Mackenzie House

Mackenzie House

Built in 1858, Mackenzie House, a Greek Revival row house, is an Historic House Museum. This historic house was property of Mackenzie family from 1859 to 1871. This modest house was donated to this family by a group of Mackenzie’s partisans and friends. William Lyon Mackenzie is designated as an historically important personality. This brave man was the first mayor of the City of Toronto. He also was one of the leaders of the Rebellion in 1837 advocating for the Responsible Government. He was a journalist, newspaper editor, reformer and public servant.

After his death in 1861 his widow and three of their daughters continued to live at 82 Bond Street until 1871. The house witnesses the middle-class lifestyle of the Mackenzie family. The museum also houses a 1850 print-shop and a gift-shop. An interesting exhibit gallery features changing exhibits focusing on Ontario heritage and Toronto urban history.

Mackenzie House in down-town Toronto. Photo : Elena

William Lyon Mackenzie (1795 – 1861)

Born in Scotland, William Lyon Mackenzie came to Upper Canada in 1820. He became a prominent radical journalist. Later he was first elected to the assembly in 1828. He built up a strong popular following. William Lyon Mackenzie was the first mayor of the city of Toronto in 1834. Frustrated by political setbacks, Mackenzie led an abortive rebellion in 1837. After defeat, he fled to the United States. From there he watched the achievement of Canadian self-government, which he had sought ardently but without success. He returned to Upper Canada under amnesty in 1850. He sat in Parliament again until 1858.

(Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Government of Canada).

Address of the Mackenzie House:

82 Bond Street, Toronto,Ontario

M5B 1X2