Pretoria Avenue
Our family purchased a home on Pretoria Avenue between Metcalfe and O'Connor, in 2001. I am very anxious to learn more about our street, and its previous residents, and would be thrilled to learn more about our actual house. It was built circa 1890. From what I understand, the northern edge of what is now known as the Glebe was predominantly working class (perhaps Roman Catholic?) at that time. My guess would be that the original owner of our house was also the constructor, given the quality of construction -- perhaps a builder or craftsman that served the Glebe area at the time?
Would you be kind enough to direct me to any sources of research that would provide me with more information. It would be especially thrilling to locate a early photo of our home.
I really like your thoughtful questions! One thing you need to know about house sleuthing is that streets and house numbering often change over time. For example, prior to 1900, Pretoria Avenue used to be Jane Street, and Strathcona Avenue used to be Hickey. These streets were renamed in 1900. Strathcona Avenue was named in honour of Donald Smith (Lord Strathcona -one of the founders of the CPR), who raised and equipped a mounted regiment (Lord Strathcona's Horse) at his own expense to serve in the South African, or 'Boer' War. Pretoria Avenue was named to commemorate the capture of Pretoria, the capital of the Transvaal, by the British on June 5th, 1900. This symbolically ended any chance of a Boer victory, although guerrilla warfare continued for two more years. The Hickey brothers were market gardeners and nurserymen who inherited the land north of Patterson/Powell Avenue to Chamberlain/Isabella between Bronson and the Driveway from their father, John Hickey, in 1863. Jane may have been a wife or daughter of one of the Hickeys.
This area was know as The Metropolitan Athletic Grounds by the 1890s, and was the site of visiting circuses and traveling events like the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show which set up here in 1900. By August of 1900, the land was owned by Samuel Davis, and in August of that year, Samuel Bigger, land surveyor, subdivided the south side of Pretoria into lots 38' wide and 96' deep for him. If you check in a city directory you can find the actual year the house was built.
The old Canadian Atlanta Railway (CAR - later CNR) tracks ran where the Queensway is now, so there were many commercial establishments between Pretoria and Isabella. The houses on this block of Pretoria are large, brick and not crowded together. This does not suggest 'worker's homes' (ie. minimum wage labourers) to me, as they would have been relatively expensive, even in 1900. They may have belong to craftsmen or contractors or small scale merchants.
Lowertown was predominantly Catholic, both French and Irish, in the 1800s, but I don't have any record of a Catholic concentration in the Glebe. I haven't checked into baptismal records, which might prove me wrong, but there is only one Catholic Church here, and seven Protestant denominations are represented.