History of TorontoSourced history of Toronto, Ontario

People of Toronto History

This section collects biographies of people whose lives shaped Toronto and York County, from the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada to the scientists of the insulin research in 1921 and 1922. Each biography is based on the Dictionary of Canadian Biography first, with the Canadian Encyclopedia and archives as further sources, and each gives a short “Life in brief” table and marks dates that sources dispute.

Biographies

  • John Graves Simcoe (1752-1806): Simcoe (1752 to 1806) was Upper Canada's first lieutenant governor. Read his dates, the founding of York in 1793, Yonge Street and the slavery act.
  • Elizabeth Simcoe (1762-1850): Elizabeth Simcoe (1762 to 1850) kept a diary of Upper Canada from 1791 to 1796 and painted its scenes. Read her dates, life at York and Castle Frank.
  • Peter Russell (1733-1808): Peter Russell (1733 to 1808) governed Upper Canada from York after Simcoe left in 1796. Read his dates, land policy, and the enslaved Peggy family.
  • John Strachan (1778-1867): Biography of John Strachan (1778 to 1867), Scottish-born clergyman, rector of York, King's College founder and first Anglican bishop of Toronto.
  • William Lyon Mackenzie (1795-1861): Who was William Lyon Mackenzie? Scottish-born publisher, first mayor of Toronto in 1834 and leader of the 1837 rebellion, with a verified timeline.
  • Egerton Ryerson (1803-1882): Egerton Ryerson (1803 to 1882), Methodist minister and Ontario schools superintendent: his school laws, the 1847 letter on Indian schools and the debate.
  • George Brown (1818-1880): George Brown (1818-1880) founded the Toronto Globe in 1844, led the Reformers, helped create Confederation, and was shot at his office in 1880.
  • Timothy Eaton (1834-1907): Timothy Eaton (1834-1907) took over a Yonge Street dry-goods store in 1869, sold for cash at fixed prices, and started a catalogue in 1884.
  • Henry Scadding (1813-1901): Henry Scadding (1813-1901) was an Anglican rector, Upper Canada College master, and historian whose Toronto of Old recorded early York.
  • William Allan (1770-1853): Scottish-born merchant William Allan came to York in 1795, led the Bank of Upper Canada from 1822, and built the Moss Park estate in Toronto.
  • Jesse Ketchum (1782-1867): Jesse Ketchum (1782 to 1867) ran a tannery at York, sat in Upper Canada's assembly from 1828 to 1834, and funded schools before moving to Buffalo.
  • John Beverley Robinson (1791-1863): Attorney general from 1818 and chief justice of Upper Canada from 1829, Robinson (1791 to 1863) was the leading lawyer of early York and Toronto.
  • Robert Baldwin (1804-1858): Robert Baldwin (1804 to 1858), born in York, led with LaFontaine the 1848 ministry that put responsible government into practice in Canada.
  • Henry Pellatt (1859-1939): Sir Henry Pellatt (1859 to 1939) made his fortune in Toronto electric power and the militia, then lost it after the 1923 Home Bank failure.
  • Frederic William Cumberland (1820-1881): An English-born architect who came to Toronto in 1847, Cumberland (1820 to 1881) designed St. James Cathedral and University College.
  • William Thomas (architect) (1799-1860): English-born architect William Thomas came to Toronto in 1843 and designed St. Michael's Cathedral, St. Lawrence Hall and the Don Jail.
  • Casimir Gzowski (1813-1898): Casimir Gzowski, born in St. Petersburg in 1813, built railways from Toronto and the Fort Erie bridge before dying in the city in 1898.
  • Frederick Banting (1891-1941): Frederick Banting, born near Alliston in 1891, led the 1921 Toronto research behind insulin and won the 1923 Nobel Prize at age 31.
  • Charles Best (1899-1978): Charles Best (1899 to 1978) helped develop insulin at the University of Toronto in 1921 and 1922. Life, Connaught role, Nobel question, sources.
  • John Ross Robertson (1841-1918): John Ross Robertson founded the Evening Telegram in 1876, wrote Landmarks of Toronto, and led the Hospital for Sick Children. Life and sources.
  • Mary Ann Shadd (1823-1893): Mary Ann Shadd (1823 to 1893) founded the Provincial Freeman in 1853; it ran from Toronto in 1854. Life, dates, and sources from official records.
  • Peter Jones (Kahkewaquonaby) (1802-1856): Peter Jones, or Kahkewaquonaby (1802-1856), Mississauga Ojibwa chief and Methodist minister: Credit River mission, translations and Toronto ties.
  • Hart Massey (1823-1896): Hart Massey (1823-1896) built Massey-Harris, moved to Toronto and paid for Massey Hall in 1894. Dates, family and legacy from the DCB.
  • Sir Edmund Walker (1848-1924): Sir Byron Edmund Walker (1848-1924), head of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, drove the creation of the ROM and led the University of Toronto.

How the biographies are chosen

The list follows people who are documented in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and who have a clear connection to Toronto: they governed it, built it, taught or healed in it, reported on it or wrote its history. It is not a ranking, and many people who mattered are missing; more biographies will be added when their sources have been read.

Other people in the history of Toronto

Residents of the 1880s have their own entries in the transcribed 1885 book. Use the surname search to find them, or browse the biographical sketches index. Black, Chinese, Jewish and Indigenous histories of the city, with the people in them, are covered in Black history in Toronto, Chinatown, Jewish Toronto and the Indigenous history article.

Last verified: October 2026

Cite this page

APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 23). People of Toronto History. https://historyoftoronto.ca/people

MLA: “People of Toronto History.” History of Toronto, 23 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/people. Accessed .

Chicago: History of Toronto. “People of Toronto History.” Last modified October 23, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/people.

The pages have no named author, so the site is given as the author. Add the date you read the page if your style asks for it.