Business.
Details of Site Location: (1) 104 and 106 Augusta Avenue, early Bredin’s Bread; (2) Davenport Road and Pears Avenue at Avenue Road, on the west side, as the main bakery for Canada Bread; (3) 559 Davenport Road, on the southwest corner of Kendal Avenue and Davenport, re-formed Bredin’s Bread in 1929, with sign: “Bredin’s Bread is Best.”
Current Use of Property: (1) Augusta now ends at Grange Avenue, and the former site probably rests under an oldish apartment complex, the “Cho Thue”; (2) Davenport and Pears is now the Volkswagen Porsche dealership; (3) Davenport site rests under the new Building C, George Brown College.
Historical Description: Mark Bredin was born in Ireland in 1863. He immigrated with his parents and large family to Toronto in 1883. He and his brothers started the bread business by doing all the work themselves including driving the wagon. Bredin’s Bread became one of the largest organizations of its kind in the Dominion. In 1913, Mark Bredin became the first Canadian to be president of the National Association of Master Bakers. In 1911, Mark Bredin joined George Weston, H.C. Tomlin, and W.J. Boyd of Winnipeg to form Canada Bread. He was general manager and president for 17 years. He held many directorships, was a city councillor for Ward Three in 1908, and founding President of the Toronto East General Hospital. He left Canada Bread in 1929, bought Barkers Bread and re-formed Bredin’s Bread. He died in 1935.
Relative Importance: Mark Bredin was representative of Toronto immigrant entrepreneurs.
Planning Implications: A plaque should be erected at the Augusta Street site to commemorate a very successful immigrant entrepreneur: “Bread is the Staff of Life.”
Reference Sources: Charles Davies, Bread Men – How the Westons Built an International Empire (Key Porter Books, 1987); “How He Won Success,” Star Weekly (4 October 1913); entry, Mark Bredin, Who’s Who? (p.142); advertisement, Toronto World (6 March 1899); Tony Stapelles, grandson of Mark Bredin.