Toronto Ferry Company
The Toronto Ferry Company was formed from the merge of John Doty Engine & Ferry Company with A.J. Tymon's Island Ferry Company, two of Toronto's early ferry operators to Toronto Islands in 1890. TFC was founded and headed by businessman Lol Solman. The company's ferry license and ships was later acquired by the Toronto Transportation Commission in 1927.
Contents
A.J. Tymon's Island Ferry Company
Captain Andrew J. Tymon (1844-?) operated a number ferries from 1880 until the formation of his own service in the mid-1880s. It later merged with John Doty (1822-1902) Doty Machine and Engine Works's company to form TFC in 1892.
Vessels included:
- S.S. Arlington
- S.S. Prince of Wales
- S.S. Jessie L. McEdwards (1882)
- S.S. Theresa (burned 1885)
- S.S. Gertrude
- S.S. Island Queen
- S.S. Truant
- S.S. Kathleen
His son Joseph Tymon (b. 1873) would become a ferry captain for the Toronto Ferry Company.[1]
John Doty Engine Company
John Doty was an American born Toronto industrialist who built his empire from a small machine shop to eventually operating a shipbuilding and ferry service to Toronto Island in the late 19th Century. Doty was born in 1822 in Lewiston, New York and had lineage to settlers abord the Mayflower. He moved to Niagara Falls, New York then to around the Golden Horseshoe before settling in Toronto to start his empire. He acquired the Dickey, Neill and Co. Soho Foundry on Bathurst and Front to begin his Doty Machine Works in 1883. By 1889 he began to manufacture engines and shipbuilding in 1891. In 1880 he also began his John Doty Ferry Company with the purchase of the assets of the Turner Ferry Company and merged with A.J. Tymon to form Toronto Ferry Company in 1890. In 1892 Doyt retired from his business and moved to Godreich, Ontario where he died in 1902.
John Doty began as a builder of ship engines and gradually as an operator of ferry service to the Island. The company was located at Front and Bathurst Streets in a building now occupied by Sherwin-Williams paint store.
A list of engines built by John Doty:
- high pressure steam engine for screw steamer Mascotte 1886
- steam engine for screw steamer Jessie L. McEdwards 1876
- engine for steamer Luella 1876
- engine for steamer Sadie 1885
- ferry and engines - Mayflower and Primrose 1890
- two secondhand Doty compound steam engines would be installed in RMS Segwun during a 1925 conversion
The John Doty Engine Works and shipyard would be sold in 1892 due to financial troubles; the facility operated until 1905 under George and John Bertram as the Bertram Engine Works.[2]
Docks
- Doty Ferry Company docks at Hanlan's Point
- Bay Street Ferry docks, now called the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal
Fleet
A list of ships operated by the TFC:
| Make/Model | Description | # passengers | Year acquired | Year retired | Notes |
| * Mayflower - built by Bathurst Street Wharf for John Doty Engine & Ferry Company | ferry | 900-1000 | 1890 | 1938 | Later acquired from the Toronto Ferry Company by E.B. Osler (with acquisition of John Doty Engine & Ferry Company and Tymon's Island Ferry Company; became city garbage scow |
| Primrose built by Bathurst Street Wharf for John Doty Engine & Ferry Company | ferry | 900-1000 | 1890 | 1938 | sister ship to the Mayflower and later acquired from the Toronto Ferry Company |
| Bluebell - built by Polson Iron Works Limited for Toronto Ferry Company | ferry | N/A | 1906 | 1955 | |
| Trillium 1910-1957 - built by Polson Iron Works Limited for Toronto Ferry Company | ferry | N/A | 1910; 1976 | 1957 | re-enter service 1976 with Metro Parks |
| Luella - built by W. Armour & Company and John Doty Engine Company for Toronto Ferry Company | ferry | 122 | 1882 | 1934 | |
| Sadie - built as St. Jean Baptiste for the Turner Ferry Co. by James Andrew of Oakville | double-decked paddle vessel - 112 feet | 377 | 1885 | ? | |
| Canadian - built for the Turner Ferry Co. by Alexander Clindinning of Toronto | two-decked, double-ended pad-die steamer - 122 feet | 340 | 1882 | ? | |
| Prouvette Beyer - built for the Turner Ferry Co. | ferry | 1882 | ? | ||
| Arlington - built for the A.J. Tymon Ferry Co. in Harwood | single deck screw steamer | 100 | 1878, 1880 | ? | |
| Jessie McEdwards - built for the A.J. Tymon Ferry Co. by Melancthon Simpson of St. Catharines | single deck screw steamer - 65 feet | 116 | 1876 | ? | |
| Kathleen - built for the A.J. Tymon Ferry Co. by George Dickson of Toronto | two-decked screw steamer - 84 feet | 200 | 1886 | 1918 | |
| Gertrude - built for the A.J. Tymon Ferry Co. by George Clean of Toronto | two-decked screw steamer - 75 feet | 147 | 1886 | ? | |
| Island Queen - built for the A.J. Tymon Ferry Co. - Joseph Duval at Port Dalhousie | single-decked screw steamer - 73 feet | 148 | 1882 | 1918 | |
| Ned Hanlan - built for the A.J. Tymon Ferry Co. | ferry | 1902 | 1966 | ||
| T.J. Clark | ferry | 1918 | 1960 | ||
| Miss Simcoe | ferry | 1918 | 1929 | ||
| Lady York | ferry | 1918 | 1929 | ||
| Aylmer | ferry | 1918 | 1929 | ||
| Buttercup | ferry | 1918 | 1929 | ||
| Jasmine | ferry | 1918 | 1929 | later renamed Ojibway | |
| Clark Brothers | ferry | 1918 | 1927 | ||
| John Hanlan - built by John & James Abbey/Abbey Brothers Shipyards of Port Dalhousie | screw steamer | ~100 | 1844 | 1929 | burned and sunk off Sunnyside Park 1929 |
See also
References
- ↑ http://www.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/documents/prominentmen/default.asp?ID=c065
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found., citing Nathan Ng.
