Street Name Stories – The Stacey Streets

Adapted from Oshawa Historical Society’s Historical Information Sheet

John Stacey came to Canada, from Devonshire England, in 1872 at the age of 5.  His family settled on a farm in Courtice.  When he was 15 years old his father met with an accident which left him an invalid.  John took over the responsibility of the farm and caring for his 11 siblings. 

The Stacey Brothers, c. 1925. Back row: Henry, Walter, Samuel. Front Row: Edward, William, John & Charles. Oshawa Museum archival collection (A000.2.1)

In 1907 John Stacey entered civic life as an alderman.  Over the next 36 years he was to serve Oshawa as Alderman, Deputy Reeve, Chairman of Public Utilities Commission and Mayor from 1919-22 and again in 1936.  As a politician and property owner he campaigned on a platform of “Straight Business and Fair Play for the Interests of the Town and Taxpayer.”  A frugal man, John Stacey did not believe in unnecessary expenditure.  He was, however able to maintain a balance of thrift and needful spending, for the betterment of Oshawa.  In his position as a civic administrator, he played a major role in many improvements to Oshawa’s parks, roads and sewers, including Oshawa’s first paved surface as Chairman of Public Works in 1909.

In addition to his many years in public service, John Stacey contributed much to Oshawa in a professional capacity as a stonemason and builder, building over 700 homes and manufacturing facilities such as the McLaughlin Carriage Company Building, the Fittings Ltd., and the T. Eaton Company (later Alger Press Building / OnTechU’s 61 Charles St building).

Staceyville, c. 1910. Oshawa Museum archival collection (A980.5.7)

As a builder he worked on the “assembly line” principle.  He employed many men to speed up the process while still maintaining high standards of workmanship.  He claimed to have built 60 houses in 59 days for the Ontario Malleable Iron Co., and indeed many of these houses still stand today in the area of Albert Street and Front Street, a testament to these high standards.  He also built 100 houses in 90 days along the Don River in Toronto.  Perhaps his most well-known buildings are the terraces on Olive Avenue in the area that became known as Staceyville.

John Stacey died on February 18, 1949, aged 82.  In his eulogy the Rev. J.K. Moffatt said of Stacey “he was a man to whom life was a very full and rich experience, who knew in perhaps greater measure than most people the meaning of the words of God when he spoke of Abundant Life.” He is interred inside the Union Cemetery Mausoleum.

Stacey family crypt stones, inside the Oshawa Union Cemetery Mausoleum, 2022.

The Stacey family home was at 471 Simcoe Street South, at Elena Ave.  Elena Avenue is just one of the streets named for members of John Stacey’s family.

• Stacey Avenue takes its name from the family’s surname.
• The names of his children, Eldon, Elena, and Emma, are all streets in Oshawa, although Eldon Street was later renamed to Banting Avenue.
• John’s first wife’s maiden name was Hogarth, another street, found just off Albert. There were a few marriages between Staceys and Hogarths.
• John’s nephew, Howard Stacey, claimed Barrie Avenue’s name was inspired by his mother’s maiden name, Newberry.
• John had a niece named Olive Christina Isabelle Smith (1907 – 1926), and Olive Avenue was named for her.

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References:

Howard Stacey Interview, 1981; Oshawa Museum archival collection, audio collection.

The Vindicator, December 30, 1910.

The Vindicator, April 7, 1911

The Oshawa Times-Gazette, January 31, 1948.

The Oshawa Times-Gazette, February 22, 1949.

The Oshawa Times, May 24, 1961.

The Oshawa Times, September 19, 1967.

A Good Citizen-City of Oshawa Retirement Testimonial Brochure, 1944.

Street Name Stories – the ‘Knitting’ Streets

By Lisa Terech, Community Engagement

Those who know me know that I’m an avid knitter. In fact, in the past I’ve written a blog post about a WWI Sock knitting pattern, I’ve examined some of Oshawa’s early woolen industries, and I’ve done a deep dive into one of those industries, the Empire Woolen Mills, available to read on our Discover Historic Oshawa site.

Knitting at an Culture Squared in 2016; thanks to Carla from the RMG for the photo!

As well, I really enjoy this blog series, examining the stories behind many of the street names in Oshawa. Many have local connections, such as Ritson, Adelaide, and Skae, while others’ roots have a larger scope, like the streets names for WWI or WWII battle sites, Simcoe Street, explorers, or royalty.

As I was looking at the Oshawa map, looking for inspiration for a new post, I found quite a few names that are woven into the fabric of the fibre work world (I’m sorry, I was really stretching for that pun!).

I’ve previously written about Kitchener Avenue. His name has been given to a common grafting technique for finishing a pair of socks. In my original post, I made only passing mention of the more controversial aspects of Kitchener as a person – I should have delved further into him and why he is seen, rightfully, as extremely problematic. I know of quite a few knitters who avoid calling this technique by his name because of his actions during the Boer War and the creation of internment camps, atrocities that would be repeated over 40 years later by Nazi Germany.

While we’re talking about knitting and their namesakes, the community of Raglan, and in turn Raglan Road, was named in honour of Lord Raglan, a British commander in the Crimean War. These sleeves continue into the collar of a sweater as opposed to having armhole seams. Having made quite a few cardigans with raglan sleeves, I can say I’m a fan of the technique.

Lisa, standing outside of Robinson House – the cardigan I’m wearing has raglan sleeves

Speaking of cardigans (see what I did there), there Cardigan Court can be found northeast of Beatrice and Ritson, just off Trowbridge Road. Cardigans were named for another officer of the Crimean War.  James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, was a British Army major general who led the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War.

Of course, there is Oshawa’s Mill Street. This street is deserving of a post of its own, and I’m sure one will come in due time. Mill Street is located at a run in the Oshawa Creek, and many industries had harnessed the creek’s power for their mills, including Gorham’s woolen mill.

Mill Street and Capreol Cr., Oshawa

On my ‘bucket list’ of vacation destinations are the Shetland Islands, home to the Shetland sheep, and one of the isles is Fair Isle whose name is lent to a popular and, let’s be honest, stunning, knitting style. Shetland Court can be found southeast of Thornton and Rossland, amongst other Scottish inspired streets.

These are the streets I could find with a few quick searches of Oshawa’s maps that relate to my beloved pastime. Have I missed any? Please let me know!

Street Name Stories – Windfields Farm

By Lisa Terech, Community Engagement

The Oshawa Museum is fortunate to have a relationship with a local artist named Eric Sangwine.  Eric is a talented artist who has created very whimsical paintings for the Museum, often inspired by local history, stories, legends, and lore. One of his recent series has been creating paintings based on the street names of Oshawa, and on one of his visits to the archives, Eric remarked about the seemingly unusual names that were found in Oshawa, north of Durham College. Snow Knight Drive, Aquatic Ballet Path, Arctic Actress Cres. Eric was certainly right about the uniqueness of these streets! And then it clicked – the streets are named after racehorses, and they are located on the former Windfields Farm property.

“Windfields Farm Drive,” Eric Sangwine. Oshawa Museum archival collection

The story of Windfields Farm starts in 1927 when Parkwood Stables was established by RS McLaughlin at the northwest corner of Simcoe Street North and Conlin Road West. In 1950, McLaughlin sold his stables to Edward Plunket (E. P.) Taylor, another prominent Canadian businessman.

A019.27.1 – Windfields Farm; Oshawa Museum archival collection

As stated by the City of Oshawa, “from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s Mr. Taylor’s operation at Windfields Farm became the home of Canada’s leading thoroughbred stallions and eventually the most successful thoroughbred operation in North America.” In 1961, Northern Dancer, one of the most well-known racehorses was born at Windfields Farm (then operating as the National Stud Farm). He would go on to win the Kentucky Derby – the first Canadian horse to do so – the Preakness Stakes, the Queens Plate, among other races, and became the most successful sire of the 20th century.

A019.27.2 – Windfields Farm; Oshawa Museum Archival collection

During the 2000s, portions of the farm were sold to the neighbouring Ontario Tech University (OnTechU), Durham College, and developers, and by the end of the decade, after years of downsizing, the farm officially closed.

A017.19.8 – Horse Theatre at Windfields Farm, 1984; Dowsley Collection, Oshawa Museum archival collection

The legacy of the farm and its horses live on in the north of the city and beyond. Northern Dancer and EP Taylor have been inducted into numerous sporting Halls of Fames for their successes in either running races or contributions to the sport. A collection of artefacts related to Windfields Farm and EP Taylor are housed at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, QC. OnTechU has repurposed several structures that remained from the farm for use as either office space or storage.  Trillium Cemetery, the resting place for several
horses, was designated as being of cultural heritage value or interest under the Ontario Heritage Act in 2015. And, of course, there are several streets of new residential developments that bear names related to Windfields Farm and its horses.

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References:

https://www.oshawa.ca/city-hall/windfields-farm-legacy.asp

https://oshawaexpress.ca/the-legacy-of-windfields-farm-and-northern-dancer/

https://www.historymuseum.ca/event/e-p-taylor-windfields-farm-collection/

Street Name Stories – Streets in 1868

By Lisa Terech, Community Engagement

This is a slight departure for this regular blog series, but as it pertains to street history, I’ve lumped it with other blog posts about street histories.

As one does (or, perhaps, as one with a huge interest in local history does), I was going through Oshawa’s historical newspapers, and an article from the Oshawa Vindicator on October 14, 1868 caught my eye. An article entitled ‘Our Taxes and Where they Go,’ makes note that the labour costs were estimated at $1400, which “includes all that spent on opening new streets, new drains, repairing and constructing sidewalks, etc.”

The article continues,

The amount of work in this department (labour) has been very large. It includes the opening of Lloyd, Monck, and McGregor and the continuation of Centre streets on the McGregor property; the opening of Maple, Elm, and Pine, between Simcoe and Celina Streets, Elgin, Louisa, Brock East and West, Colborne West, and a large amount of work on Princess street in the north half of the village. Also the grading, filling up and gravelling of Simcoe street, and the work done on the sidewalks.

When researching the origins of street names in our city, I’ll try to, if possible, find a best estimate for when the street would have been created and/or lived on. City directories from the 20th century can be very helpful for that – one year there is no street, but then the next year, the street has inhabitants. Many of the streets in downtown, however, can be trickier to ballpark. This article was an interesting read as it confirms that many of the above streets, like Monck, McGregor, Brock, and Louisa, can be dated to the late 1860s.

Portion of 1877 County of Ontario Atlas, and circled are the streets mentioned in the 1868 article

While the above is simply an expansion on how village funds and taxpayer’s money was being spent, it is of note that it also demonstrates the village’s growth with infrastructure like new streets, sidewalks, and drains. Oshawa’s population was recorded in 1852 as 1142, in 1861 as 2002, and in 1871 as 3,185; this represents increases of 75% from 1852 to 1861, and 59% from 1861-1871. By the end of the 1870s, our population grew enough to become a Town, rather than a Village. Population increases means increased infrastructure was needed, and as we can read above, that was certainly happening in the late 1860s with all the new streets being created.

Many of these streets remain core streets within the central core of our community. Louisa, noted above, is no longer named as such, but was realigned with Alice in the 1950s and became Adelaide Avenue. Pine STREET may have been renamed at some point to Hemlock (but there remains a Pine AVENUE south of King, west of Park); and, more research is needed to confirm if Princess was ever a street name in Oshawa, but there still is Prince Street today.

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The 1852 and 1861 census information came from the York Herald, 8 Mar 1861, 3; accessed from https://history.rhpl.richmondhill.on.ca/3210658/page/4

The 1871 census information came from the Whitby Chronicle, 7 Dec 1871, 2; accessed from: https://vitacollections.ca/whitbynews/2449812/page/3?q=oshawa&docid=OOI.2449812

Please note, there is a discrepancy between the 1861 population as noted in the York Herald (2002) and the Whitby Chronicle (2009). The difference of seven people does not affect the overall assertion that the population did steadily increase through the decades.

Where The Streets Get Their Names – Chadburn Street

By Lisa Terech, Community Engagement

A number of streets in Oshawa are named for significant war battles or for Oshawa’s veterans, denoted with a poppy on the street sign. Chadburn Street is one such street. Lloyd Vernon Chadburn was one of Canada’s most decorated pilots of the Second World War.  Chadburn, or “Chad” as he was known to his friends, was only 22 years old when he commanded his first squadron into battle, becoming the youngest flight leader in the history of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).

Born in Montreal in 1919, Chadburn moved with his parents to Oshawa as an infant, residing on Masson Street.  His father, Thomas, was the owner of Chadburn Motor Company, located at King and Prince Streets in Oshawa. The family later resided in Aurora.

As a teenager, Chadburn worked as a clerk for the Bank of Toronto and as a salesman for the Red Rose Tea Company.  After completing high school, he twice applied to the RCAF but was turned down both times.  By the time the Second World War broke out in 1939, Chadburn was employed by General Motors, driving cars off the assembly line.

In 1940, Chadburn was finally accepted into the RCAF, only a few months before his 21st birthday.  After basic flight training in Toronto and Windsor, he graduated as a pilot officer from the Number 2 Flight Training School in Ottawa.

Chadburn went overseas on October 2, 1940 to join Number 2 RCAF squadron in England.  He made his first operational flight in March 1941, flying the Hawker Hurricane fighter.  A year later he took command of Number 416 squadron in Scotland, becoming the first graduate of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan to command a flight squadron.  Chadburn’s leadership won him the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and made his squadron the most successful RCAF fighter group.  One of the squadron’s more daring escapades was providing cover for the Dieppe Raid in 1942, saving hundreds of Allied lives.

Image from: RCAF Memories by 420 Wing RCAF Association, Oshawa Public Library Collection.

In the winter of 1942-43, Chadburn returned to Oshawa, where he received a civic reception and a tour of General Motors during war production.  During this visit, Chadburn gave permission for the Oshawa Air Cadet Squadron to use his name which it still retains today, the only such squadron to be named after an individual.¹

Upon returning to service in Europe, Chadburn commanded the 402 (Winnipeg), 416 (Oshawa), and 118 (RAF) squadrons, flying escort for American bombers.  The bomber crews came to know Chadburn as “The Angel.”  In 60 sorties escorting the bombers, only one of them was ever lost to enemy fire.  To honour his achievements, Chadburn became the first of only four RCAF officers to be decorated with the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).

In early 1944, following another visit to Canada, this time to promote war bonds on CBC, Chadburn was appointed Wing Commander of Fighter Operations.  At 24 years old, he was the youngest officer to hold that position.  Working behind a desk made Chadburn restless, yearning to be back in the skies.

In June 1944, he was back in the cockpit of a Spitfire warplane, leading the first air assault on D-Day.  The following week however, his fighting came to an end as he was tragically killed in a mid-air collision with another Spitfire.  His body was laid to rest Ranville War Cemetery near Caen, France. He was posthumously awarded the French Croix de Guerre and made a Chevalier (Knight) of the Legion d’Honneur.

The name Chadburn was not only given to a street in Oshawa, but also given to a lake in Yukon.  It is said that the pilots who served with Chadburn during the war wrote to his mother every Mother’s Day until her death in 1968.

We first see Chadburn Street in Oshawa City Directories in 1950 – there is a simple notation saying 12 new houses, indicating that it is newly named and constructed upon. It is located amongst streets named for World War I battle sites, such as Verdun Road and Vimy Avenue.

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References:

1. “Chadburn Squadron History” 151 Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron website, https://www.chadburn.org/squadron-history/chadburn-squadron; accessed 11/02/20.

Additional References

Canadian Virtual War Memorial, Veterans Affairs Canada, https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2847750, accessed 11/02/20.

Historical Oshawa Information Sheet, Oshawa Historical Society.

Oshawa Times, Saturday October 10, 1992.

Oshawa Times, March 27, 1987.

“Flying Ace was ‘Real Regular’ Oshawa Boy,” East6; “Aurora Remembers Ideal Fighter Pilot,”Peason Bowerman, North32; Toronto Star, February 28, 1984.

RCAF Memories Scrapbook, from the Local History Collection at the OPL, accessed on 11/02/20 from https://archive.org/details/fta082rcafmemoires/page/n43/mode/2up.