The guest speaker at our February 28th program was Kelly Mathews, author of the book “Eaton Hall: Pride of King Township” and it was the topic of her interesting presentation. Eaton Hall is located on the grounds of Seneca College in King Township at the north end of Lake Seneca and Kelly is the manager of community recreation, camps and the Outdoor Education Centre at the King campus location. Kelly has written a fascinating and accurate account of the Eaton property, dispelling myths and laying to rest all the urban legends.
The impressive 72 room mansion is just a part of the story as she spoke about the purchase of the 700 acres of land between 1920-1922 by Sir John Craig Eaton and Lady Eaton. During her research she came across the original blueprints for the house and the ledger books that contained all the original construction costs. There were many buildings on the estate that is now occupied by Seneca College, King Campus, but was owned by the Eaton family from 1920 to 1970. Lady Eaton lived in a farmhouse on the grounds known as “Villa Fiori” for many years prior to the completion of Eaton Hall in 1938.
Eaton Hall was converted into a convalescent hospital during WWII for the Royal Canadian Navy.
It also served as a refuge for British War children sent to Canada to escape the London bombing.
Many members of the British Royal family have visited King Campus including Princess Alice, Princess Anne and Princess Margaret.
Lady Eaton died in July 1970, aged 91. A year later Seneca College purchased the 700 acres that made up the Eaton Hall Estate.
Eaton Hall is now a corporate event centre and special event venue.
The Scarborough Historical Society hosts programmes on the 4th Tuesday of each month from January to April and from September to November. All programmes begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Bendale Public Library and are free and open to the public.
On Saturday, May 27th, the Society operated Scarborough Archives and
