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The 1847 Typhus Epidemic and Irish Famine Migrants in Toronto

Updated · 6 min read

In the summer of 1847, typhus fever broke out among Irish famine migrants who reached Toronto, a town of about 20,000 people that received nearly 40,000 newcomers that year. Fever sheds built beside the hospital at King and John Streets held the sick, a plaque at the site records 863 deaths in the sheds that summer, and Toronto’s first Roman Catholic bishop, Michael Power, died of the disease on October 1, 1847. The death toll for the whole year is given differently by different sources, which this article sets side by side.

The general account of how the city’s communities arrived is in the article on immigration and communities in Toronto. This article stays with the epidemic itself: the route, the sheds, the people who died, and how the events were later recorded.

The route from Ireland to Toronto

Most of the migrants crossed the Atlantic to Quebec. Parks Canada states that nearly 100,000 people sailed for Canada during the 1847 typhus epidemic, most of them fleeing the Great Famine, and that more than 5,000 of them died and were buried on Grosse Île, the quarantine island below Quebec City, which served as a quarantine station from 1832 to 1937. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography gives a lower arrival figure, saying more than 90,000 immigrants landed at Quebec in 1847 and that typhus spread from them to Canadian towns, Toronto among them. Both figures are approximate, and the difference between them is not explained by either source.

Toronto in 1847

A plaque at the northwest corner of King and John Streets states that over 100,000 Irish immigrants reached Canada in 1847 and nearly 40,000 of them came through Toronto. A second plaque text, recorded for the Toronto Irish Famine Memorial, gives about 38,000 and describes the city as having roughly 20,000 residents. Newcomers were allowed to stay in the town for six days at most, according to the first plaque, and the sick were treated in a hospital or in the sheds. The Toronto Board of Health built the sheds. The plaque says there were at least 12.

The fever sheds

Archaeologists Eva MacDonald and David Robertson of ASI Heritage report that the Toronto General Hospital sheltered typhus patients in 12 to 14 large wooden outbuildings on its Hospital Reserve in the Town of York. Their search for physical evidence began in 2006 as parcels of the reserve were redeveloped, and in 2018 they documented numerous wooden posts belonging to the sheds. Their conference paper does not give a count of patients or deaths.

The Canadian Museum of Health Care describes sheds with cheesecloth walls, hung to keep insects out. The same page says thousands of patients were treated, without a figure.

Doctor and bishop

Dr. George Robert Grasett, born in Portugal in 1811 and raised in Upper Canada, became medical superintendent of the Emigrant Hospital in the summer of 1847. According to the Canadian Museum of Health Care, he caught typhus within two weeks of starting and died on July 16, 1847, aged 36. Sources consulted give slightly different dates for his appointment in June 1847, so only the month is given here.

Michael Power was born in Halifax on October 17, 1804, and was chosen as the first bishop of the Diocese of Toronto, erected on December 17, 1841. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography records that he was consecrated on May 8, 1842, reached Toronto on June 25, 1842, and was installed the next day. At that time, the city had about 3,000 Catholics among roughly 13,000 residents. In 1847 he spent six months in Europe raising funds and recruiting priests, and in Ireland he saw the famine emigration at first hand. Back in Toronto he caught typhus while visiting victims and died on October 1, 1847, aged 42. Construction of St. Michael’s Cathedral had begun in 1845, and it was dedicated in 1848.

How many died? The sources differ

  • 863: the number on the plaque at King and John Streets, for immigrants who died of typhus in the sheds in the summer of 1847.
  • More than 1,100: the figure on the plaque text recorded for the Toronto Irish Famine Memorial, for typhus deaths by the end of the year. The Canadian Encyclopedia also reports about 1,100 deaths from typhus and other illness.
  • About 1,000: the estimate of historian Bruce Bell, quoted by Global News in 2019.
  • 675: the number of names on the limestone wall at Ireland Park, according to the same article.
  • 281: the number of immigrants the memorial plaque text says were buried on the shed site.

The numbers measure different things, such as deaths in the sheds, deaths in the city, burials at one site, and names identified, and the sources do not always say which. No single official count was found.

Memorials

Ireland Park, at the foot of Bathurst Street near Queens Quay West, opened in 2007. Five bronze figures by the Irish sculptor Rowan Gillespie depict migrants arriving, and a wall of Kilkenny limestone carries names of those who died in Toronto in 1847. Global News describes it as the city’s principal memorial to the famine. A smaller park on Adelaide Street West at Widmer Street, named for Dr. Grasett, was dedicated on July 16, 2021, on the site where fever sheds stood, according to its published description; that description is a secondary source and should be checked with the park’s managers.

Timeline

  • 1832 to 1937: Grosse Île operates as a quarantine station, per Parks Canada.
  • December 17, 1841: The Diocese of Toronto is erected; Michael Power becomes its first bishop.
  • 1847: Nearly 40,000 famine migrants pass through Toronto.
  • July 16, 1847: Dr. Grasett dies of typhus.
  • October 1, 1847: Bishop Power dies of typhus.
  • 2006 to 2018: Archaeologists search for and document the shed posts at the Toronto General Hospital reserve.
  • 2007: Ireland Park opens on the waterfront.

Frequently asked questions

How many Irish migrants came to Toronto in 1847?

Sources give about 38,000 to nearly 40,000, in a town of about 20,000 people.

Where were the fever sheds?

At the northwest corner of King and John Streets, on the grounds of the Toronto General Hospital, according to the plaque at the site and the ASI Heritage archaeological paper.

How did Bishop Power die?

He caught typhus while caring for victims and died on October 1, 1847, at the age of 42, according to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.

Why do sources give different death counts?

The figures count deaths over different periods and places, from the summer sheds to the whole year. The sources consulted do not reconcile them.

Last verified: October 2026

Sources

  • Dictionary of Canadian Biography, entry on Michael Power
  • Parks Canada, Grosse Île and the Irish Memorial National Historic Site
  • ASI Heritage, MacDonald and Robertson, A Summer to Remember (2018 conference paper)
  • Canadian Museum of Health Care, The Story of Dr. Grasett and the Typhus Epidemic
  • Plaque texts at King and John Streets and for the Toronto Irish Famine Memorial, as transcribed on Read the Plaque
  • Global News, report on Ireland Park, July 18, 2019
Cite this page

APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 23). The 1847 Typhus Epidemic and Irish Famine Migrants in Toronto. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/irish-famine-typhus-toronto-1847

MLA: “The 1847 Typhus Epidemic and Irish Famine Migrants in Toronto.” History of Toronto, 23 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/irish-famine-typhus-toronto-1847. Accessed .

Chicago: History of Toronto. “The 1847 Typhus Epidemic and Irish Famine Migrants in Toronto.” Last modified October 23, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/irish-famine-typhus-toronto-1847.

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