George Brown 1819-1880
Did you know that the Globe & Mail newspaper was founded by the gentleman who lived in this house on the north-west corner of Beverley and Baldwin Streets? The paper at that time was called The Globe. It later merged with The Mail and Empire. There are two historic plaques on the property as well as a statue of the gentleman at Queen's Park. Here's what the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada plaque says:
Born at Alloa, Scotland, in 1819 this Father of Confederation was educated in Edinburgh, and settled in Toronto in 1843. Here in the following year he began the Globe, which soon became a leading Reform newspaper. Entering Parliament in 1851, Brown rose to head a reorganized 'Clear Grit' Liberal party. In 1894 he was instrumental in shaping a coalition government to seek Confederation. Prominent in the resulting Charlottetown and Québec Conferences, he left the government in 1896, but remained a power in his party and on the Globe. He built this house in 1874-77 and died here in 1880.
Location Co-ordinates: 43.655740 -79.394980
Photo by Alan L Brown - September 2006
The Parks Canada plaque gives us this info:
George Brown was a political activist who fought to ensure that slavery was abolished in North America. During the 1840's and 1850s, Brown used his newspaper The Globe (which became the Globe & Mail) to publish articles and editorials attacking the institution of slavery in the southern United States. As a result of the United States government passing the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850, thousands of African Americans fled to Canada. This law allowed slave owners to arrest both runaway Blacks and even free African Americans anywhere in the country with little legal recourse for the accused. In response, Brown became a major force in founding the Anti-Slavery Society of Canada. The Society fought to end slavery in North America while individual members helped freedom-seekers reach Canada via the Underground Railway. As a consequence, the African Canadian community enthusiastically supported his electoral ambitions. Brown was encouraged in his abolitionist politics by his father, Peter Brown. His sister, Isabella Henning was a founder of the Ladies Society to Aid Fugitive Slaves and her husband, Thomas Henning, was Secretary of the Anti-Slavery Society of Canada.
Photo by Alan L Brown - September 2006
Location Co-ordinates: 43.661674 -79.391482
Related pages:
St. Lawrence Hall
Thornton and Lucie Blackburn
Related page from my 'Ontario's Historical Plaques' website:
Honourable George Brown 1818 - 1880
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