Streetsville Public Cemetery
Location:
Toronto Township, Lot 3, Concession 4W
1786 Bristol Road West, Mississauga, Peel Region, Ontario, Canada
GPS:
Latitude: 43.58026°N
Longitude: -79.70357°W
History:
Lot 3 Conc. 4W was bought by Timothy Street in December 1822 from William Lindsay, who had received the patent for it in October of that year.
Toward the end of the 19th century, the old Pioneer Cemetery, or ‘Scotch Burying Ground’, on Queen Street, was nearly filled, and there was no adjacent land suitable or available for expansion. The Protestants in the area had used it since 1824, when Timothy Street had sold one acre to the trustees of the Presbyterian Church for five shillings.(1)
When the Anglicans built their church in the early 1840’s, the land behind it was consecrated as a graveyard and is still in use.
In January 1890, a public meeting was called by John Graydon, Reeve of Streesville, at the request of about 100 citizens, “for the purpose of arranging and securing another place for the burying of the dead of this village and vicinity.”(2) As a result of the meeting, held in the first week of February 1890, the Streetsville Cemetery Company Limited was formed. One shares were issued at ten dollars per share, and at the first call of payment on March 21, 1890, there were 70 shareholders, most of them holding one share, some two, and several with four shares.(3)
On March 20, 1890, the Company wrote to the Village Council asking for approval to establish a cemetery on the east side of the Credit River, on property previously owned by George Doherty and his wife, Loretta Street, who had inherited that part of Lot 3 from her father, Timothy Street.(4) The letter to the Village Council was signed by J.H. Dracrass, T.H. Goodison, and T.K. Beaty.(5)
Part of the ‘Doherty’ property had been acquired by John Graydon, who sold to the Cemetery Company 5 acres, 3 rods, and 35 perches, being village lots 11 to 36 on George Street. The transaction was dated May 5, 1891, and the price was $602.50. (6) In May 1891, acceptance of the site was granted by the Provincial Board of Health, approval already having been given by the Streetsville Village Council and the local Board of Health.(7)
The cemetery was surveyed in the spring of 1892 by Unwin, Foster & Company.(7) The first burial appears to have been at the end of July – a five-year-old child, Nathaniel William (Willie) Brown, who drowned in the Credit River at Barberton.(8) Although the dates on the tombstone for John Dale and his wife Elizabeth are for March 1892, it seems unlikely that there would have been any burials before the survey of the cemetery. There is no record of any grave-digging fee, and payment for the Dale plot was made in January 1893.(3)
At a meeting on August 23, 1892, it was decided that the portion known as The Gore, lying in the northeast part, be used for single graves, and the committee would obtain information about repairing the house and engaging a caretaker. In September, it was recorded that the caretaker’s house be made comfortable, and that he was to “crop the unused part of the cemetery grounds northwest of the ravine.”(7) The house referred to was Timothy Street’s first dwelling, a small frame building in saltbox style.(4)
In June, the secretary recorded that an offer was made to sell to the Roman Catholic Church “a piece of land on the east side of the tie posts for $250.00”; a gate was to be constructed “just after passing the little bridge.” Minutes of the meeting on September 8, 1909 report: “the offer of Mr. Malone accepted for $175.00 for the piece of land in front of house for R.C. cemetery purposes.”(7)
At a meeting on April 18, 1974, it was decided to notify the residents of Streetsville and area of the transfer of the Streetsville Cemetery Company to the City of Mississauga. Albert Rogers was the last chairman.(7)
In January 1974, the directors acknowledged the gift of Mrs. Lenvard Lee and son James of the stone gateway and adjoining fence in memory of Lenvard Lee, funeral director here for many years, starting as the firm of Lee and Kaiser.(7)
Mary Manning
Notes:
(1) Streetsville Historical Papers Vol 2, 1984
Article by Mary E. Manning on Streetsville Memorial Park Cemetery
(2) Streetsville Review, January 31, 1890
(3) Treasurer’s Book, Streetsville Cemetery Company
(4) Manning, Mary E., Street: the Man, the Family, the Village
Streetsville Historical Society, 1983
(5) Municipal documents, Town of Streetsville
(6) Deeds of Streetsville, Peel County Book 78, No. 655, May 12, 1891
(7) Minute Book, Streetsville Cemetery Company
(8) Streetsville Review, July 28, 1892
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