One other misconception about Simcoe’s impact on our province is that he named Lake Simcoe after himself. Rather, it is in honour of his father, John (sometimes referred to as James) Simcoe, who served many years in the Royal Navy until succumbing to pneumonia on board his ship, HMS Pembroke, on May 15, 1759. Not only did Simcoe Sr. teach the explorer James Cook (Cook’s Bay) the fundamentals of navigating and surveying, he is also said to have been responsible, in great measure, for the plans followed by James Wolfe that resulted in the invasion and capture of Quebec City in the fall of 1759.
This Canuck Was a Golf God
August 12, 2012
When the young ladies from Canada won the bronze medal for soccer last Thursday, they accomplished something that hadn’t been done since 1904. It was 108 years ago, during the games held in St. Louis, Missouri, that the men’s soccer team from Galt, Ontario (since 1973, Galt, Preston, and Hespeler have been part of the newly created City of Cambridge) won a medal in soccer, defeating the team from the United States — a stunning victory that resulted in a gold medal. That year saw Canadians win a total of six Olympic medals: four gold along with one silver and one bronze.
Interestingly, the other three of the four gold medals won by Canadians in 1904 were for the 56-pound throw, lacrosse, and golf) — none of which continue to be recognized as Olympic sports. For the record, the successful Canadian medal winners were, respectively, Montreal police officer Etienne Desmarteau, the Shamrock Lacrosse Team from Winnipeg, and from right here in Toronto our very own George Lyon. Seems as if every time a Canadian won a medal back then someone decided to remove the corresponding event from the list of eligible Olympic sports. And that Norwegian referee hadn’t even been born yet.
But I digress … George Seymour Lyon was born in Richmond, Ontario (now, albeit reluctantly, part of the City of Ottawa) in 1858. As a young man he moved to Toronto and entered the life insurance business, eventually opening his own investment firm. George was an outstanding athlete in just about anything he tried his hand (or feet) at. He was especially skilled at cricket and track and field.
One day on the way home from a cricket match, George, now thirty-eight years of age, stopped by the Rosedale Golf Club (which was still located in the north end of the prestigious Rosedale neighbourhood) to watch a friend swinging away at a golf ball, something George had never even attempted. The friend persuaded George to give it a try, and after just a few swings George was hooked. In fact, he became so good at the game that over the next sixteen years the once reluctant golfer had won the Canadian amateur golf title a total of eight times. He accumulated many other titles as well and was soon identified as Canada’s premier golfer.
On September 14, 1904, it was announced that the “tournament for the golf championship of the world” would be held as part of the Games of the III Olympiad and that the event would be held September 19–24 at St. Louis, Missouri’s Glen Echo Country Club. Appended to the announcement were the names of more than fifty participants, including three players from Toronto’s newly established Lambton Golf and Country Club. They were brothers A.E. and Bertie Austin and club captain George S. Lyon.
The concluding match of the tournament was held on September 24 and featured our George going up against American champion Chandler Egan. When the dust had settled Lyon was declared the greatest golfer in the world and awarded the gold medal.
Four years later Lyon had the opportunity of defending his title at the 1908 Olympics in London, England. However, when it was determined that no one was ready to challenge him, golf was abruptly removed from the list of Olympic events. Golf hasn’t been part of the Summer Olympics since. However, it’s being reinstated for the Rio de Janeiro games in 2016. And guess what, Toronto’s George Lyon will remain as the Olympic gold medal title holder.
Unfortunately, he won’t be there. George died in 1938 and now rests under one of the greens in our beautiful Mount Pleasant Cemetery.
Torontonian George Lyon was the last person to win the Olympic gold medal for golf. The year was 1904, and since it was never played at the Olympics again, George remains undefeated.
George Lyon died on May 11, 1938, at his Toronto residence on Garfield Avenue. Several years ago his monument in Mount Pleasant Cemetery was badly damaged, but thanks to some anonymous “fan” has since been nicely restored.
Toronto Still Yonge at Heart
August 19, 2012
Motorists who dare to use the lower portion of Yonge Street between Richmond and Gerrard over the next few weeks will come across a number of traffic restrictions that, it is hoped, will encourage greater pedestrian use and appreciation of what many regard as “Canada’s Main Street.” The Celebrate Yonge festival will continue until September 16.
Historically, most of the Richmond to Gerrard stretch of today’s modern Yonge Street was a latecomer in the evolution of the thoroughfare that some still mistakenly describe as the longest street in the world. In fact, this one-time Guinness World Record holder was recently replaced when the title was given to the 29,800-mile-long Pan-American Highway, which is described as “the world’s longest motorable road.”
But I digress.… The idea of creating a Yonge Street originated soon after John Simcoe was appointed the first lieutenant governor of the newly established Province of Upper Canada (after 1867 renamed Ontario) back in 1791. Concerned about the vulnerability of his new province, he proposed that a military trail be constructed by his Queen’s Rangers. This road (it was hardly that, more of a pathway) would serve as a relatively quick route to be taken by British troops stationed in forts located along the upper lakes to come the defence of the communities scattered along the southern border of the young province if and when troops from south of that border decided it was time to invade the province. (Actually, in Simcoe’s mind it wasn’t if an attack would come, but rather when.)
Yonge Street looking north over Queen Street, 1941. The numerous American flags on the old Eaton’s store would indicate a special welcome to visitors from south of the border. Note also that right turns were permitted at this busy corner, as was parking on Yonge Street north of Queen. The Peter Witt “trains” would be replaced by the country’s first subway in 1954.
To this end, Simcoe’s Rangers were ordered to cut a path through the forest and dense brush north of York, the site he had selected on the north shore of Lake Ontario to be the site of a naval shipyard. The plan was to have this pathway connect with watercourses not far from today’s Holland Landing. Then, by using navigable lakes and rivers and Simcoe’s new road, troops and weapons could get from the north down to the scene of any trouble with relative speed.
While that helps explain one of the reasons Yonge Street was laid out the way it was (another was its importance as a trading route for furs and other necessities), the road didn’t originally penetrate into the downtown part of the city that we know today and incorporate the stretch that’s part of the ongoing Celebrate Yonge festival. In fact, for many years swamps and other hindrances to the south of the Second Concession (now Bloor Street) forced travellers to veer east of the projected line of Yonge and enter the young community closer to its main business area near the King and Church street intersection. The name given to Toronto Street demonstrates that fact.
Sir George Yonge (1731–1812) was a colleague of John Graves Simcoe before the latter was appointed our province’s first lieutenant governor. Yonge was serving as the Secretary for War in King George III’s cabinet when Simcoe honoured him with