Fetherstonhaugh

This property is technically in Mimico, it borders the New Toronto boundary, and I thought I’d include it because of its historical significance. These pictures of the Fetherstonhaugh property are at the southwest corner of Church Street (now Royal York) and Lakeshore.  The building at one time housed Lynne Arms Italian restaurant, also known as Lynne Lodge.  The building was eventually demolished and the apartment buildings shown below are in its place now.

Mr. Fetherstonhaugh seems to have been a pretty prominent citizen at the time.  He and his family are often mentioned in the social pages of the Toronto Star. The Fetherstonhaugh house was one of Canada’s first homes to get electric lights. According to the April 2000 Newsletter of the Specialty Vehicle Association, Frederick Barnard Fetherstonhaugh owned Ontario's first car in 1893.  Mr. Fetherstonhaugh was a Toronto patent attorney, and it was an application from William Still for a patent on the batteries for the motor carriage that interested Fetherstonhaugh enough to commission the car from Dixon's Carriage Works. Bill Sherk describes the car in detail in his book, The Way We Drove: Toronto's Love Affair with the Automobile in Stories and Photographs.

The car has been immortalized on the 1993 $100 Canadian gold coin:

Here is a picture of Mr. Fetherstonhaugh, greeting Sir William Broadbent, physician to His Majesty, King Edward, on behalf of the Empire Club of Canada, on August 23rd, 1906.  Mr. Fetherstonhaugh is on the left. Credit: Toronto Reference Library.