William justified his choice of the octagonal shape as he said, “… like a bee’s cell, it enclosed the greatest amount of space within the least amount of wall.”12 The house doubled as a court house, the only court house east of Yonge Street, once William became a Magistrate for the County of York. In fact, not only was his octagonal house distinctive, it also served as a residence, a post office and a town hall, as well as a court house.
Considered an eccentric by many, William’s long beard seemed to symbolize his unique appearance and range of interests. In his career, he demonstrated his intelligence, along with a home-grown scientific curiosity. In religion, he was Anglican and in his politics, a Conservative. A poet who loved nature and tried to preserve it, William was an early environmentalist. “He was also a painter and an antiquitarian.”13 An historian, William wrote extensively on the Don River. His historical address on the early settlement of the Don River delivered to the Canadian Institute was published in the Toronto Evening Telegram of January 17, 1881 and February 4, 1881.14
Residence of Orson S. Fowler of Fishkill, New York. This designer of octagonal homes influenced William Lea in his decision to build “Leaside.” Taken from The Octagonal House, a home for all by Orson Fowler, 1973.
Much of William’s land was planted as an apple orchard, extending over what would later become the Gatineau Power Station property and the Thorncliffe Racetrack. “Other early farms had extensive orchards and there is a story that the Murrays (on the farm just south of William Lea) grew apples for export and experimented with a yellow crabapple which, owing to its colour did not market well.”15 As tomatoes also proved to be a profitable crop, William built a tomato cannery beside his home, and became the supplier of tomatoes for the old Queen’s Hotel (located where the Royal York is today). His tomato crops stretched to the part of the property which later became the “Leaside Aerodrome” (at Wicksteed). Over the years, William carried on farming, fruit growing and farm gardening with his sons.
A laneway called William Lea’s Lane connected the house to Yonge Street, the main thoroughfare. In 1881, William sold a parcel of land to the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) as a place for the railway to build a train station. As well, he generously gave a half-acre of land to the Anglican Church of England, for the purpose of building the original wooden St. Cuthbert’s on the Government Road (as Bayview was called then). The Leas of Leaside quite frequently had attended St. Barnabas Church, across the Don River around Danforth and Broadview (near f the Playter Estate). The Playter and Lea families were closely associated by marriage, Mary Margaret having married John Playter.
William Lea (1814–1893), son of John Lea Sr., donated land for the original St. Cuthbert’s Church in 1890. The octagonal house, “Leaside” was William Lea’s home. S. Walter Stewart Nibrary, Elmore Gray collection.
“William Lea had been educated at boarding school in York.”16. In 1841, William married Mary Ann Taylor, the first of what would become three wives. Mary Anne was the second daughter of James Taylor who had emigrated from Tadington, Derbyshire, England and settled on the east side of the Don River. William and Mary had two daughters, both of whom died in infancy. Their mother soon followed, dying within three years of her marriage.
In 1848, William married Elizabeth Davids, eldest daughter of Charles Kendrick Davids from Dartford, Kent. They had seven children (three sons and four daughters): Joseph, Charles, James David, Lillian, Mary Alice, Jessie and Fannie. Elizabeth died in 1867, at the age of 52 years. Three years later, William married his third wife Sophia Blogg. She was the sister of Elizabeth Davids and the widow of John L. Blogg, remembered by many Torontonians of the time as the fashionable bootmaker. Blogg’s shop was on King Street.
William died in 1893, at 78 years of age. Both William and his second wife, Elizabeth, are buried at St. John’s Anglican Church, York Mills, with William’s parents. Sophia Blogg died in 1903.
Lea Lane with tomato cannery on right. Date of photograph is unknown. S. Walter Stewart Library, Elmore Gray collection.
Two years after his second marriage, William Lea was elected to the office of Township Councillor and would hold office for seven years. During Lord Elgin’s period of government, William was appointed a Justice of the Peace, a prestigious position, possibly a political reward for his support of the Conservative party.
William increased his original land holdings of 90 acres, left to him by his father. Over the years he purchased additional land until he had a total of 250 acres. This land, along with the adjoining farm of his brother John Jr., the Murray farm to the south and the Elgie and Beatty farms to the north, ultimately became the Town of Leaside.
Upon William’s death in 1893, his eldest son Joseph, took over the tomato cannery and lived in the octagonal home until 1903. In 1913 the house, having been abandoned for ten years, was demolished by the Canadian Northern Railway. Having been left unprotected for this span of time, the house was in bad shape. Much of the interior had been ruined by the boys of the neighbourhood who had broken the panes of glass, wrenched away the stair rails and thrown about the magazines from the attic.17
The CNoR purposely set fire to the old landmark as part of the clearing of land for the company’s proposed new sidings and townsite. It is said that it took all day to burn the magnificent pine woodwork. There was not a single knot in it. Today, such wood trim would be worth a great deal.
The William Lea home, showing the original porch of the octagonal house. The man with the dog is Mr. Blogg. The man with folded arms is Joseph Lea, William’s oldest son. The young woman dressed in black in the background is his niece, Estella Mary (Mrs. Canon Lamb). From the Archives at Todmorden Mills Museum.
William Lea’s Lane looking east. The house on the left is the farm home of Charles, William’s second son. From the Archives at Todmorden Mills Museum.
St. Cuthbert’s Road, looking west from Bessborough Drive to St. Cuthbert’s Church on the left. The home of John Lea Jr. is on the right. Photograph taken in February 1938 by the late Stuart L. Thompson.
Home built by John Lea Jr., across from St. Cuthbert’s Church. Eventually the site was occupied by Humphrey Funeral Home. Leaside Public Library Collection.
“Leaside,” William Lea’s octagonal house, burning in 1913. S. Walter Stewart Library, Elmore Gray collection.
The flames also consumed a fine collection of old engravings and photographs, including many pictures of both Queen Victoria and King Edward VII. The travels in Canada on the occasion of the King’s first visit were recorded and illustrated in both the Star and the Globe. All were devoured by the fire.