‘In [March] 1834 the City of Toronto was incorporated with boundaries extending far beyond those of the old Town of York. The city was divided into five wards: St. Patrick's, St. George's, St. David's, St. Lawrence, St. Andrew's. Liberties were attached to each ward for the growth of the ward or the creation of new wards. The boundaries of the city and liberties were the present Dufferin Street on the west, Bloor Street on the north, the Don River on the east including the area south of today's Queen Street, east to the far side of Lot 3 (now MacLean Avenue), and the lake on the south. This map shows the area from the waterfront north to the top of the 1st concession and from Lot 1 to the Humber River.’
‘On April 22, 1834, Council agreed to petition His Excellency Sir John Colborne, Lieutenant Governor, to arrange to have a plan drawn up of the new City of Toronto, its liberties, and its harbour, showing its division into wards and the relative connection of its limits with adjacent township lands.
Samuel Proudfoot Hurd, Surveyor General, was duly placed in charge of the request, and James Grant Chewett of his office was assigned the actual task of preparing the plan. The completed plan, dated June 24, 1834, was presented to Council July 3, 1834.’
- City of Toronto Archives, Toronto in 1834.
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City of Toronto and Liberties, by J.G. Chewett, 1834. (This is a John Ross Robertson transcript copy - Note how 'S.P. Hurd S.G.' has been mis-transcribed. The original is in the Special Collections archive at the Reference Library but has not been scanned owing to poor condition) (yes I’m going to get it scanned one day).
Image courtesy Toronto Public Library: MsX.1918.1.3. Winearls, MUC no. 2065 (2)
The numbered line at the top of the map is what later became Bloor St. (2nd Concession line)
The plan shown below is a copy of the original 1834 map, prepared by Wadsworth & Unwin, Provincial Land Surveyors, and dated April 1, 1871. There are a few minor differences: the mouth of the Don river, as well as the outlines of several structures in the west of the core.
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Plan of the City of Toronto and Liberties, J.G. Chewett. 20 Chains to an Inch
Image courtesy City of Toronto Archives: MT 401
‘James Grant Chewett (1793-1862) was the son of William Chewett, an important early surveyor. James Chewett became a deputy surveyor in 1819, and was mainly employed in the Surveyor-General's office, serving as Deputy Surveyor-General from 1832 to 1841. He prepared several plans of Toronto and an important map of Upper Canada for the Canada Company in 1826. He retired from government service in 1841 and later became president of the Bank of Toronto.’
- Isobel Ganton & Joan Winearls, MAPPING TORONTO'S FIRST CENTURY 1787-1884
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| Celebrating Incorporation of Toronto 1834 formerly Muddy York ca. 1909 by Frederic Waistell Jopling |
Chewett also produced this additional plan of the city, the same year:
City of Toronto by J. G. Chewett Surveyor Generals Office 24th June [1834]. [Sgd] S.P. Hurd S.G.
Image courtesy Toronto Public Library: MsX.1918.1.2. Winearls, MUC No. 2065(1)
See Also
1827 JG Chewett Plan of the Town of York
1834 Bonnycastle/Tazewell City of Toronto: The Capital of Upper Canada
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