My personal interests and hobbies.
Vintage canoe research project.
Toronto Humber Yacht Club connection.
While researching the history of this canoe, I have explored the
linkages to people and buildings on the Humber River in Toronto. One of
those connections is with the current Toronto Humber Yacht Club (THYC).
This link came up while obtaining background on the canoe builder O. L. Hicks.
The reader is welcome to explore other portions of this website which provide a detailed description of Dora, a summary of what is known about this vintage canoe, some related historical documents, and many photographs.
A couple of years after I created this website, I received a message from a visitor to the site. He was looking for genealogical information about Joseph Laing Hicks. As the second great-grandson of Joseph Hicks, he provided an interesting research lead:
"What caught my attention was the possible connection between your canoe, "Dora", and the Hicks' Boat Livery. A couple years' ago, my wife and I travelled to Toronto, armed with a few newspaper clippings. We found the site of the original Hicks' Boathouse, just downstream from the Old Mill on the Humber River. We knew from the newspaper clippings that the Boathouse was moved down river when the water level of the river dropped as a result of development upstream. Then came Hurricane Hazel in 1954. The flooded Humber all but wiped out the inventory of the Boathouse. William ("Pappy") Hicks, and his wife ("Ma"), sold what was left of their Boathouse to the Toronto Humber Yacht Club."When we walked into the yacht club and introduced ourselves and our connection to the Hicks family, a couple of guys exclaimed, "Do you mean Pappy?". They brought out their archives scrapbook, and we swapped stories and newspaper clippings.
"This is all a little away from the subject of your canoe, but in our family photos is one of the Hicks' Boat and Canoes Boathouse. On the float in front of the building are 5 canoes, 2 of which appear to decked fore & aft, and could be of the same design as your 'Dora". I'd send that photo to you, but this website doesn't seem to allow that. If you're intereted in following up, drop me a note. I don't remember how much information about the Boathouse is in the Yacht Club archives, but it's worth a phone call."
A short time later, I was on a visit to Toronto and decided to visit the yacht club myself. I am certainly happy I did so. I reported on my visit in a long note to the author of the comment.
"I was most interested in what you had to say about visiting Toronto and finding info about the Hicks boathouse. Based on your remarks, I, too, went on a journey of discovery in the same area. I set out to learn something about the Humber River valley and its history. Luckily, there are many informative plaques installed in the parks and along the pathways which make up much of the valley today. I visited the Old Mill site and moved south to the grounds of the Toronto Humber Yacht Club (THYC), also known as Kings Mill. There I was put in touch with the commodore, Ron Gilpin. He was a very busy man and much sought out by the various mariners milling about, but he spent some time with me answering my questions and outlining the history of the club and the ties to the Hicks family. He was gracious enough to provide me with copies of two documents.
"The first was a 2006-2007 calendar the club had produced for its 50th anniversary (2006). In this calendar are two photos and a sketch of the Hicks boathouse:
"The second was a small book compiling the history of the THYC starting with the 1600's and going to the late 1970's. I read this with particular interest for any references to the Hicks family. Here is what I found:
Extract 1:
And the Humber has its Bay
In the past, just as it does today, the Humber emptied into Humber Bay. In the past, just as today, Humber Bay was noted for its unpleasant slop. Many canoes were lost. Numerous paddlers were drowned. Even early ships were wrecked.
Grounding and drownings were the practice of the Bay. In 1780 the schooner Ontario was wrecked, there were none to save her crew. In 1861 another schooner, unable to beat off the lee shore was driven aground and broken up. From this one the "Pacific" some survived. Names noted in the rescue operation that year included Duck, Hicks and Nurse.
Extract 2:
By 1798 the Government had decided to depend more on the free enterprises system rather than having government control of all industry. Accordingly about that year the King's Mill and the site of the present Old Mill were leased to one Isiah Skinner. Skinner continued the various trades of shipwright, sawyer and grist miller and thus became one of the areas first commercial tycoons.
The site of the Old Mill has always been a lovely one. It is beautiful today, and it had its beauty in Skinner's day. His large white mansion the mill itself and the surrounding lush farm were known to local residents for almost a century as "The Garden of Eden".
Much of the King's Mill site remained in productive use until near the end of the nineteenth century. Then Hick's Boat House and the Wanita Tea Garden began to make their marks upon the social and recreational scene.
Early Boating on the River
Once the British founded their capital at York (Toronto) there was a rapid growth in navigation on the Humber. Barges plied the waters up and down from Gamble's Wharf (mouth of the Humber east side). Schooners came and went- some newly launched, some returning for repairs.
As land came into private hands the local residents began to use their own small craft - row-boats, skiffs, canoes and sailing craft - so pleasure boating began.
Extract 3:
In spite of the bridge and its successors, pleasure boating on the Humber refused to die. In fact it increased. With the coming of gasoline engines for boats, launches, mostly canopied double enders began to carry passengers from Gamble's Wharf up as far as the Wanita. The Hicks family rented canoes and skiffs to the public and began to provide storage space for private boats. The local landowners continued their own use of the river. And so it went.
As the years passed, changes came. The mills were finally closed. By 1912 Gamble's Wharf was in ruins and the barges gone. Launches sought another landing. Across from Gamble's rose the Palace Pier of exalted memory. With natural and artificial land growth the shoreline changed. Brule Point from which the young French explorer saw lake Ontario for the first time and claimed it for Champlain and France disappeared. It's somewhere near the present lackie's Marina (east side of the north bridge), just north of the bridges on the west bank.
The course of the river itself from the Old Mill to Lake Ontario was slowly changed and 'improved'. It took Hurricane Hazel to teach us the lesson that Nature really was a better designer of water courses. The river has now returned (almost) to its original bed, thanks to the efforts of the Conservation Authority.
In any event, pleasure boaters continued to enjoy the river until activity was slowed by World War 11- not stopped, but slowed.
This brings our story to the year 1946, when the first real glimmerings of a private yacht club began. From this point in history we move from the story of a river to the founding of the Club.
Extract 4:
The Post War Period
1946, the first full year after the end of World War II, brought changes in the world of boating, and needless to say this affected the Humber and its denizens - both permanent and temporary. Boat and motor builders made the change from wartime to peacetime production. The names Taylor, Hunter and Cliff Richardson along with Midland Boatworks, Norse Boats and the ubiquitous Peterborough became well known as the action began. Outboard Marine, Mercury and all the others were producing as rapidly as possible. People again took to the water as a means of relaxation and fun. Many production methods developed for defence purposes were reapplied to peacetime operations, and with this came the possibility of mass sales of boats. The end of gasoline rationing resulted in increased interest on the part of the public as far as power boats were concerned.
On the Humber River all this has its effect. By this time the Wanita with all its past secrets (and not so-secret secrets!) had departed from the Kings Mill Site. Now the name Hicks comes to the foreground in the history of the Humber. The family was already associated with the river as you have already seen from Part I, but became further involved when they took over the Wanita Tea Room from the Cornish family and it became Hicks's Boat House. In addition to the row-boats and canoes which William and Lena 'Ma' Hicks rented out for river excursions, limited marina facilities were provided for people with their own boats. At this same period the Barton's operated a similar establishment, not far away.
Extract 5:
Progress
Time brought about more changes as the years passed by. 'Skip' Hicks as the newspapers were to call him later, suffered a severe heart attack. Because there was no road to the King's Mill location, the Harbour Police were called, and at least one of the present THYC members was involved in removing Mr. Hicks by water from his home to hospital. He recovered, but would never again be able to do any of the heavy work around the place. Much of the management now fell to Mrs. Hicks.
The boaters from there and Barton's place were still in evidence.
The date October 15, 1954 brought the wildest night ever recorded in the weather annals of Toronto, and the Humber Valley bore the brunt. That was the fall in which Hurricane Hazel struck our city. In the valley of the Humber a whole street was wiped out. Water rose to the point where the raging torrent of the usually placid Humber reached the windows of the top floor of Hicks' Boat House. Of course all the boats were swept away - along with trees, stumps, houses and bridges. Even a fire engine was a victim of the worst flood ever to occur on the Humber River. All this did not help matters for Mr. and Mrs. Hicks and their business, already upset by illness.
Shortly after the flood caused by 'Hazel', it became known that the Hicks were planning to sell their place. A brief meeting was held, involving three or four people, and this took place in Ma Hicks' kitchen. Sadly, as a result of lost records we cannot record the names of all those who were at that historic event. We do know that these men invited some others to attend a larger meeting which was held under an old elm tree which no longer exists. This meeting may be called the first general meeting of the Toronto Humber Yacht Club. Again lost records cause some doubts to arise, but after questioning many of the original or almost original members we came up with the following list: Jack Karn, Jim Holt, Jack Moran, Trevor McKay, Gord Russell and 'Speedy' Schroder. The seventh member of the group was a teen-ager named Bob. Nobody seems to remember his surname. He, however, was the recording secretary, and the notes taken by Bob were the first formal set of THYC minutes.
As an outcome of the meeting under the tree, THYC, as we know it, was born. No longer just a loose-knit group of boating buddies it became a legal entity. With Peter Brodie acting as legal advisor a limited company was organized and an offer to purchase made to the Hicks for their property. This was accepted and Toronto Humber Yacht Club has a name, members, and above all a place to call its own. The Club has been at the site of the King's Mill ever since.
The First Years
A local newspaper account noted that Cap. Hicks retired from business in 1954, over the age of eighty. The same report mentions that, "Cap. Hicks still has time to serve as Commodore of the Toronto Humber Yacht Club." The details of this selection or appointment are lost. The only reference this writer has found is the one mentioned above, and is in a clipping kindly loaned by Gord Russell.
In 1955 Don Brodie was elected first Commodore under the Letters Patent granted to Toronto Humber Yacht Club by the province of Ontario. From here on we are on surer ground as far as verifiable facts are concerned.
The original Clubhouse was the former Wanita Tea Room, and still later, Hicks' Boat House. It was a fairly large frame structure with a ground floor area open to the elements and designed to serve as a storage place for rental boats.
Enthusiastic Club members set to work with a vengeance and soon transformed the boat house into a very pleasant Clubhouse. The lower storage Iarea was walled in and formed the main lounge. There were further Club facilities on the second floor and above that quarters for the numerous Stewards who served the Club and its members as the years went on.
Extract 6:
During 1965, the secretary was Ralph Davis, who lives in Elgin at the time of writing. Mr Davis handed over the reigns of his office to Dave Lynn as a result of the 1966 elections. With that change Dave received all the Club records. He took these home, as his predecessor suggested, but later found they took up too much space, and anyway Dave felt they should be kept in the club house. The night after the records were placed in the old building, fire took its sad toll. Flames raced through the building and it was totally destroyed. A few dishes were saved, the Commodores' bell survived and the oil painting of Toronto's skyline from the harbour was also rescued. The last two now grace the present building.
With this fire came the end of an era. The building once occupied by the Cornishes (and known at one time as the Wanita Tea Room) was gone from the Toronto and (Etobicoke) scene. Hicks' Boat House was no more. The first building to be owned by the Toronto Humber Yacht Club was in ashes. A new stage in the life of the Club was about to begin.
I mentioned above that there are information plaques installed along the Humber River today. I took pictures of a couple of them for their context to my research.
The picture of the arched bridge is the same one that appears in an historical photo:
My Hicks family confidant is John Hicks, grandson of O.L. Hicks first son, William Hicks. He responded to my note: "You are becoming an expert on the Humber. I read with interest all the information you sent regarding the Wanita. I have many old photographs of this building. My sister has a painting of the Wanita. Over the Christmas break I will dig some out and send you copies of ones that might interest you. I may have some that show the canoes."
Another member of the Hicks family, Warren Bailey, was kept in the loop on the discussion. He said (2007-11-25): "Thanks for the additional details on the fascinating history of the Humber. Wouldn't it tie everything up with a little bow if there were a Hicks daughter named Dora? But, so far, she's not been found. John, could this have been a nickname for one of the Hicks ladies? Thanks a million to both of you for getting us in the information loop. You can be sure we'll be eager to hear any additional Hicks / Humber history, and if we come up with anything will share it with you."
Some of the material below is due entirely to his
digging through family archives.
"I have attached an article researched and written by Denise Harris for the Etobicoke Historical Society newsletter. It gives a detailed history of the property now occupied by the Humber Yacht Club including its time as the last Hicks boathouse on the Humber River."
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