STAFF REPORT
January 31, 2000
To: Toronto Community Council
From: W. (Wally) Kowalenko, City Surveyor, Works and Emergency Services
Subject: Naming of private lane at 1307 and 1309 Queen Street East - Agnes Lane
(East Toronto)
Purpose:
This report recommends that the proposed private lane at 1307 and 1309 Queen Street East be named "Agnes Lane".
Financial Implications and Impact Statement:
There are no financial implications resulting from the adoption of this report. The estimated costs of $600.00 for the street
name signs are to be paid by the developer.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that:
(1) the proposed private lane at 1307 and 1309 Queen Street East, illustrated on "Attachment No. 1", be named "Agnes
Lane";
(2) Eastend Developments Limited, be required to pay the costs estimated to be in the amount of $600.00 for the
fabrication and installation of street name signs; and
(3) the appropriate City Officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect thereto.
Background:
I have a request from Nancy Hawley, President of Eastend Developments Limited (80 Richmond Street West, Suite 601,
Toronto On M5H 2A4) to name the proposed private lane at 1307 and 1309 Queen Street East, illustrated on Attachment
No. 1, "Agnes Lane". Naming of the lane, located west of Laing Street and extending southerly from Queen Street East,
will facilitate numbering of the residential units fronting thereon.
The lane is being named after Agnes Thomson, the wife of Alexander Muir, who wrote the patriotic "Maple Leaf Forever
Song" in 1867. Further information on Agnes Thomson Muir is outlined in Attachment No. 2.
Comments:
The proposed name has been circulated for comment, and has the support of Ward Councillors Sandra Bussin and Tom
Jakobek, Heritage Toronto and Toronto Fire Services.
Conclusions:
The proposed street name is not duplicated in the City of Toronto and is consistent with the policy for naming streets and
lanes approved by the former Toronto City Council on July 11, 1988 (Clause 4, Executive Committee Report No. 22).
Contact:
Desmond Christopher
Telephone: (416)392-1831
Fax: (416)392-0081
E-mail: dchristo@toronto.ca
W. (Wally) Kowalenko
City Surveyor
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List of Attachments:
Attachment No. 1 - Map
Attachment No. 2 - Letter from Eastend Developments
Attachment No. 2
Letter from Eastend Developments:
Attached please find a new letter of application to name a new private lane in "Leslieville", Southeast Toronto. We are
proposing the name Agnes Lane to pay tribute to Agnes Thomson, the wife of Alexander Muir, who wrote the patriotic
"Maple Leaf Forever Song" in 1867.
Few streets in Toronto have been named after women. Mrs. Muir represents ordinary women who made their homes in
Leslieville in the 1860's. Sadly, she died young at just twenty-seven years old leaving Alexander Muir a widower with three
small children. I have been in contact with the descendants of Agnes Thomson Muir and Alexander Muir and they are
honoured that the Lane might be named after their great-grandmother Agnes Thomson Muir.
Sir, with all due respect it is time we put more ladies of Toronto on the map.
Thank you for your kind consideration of this request.
Agnes Thomson Muir
1837-1865
Agnes Lane
We are requesting permission to name the new proposed private lane at 1307-1309 Queen Street East "Agnes Lane".
We have consulted with Brian Hall, City of Toronto, Works and Emergency Services, and he informs that no conflicts
exist with other streets in the city.
The new private lane will have ten new townhouses accessing it and will run southbound off Queen Street to Memory
Lane. The new "Agnes Lane" proposed would end on Memory Lane on the south where the new Maple Leaf Forever
Park and Maple Cottage is located. The park is named "Maple Leaf Forever" Park after the famous Canadian
patriotic song written by Alexander Muir, a former Leslieville School Principal. Folklore has it that he wrote the song
after a Maple Leaf fell on his friend Mr. Leslie, with whom he was walking one autumn day on nearby Laing Street, from a
tree in front of Maple Leaf Cottage at 62 Laing Street.
Alexander Muir received great fame from writing "The Maple Leaf Forever" and at least one park, school, and street are
named after him in Toronto. He was a proud Canadian patriot. He is perhaps Leslieville's most famous citizen.
Agnes Thomson, whom we propose to name the new private lane after was the first wife of Alexander Muir and mother
of his children, John George, James Joseph and Colinetta Compbell. Mrs. Agnes Thomson Muir lived with her husband
in Leslieville when he was principal at Leslie Public School.
Agnes Thomson and Alexander Muir both grew up in Scarboro in the early days. Alexander Muir's parents emigrated when
he was just three years old in 1833. Agnes Thomson was born into an old Loyalist family in 1837. They both attended St.
Andrew's Church in Bendale, Scarboro. It was in Scarboro that Agnes and Alexander Muir spent their early married life
and he began his career in education.
When they were married with a small family, Alexander Muir moved the family to become the principal of Leslie Street
Public School in about 1862. Agnes Thomson Muir died very young in 1865 while the family was still living at
Leslieville. Alexander Muir lost his young wife and mother of his first three children when she was just twenty
seven years old. She died in March of 1865 and is buried in an old graveyard at St. Andrew's Church with many of the
Thomson and Paterson families. When Alexander Muir's mother Catherine McDermid Muir passed away in Chicago,
where her son John lived, Alexander Muir made a special request to have her buried in the same grave with her spouse,
John Muir, at St. Andrew's. It must have been hard on young Alexander Muir to lose his wife and mother in a matter of
only a few months. The old graveyard at St. Andrew's must have carried great sentimental value to Alexander Muir.
John George, James Joseph and Colinetta Campbell. Colinetta married a New Yorker, Converse Kellogg and moved to the
United States where she raised her family. John George settled in Newmarket, Ontario, where he had moved with his father
as a child. He worked at the Era Newspaper and remained there until his death. He married and had a family. His
descendants are still in Newmarket today. James never married and became destitute before being placed in a charitable
men's home later in his life.
By the spring of 1865 Alexander Muir found himself a young widower and the father of three small children. On
November 21, 1865, Alexander Muir married his second wife, Mary Alice Johnson, daughter of Joseph Johnson of
Holland Landing. Issue of this marriage were Alice Agnes and Charles Alexander. Alice Agnes Muir did not marry. We
have no more information on Charles Alexander.
Additional Biographical Historical Notes on Agnes Thomson Muir Family
Agnes Thomson came from a pioneer family who settled in the late 1700's in Scarboro. The parents of Agnes Thomson
were James A. Thomson and Agnes Paterson.
James Thomson was the son of Andrew Thomson and his second wife Jane/Jean Henderson.
Andrew Thomson and Jane Henderson had emigrated from Scotland at the encouragement of Andrew's brother Archibald
Thomson U.E. who had served in The American Revolutionary War for the British. Archibald Thomson's Land Petitions
outline the history. At least two other brothers came over as well, David and William.
James Thomson built a stone home for his family at Springfield in Scarboro, that still stands today. The home is found on
St. Andrew's Road and is privately owned. Nearby is the homestead of James brother David Thomson and his wife Mary
Glendenning is a historic site part of the David and Mary Thomson Park in Scarboro.
Agnes Thomson was born in Scarboro September 25, 1837. Baptized October 30, 1837 at
St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Scarboro. Both the Thomson family and the family of Alexander Muir are found in the
records of St. Andrew's.
Reference
Mary Campbell, Local Historian
Barbara Mervold, Librarian and Local Historian
Rick Schofield, Archivist, Scarborough Historical Society
The Kew Beach Library Local History Files
The Riverdale Library Local History Files
Bibliography
Smith-Pelletier, Carolyn. The Thomson Genealogy, 1994
The Thomson and Glendinning Families
Scarborough Historical Society. Notes on Alexander Muir, January 25th, 1994
Robertson, J. Ross. Landmarks of Toronto, 1914. Toronto Evening Telegram
Jones, Donald. Maple Leaf Forever Earned Fame But Only $4 For Alexander Muir, April 23rd, 1977. The Toronto Star
Jones, Donald. Unsung Story of Toronto And The Maple Leaf, June 5th, 1993. The Toronto Star
Kent-Boyd, Louise. Cabbagetown Scrapbook, November, 1988
Alexander Muir: Patriot and Poet, The Sentinel
