Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe (née Gwillim, baptized September 22, 1762, died January 17, 1850) was the wife of John Graves Simcoe, the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada. She lived at Newark and at York from 1792 to 1796, kept a diary of those years, and painted hundreds of watercolours of the colony. The diary is one of the main eyewitness sources for the first years of York, the settlement that became Toronto.
Life in brief
| Born | Date unknown; baptized September 22, 1762, Aldwincle, England |
|---|---|
| Died | January 17, 1850, Wolford Lodge, near Honiton, England |
| Role | Diarist and artist; wife of the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada |
| Time in Upper Canada | November 1791 (arrival at Quebec) to September 1796; at York from July 30, 1793 |
| Toronto connection | Lived at York, described the new town in her diary, and shared the Simcoe summer house Castle Frank, above the Don Valley |
| Main sources | Dictionary of Canadian Biography; Canadian Encyclopedia |
Orphaned in infancy
Elizabeth was the daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Gwillim and Elizabeth Spinkes. According to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, her mother died in childbirth and was buried at Aldwincle the day after the baptism. An aunt, Margaret, raised her, and Margaret married Admiral Samuel Graves on June 14, 1769.
Her birth date and place are uncertain. The baptism record of September 22, 1762, at Aldwincle is the firm date. John Ross Robertson, who edited the published diary, gave Whitchurch as her birthplace and 1766 as her year of birth, but the Canadian Encyclopedia treats those details as uncertain.
Marriage and the Wolford estate
She met John Graves Simcoe in the spring of 1782 and married him on December 30, 1782. They had 11 children. In 1784 she bought the Wolford estate, about 5,000 acres near Honiton in Devon, which became the family seat. A son, Francis Gwillim, was born in June 1791, only months before the family left for North America. The husband’s side of the story is told in the article on John Graves Simcoe.
The journey to Upper Canada
The Simcoes sailed from Weymouth on September 26, 1791, with their two youngest children. Four older daughters stayed at Wolford. The Canadian Encyclopedia names them as Eliza, Charlotte, Henrietta, and Caroline, and says the daughter Sophia and the infant Francis went to Canada. The family reached Quebec on November 11, 1791, wintered there, and began the trip inland in the spring of 1792. Elizabeth lived at Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) for about a year, and another daughter was born there.
York and Castle Frank
Elizabeth moved to York on July 30, 1793, shortly before her husband laid out the town. The York years included grief: the daughter born at Newark, Katherine, died at York in the spring of 1794 while her father and the family doctor were away. Later that year the family faced the risk of war with the United States, and after a summer at Newark Elizabeth took the children to Quebec. She returned to Upper Canada in the spring of 1795.
The Simcoes bought land east of York for their son Francis, and the summer house built there was named Castle Frank after him. It stood on a steep slope above the Don Valley. The building was unfinished when the family left in 1796. The story of the lost watercourses of that area is told in the article on Toronto’s lost rivers and ravines.
The diary and the watercolours
The Diary of Mrs. John Graves Simcoe covers September 17, 1791, to October 16, 1796. It began as weekly letters to a Mrs. Hunt in England, who was caring for the four eldest daughters. The letters were later expanded. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography says she kept at least three versions of the diary, one of which went to Wolford and another to her friend Mary Anne Burges. John Ross Robertson published it in 1911; see the article on John Ross Robertson for his work.
The Canadian Encyclopedia counts more than 500 watercolours of the Canadas, among them views of Quebec City, Gananoque, Kingston, Niagara Falls, the Grand River, Burlington Heights, and Long Point. In 1794 she sent two small etched plates to England, which were printed in Bristol and London. Thirty-two of her watercolours were presented to George III and are held in the British Library, according to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
Return to England
The Simcoes sailed from Quebec on September 10, 1796, and never returned to the Canadas. Simcoe held posts in St Domingo and at Exeter, where he commanded the Western District; two sons and two daughters were born between 1798 and 1804. After he died at Exeter on October 26, 1806, Elizabeth stayed at Wolford with seven daughters. Her eldest son was killed at the siege of Badajoz in 1812, and another son died in infancy. Her surviving son became a clergyman in Cornwall. She died at Wolford Lodge on January 17, 1850, aged 87 according to the Canadian Encyclopedia, a figure that depends on the uncertain birth year.
Place names and memorials
North, East, and West Gwillimbury, north of Toronto, carry her family name. Whitchurch Township, now part of Whitchurch-Stouffville, was named after her supposed birthplace. A statue of her was unveiled in June 2008 in a parkette in Bradford West Gwillimbury, Ontario.
Frequently asked questions
When was Elizabeth Simcoe born?
Nobody knows the date. She was baptized on September 22, 1762, at Aldwincle, England. An older editor gave 1766 and Whitchurch, but modern references call those details uncertain.
What is Elizabeth Simcoe known for?
Her diary of 1791 to 1796 and her watercolours of Upper Canada, which record the first years of York and the surrounding colony.
Why is Castle Frank called that?
The summer house was named for the Simcoes’ son Francis, for whom the land was bought.
When did she leave Upper Canada?
The family sailed from Quebec on September 10, 1796. She never returned and died in Devon in 1850.
Related reading
- John Graves Simcoe, her husband and the first lieutenant governor
- Peter Russell, who administered the province after 1796
- John Ross Robertson, who published her diary
- The lost rivers and ravines of Toronto
- People of Toronto history
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- Dictionary of Canadian Biography, “Gwillim, Elizabeth Posthuma (Simcoe)”
- Canadian Encyclopedia, “Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe”
- Library and Archives Canada, online exhibit on Elizabeth Simcoe
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 23). Elizabeth Simcoe: Diarist and Artist of Early York. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/elizabeth-simcoe
MLA: “Elizabeth Simcoe: Diarist and Artist of Early York.” History of Toronto, 23 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/elizabeth-simcoe. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “Elizabeth Simcoe: Diarist and Artist of Early York.” Last modified October 23, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/elizabeth-simcoe.
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