The houses at 262 and 264 Ontario Street in Cabbagetown (pictured) were the homes of various members of the Murphy family for almost 100 years. These adjacent 2-storey houses are located about a block south of present day Dundas Street (formerly Wilton Avenue) west of Parliament Street. An adjoining house at 260 Ontario Street was also occupied by the Pearce family for several years.
The first record of the Murphy family on Ontario Street appears in the 1873 Toronto Directory which lists John Murphy, mechanic at 150 Ontario Street. (The street was renumbered circa 1899 and the houses at 148 and 150 became numbers 262 and 264). John, Elizabeth and their nine children were probably the first occupants of the house; Ontario Street was first developed north of Queen Street in the early 1870s. The 1873 Toronto City Directory lists the occupant of the house at 148 Ontario Street as John Somers, grocer, possibly John Murphy’s tenant.
The 1875 Toronto City Directory lists John Murphy, porter residing at 148-150 Ontario. Subsequent directories indicate that John and his family lived at 148 and rented out part of the house to various boarders for a number of years. The house at 150 Ontario was also rented to boarders however available records do not show exactly when John became the owner of 150 Ontario Street.
Shortly after John and Elizabeth’s son Francis Joseph married Elizabeth Fletcher circa 1882 the newlyweds occupied 150 Ontario Street. It would be their only home during their 56 year marriage and the birthplace of all of their children including Elizabeth Beatrice Murphy.
Tax Assessment Rolls for 1884 to 1897 show that John Murphy was the owner of both 148 and 150 Ontario Street. John and his family occupied 148; Joseph and his family occupied 150.
By 1885 the house at 148 had been split into two separate residences, most likely on the upper and lower floors. One floor became a rental property occupied by a series of tenants. The residences appear in the directories of the day as numbers 148 and 148-1/2. As mentioned above Ontario Street was renumbered in 1889: 148 became 262 and 150 became 264.
The 1891 census records Francis and Elizabeth with their six children living next door to Francis’ parents, “empty nesters” John and Elizabeth. There were no tenants living at 262 or 264 in 1891.
In 1893 the lower floor at 148 Ontario Street was repurposed into a shop from which John Murphy initially sold groceries and later confectionery. Circa 1895 John died and his wife Elizabeth became the owner of both properties at 262 and 264 Ontario Street. She continued to live upstairs at 262 with a shop on the ground floor and her son Francis Joseph and his family living next door. The 1899 Toronto City Directory shows Elizabeth Murphy living at 262 Ontario with a Mrs. B. McCarty, most likely a downstairs tenant, who was the proprietor of the confectionery shop.
There is no record of Elizabeth Murphy Sr. living on Ontario Street after 1899 so it is likely that she died around this time. 262 Ontario Street was probably sold when Elizabeth died. There is no subsequent record of the Murphy family owning or living at that address*. A succession of proprietors ran confectionery, grocery or stationery shops at that address for the next 25 years, with or without tenants living upstairs.
After his mother’s death Francis Joseph Murphy became the owner of 264 Ontario Street, whether by inheritance or other means, and his family continued to live there. The 1901 and 1911 census enumerated Joseph, Elizabeth and their children residing at number 264. In 1911 their granddaughter Viola Bustin was also living there.
Joseph and Elizabeth’s daughter Elizabeth Beatrice Murphy was almost certainly living with her parents at 264 Ontario Street when she married George Pearce in August 1910. From 1912 to 1916 Elizabeth and George moved to 260 Ontario Street close to Elizabeth’s parents. Their daughter Norma Kathleen Pearce was born at 260 Ontario Street on 1 November 1913. The Pearce family was living at 260 Ontario Street when George joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force in August of 1915, one year after the start of World War I.
The street listings of Might’ Toronto Directory for 1915 list the Pearce and Murphy families living at 260 and 264 Ontario Street.
George and Elizabeth’s third daughter Emma Ileen Pearce was born at 260 Ontario Street in August 1916. Shortly thereafter Elizabeth and her daughters moved out of 260 Ontario Street, perhaps to stay with relatives while George was in the military. They eventually resettled on Woodbine Avenue.
Toronto City Directories and census records show Francis Joseph and Elizabeth Murphy continuing to reside at 264 Ontario Street for the following two decades. Some entries also list their son John Joseph, who was widowed, living at that address. The 1921 census recorded Francis and Elizabeth living at 264 Ontario Street with sons John Joseph and William as well as granddaughter Viola.
The 1931 census also records Francis, Elizabeth and John Joseph living at 264 Ontario Street. Viola Bustin, who appears to have been a permanent ward of her grandparents, was also living. Also enumerated in the 1931 census was a 12-year-old grandson named Francis J. Murphy, parents unknown**.
When Francis Joseph died in May 1938 his death certificate recorded 264 Ontario Street as his residence. Thereafter his wife Elizabeth is recorded as the owner of the property where she lived with John Joseph.
Circa 1941 Elizabeth Murphy died and the ownership of 264 Ontario Street passed to John Joseph Murphy. Shortly thereafter her daughter, Elizabeth Beatrice Murphy also moved to 264 Ontario Street with her husband George Pearce. John Joseph and the Pearces shared the house for some 20 years, probably occupying the upstairs and downstairs apartments. George and Elizabeth lived at 264 Ontario Street until their deaths in the early 1960s.
In the late 1960s, after some 95 years of continuous occupation by the Murphy family, 264 Ontario Street was sold to one Harold Lai, probably upon the death of John Joseph Murphy.
Footnotes
- * Municipal tax assessment rolls for the years after 1897 tax assessment have not been examined to determine who owned 242 Ontario Street after Elizabeth Murphy died.
- ** Younger relatives and unemployed family members were typically not listed in the Toronto City Directories. The census, taken every 10 years, was the primary source of complete information on the residents of a dwelling