Susan Goldenberg (Nov. 25, 2024)
UPDATE-PRESERVATION OF NORTH YORK HOUSE OF ACCLAIMED CANADIANA ARTIST C.W. JEFFERYS- RECENT TALK BY HIS GRANDDAUGHTER NANCY BAINES ABOUT HIM AND THE HOUSE
On November 20 (2024) NYHS chair Glenn Bonnetta, vice-president Marla Weingarten, and membership director Susan Goldenberg attended a presentation by Nancy Baines about her grandfather acclaimed Canadian history and landscape artist C. W. (Charles William) Jefferys (1869-1951) who lived in a house at 4111 Yonge Street, North York for much of his life. Still there, the house is just north of York Mills Road. Glenn, Marla, and Susan were invited by the talk’s organizers, the residents’ association of Governor’s Hill, a condominium complex near Jefferys’ house. The evening’s purpose was to galvanize support for preservation of the house, which has been unoccupied for some time and has an uncertain future. A representative from the North Toronto Historical Society and the North York Preservation Panel plus North York history author Scott Kennedy were invited too.
The property is now owned by a developer, Dorchester Oaks Corporation, purchased in 2014 and since sitting vacant. It’s difficult to develop for several reasons. The northbound route of the Yonge Street subway goes underneath. It’s a designated historical site. The air rights were sold in 1992. As a result, Dorchester Oaks can’t build to any great height or create a much larger footprint. (Incorporated in March 2001 Dorchester Oaks owns and operates real estate).
Jefferys rented the house from 1910 until 1922 when he bought it. He liked the surrounding scenery. The house was built in 1833. Four generations of the Jefferys family, including third-generation Nancy, lived in the house over the years until 2012.
Jefferys is credited for fostering pride in Canadian identity and nationalism through his historical drawings of all aspects of early life in Canada – Indigenous, English, and French. “He valued Indian culture, “ Nancy said. “Of the many honours he received he was proudest of being made a tribal member of the Mohawks at Brantford, Ontario.” His drawings appeared in Canadian history textbooks. His three-volume work, “The Picture Gallery of Canadian History,” is a collection of 2,000 illustrations –an astounding number – regarded as masterpieces of draughtsmanship and accuracy. Many were pen and ink drawings but there were also photographs of some of his water colours and oils. “He was very particular about details,” Nancy said. He did voluminous research, including travelling extensively through the country. His large 5 feet x 3 feet landscapes hang in the Art Gallery of Ontario and the National Gallery of Canada, and he did murals for the Royal Ontario Museum and major hotels. He also did a small hanging-over-the-entrance name sign for North York’s historic “Jolly Miller” hotel and tavern near his home.
One of C.W.’s most famous drawings depicts rag-tag Upper Canada Rebellion insurrectionists marching through North York on their way to battle government forces at Montgomery’s Tavern, Yonge and Eglinton area, December 7, 1837. Typical of his meticulousness, he depicted a range of expressions, clothing, and makeshift weapons.
C.W. married twice. He and his first wife Jean (Adams) had three children. The two youngest, one a newborn, died of meningitis. Jean died from the same disease. C.W. and his second wife Callie (West) had four daughters. Daughter Elizabeth married Dr. (George) Alexander Fee in May 1937. Callie died in December 1937. Elizabeth and Fee lived in New York City for two years while he did post-graduate studies there. Then he joined Toronto Western Hospital. He bought the mortgage on 4111 Yonge Street and he and Elibeth moved in. They had three daughters including Nancy. C.W. continued to live there until the last few months of his life when he was in a nursing home..
The family used a hand pump well until the 1920s. “There were few houses and the nearest store was a long walk away at Toronto’s northern city limit,” Nancy recalled. Callie converted the carriage house on the property into a studio for her artist husband. Nancy said: “The ground floor had a drafting table, brushes, and easels. Upstairs had a desk, oak filing cabinets for his research and correspondence, and a cot as he kept irregular hours.. The studio smelled from the cigarettes he chain smoked, oil paints, turpentine, and fumes from the coal-burning pot-belled stove that provided heat. As the youngest child I was responsible for calling him for dinner and taking him ginger ale. He always gave me a sip.”
Canadian artists then didn’t make much money. C.W.’s primary source of income was commercial illustration assignments from publications and businesses. Callie handled the family finances. She planted a large vegetable patch in the backyard for produce for the family and always managed to provide tea with bread-and-butter sandwiches to visitors. Their large circle of friends included the Group of Seven and many other artists, Stephen Leacock, Lorne Pierce of Ryerson Press who published collections of C.W.’s work, orchestra conductor and composer Ernest MacMillan, and pioneer Canadian history professor George Wrong.
In 1960 a historical plaque was installed. In 1992 the house received “heritage designation” under the Ontario Heritage Act. Under this designation a building can’t be demolished nor its exterior altered. This is significant with 4111 as Jefferys redesigned the front doorcase, putting in a high frieze and projecting cornice. Also in 1992, Elizabeth and Alex Fee sold the air rights to York Trillium Development Group to build extra density at its nearby York Mills Centre at Yonge and York Mills. In 2000 the North York Historical Society commissioned a sculptured bust of him and put it in a nearby park. Elizabeth Fee had been a president of the Society
A Norway maple planted in 1914 by Callie was companion to the family generation after generation.. When the house was lifted up and moved 20 metres back in 1956 to save it from demolition during widening of Yonge Street, the majestic maple’s location became part of the front yard. “The tree was cut down just after we sold the house,” Nancy said.
