Since you-know-who took office you-know-where, Canadian patriotism has been soaring. In honour of Canada Day 2025, and in honour of Simcoe Day, celebrated in Ontario on the first Monday of August every year, let’s find out just who Simcoe was.
John Graves Simcoe was a British army officer, politician and colonial administrator who served as Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada (Ontario) from 1791 to 1796. He founded York, now Toronto, and was instrumental in introducing courts of law, trial by jury, English common law, freehold land tenure, and in the abolition of slavery in Upper Canada.
Interestingly, in light of the present political situation we are in vis-a-vis the U.S., Simcoe’s long-term goal was the development of Upper Canada (Ontario) as a model community designed to demonstrate the superiority of those above principles to the republicanism of the United States.
Simcoe’s Legacy
- First known Valentine’s Day letter was given by Simcoe to Sally Townsend.
- Simcoe named London, Ontario, and the River Thames in Ontario, and lent his name to many other places in Ontario.
- Lake Simcoe and Simcoe County were named after his father.
- Act Against Slavery passed in 1793, leading to the abolition of slavery in Upper Canada by 1810.
- Simcoe named his summer home Castle Frank after his first son Francis, who was preceded by eight daughters. It is in what is now Rosedale. Imagine his delight when young Frank was born.
- Civic Holiday, a statutory holiday celebrated throughout Canada under a variety of names, was established in honour of Simcoe by Toronto City Council in 1869. In 1965, the Toronto City Council declared the holiday would henceforth be known as Simcoe Day within Toronto.