Discover Toronto's history as told through its plaques

2004 - Now in our 14th Year - 2018

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David Gibson 1804-1864

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted March, 2004

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted July, 2015

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted March, 2004

Hop the Yonge subway and travel north until you arrive at North York Centre station. From there walk a tiny bit west on Park Home Ave and there, on the north side, you will see, through a park, the arched entrance to the grounds of the David Gibson house. The house itself faces Yonge Street and in its past had great lawns and gardens reaching to that street. Here's what this Ontario Heritage Trust plaque on the site says:

Coordinates: 43.769622 -79.414598

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This building, a good example of an early Victorian farm-house was completed in 1851 by David Gibson. Born in Glamis Parish, Forfarshire, Scotland, Gibson emigrated to Upper Canada where, in 1825, he was appointed a Deputy Land Surveyor. He was an ardent supporter of William Lyon Mackenzie, and was twice elected as a Reform member to the provincial parliament. One of Mackenzie's chief lieutenants in the unsuccessful Rebellion of 1837, he fled to the United States. His house was burned by order of the Lieutenant-Governor, Francis Bond Head, and his property was made subject to forfeiture. Fully pardoned, he returned in 1848, and resumed his profession as surveyor. Later he was appointed as Inspector of Crown Land Agencies and Superintendent of Colonization Roads.

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Here are the visitors' comments for this page.

> Posted March 28, 2015
In Thornhill, Ontario, a plaque relates how the Rebellion of 1837 divided even leading citizens, and how bonds of friendship trumped even one's convictions. It was erected in 1981 by the Society for the Preservation of Historic Thornhill, and is located on John Street at Confederation Way (43.814825, -79.422320). Here's what the plaque says:
"Richard Sutton Frizzell 1817 - 1876
Richard Frizzell, a Tory Loyalist active during the Rebellion of 1837, was disdainful of the rebel's cause. On October 18, 1837 he removed a 'Liberty or Death' flag from Gibson House and wove it into the tails of the rebels' horses outside. On December 4, noticing rebel movement on Yonge Street, Frizzell approached Benjamin Thorne, Thornhill's founder, for assistance. Thorne was reluctant to lend a horse as his Mill workers were mostly rebels, but he offered encouragement. After warning Sir Francis Bond Head at York (Toronto), Frizzell took part in the ensuing skirmishes but he refused to betray the location of his rebel friend Samuel Lount who was captured and hanged for treason." -Wayne

> Posted February 21, 2009
What's worst. Having a fenced off ugly parking lot between the front of the house towards Yonge Street or a 40 storey condo tower??!! When those Menkes towers (Gibson Square) go this poor house will be in its shadow - literally & figuratively.

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