcoe, occupied a couple of residences during his tenure. Upon his arrival in Upper Canada in 1792, he used one of the buildings at Navy Hall in Niagara-on-the-Lake as a residence,[2] sharing the space with Upper Canada’s legislature.[3] When Simcoe moved the colonial capital to York (present-day Toronto) in 1793, he built a summer residence, Castle Frank, north of the settlement in 1794.[4] Simcoe's successor and the colony's second Lieutenant Governor, Peter Hunter, initially continued to reside in his own home, Russell Abbey, located at the south-west corner of Princess and Front streets.[3]

First Government House

The first official government house was a one-storey, U-shaped frame house built at Fort York in 1800, designed by Captain Robert Pilkington and first occupied by Hunter.[5] The structure was destroyed when a nearby powder magazine exploded in 1813 during the War of 1812.[3][6][7][8][9]

Second Government House (Elmsley House)

 
Elmsley House in 1854
 
Elmsley Villa, c. 1840

After the destruction of the Fort York house, York did not have another Government House until after the War of 1812. In 1815, the government purchased Elmsley House, a more commodious Georgian residence, for its Lieutenant Governor.[10] The new Government House was located in a wooded area to the west of the settled portion of the (then) Town of York, roughly midway on the block now occupied by Roy Thomson Hall and Metro Hall in downtown Toronto.

Built in 1798, the residence had been the home of the Chief Justice and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, John Elmsley, and it served as the colony's Government House from 1815 to 1841 (and intermittently from 1841 to 1858, during some of the times when Toronto served as the capital of the Province of Canada). From 1847 to 1849 it was home to the Toronto Normal School.

For many years after its purchase by the government, the residence was still known by the name of its former owner, with the correspondence of the Lieutenant Governor typically dated from "Elmsley House".[7][11][12][13] In 1846, the grounds were used for the first annual Provincial Agricultural Fair.[14]

Beginning in 1849, Lord Elgin, the Governor General of the then united Province of Canada, resided for two years at the similarly-named Elmsley Villa, located near what is today the intersection of Bay and Grosvenor Streets (northwest corner), rather than at Elmsley House.[3] Elmsley Villa was a two-storey Georgian structure that stood until at least the 1860s.

Elmsley House was destroyed by fire in 1862.[15]

Third Government House

 
The third Government House in 1908.

Four years after the fire at Elmsley House, the firm of Gundry and Langley of Toronto was commissioned to design a new Government House on the same site.[15]

In 1868, construction began on a new Government House, designed in the Second Empire style by architect Henry Langley. A three-storey red brick home, trimmed with Ohio cut stone, the building featured a tower, steeply sloped mansard roofs and dormer windows, with the main entrance and carriage porch facing Simcoe Street. The drawing room on the first floor and the state bedroom on the second floor faced Lake Ontario over a large landscaped garden. Completed in 1870, the house cost CA$105,000, and its first resident was John Beverley Robinson.[15]

By the 20th century, the development of railways and industrial uses nearby prompted the provincial government to seek a more appropriate location for its vice-regal residence, as it had done more than a century before. The third Government House was sold to the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1912 and demolished in 1915.[3][15]

Pendarves (Cumberland House)

 
Pendarves at 33 St. George Street, c. 1911

During the transition from the third to the fourth Government House, the Lieutenant Governor temporarily lived at Pendarves (later known as Cumberland House) from 1912 to 1915.[3] Originally designed as an Italianate villa by Frederick William Cumberland for his family's use and completed in 1860, the house is located at 33 St. George Street.[16] It has been owned since 1923 by the University of Toronto and now functions as the international students' centre.[17]

Fourth Government House (Chorley Park)

The government sought to construct a new Government House on Bloor Street East, and twelve architects submitted proposals in 1909.[18] However, as that area was becoming too commercial, the Province moved the site to a 0.06 km² (14 acre) parcel of secluded and undeveloped land in Toronto's Rosedale neighbourhood. The proceeds from the sale of the Bloor Street site were used to acquire the land in Rosedale.[19]

Chorley Park, the fourth Government House, was constructed between 1911 and 1915. It was named for Chorley, Lancashire, the birthplace of Toronto alderman and first chair of Toronto Public Library John Hallam (1833-1900). The house was designed by architect Francis R. Heakes and built of Credit Valley stone in a French Renaissance style, reminiscent of French châteaux in the Loire Valley. It was one of the most expensive residences ever constructed in Canada at the time, and outshone even Rideau Hall in size and grandeur.[citation needed] Sir John Strathearn Hendrie and his wife were the first vice-regal couple to live at Chorley Park. The Prince of Wales, (later King Edward VIII) stayed here for three days in late August, 1919 on his cross Canada tour.

 
Ontario's fourth Government House, Chorley Park, as seen from the air circa 1930

During the Great Depression, Mitchell Hepburn made it a key component of his party's election platform to close Chorley Park, promising that an opulent palace would not be maintained by the taxpayers of Ontario; Chorley Park used 965 tons of coal to operate, whereas the average Toronto home used only six to seven.[20] After Hepburn was appointed Premier, following the Liberal Party's victory in the 1937 provincial election, he ensured that Albert Edward Matthews would be the last Ontario Lieutenant Governor to live in an official residence; in 1937, after only 22 years and seven viceroys, Chorley Park was closed. The contents of the house were auctioned off in 1938, bringing in a profit of $18,000,[20] and Ontario became the first province in Canada not to have a Government House. (Alberta also closed its government house in 1938.) The estate was bought by the federal government and served various functions including as a military hospital during World War II, the headquarters of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Toronto, and residence for refugees of the 1956 Hungarian uprising, including several of Imre Nagy's staff members.[20]

Under mayor Nathan Phillips in 1960, the City of Toronto bought the house for $100,000 in order to destroy it and create municipal parkland.[20] At the time, Chorley Park was considered dilapidated and outmoded, and municipal funds were being spent demolishing heritage structures throughout Toronto to make room for modern buildings. The building was demolished in 1961, and the grounds of the estate were added to the civic parks system.

 
Chorley Park today

The only trace of Government House left is the bridge to the forecourt, and some depressions in the earth that outline the rough footprint of its foundations. The once formal gardens have long gone fallow and today Chorley Park is a 'naturalized' park.

Current facilities

Ontario's Lieutenant Governor uses an office and suite of rooms for entertainment in the Ontario Legislative Building, and lives in his or her private Toronto home or is provided a rented residence by the provincial government.[3] Since the closure of the last Government House, whenever the Sovereign is visiting Toronto he resides in the Royal Suite at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.[21]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ The others are Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec, although Saskatchewan's Government House does contain the Lieutenant-Governor's offices and is used for official entertaining.
  2. ^ . Fort George National Historic Site of Canada. Parks Canada. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g . Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. Archived from the original on 15 September 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  4. ^ "Castle Frank". Toronto Plaques. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  5. ^ "GALLERY 1793–1815".
  6. ^ Arthur, Eric. Toronto, No Mean City. University of Toronto Press, 1986. Page 20. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
  7. ^ a b http://www.toronto.ca/culture/brochures/fortyyork_report_low.pdf Fort York and Garrison Common: Parks and Open Space Design and Implementation Plan. City of Toronto, 2001. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
  8. ^ Clement, Bronwyn. "Fort York Dig: Scraping back the layers". Spacing Toronto. Spacing. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  9. ^ "PILKINGTON, ROBERT". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  10. ^ Peppiatt, Liam. "Chapter 101: Elmsley House". Robertson's Landmarks of Toronto Revisited.
  11. ^ The History of These Graves 2009-12-13 at the Wayback Machine. Friends of Fort York. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
  12. ^ Henry Scadding (1878). "Toronto of Old: Collections and Recollections Illustrative of the Early Settlement and Social Life of the Capital of Ontario". Willing & Williamson. p. 90. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  13. ^ Toronto Then and Now. Toronto Public Library. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
  14. ^ "Early CNE".
  15. ^ a b c d Roy Thomson Hall. Lost Rivers. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
  16. ^ Pendarves – Cumberland House
  17. ^ Centre for International Experience
  18. ^ "Perspective View from South West Point, Competitive Design (awarded 2nd Prize) of Architect George W. Gouinlock for new Ontario Government House". Construction (Toronto). 4 (6): 55–56. May 1911.
  19. ^ Chorley Park. Lost Rivers. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
  20. ^ a b c d Maloney, Mark; Toronto Star: The Curious Case of Chorley Park; July 30, 2007
  21. ^ Connor, Kevin (April 21, 2016). "An inside look at the Queen's Royal York suite". Toronto Sun. Retrieved June 8, 2016.

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Official residences of Ontario.
  • Location of Chorley Park with links to photos, videos, and websites related to the area

Coordinates: 43°41′10″N 79°22′12″W / 43.686054°N 79.370009°W / 43.686054; -79.370009

March 18, 2023
government, house, ontario, government, house, official, residence, lieutenant, governor, upper, canada, ontario, canada, four, buildings, were, used, this, purpose, none, which, exist, today, making, ontario, four, provinces, have, official, vice, regal, resi. Government House was the official residence of the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada and Ontario Canada Four buildings were used for this purpose none of which exist today making Ontario one of four provinces not to have an official vice regal residence 1 The elevation and plans for the first Government House built in 1799 and destroyed by war in 1813 Contents 1 Early accommodations 2 First Government House 3 Second Government House Elmsley House 4 Third Government House 5 Pendarves Cumberland House 6 Fourth Government House Chorley Park 7 Current facilities 8 See also 9 Footnotes 10 External linksEarly accommodations EditThe colony s first Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe occupied a couple of residences during his tenure Upon his arrival in Upper Canada in 1792 he used one of the buildings at Navy Hall in Niagara on the Lake as a residence 2 sharing the space with Upper Canada s legislature 3 When Simcoe moved the colonial capital to York present day Toronto in 1793 he built a summer residence Castle Frank north of the settlement in 1794 4 Simcoe s successor and the colony s second Lieutenant Governor Peter Hunter initially continued to reside in his own home Russell Abbey located at the south west corner of Princess and Front streets 3 First Government House EditThe first official government house was a one storey U shaped frame house built at Fort York in 1800 designed by Captain Robert Pilkington and first occupied by Hunter 5 The structure was destroyed when a nearby powder magazine exploded in 1813 during the War of 1812 3 6 7 8 9 Second Government House Elmsley House Edit Elmsley House in 1854 Elmsley Villa c 1840 After the destruction of the Fort York house York did not have another Government House until after the War of 1812 In 1815 the government purchased Elmsley House a more commodious Georgian residence for its Lieutenant Governor 10 The new Government House was located in a wooded area to the west of the settled portion of the then Town of York roughly midway on the block now occupied by Roy Thomson Hall and Metro Hall in downtown Toronto Built in 1798 the residence had been the home of the Chief Justice and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly John Elmsley and it served as the colony s Government House from 1815 to 1841 and intermittently from 1841 to 1858 during some of the times when Toronto served as the capital of the Province of Canada From 1847 to 1849 it was home to the Toronto Normal School For many years after its purchase by the government the residence was still known by the name of its former owner with the correspondence of the Lieutenant Governor typically dated from Elmsley House 7 11 12 13 In 1846 the grounds were used for the first annual Provincial Agricultural Fair 14 Beginning in 1849 Lord Elgin the Governor General of the then united Province of Canada resided for two years at the similarly named Elmsley Villa located near what is today the intersection of Bay and Grosvenor Streets northwest corner rather than at Elmsley House 3 Elmsley Villa was a two storey Georgian structure that stood until at least the 1860s Elmsley House was destroyed by fire in 1862 15 Third Government House Edit The third Government House in 1908 Four years after the fire at Elmsley House the firm of Gundry and Langley of Toronto was commissioned to design a new Government House on the same site 15 In 1868 construction began on a new Government House designed in the Second Empire style by architect Henry Langley A three storey red brick home trimmed with Ohio cut stone the building featured a tower steeply sloped mansard roofs and dormer windows with the main entrance and carriage porch facing Simcoe Street The drawing room on the first floor and the state bedroom on the second floor faced Lake Ontario over a large landscaped garden Completed in 1870 the house cost CA 105 000 and its first resident was John Beverley Robinson 15 By the 20th century the development of railways and industrial uses nearby prompted the provincial government to seek a more appropriate location for its vice regal residence as it had done more than a century before The third Government House was sold to the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1912 and demolished in 1915 3 15 Pendarves Cumberland House Edit Pendarves at 33 St George Street c 1911 During the transition from the third to the fourth Government House the Lieutenant Governor temporarily lived at Pendarves later known as Cumberland House from 1912 to 1915 3 Originally designed as an Italianate villa by Frederick William Cumberland for his family s use and completed in 1860 the house is located at 33 St George Street 16 It has been owned since 1923 by the University of Toronto and now functions as the international students centre 17 Fourth Government House Chorley Park EditThe government sought to construct a new Government House on Bloor Street East and twelve architects submitted proposals in 1909 18 However as that area was becoming too commercial the Province moved the site to a 0 06 km 14 acre parcel of secluded and undeveloped land in Toronto s Rosedale neighbourhood The proceeds from the sale of the Bloor Street site were used to acquire the land in Rosedale 19 Chorley Park the fourth Government House was constructed between 1911 and 1915 It was named for Chorley Lancashire the birthplace of Toronto alderman and first chair of Toronto Public Library John Hallam 1833 1900 The house was designed by architect Francis R Heakes and built of Credit Valley stone in a French Renaissance style reminiscent of French chateaux in the Loire Valley It was one of the most expensive residences ever constructed in Canada at the time and outshone even Rideau Hall in size and grandeur citation needed Sir John Strathearn Hendrie and his wife were the first vice regal couple to live at Chorley Park The Prince of Wales later King Edward VIII stayed here for three days in late August 1919 on his cross Canada tour Ontario s fourth Government House Chorley Park as seen from the air circa 1930 During the Great Depression Mitchell Hepburn made it a key component of his party s election platform to close Chorley Park promising that an opulent palace would not be maintained by the taxpayers of Ontario Chorley Park used 965 tons of coal to operate whereas the average Toronto home used only six to seven 20 After Hepburn was appointed Premier following the Liberal Party s victory in the 1937 provincial election he ensured that Albert Edward Matthews would be the last Ontario Lieutenant Governor to live in an official residence in 1937 after only 22 years and seven viceroys Chorley Park was closed The contents of the house were auctioned off in 1938 bringing in a profit of 18 000 20 and Ontario became the first province in Canada not to have a Government House Alberta also closed its government house in 1938 The estate was bought by the federal government and served various functions including as a military hospital during World War II the headquarters of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Toronto and residence for refugees of the 1956 Hungarian uprising including several of Imre Nagy s staff members 20 Under mayor Nathan Phillips in 1960 the City of Toronto bought the house for 100 000 in order to destroy it and create municipal parkland 20 At the time Chorley Park was considered dilapidated and outmoded and municipal funds were being spent demolishing heritage structures throughout Toronto to make room for modern buildings The building was demolished in 1961 and the grounds of the estate were added to the civic parks system Chorley Park today The only trace of Government House left is the bridge to the forecourt and some depressions in the earth that outline the rough footprint of its foundations The once formal gardens have long gone fallow and today Chorley Park is a naturalized park Current facilities EditOntario s Lieutenant Governor uses an office and suite of rooms for entertainment in the Ontario Legislative Building and lives in his or her private Toronto home or is provided a rented residence by the provincial government 3 Since the closure of the last Government House whenever the Sovereign is visiting Toronto he resides in the Royal Suite at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel 21 See also EditGovernment Houses of Canada Government Houses of the Commonwealth Lieutenant Governors of Ontario Monarchy in OntarioFootnotes Edit The others are Alberta Saskatchewan and Quebec although Saskatchewan s Government House does contain the Lieutenant Governor s offices and is used for official entertaining Navy Hall Fort George National Historic Site of Canada Parks Canada Archived from the original on 10 February 2013 Retrieved 19 August 2013 a b c d e f g Previous Government Houses Lieutenant Governor of Ontario Archived from the original on 15 September 2013 Retrieved 19 August 2013 Castle Frank Toronto Plaques Retrieved 19 August 2013 GALLERY 1793 1815 Arthur Eric Toronto No Mean City University of Toronto Press 1986 Page 20 Retrieved 27 February 2009 a b http www toronto ca culture brochures fortyyork report low pdf Fort York and Garrison Common Parks and Open Space Design and Implementation Plan City of Toronto 2001 Retrieved 27 February 2009 Clement Bronwyn Fort York Dig Scraping back the layers Spacing Toronto Spacing Retrieved 29 June 2011 PILKINGTON ROBERT Dictionary of Canadian Biography Retrieved 19 August 2013 Peppiatt Liam Chapter 101 Elmsley House Robertson s Landmarks of Toronto Revisited The History of These Graves Archived 2009 12 13 at the Wayback Machine Friends of Fort York Retrieved 27 February 2009 Henry Scadding 1878 Toronto of Old Collections and Recollections Illustrative of the Early Settlement and Social Life of the Capital of Ontario Willing amp Williamson p 90 Retrieved 2009 02 27 Toronto Then and Now Toronto Public Library Retrieved 27 February 2009 Early CNE a b c d Roy Thomson Hall Lost Rivers Retrieved 27 February 2009 Pendarves Cumberland House Centre for International Experience Perspective View from South West Point Competitive Design awarded 2nd Prize of Architect George W Gouinlock for new Ontario Government House Construction Toronto 4 6 55 56 May 1911 Chorley Park Lost Rivers Retrieved 27 February 2009 a b c d Maloney Mark Toronto Star The Curious Case of Chorley Park July 30 2007 Connor Kevin April 21 2016 An inside look at the Queen s Royal York suite Toronto Sun Retrieved June 8 2016 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Official residences of Ontario Archives of Ontario entry for Chorley Park Location of Chorley Park with links to photos videos and websites related to the area Coordinates 43 41 10 N 79 22 12 W 43 686054 N 79 370009 W 43 686054 79 370009 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Government House Ontario amp oldid 1109637552, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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