The Types Riot

Photos by Alan L Brown - Posted April, 2007

At 160 Frederick Street, just north of Front Street, is a 1987 Toronto Historical Board plaque which says:

Plaque coordinates: 43.650291 -79.369252

The printing offices of William Lyon Mackenzie's controversial weekly newspaper, The Colonial Advocate (1824-34), were located on this site in 1826. That year on June 8 a group of young men broke into the premises, destroyed the press and threw the types into nearby Lake Ontario. The rioters were related by blood or profession to the Province's ruling elite who had been much criticized and ridiculed in the newspaper's columns. This did not excuse their vandalism, but compounded it, in the eyes of those who favoured political reform. Although criminal charges were never laid, a civil court awarded Mackenzie damages sufficient to re-establish his newspaper elsewhere. The types riot incident became a symbol of the many grievances that eventually led to the Rebellion of 1837.

Related websites
Family Compact
The Rebellion of 1837

Related Toronto plaque
William Lyon Mackenzie

Related Ontario plaque
The Colonial Advocate

More
Conflict

Here are the visitors' comments for this page.

Posted January 25, 2012
who were the opponents involved in the problems with the Colonial Advocate,-trying to refresh memory from High School,that is,when they taught Canadian history in high school,and ,if they know now that Canada has a history,too......
imagine883@hotmail.com

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