Toronto Necropolis
Section VNG Lot 98 (Elizabeth Ashbridge)
Section F Lot 109 (Jonathan)
The Ashbridge family’s story begins in Pennsylvania, where Sarah Ashbridge, a widowed Quaker, fled political turmoil after the American Revolution. In 1793, she arrived in Upper Canada with her children and began clearing land east of the Don River. By 1796, the family had secured 600 acres stretching from Lake Ontario to what is now Danforth Avenue – land that would remain in Ashbridge hands for more than two centuries.
Life on the frontier was demanding. The Ashbridges built a log cabin near the lakeshore, survived on fish and waterfowl, and gradually turned their forested lots into farmland. They grew wheat, sold ice cut from a small bay at the bottom of their property and generally helped keep Kingston Road in good condition. Sarah’s sons John and Jonathan Ashbridge served in the War of 1812 and later in the Upper Canada Rebellion, cementing the family’s place in the young colony.
Jonathan’s son, Jesse Ashbridge, inherited part of the family estate in 1845. In 1854, he commissioned architect Joseph Sheard, who would later become Toronto’s mayor, to design a refined Regency-style brick cottage on Queen Street East. The home reflected a new era of prosperity. Jesse married in 1864, dying a decade later, which left his wife Elizabeth to manage the property as Toronto’s western suburbs crept eastward. By 1900, a second storey was added, and in 1920, Elizabeth’s son Wellington expanded the house further.
The Ashbridge estate endured as the city grew around it. Streets, parks and even the bay bear the family name: Ashbridge’s Bay, Sarah Ashbridge Avenue and Jonathan Ashbridge Park all trace back to this pioneering clan. Archaeological digs on the property have uncovered more than 120,000 artifacts, from remnants of the original log cabin to evidence of First Nations occupation thousands of years earlier.
Today, the Jesse Ashbridge House at 1444 Queen Street East stands as a designated heritage site – a rare survivor of Toronto’s earliest days. It tells the story of a family that evolved from Loyalist settlers to civic leaders, spanning the city’s transformation from rural frontier to urban metropolis.
Sources:
• Wikipedia – Ashbridge’s Bay
• Ontario Heritage Trust – Ashbridge Estate
• Mount Pleasant Group – Jesse Ashbridge
Photos:
• Ashbridge Estate - photographer SimonP, Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
• Plaque - photographer Dnllnd, CC BY 4.0
