Between 1967 and 1983 when Toronto was divided into boroughs, the boundary line between the City of Toronto and the borough of North York partly went through Havergal College at Avenue Road and Lawrence Avenue! Some classes therefore were in Toronto and others in North York, in the same building! .September 17, 1926 will mark the centennial of its official opening.
The school is named after British hymn composer and author of devotional poetry. Frances Ridley Havergal(1836-1879). There were several locations before.
The school’s history says: “In the spring of 1894, a school for girls at 350 Jarvis Street was about to close its doors, and a group of men led by The Honourable H. Blake formed an organization for taking over the building and making it the home of what became Havergal College. The group of men who founded Havergal College had great faith in the future of Canada and wanted to provide a sound academic education for their daughters. Being members and strong followers of the Anglican Church of Canada, they established the continuing policy of having its beliefs and teachings in their school. The school cared about the education of women long before most women began to take themselves seriously.”
William Hume Blake (1809-1870) was a prominent lawyer and politician.
Ellen Knox, an Oxford graduate, was the first principal, at the age of thirty-six, and held the position for thirty years until her death in January 1924.
The school started with–thirty-one “day” students and seven boarders. Studies included English grammar and literature, scripture, French, Latin and mathematics, with optional courses in Greek, German, Italian, piano, organ or violin, singing, drawing or painting, and elocution. “Domestic Sciences,” was added in response to demand.
Enrolment grew so fast that in just four years and the school moved in 1898 into bigger premises at 354 Jarvis. In 1923 twenty-seven acres were purchased for $162,000 at Avenue Road and Lawrence for the construction of a new, much bigger building. The area then was mostly rural.
Today, the school teaches junior kindergarten through grade 12 and has 1,000 “day” students and 50 boarders.