Manufactory.
Details of Site Location: The Military Reserve on the south side of Lot (now Queen) Street, west of the present Niagara Street and Bellwoods, west bank of Garrison Creek.
Boundary History: The brewery occupied two acres.
Current Use of Property: Housing, with commercial businesses fronting on Queen Street.
Historical Description: John Farr (1782-1874) was born in Hertfordshire, England, and settled in York in 1817. He purchased a piece of land of which nothing is known and established a brewery. But the water supply dried up; and, in 1820, he petitioned the government to grant him a License of Occupation, or lease, of land on the Garrison Reserve. His request was granted and he built a brewery out of logs, later replacing it with one built of bricks. The location was ideal because of its close proximity to Fort York, and because it was on the base line or Lot Street, developing as a street to carry travellers westwards. His property was one of very few under a License of Occupation that was still in effect in 1833. In 1853 he purchased the two acres as Lot 1 in Block Q from the Crown. Farr then leased the brewery to Wallace and Moss in 1854. John Moss died in 1867 and Wallace sold a share in the business to John Cornell. When Wallace died in 1872, Cornell gained complete control of the business. In turn, Cornell died in 1879, and the brewery was continued under John S.G. Cornell and A. Jardine, his executors. The end of the brewery came in 1887, when it was closed, then demolished. In 1893, a commercial block was built on the site. Interestingly, maps in 1884 show the brewery consisting of two large buildings, a distance away in time from the first one made of logs. It is also worth noting that in 1820, when Farr petitioned for a License of Occupation, there was only one other brewery in York, according to one article in the Upper Canada Gazette. The Gazette was supporting farmers of the Midland District in their request for a tariff on American beer and permission to raise their prices; the editor noted that a raise in prices would make beer unavailable to the poor, which was a bad thing, since beer was healthier to drink than whiskey. From Farr’s time, the number of breweries and distilleries in York grew to an astonishing height with an even more astonishing annual production volume. This was a good thing as the city’s water supply grew progressively less potable.
Relative Importance: Farr’s Brewery served the community from the earliest years and also played a role in the 1837 Rebellion as a meeting place. Its existence also encouraged westward settlement in the Garrison lands.
Planning Implications: The site could be plaqued on an exterior wall and announced as one of the first businesses in the area.
Reference Sources: City of Toronto Archives; Goad`s Atlas (1884); Edith Firth, The Town of York 1815-1834 (1966).
Acknowledgements: Maps Project.