William Lyon Mackenzie's Last Home:

Mackenzie House - A Rebel's Resting Place

The Last Home of William Lyon Mackenzie, rebel/politician, reveals the turbulent history of Ontario in the late 19th century. See how a middle class family lived in Toronto in the 1860s.

The austere brick townhouse with the black shutters at 82 Bond Street could pass for an ordinary private home, except for the sign on the right hand side saying "Mackenzie House". Walk past this sign, down a short lane into the back yard and you'll find a modern addition that was built in 1967 as a Canadian Centennial project. Here is the entrance to a small but interesting house museum that showcases the life of a political rebel and at the same time offers a glimpse into typical middle-class home life, décor and technology in the 1860s.

Who Was Mackenzie?

For those of you who are unfamiliar with William Lyon Mackenzie, let me give you just a short summary before I tell you about his house. Toronto's first mayor, William Lyon Mackenzie, was born in Scotland, but immigrated to Canada a young man. He was involved in journalism, printing, and politics. Because of his role in a failed rebellion against the reigning government of the time in 1837, Mackenzie had to flee Canada to the United States to escape being hanged as a ringleader. When the political climate changed a decade later, though, he was granted amnesty and came back to Toronto, where his supporters bought him a townhouse – the one you see here on Bond Street. Unfortunately for William Lyon Mackenzie he only lived in the house for two years (he died, in fact, in the bedroom on the second floor) but his wife and daughters continued to occupy the house for many years after his death.

The House

The townhouse you see here was once surrounded by two other identical ones, which were demolished many years ago. When Mackenzie moved into it in 1859, it was brand new. The style of architecture, which is Greek Revival Style, was very popular at the time. It's surprisingly modest in size, having only two rooms in the basement, two on the first floor, three on the second, and a third floor occupied by a servant (this floor is not available for viewing). Since it was the middle house of three row houses, there are only windows at the front and back of the building, not the sides.

Entry to Museum

Once you pass through the tiny lobby with its admission desk and shop where you can buy books and gift items like "rebel" t-shirts, you find yourself standing next to a large room full of 19th century printing equipment. Handbills hang from the ceiling illustrating types of work that Mackenzie might have printed when he wasn't working on his newspaper. The newspaper that was the cause of so much political uproar was just a small part of his business; most of Mackenzie's work would have been business forms, handbills, that sort of thing.

To your left is a hallway leading into the back door of the original house. In this hallway you'll find temporary exhibits of an historical nature. When I visited, there were displays related to Christmas – such as the toys, decorations, and winter clothing in these photos.