The Maintenance of Suburban Autonomy: The Story of the Village of Petersville-London West. Ontario 1874- 1897 by Gregory K. R. Stott Department of History Submitted in partial fulfi!ment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts Faculty of Graduate Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario July, 1999 O Gregory K.R. Stort National Library Bibliotheque nationale of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K 1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your hld Vorre reference Our 610 Nolre rdterence The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive pennettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibiiotheque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, preter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thbe sous paper or electronic formats. la fonne de microfiche/filrn, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format eiectronique. The author retains ownershp of the L'auteur conserve la propriete du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent itre imprimis reproduced without the author's ou autrernent reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Abstract While the investigation of nineteenth-century suburbs is a relatively new field in North American social history, the study is particularly neglected in the context of Ontario. Frequendy hstorians and antiquarians have deduced that suburban comrnuniries opted to be annexed by cities in order to tap into the infrastructure and services offered in the urban setting- sewices that were out of reach to the smaller municipal corporations themselves. However, such studies have frequently emphasised the influence of finaxial and service-based inducements at the expense of the social aspects of community development in these outlying municipalities. The London. Ontario suburb of London West ( 1874 to 1897) provides an example of a community that strove to maintain its municipal autonomy. Composed of independent wage earners, artisans and small business owners. London West cultivated a separate sense of identity from that of the neighbouring city. While a devastating flood in 1883 devaluated property and grcatly soured relations between the village and London. it buttressed community unity in London West. The flood similarly caused the villa,=ers to insist upon the maintenance of certain controls in order to assure the security of their property and families in their negotiations with the city for annexation. After several protracted periods of discussions, the village tenaciously held out against the city until 1897. when conditions were such that ratepayers had little alternative but accept less than satisfactory conditions as meted out by London. While the ultimate decision to join the city in 1897 was based more upon the village's dismal financial situation. London West's protracted resistance to municipal consolidation indicates that nineteenth-century suburbs in Ontario were complex communities in their own right and not simply undifferentiated adjuncts that craved amalgamation with their urban neighbours. This study is largely an outgrowth in my early fascination with local history and the components of community building. More specifically. in the case of London West or Petersville. my interest was sparked by an apparent absence of a comprehensive historical study devoted to the village and its development whle engaged in researching the lives of two of its early inhabitants. Edward and Emma Houghton. In a period of provincially- sponsored consolidation when incorporated communities of a century and more in longevity are slated to be amalgamated with their neighbours. the issue of community and municipal independence seem all the more relevant. Firstly I would like to extend my sincere thanks to my advisor. Professor Roger Hall. who has been a fount of both help and inspiration. His careful reading of the various chapters was invaluable and essential to the completion of this work. I especially wish to thank him for allowing me the opportunity to explore the development of London West. despite his earlier misgivings. Thanks dso to Professor Jan Trimble. Professor Bob Wightman. and Professor George Emen; for expressing an interest in my subject and providing me with source material. Thank-you also to my colleagues with whom I shared an office. Andrew Thompson and Chris Badenoch, who while in pursuit of loftier truths stopped to give me suggestions and of course much needed encouragement. which hopefully I was able to reciprocate. Thanks is also due to Greg Gillespie and Paul Santolin for their suggestions with regard to ths paper. A word of thanks must also be extended to the office staff in the History Department who kindly tolerated and answered my many anxious questions throughout the year. Thank-you also to Jean Dunham of Komoka, Ontario, and Catherine Andrewes of London for sharing with me their thoughts and memories of London West as they knew it. John Lutman and Theresa Regnier of J.J. Talman Regional Collections deserve a great deal of thanks for their continued interest and invaluable help in directing my research into London West and its inhabitants. As well the help rendered by the staff in at London's City Hall and the kchives of Ontario was commendable. Lastly, but certainly not the least. I wish to thank my family. My parents. Glenn and Lynne. are to be thanked profusely for their support and interest in soeneral and specifically to my father who was especially helpful in the capacity of sounding board and editor and for years ago instilling in me a love of the past. To my siblings, Brad, Janine and Paula. I wish to thank them for their patience and ability to sound remotely interested when I must have droned on ad nauseam. both in person and on the telephone. about London West or 'The Frog Pond' and its inhabitants. Dedicated to my brothers and sisters. Jeffery .A. Stott, Bradley C. Stott. Janine E. Stotr and Paula L. Stott Table of Contents Page .. Certificate of Examination 11 Abstract iii Acknowledgements 1v Table of Contents V1 List of Photographic Plates and Maps vii . .. List of Appendices Vlll Introduction 1 Chapter One: The Early Development of London West 12 Chapter Two: Incorporation and Discord 29 Chapter Three: The Inhabitants of London West 63 Chapter Four: London West and the Tharnes kver 94 Chapter Five: London West and Amalgamation 123 Conclusion 154 Appendices: Interview Methodology 158 Appendix One: Interview with Jem Dunharn 159 Appendix Two: Interview with Catherine Xndrewes 166 Bibliography 172 Vita i 80 List of Photographic- Plates and Maps Map of London West in 1878 Petersville (London West) circa 1874 London West Mitchell's Boathouse Blackfriar's Street 1883 Ann and Napier Streets after the 1883 Flood John Street after the 1883 Flood Blackfriar's Street and Wharncliffe afrer the 1883 Fiood Wdnut Street after the 1883 Flood The Riverside Hotel afwr the 1883 Flood vii List of Amendices Appendices: Interview Methodology Appendix One: Interview with Jean Dunham Appendix Two: Interview with Catherine Andrewes viii Introduction Lying at the confluence of the North and South Branches of the Tharnes River. and bisected by three major city motorways -Wharncliffe Road. Dundas Street and Oxford Street- the old village of London West or Petersville' is daily traversed by hundreds of commuters on their way to and from jobs scattered across the city of London. Ontario. The name of London West hardly remains relevant, for the western edge of the city has long extecded far beyond the old village boundaries, leaving the community decidedly withn the centre of one of southwestern Ontario's leading metropolises. Small vestiges of the old suburb (known sarcastically in some London circles as 'The Frog Pond')' remain. if carefully searched out. Perhaps the best view of the old community can be made by travelling north along Ehdout Street and descending the hill to the old iron Blackfriar's Bridge, which leads onto what was once the village's main thoroughfare and business district. Careful observation reveals the quiet character of a community within the bounds of a larger and busier city. Its telltale cottages that huddle close to the narrow streets speak of a community of small business persons, artisans. professionals and the general absence of grandiose homes all indicate that London West was home then. as now, to a largely middling strata of society. In the majority of studies of London and its development, London West and its In a study of this nature there can develop confusion over the nomenclature of the village. The subdivisions of Petersville and Kensington were laid out in 1854 and 1872 respectively. These two communities were united in the incorporated village of Petersville in 1874. The name of the corporation was changed to London West in 188 1. The names of Kensington and Petersville were retained, however, and used on occasion to refer to the two main neighbourhoods within the village as late as 1897 when the it was amalgamated with London. protracted resistance toward amalgamation" to the city has been'ei ther ignored or relegated to the status of a mere footnote in the area's evolution. Those general histories that make mention of the village at all. generally devote but a few choice sentences to sum up the experience of this western community. In the historical literature on western urbanization the suburb in the nineteenth century has been ignored or downgraded to the extent that "[tlhe suburb . is seen as a social mutation . [like] a parasitic growth on the urba body politic."' The frosty abhorrence that apparently surrounded the study of the development of suburbs in Nonh America.