Thursday March 25th., 2010

The Etobicoke Historical Society is proud to announce
the speaker for their March 25th., 2010 Monthly Meeting
will be the Editor of their own newsletter
"ALDERNEWS".
"MICHAEL FITZGERALD"
Michael will be speaking on
"ELM BANK, BRAEBURN
and
THE GRUBB PIONEERS"
Michael FitzGerald in his home at Elm Bank

Michael FitzGerald is the great-great-great grandson (on his mother's side)
of one of Etobicoke's earliest pioneers, John Grubb.

Arriving in Toronto from Scotland in 1833 with his wife and eight of his ten children,
John built Elm Bank near Thistletown in 1834.

He took up farming and was involved in the creation of the
Weston and Albion Plank Road companies. 
Another property named Braeburn was built nearby in the 1840s and
survives today at Pioneer Village.

Michael is now the owner of Elm Bank and its sister house called Lavinia Cottage,
which dates back as early as 1807.
Mike took steps to designate these houses as Heritage properties in 2007,
which puts them among the 16 oldest Heritage properties in Toronto.

Michael will share the histories of these two homes and of the families who owned them.

Much is known of the early days of the Grubb pioneers
thanks to surviving letters from 1834 to the 1860s. 
These were transcribed by Michael's grandfather Talbot in the 1950s
and put into book form by his mother Janet in 1987. 
A third edition is planned for later this year (2010).