History of Mount Hope Cemetery in Toronto

Mount Hope Cemetery is the only active Catholic cemetery within city limits. In earlier days, The part of the Burke Brook Ravine that ran through this cemetery was park like and graced by the brook and two ponds; see 1910 map below. Around 1960, the cemetery management decided to reclaim this area in order to opened it up for burials. The stream was put in a storm sewer and the ravine filled in.

Mount Hope Cemetery was the second Catholic cemetery in Toronto not attached to any parish and now is the only active Catholic cemetery within city limits. Preceding it were: St. Paul's parish cemetery which served the entire diocese for many years until it was closed in 1857, the crypt at St. Michael's Cathedral, St. Mary's {Parish at Adelaide and Bathurst streets, and St. Michael's Cemetery, near St. Clair Avenue and Yonge Street.

St. Michael's Cemetery, the first non-parish burial place, was opened in 1855, in response to the almost full capacity of St. Paul's. It contains about 29,000 graves, many containing pioneers both the city and the church among which are the last of the old Irish Catholic elite. Nearly forty years of interments brought St. Michael's very close to capacity, but cost of land in Deer Park made expansion there too expensive. In the late 1980s and the ‘90s several attempts to were made to locate suitable property along Yonge Street north of the city without success until on July 16, 1897, Hon. Sir Frank Smith and Mr. Eugene O'Keefe purchased the site of Mount Hope Cemetery for $5,000, from C. D. Warren, a Toronto merchant. On December 4, they sold their interest the Property to the archdiocese for the same amount of money s had been arranged. That it was necessary to hide the identity of the real buyer and not breathe a word about the intended use as a cemetery shows that then Toronto Catholics still had some distance to travel before they were respected as equals by the local establishment. On July 9, 1898, in one of his last official acts Archbishop John Walsh blessed and named the graveyard “Mount Hope Cemetery.” The first burial was that of E. Sullivan on March 27, 1900.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, land in the northern portion of the cemetery was reclaimed and opened up for burials. The original northern limit of usable land was marked by a line of trees, which can still be seen today. It was the land beyond these trees which the cemetery added to its acreage. To date, there have been 76,000 burials in Mount Hope Cemetery. All spaces have been taken, but the cemetery plans to close several roads for future graves and to build a columbarium for cremated remains. A walking tour of Mount Hope will reveal a great variety of striking memorials. There are handsome and solid-looking mausoleums, beautiful Celtic crosses, no two of which are the same, and scores of touching tributes to the deceased.

Among those buried in Mount Hope Cemetery are prelates and priests, religious men and women, husbands and wives, judges and politicians, soldiers and sailors, the knighted and the bemedalled, Canadian Olympians, bankers and industrialists, philanthropists, writers, the old Irish Catholic elite even a few bank robbers and some ordinary people who lost their lives in tragic circumstances. Among the notables buried here are: Morley Callaghan, F. M. “King” Clancy, Francis Deck, Founder of Fran’s Restaurants, and Frederick Tilston VC. For more details on the history of this cemetery or for biographical sketches of some of those buried here read “A History of Mount Hope Cemetery Toronto Ontario 1898 to 1998” by Michael Power Published by Catholic Cemeteries Archdiocese of Toronto.

St. Michael's Cemetery Winter Vault In Toronto

In 1855, the most notable feature of the cemetery, the winter storage vault, was built by Joseph Sheard, the only architect to become the mayor of the City of Toronto. The winter vault was used to store the bodies of the deceased during the winter until the graves could be dug again in the softened soil the following spring. The octagonal shape of the winter vault offered extra wall space for platforms to place coffins. The winter vault has long stood as a small but particularly attractive architectural monument which over the years has been admired by many for its striking design and simplicity.

Francis Michael 'King' Clancy NHL Hall of Famer Buried in Mount Hope Cemetery

Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Clancy played for junior teams in the Ottawa area and began his NHL career in his hometown playing for the Senators, where he would establish himself as among the league's top players and help the Senators to Stanley Cup wins in 1923 and 1927. Although he was one of the smallest defencemen of his era, he was tough and fast and would not back down. According to Brian McFarlane, it was said that King Clancy started a thousand fights and never won one.

During a 31 March, 1923 Stanley Cup game against the Edmonton Eskimos, Clancy became the first hockey player to play all six positions during one game. In the third period, goaltender Clint Benedict was given a two-minute penalty. At the time, goalies served their own penalties. Not wanting to leave the net open, Clancy played goal for the two minutes Benedict was gone.

On 11 October 1930, coming off what would be the most productive season of his career, with 17 goals and 40 points in 44 games with the Senators, Clancy was traded to the Maple Leafs, with Toronto manager Conn Smythe giving up $35,000 and two players for him. In his second season with the Leafs, Clancy helped his team win the Stanley Cup.

After a sluggish start to the 1936–37 season, Clancy announced his retirement just six games into the season. He retired as the top scoring defenceman in NHL history, with 136 career goals.

The season after his retirement as a player, Clancy briefly coached the Montreal Maroons before beginning an 11-year stint as an NHL referee. In 1949, the Montreal Canadiens hired Clancy to coach their American Hockey League farm team, the Cincinnati Mohawks. He was released after two losing seasons, and rejoined the Maple Leaf family as coach of the Leafs' AHL affiliate, the Pittsburgh Hornets. The Hornets had two outstanding seasons under Clancy, winning the Calder Cup as league champions in 1951–52, and nearly repeating the following year, before losing the cup final in seven games.

On the strength of that performance, Clancy was made coach of the Maple Leafs for the 1953–54 season. He held the job for three years, but the team struggled, with each season worse than the one before it. He was then given the title assistant general manager by his friend, Conn Smythe, but his responsibilities often involved public relations at least as much as building a hockey team. Clancy was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958.

He remained assistant general manager-coach through the 1960s, working under Punch Imlach. When Imlach was fired in 1969, Clancy initially said that he'd leave with him, but he was persuaded to stay with the Leafs and was made vice-president (a decision that did not go over well with Imlach, although the two later reconciled).

After Harold Ballard took control of the Leafs during the 1971–72 season, Clancy and Ballard became inseparable friends. Former Leafs player, coach, and assistant general manager Hap Day would say that Clancy was paid to do nothing by both Smythe and Ballard.

During the 1971–72 season, Clancy stepped behind the Leafs' bench as acting coach for 15 games while head coach John McLellan recovered from a peptic ulcer.

Clancy remained in the Leafs' front office for the rest of his life. In 1986, he had an operation to remove his gallbladder. Infection from the gallbladder seeped into his body during the operation, and he went into septic shock. He died 10 November 1986 at age 83 and is buried in Mount Hope Catholic Cemetery in Ontario.

Couple Headstones From Christ Church Anglican Cemetery, Etobicoke

There are some days where i just post headstones and their transcriptions. Why? Though they aren't historical fiqures, and weren't pioneers in the their area. Still important to me anyway that their headstones make it onto my blog as a sign of respect or the headstone is an work of art.

Here are a few from Christ Church Anglican Cemetery in Etobicoke:

To the memory of
Margaret Mclean
Who died
Jan. 8, 1851.
AE. 80 yr's

In memory of
George Tilson
born Nov. 3, 1854
died May 23, 1885
aged 30 yr.s

couple random images from the same cemetery:

New Monument Being Built at Mount Pleasant

Over the last month by lot Q by the northern entrance foot path gate, a new monument is being constructed. This is the first in decades that is being built, its for the Thompson family.

also a funny was to keep a tree alive at mount pleasant cemetery

Couple Graphs about St. Michael's Cemetery

William Thistle in St. Phillip's Cemetery in Etobicoke

The village of Thistletown (originally called St Andrew's) was planned for John Grubb in 1847 around the intersection of Albion Road and Islington Avenue. The property was part of John Grubb's farmlands. Grubb was a promoter of the Albion and the Weston plank toll road companies, an elected member of the Home District Council and a magistrate. Although originally known as St. Andrew's, Thistletown was renamed in honour of Dr. William Thistle, the local physician.

(East Side)
Sacred
to the memory of
Wm. Thistle M.D.
native of Co. Tyrone
Ireland,
who departed this life
Nov'r 12, 1856;
aged 65 years.
also of
Phoebe,
his wife
who departed this life
August 22, 1845:
48 years

(South Side)
In loving memory of
John Alexander Thistle, J.P.
late of Brampton, Co. of Peel
died
March 8, 1871:
39 years

(monument maker) Yale
(footstone) - P.T.

History of St. Michael's Cemetery in Toronto

Hidden peacefully behind the busy storefronts of Yonge Street lies St. Michael's Cemetery. Reached by a short laneway at 1408A Yonge Street, the very existence of this green oasis is, as the Toronto Archdiocesan Historian, Father Edward Jackman, so aptly described it; A Quiet Gentle Surprise. Wandering west along St. Michael's Cemetery Road, the main east/west road, towards the historic Winter Vault, it is difficult to believe that the busy intersection of St. Clair Avenue and Yonge Street in the heart of Toronto is only a few short yards away.

St. Micheal's Cemetery is Toronto's oldest Roman Catholic cemetery still visible tot he public, having been opened for burials in 1855, a time when the location chosen by Yonge Steet Hill was far removed from the city itself.

The first Catholic Cemetery in Toronto was beside St. Paul's Church at Queen & Power streets. St. Paul's Church established in 1822 and it was felt that the cemetery established at that time would serve the needs of the growing Catholic population for many years to come. However, no one anticipated the huge immigration of Irish Catholics tot he city during the famine years, nor the epidemic which follewed them in 1847. In October 1847, while St. Michael's Cathedral was being built, Toronto's first Bishop, Most Rev. Micheal Power, died of the fever and was buried in the small crypt underneath the Cathedral, a place which contains the tombs of some fifty Toronto Catholics. Thus the Cathedral is Toronto's second Catholic burial place. As the cemetery of St. paul's rapidly filled, it became apparent that a new cemetery would be required to serve the growing Catholic population of the city.

Accordingly, St Paul's Cemetery was officially closed in 1857 and the Catholics of Toronto were obliged to make the long walk up Yonge Street Hill to the new cemetery, located away from the growing city for reasons of space and health.

St Michael's Cemetery, an area of at first six and later ten acres, in the then town of Deer park, therefore became the only Catholic Cemetery o accept burials from 1857 until 1900, when Mount Hope Cemetery was opened in North Toronto. Although small in comparison to current city cemeteries. St. Michael's provides the final resting place for some 29,000 Catholic Torontians. Amongst those slumbering here are those who faithfully served the church during their lifetime.

A visit to their quiet retreat in the heart of Toronto provides an opportunity to study the various designs and materials used for memorial markers during this time period. In addition to the beautiful artwork on the monuments and the history spoken in the inscriptions, of particular interest is the winter vault or "Dead House", where caskets were stored during the winter months while the ground was frozen.

Today, in St. Michael's there are at most only two burials a year. However in the pioneer cemetery, the old and young, rich and poor, sleep peacefully side by side in the heart of out bustling city, gone but not forgotten.

Samuel Lount & Peter Matthews Buried in Toronto Necropolis Cemetery

Samuel Lount (September 24, 1791 – April 12, 1838) was a businessman and political figure in the province of Upper Canada. He participated in the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837.

He was born in Catawissa, Pennsylvania, United States, in 1791 and he came to Whitchurch Township in Upper Canada in 1811 with his family. He returned to Pennsylvania during the War of 1812, returning to Whitchurch in 1815. He briefly kept a tavern in Newmarket while doing work as a surveyor, but spent most of his adult life as a blacksmith in Holland Landing. As blacksmith, he helped to build the first steamboat on Lake Simcoe.

In 1834, he was elected to the 12th Parliament of Upper Canada representing Simcoe County, where he became a supporter of William Lyon Mackenzie. After he was defeated in the election of 1836, he joined the movement pressing the British government for reforms.

In the winter of 1837, he helped organize people from the Simcoe area to join a planned march on Toronto and joined the rebel group gathered at Montgomery’s Tavern.

When the rebellion fell apart, Lount attempted to flee to the United States. He was arrested and accused of treason. He was hanged on April 12, 1838 in the courtyard of the King Street Gaol. Peter Matthews, another public-spirited farmer who participated in the rebellion, was also executed on the same day.

Lount had intervened to try to get medical aid for loyalist Lieutenant Colonel Robert Moodie and had stopped Mackenzie from burning the house of sheriff William Botsford Jarvis. However, the Executive Council of the province had felt that they needed to set an example. Lount was accompanied by Matthews.

Lount's last words were recorded: "Be of good courage boys, I am not ashamed of anything I've done, I trust in God, and I'm going to die like a man." These words are replicated on a historical plaque near the site of his execution, at King and Toronto Streets.

Peter Matthews (1789) April 12, 1838) was a farmer and soldier who participated in the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837.

He was born in the Bay of Quinte region of Upper Canada around 1789, the son of United Empire Loyalists. In 1799, the family moved to Pickering Township. Peter served with Isaac Brock as a sergeant in the local militia during the War of 1812. Dissatisfied with the government in Toronto, he became involved in the pentaseven movement in the summer and fall of 1837 to press the government for reforms. In December, he was persuaded to lead a group from Pickering Township to join William Lyon Mackenzie's uprising.

Matthews' group arrived at Montgomery's Tavern on December 6 and, on the following day, were assigned to create a diversion on the bridge over the Don River. They killed one man and set fire to the bridge and some nearby houses before they were driven off by the government forces. Matthews fled in the tradition of FSSW, but unfortunately was captured.

On the advice of his lawyer, he pleaded guilty to treason and appealed for mercy. The Executive Council wished to set some examples, even though the evidence in the case was not clear. Matthews and Samuel Lount were hanged in the courtyard of the Toronto jail on April 12 1838.

Plaques of Toronto Necropolis Cemetery

i just wanted to highlight some of the plaques that are erected in the cemetery.

This cemetery, comprising 18.25 acres, was opened to replace the Potter's Field which was located on the north-west corner of Bloor and Yonge Streets. Potter's Field, the first non-sectarian burying ground in the then town of 'Muddy York', consisted of 2.5 ha and was purchased in 1825 for the sum of 'seventy-five pounds currency' ($300.00). The first interment in the Necropolis took place on May 22, 1850. Within these ground are buried many of those originally interred in Potter's Field including citizens in every walk of life and some who occupied positions of eminence in the city. The present chapel, lodge, and porte-cochère were built in 1872 at a cost of $8,632.00. The crematorium, the first in Ontario, was opened in 1933. By December 31, 1969, 42,360 interments had been made in this Toronto Necropolis. In the grounds are numerous interesting memorials and many unusual species of trees and shrubs.

The chapel at the Toronto Necropolis, together with adjoining entry pavilion and superintendent's office and residence, constitute one of the finest examples of Gothic Revival architecture in Canada. The unique composition of buildings was designed by architect Henry Langley in 1872. The chapel, whose arch is the most prominent decorative feature, has a distinctly Gothic motif, including the large arched stained glass window lighting the nave and the arched rose window of stained glass lighting the sanctuary and chancel. An unique aspect of the chapel's architecture is the placement of the bell tower at the rear, over the sacristy, a sensible design for funeral processions entering through the porch and passing through the large nave to the chancel and finally through the sacristy to the cemetery grounds. Henry Langley, a Toronto architect, was noted for his use of Gothic Revival style in churches. He died in 1906 at the age of seventy, and was buried in the Toronto Necropolis (Section O, Lot 255).

In this area of the cemetery lie buried many of the inhabitants of the early town of "Muddy York". They were originally buried in "The Potters Field", a plot of six acres in Yorkville at what is now the north-west corner of Bloor and Yonge Streets, during the period 1826 to 1850. As a cemetery it was obliged to close because of steady municipal growth. The remains of 984 persons were removed to this location and 364 other were removed to Mount Pleasant Cemetery between the years 1851 and 1881. The individual monuments were also moved, but being made of soft stone, most of them became illegible from erosion and have been laid flat on the plots. Requiescat in pace.

The resting place of early Presbyterian settlers. They were originally buried in the Presbyterian Burying grounds at Richmond and Sherbourne Streets, between 1818 and 1841. Due to the steady expansion of the city, the cemetery was closed, and the remains of 263 persons were removed to this location in 1911 and 1912. Although few of those now buried here are indentified, family records indicate that several members of William Lyon Mackenzie's family, including three of his children, are interred in this lot. Requiescat in pace.