Beach Triangle Residents Association
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The Beach Triangle Residents Association, Toronto, Ontario
Home History: 13 Dixon Avenue – A Difficult Search
By John Ellis
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"This one should take no time at all", I optimistically thought as I began my search through the Toronto Archives files. I expected the home to have been built in the 1911-1914 period typical of most homes in the Triangle and therefore reviewed every Assessment Role from then until it was found in 1923! I had forgotten evidence gathered over the years that homes along Kingston Road were among the last to be built in the Triangle. “But wait,” you say, “this home is not on Kingston Road, it's on Dixon”. When I saw that the lot was made up of the North part of Lot 12 and the South part of Lot 13, I should have caught on – these were wide lots on Kingston Road that were later amended to become lots on Dixon Avenue.
I also hadn't factored in the possibility of a change in ward boundaries, or that archive's staff wouldn't know exactly when that happened, or how the division boundaries changed. Then there was the transition from a convenient catalogue of Building Permits up to 1920 to a ‘hunt and peck' file of micro fiche afterward. Finally, the actual building date was so long after the last published Census of Canada (1911) that greater searching was needed for the history of the first owners.
13 Dixon Avenue is a well-cared-for, handsome, two-storey southern half of a semi-detached house on the south (or west, if you prefer) side of Dixon, owned by Larissa Greco. The home sits on a 20' x 114' lot, with a driveway that originally led to a garage at the back of the lot (subsequently demolished).
After a good deal of wasted time searching in the wrong time period and location, the house was found in the Assessment Roles for 1923, with George R. Nightscales as the first owner and Thomas S. Williams, Printer, as the first resident. A lot more searching failed to find the Building Permit but a search on the Internet revealed a George Louis Nightscales, born in Selby, Yorkshire, England 15 March 1881, married 5 August 1907, and his Marriage Registration indicates that he was a "Builder".
The 1911 Census of Canada reveals a Thomas S. Williams, born in England December 1863 to William and Elizabeth Williams, who immigrated in 1875. On 17 February 1886, at age 23, he married Helena Hague, age 19, daughter of William and Mary Ann Hague, at the "English Church" (presumably Anglican). Thomas and Helena's parents acted as witnesses.
In 1911, they lived at 197 Palmerston Avenue, and had children: Clare (24), a stenographer; Henry (20), a Book Binder; Florence (17); and Evelyn (13). While there is no immediate means to ascertain that this “Thomas S. Williams” is the purchaser of 13 Dixon in 1923, some confidence can be taken from the fact that he is the only person with that name in Toronto in 1911 and he is a “Printer”, as indicated on the 1923 Assessment Role. Some assurance might also be taken that their son, Henry, is a "Book Binder" – perhaps father and son worked together at the book printing firm on Gerrard Street East.
Thus, we come to an early end to our search for the history of 13 Dixon Avenue, with another chapter to be written when the next one (or two) Censuses of Canada are published.
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