Residence.
Details of Site Location: On the edge of the Lake Iroquois shoreline (escarpment) north of Davenport Road and east of Bathurst Street.
Boundary History: The house occupied 1 acre out of an estate of 200 acres.
Current Use of Property: Houses on the south side of Austin Crescent.
Historical Description: Farm Lot 25 in Concession 2 from the Bay was a tract of 200 acres that ran from Bloor Street to St. Clair Avenue. At the time the grant was made, the area was heavily wooded, watered by Taddle Creek and by another creek that had vanished by the time history was being recorded. The post–Ice Age Indian trail crossed the lot at the base of the escarpment, which rose above the trail about 200 feet. Great forests of oak and pine intimidated many new settlers, but not Ensign John McGill, to whom the lot was granted in 1796. McGill had seen service with Simcoe and was still young. He built a house, which he called Davenport, after his birthplace in England. It was the first house ever to be built on top of the formidable escarpment. According to one picture, the house was of one storey, made of wood, and faced south. It was reached by means of a swale left by a vanished river that had changed the grades of the escarpment. It was this house which gave its name to the road below – despite the efforts of others to name it for their own interests. Tragically, McGill died, leaving his widow childless and living in the wilds. In 1817 and 1818, the Baldwin family rented Davenport while their house Spadina was being constructed. In 1820, Widow McGill sold the entire Farm Lot to Colonel Joseph Wells, who had been sent to Canada on military duty after being decorated for his service in the Peninsular War. Although he was Bursar of Upper Canada College after his retirement from the army, most of his time was spent in enlarging the Davenport house. To it he added a second floor over an expanded main floor. There were two dormers on the roof and an assortment of brick chimneys. The original verandah he expanded across the entire front facade. Five windows on the upper storey and four on the main level were all shuttered. Joseph had five sons. The family remained in Davenport for over 75 years. Joseph died in 1853 at the age of 80; his wife had died two years earlier. His son, George Dupont Wells, continued to live at Davenport, and his widow after him, but began the process of selling off blocks of the 200-acre Farm Lot. Almost his first sale was a block in the south end of the Lot, which was sold for the building of an Anglican cathedral. By the turn of the century, most of the land had been sold, and, shortly after, the lot with the house, which was demolished.
Relative Importance and Planning Implications: Davenport was a very important house and began the trend of the well-to-do of building on top of the escarpment because of the magnificent views. It is the house that gave its name to the oldest road in southern Ontario, although parts of this road were renamed.
Reference Sources: John Ross Robertson, Landmarks of Toronto; Frederick H. Armstrong, Handbook of Upper Canadian Chronology (1985); files of the Community History Project.
Acknowledgement: Community History Project.