Goulding Avenue, west of Yonge Street between Steeles Avenue West and Drewry Avenue, and nearby Goulding Park and Goulding Community Centre, are named for the Thomas Goulding family. The family owned land in the area in the 1800s.

Thomas was the first to purchase property. He had served in the Peninsular War as a veterinary surgeon and was able to practice over a wide area in Upper Canada. One son, Robert, purchased adjoining property. William, the next son, was a prominent local preacher and for some years was Sunday-school superintendent in Newton Brook and served on the York Township Council in 1878. Thomas Jr. lived for some years on his father’s farm.

John, the youngest son, lived in Downsview, in the Keele Street area, south of Wilson Avenue. He was a busy man; a temperance worker, served on York Township Council from 1894 to 1901, taught Sunday school and sang in the Downsview choir. He made over $100 a winter, cutting wood at $0.40 a cord – split and piled. He later went into the cattle business and did well in dairy farming.

Written and researched by Susan Goldenberg, Director, North York Historical Society

Originally published in the August 2014 North York Historical Society Newsletter