Woburn / Elderslie
The documented history of Scarborough changed in January, 1850 when Scarborough was formally incorporated as a Township with its own elected government and Reeve. The first community names to be officially recognized were Scarborough, Highland Creek and “Elderslie”. What happened to Elderslie is one of the many little mysteries we find in Scarborough’s history.
Prior to 1850, Scarborough was governed by the Home District Council – a political district taking in the area around Toronto. The old township was represented by two Councillors, one elected each year for a two year term. In 1850, the township was incorporated and five Councillors were elected annually to deal with local municipal affairs. They met at Dowswell’s Inn at the intersection of Markham and Old Danforth Road.
On Jan. 16th, 1850, following the Township’s first municipal election, William Chamberlain wrote a circular which read, in part: “On perusing the Municipal Acts, I observe that…it devolves on me as the Town Clerk to appoint the place where the first meeting of the newly elected Municipality shall be held. In obedience to which, I beg to inform you that I appoint Mr. Thomas Dowswell’s Tavern as the place of meeting at the hour of ten o’clock a.m.. on Monday next the 21st instant…”. When the five Councillors met, there was no reference to any community name. Dowswell’s hotel was located in a place with no name.
For the next two years, Council continued to meet at Dowswell’s Inn, on the Markham Road, near the present intersection of Painted Post Road. On an early map, the hotel was also called the “Central Inn” as it was located at the geographic centre of the Township. This was likely the reason why Chamberlain chose the location for the first meeting of Council. However, the crossroad community still had no official name.
Research uncovered the fact that, until 1852, all Scarborough mail was delivered to the Township’s only post office, located in a small general store near the intersection of Kingston Road and Markham Road. Realizing the need to improve communications among the newly established local government, its citizens and other townships, and perhaps for some economic gain, Dowswell successfully applied for the establishment of a new post office to be located in his hotel. At the same time the citizens of Highland Creek also applied for full post office recognition. The only problem with Dowswell’s application was that the community surrounding his Inn where Council met, was still unnamed. The name “Elderslie” was chosen, which originated from a town in Scotland, near Glasgow. The name Elderslie was dropped in November, 1856 in favour of Woburn. While no official reason for the change is known, the name Woburn comes from a small town in England just north of London, a few miles from where Dowswell grew up before immigrating to Canada in 1831.
Thomas Dowswell died in 1857 and his hotel was demolished about 1956, but the name Woburn, a fitting tribute to the township’s British roots, has survived and is still associated with two schools, several medical centres and a co-op housing village around the original Woburn community area.
Woburn, the area of Scarborough once known as School Section No. 6, includes the area west of Galloway Rd, east of Brimley Rd., south of Ellesmere and north of the creek which flows through Cedarbrook and Thomson Parks near Lawrence Avenue. As Scarborough entered the 20th century, Woburn remained rural while the southwest corner of the township grew rapidly. Councillors were still being paid less than $100 a year and met in the weather beaten old hall at Woburn.
In 1922, Council decided to move closer to the population at Birch Cliff and the old hall was put up for sale. Unfortunately, on February 7, 1927, the hall was destroyed by fire and Scarborough lost one of its historic landmarks. It was believed the fire was deliberately set to cover up the murder of Albert Fisher, the hotel owner at the time.
The significance of the community of Woburn is, in some respects, greater than all other communities of 19th century Scarborough. However, a lone chestnut tree and a historic monument erected in 1975 by the Scarborough Historical Society are all that remain to tell us about the community that was the centre of the old township’s government for more than 75 years.
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Woburn – Historical Image Gallery:
