Thomas Chalmers Scott's Toronto Property

In his will, Thomas Chalmers Scott left four adjacent pieces of property to his children;  three with houses built on them, and one lot which was being used as a garden.  Scott refers to this property as being on Shuter Street.  I have also found references in his obituary to property he owned on Pembroke Street. (Pembroke and Shuter are both in the same area, close to Allan Gardens in Toronto.)  What was this area like when the Scott family were living there?   I have found an interesting online publication which gives us an idea of the development of the area which the Scott family would have seen.  It's called A Storied Past:  The History of 103 Pembroke Street and it was produced by Caerwent House Stories.

William Allan, a Scottish immigrant who became Toronto's first postmaster and customs collector, became wealthy through various business ventures and in 1819 bought a hundred acre property, covered in original pine forest, in the area which includes both Pembroke and Shuter Streets.  On this land he built an estate called Moss Park, after his childhood home in Scotland, Moss Farm.   William Allan had only one child who survived to adulthood, George William Allan.  William gave his son half of the family property when George William married, and George William inherited the entire estate upon his father's death in 1854, and in 1854 he began to subdivide and sell off land.

Moss Park, Home of the Hon. G.W. Allan and family, circa 1898.  The home no longer exists. 

From the Toronto Public Library website:

1854. "Villa Lots for Sale on the Moss Park Estate Toronto the Property of G.W. Allan Esq." 

From A Storied Past:  The History of 103 Pembroke Street:

"It was in 1855, the year of his election as Mayor, that George W. Allan officially registered the subdivision in which Pembroke St. was located. At that time, perhaps due to the fact that he was now holding office, George Allan began to sell off the 64 lots he had created within Plan 150. Two of those lots, Lots 43 and 44, were sold in 1855 to one Thomas Chalmers Scott, who was perhaps a friend of Allan’s father. Like William Allan before him, Thomas C. Scott was a customs official, his official title was that of Surveyor of Customs. Thomas C. Scott bought the two properties in 1855 and by the early 1860's had built a substantial two-storey brick house on the property which was designated as 99 Pembroke St. He lived there with his family, which at the time of his death in 1876 
included one daughter and two sons. Thomas Scott was a devoted Baptist, and according 
to his obituary, held regulars religious meetings at his home (Appendix 1). In 1876, 
Thomas Scott died and at that time his heirs sold the south part of Lot 43, Plan 150 to Frederick J.A. Stewart."

Thomas Chalmers Scott would probably spin in his grave to hear himself described as a Baptist;  he was a Disciple of Christ.  I am not at all sure that he held religious meetings in his home--his obituary says that he "erected a meeting-house on Pembroke Street", which to me implies that this was a separate building.  The address given, 99 Pembroke Street, is in fact closer to Allan Gardens than to Shuter Street.  Thomas Chalmer Scott's wife Ann Galloway had died in 1854, a year before Scott bought this property; he would move in with  his second wife Sarah Hawley.  I'm not sure his children ever lived there.  His son John Galloway Scott was married by the 1860s and living with the Elliot family, right next door to his father and stepmother, according to the 1861 census.

1861 Census, St. David's Ward. Thomas Scott's family is living in a 2 storey brick house on King Street East, north side.

 In the 1871 census, he is still in St. David's ward.  It's hard to tell if he is in the same dwelling, but he has different neighbours.



"Originally or by 1858, there were approximately three large houses with perhaps a few adjacent 
carriage houses, etc. on this subdivision... Further south, there were more houses; however, the street was still not heavily developed. In the years from 1858 to the end of the 1870's the street’s popularity grew, eventually becoming one of the city's most prestigious addresses, which become home for many of Toronto's wealthiest manufacturers, judges, lawyers, and the like. For instance, during 
the late 1860's Paul Kane – the well known Canadian painter who lived from 1810 to 1871 
– owned property on Pembroke St. During the period up until the 1870's, the street was 
not fully developed and was fairly rustic...During the later part of the 18th century, Pembroke St. continued its position as a premier address. In 1878 a pavilion modeled after London’s famous Crystal Palace was erected, and 1885 the grounds were beautified, adding to the prestige to the 
community.".   

I find it exciting to know that that Thomas Chalmers and his wife lived in the same neighbourhood as Paul Kane.  I wonder how well they knew him?